1/32 Trumpeter Me 262A-1a "Yellow 3"

[dodgem37]

Nice light-over-dark paint coverage.  Nice light-dark contrast on the tires.

 

Sincerely,

Mark

[Scale32]

I really like the weathering on those wheels and tires.

 

Cheers Bevan

[Thunnus]

Thanks guys!  I'm satisfied with the way that the tail mottle turned out.  That Silhouette Portrait cutter is very useful tool!

 

7 hours ago, alaninaustria said:

Really nice work there John - I like the attention to detail. However, given that the Me-262 is a favorite of mine - I’m still not convinced about the leading edge slats being in the stowed position. They were spring loaded and only retracted when airborne due to the force applied to them by the airflow at speed. When correctly calibrated, they deployed at a certain airspeed for approach & landing and of course the take-off. They would never be in the stowed position unless lock-wired into the stowed position for transport; but, this was rarely done as it caused problems in recalibrating the springs. However, you are doing a beautiful job!! 

Cheers

Alan

 

Yes, Alan... I think this point has been established and acknowledged a few posts up.  It's a mistake that I'm going to live with because I am not going to dig out those slats at this point in the build.  The outer ones MIGHT be removable with minimum damage but not the inner ones and probably not the middle ones.  I did some extensive puttying/sanding/re-puttying/gouging/CA glueing/puttying on that starboard inboard slat that.... ummm, I'm just not going to go there.  So, I'll chalk it up as an opportunity lost.  Let's say Yellow 3 is being prepared for transport as III./KG(J) 54 was reassigned from bomber to fighter duties.  

[chuck540z3]

Your work is beautiful and although I initially thought the tail camo was a bit  too hard edged, when compared to the print of what the real deal looked like, I think you absolutely nailed it.  Those tires/wheels are spectacular as well.  As for the accuracy- or not- of the leading edge slats, as they say in Jersey, "Fugetaboutit!", as it appears you are.  I'll bet 98% of those who view your model now or in the future will never question the slats position, including me.

 

For the puttied seams, I would take a look at what Matt at "Doogs Models" has done below.  Rather than apply a putty seam, he masked off the areas that were not puttied, then sprayed a putty coat.

 

Doog's ME-262

 

Cheers,

Chuck

[D Bellis]

11 hours ago, alaninaustria said:

Really nice work there John - I like the attention to detail. However, given that the Me-262 is a favorite of mine - I’m still not convinced about the leading edge slats being in the stowed position. They were spring loaded and only retracted when airborne due to the force applied to them by the airflow at speed. When correctly calibrated, they deployed at a certain airspeed for approach & landing and of course the take-off. They would never be in the stowed position unless lock-wired into the stowed position for transport; but, this was rarely done as it caused problems in recalibrating the springs. However, you are doing a beautiful job!! 

Cheers

Alan

The slats were not spring-loaded. They were free-floating, thus fell open while on the ground or reacted to airflow pressure in flight.

 

The link to the video again:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2Kc6NRwSic

 

HTH,

D

[Thunnus]

The putty lines have been added to the model.  After considering different options including brush painting, I sprayed them with my Paasche V, which has a smaller needle/nozzle than my Iwata and I'm able to get a finer spray pattern.  Ideally, the putty marks should be hard edged but since all of this will be buried under the RLM83/76 camo, I went with the speediest technique and free-handed it without masks.

 

 

The wing roots were sprayed with hairspray.  I'll let that dry thoroughly before I put the RLM 83 Dark Green over it.  But I can start on the RLM 76 bottom at any time.  I may have to re-do the tail stabilizers that I painted earlier as they may not match the rest of the camo now that I have changed from a dark to light base.

[Scale32]

Looks pretty good just like that John.

 

Cheers Bevan

[F-4Phanwell]

Hello John

 

It looks awesome, i am impressed. I am waiting for the ME 262 by Revell, they want release a fighter too in 1/32, i am eager to compare both models Trumpeter and Revell.

[Thunnus]

Thanks for checking in!  The putty on metal is an interesting look and has been modeled before.  But this is just a temporary stop for us.  We're going to cover all of that next.

 

First up is the RLM 76 Light Blue bottom.   A highly thinned Tamiya mixture is used to make sure that the putty lines are not completely covered up. Not much tonal variation in this coat as it lacks any of my customary pre-shading but we can add visual interest to the bottoms in other ways.

 

After the Light Blue is completed, I apply the RLM 83 Dark Green on the upper surfaces.  This is a Mr Hobby Aqueous color.  Due to the contrast between the Dark Green and the silver, I can achieve a bit of tonal variation in this coat.

 

It takes patience to build up the layers of thin paint... almost have to go panel by panel.

 

Eventually we cover the entire aircraft with RLM 76 on the bottom and RLM 83 on the top.

 

I'll let this dry before I paint chip the wing root area and impart some wear onto the RLM 83/76 finish.

[Out2gtcha]

That color looks terrific on there John.

I myself am trying a similar technique on my Do-335 A-2 Trop. Although my touch with the airbrush is way less delicate than yours, and as much for visual interest as the look of the putty along the panel lines.  

 

Well done! 

[Thunnus]

Thanks Brian! I'll have to check out your Do-335 build... I didn't see it though.   After painting, I put some paint chips at the wing root and scrubbed the airframe using Micromesh.  Some darker green was used to portray the painted out markings when Yellow 3 was re-assigned from bomber to fighter duties.

 

The tail checkerboard was painted using a combination of the Montex masks and manual taping.

 

The white crosses on the wings and fuselage and the tail swastikas were sprayed using Montex masks.

 

The Micromesh scrubbing was an iterative process.  If I removed too much, I sprayed a bit more camo back on.  The blacked-bomber code locations were adjusted to better match the final positions of the fuselage crosses.

 

The yellow "3" and the nose tip were painted next.  The 3's took a while to complete due to the fiddly nature of the black border masks and some paint lifting.  

 

 

The bottom is relatively clean but will get weathered soon.  But I'll have to complete the markings and decals first.

Edited February 19, 2019 by Thunnus

[VintageEagle]

Looks absolutely fantastic and realistic! Just one small remark: the pilot would climb the aircraft via the foot holds in the forward engine nacelle and not via the wing root. Still there would be some chipping at the wing root, but maybe not so far back.

 

Cheers,

Roger

[Fvdm]

That is a terrific paintjob. Beautifully done.

[monthebiff]

Absolutely stunning paint job John, lovely work.

 

Regards.Andy 

[Out2gtcha]

Wow, that paint is amazing looking!   I always get to that point and all the subtle work I put in for pre-shading disappears under my ham fists! 

 

 

7 hours ago, Thunnus said:

Thanks Brian! I'll have to check out your Do-335 build... I didn't see it though.   

 

Thanks John, its actually entered in the "Multi-Engined" GB section.