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1/32 Revell Me 262B-1/U1 Nachtjager


Thunnus

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Thanks Kev and Mark!

 

The cockpit is connected to the main wheel wells, which requires a bit more thought and preparation.  The gun compartment and the nose gear well are similarly connected.  I'm just starting to look at these areas and trying to form a strategy.  Adding details like wiring can be difficult when construction is modular like this. And I have to start looking for places to place weight to keep the model from tail sitting.

 

Like most of my builds, my preference is to preserve the lines of the Me262 and close all panels and canopies.  But that hasn't stopped me from admiring the included gun parts.  The gun compartment has some nice details and I took some time today to place the Mk108 cannons into place.
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8 hours ago, monthebiff said:

Heard this is a very poor area on this kit John and very interested to see hw you approch this.

 

Regards. Andy

 

7 hours ago, johnie hopper said:

And it will be geting worse when you insert front wheel bay sidewalls.

I think there is enough space for the weight in the upper front section ahead of canons. There is the biggest arm factor.

 

Perhaps but I'm rather encouraged by my dry-fitting exercises up to this point.  See my update below.

 

 

55 minutes ago, Rockie Yarwood said:

Great work so far, John! Your cockpit looks super. That nose section does look a bit fiddly, but I'm sure you"ll sort it out. Regarding the seam scraper Kev mentioned -always remember, a man can never have too many tools!

 

Cheers,  Rockie

 

Yes, tell me about it!  I love my tools!

 

The photoetch Revi 16B gun sight has been finished.  Instead of the supplied clear acetate, I used a slightly thicker acetate sheet for the reflector glass.  That way, I can highlight the edges of the rear glass with clear blue/green.
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Some more dry-fitting... this time I added the nose gear wheel wells to the underside of the gun station.  Actually, the fit of the these frontal exterior panels is not that bad.  Similar to the Trumpeter kit, which is probably not saying much.
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There is a molding irregularity in the fuselage joint with the gun cowling that is causing the most noticeable gap.
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Test fitting the horizontal stabilizers and rudder onto the tail prior to riveting.  Yes, I am going to rivet the entire aircraft.  And yes, I know that the Me262 was supposed to have putty/primer over the rivets but the airframe exterior is just too smooth and featureless for my tastes.
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Even without the wings, the futuristic shape of the Me262  is very evident.
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I know I've posted a lot of build updates this weekend.  That's what happens when normal Thanksgiving activities have been cancelled and your adult children have elected to stay at school instead of coming home.

 

I actually spent most of today putting together the HGW seatbelts.  This is a two-seater so twice the fun, eh?
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Although I love them and use them on most of my builds, I'm still of the opinion that the HGW harnesses are a bit overscale.  I wish they were consistent and made the harness attachment loops (Part #6) overscale.  They are way too small for me to effectively use.  Instead, I looped copper wire around a small drill bit and cut my own, larger attachment loops, which were attached to the seat prior to the seat belts.
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HGW uses a fabric material that is pre-printed in the appropriate color.  Make sure you take off the backing before using.
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I like to crumple my belts prior to assembly per the instructions to loosen them up a bit and add some irregular wrinkles and bends.
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A few hours later... I have two sets of assembled harnesses for the Nachtjager.
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Attachment to the seats was accomplished in two stages. The lap belts were glued into place using dots of CA glue.  The belts were then given a clear coat and a wash to bring out some of the stitching details on the HGW belts.  I then attached the shoulder belts and repeated the gloss and wash.  A flat coat seals the deal and the seats are done.
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I can now glue the seats into the cockpit and get some shots of the nearly completed cockpit in the light box.
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18 hours ago, LSP_Kevin said:

Terrific work on those seat belts, John! They look great.

 

Kev

 

Thanks Kevin!  Some of the "look" is due to unintended staining after the wash.  Since the HGW belts are fabric and somewhat absorbent, you really have to douse them with clear to make them non-absorbent but then you will lose the very subtle stitching details.  So I have learned to utilize this staining as part of the weathering process.

 

 

17 hours ago, dodgem37 said:

You are a remarkable talent, John.

 

Sincerely,

Mark

 

Thanks Mark!  I don't know about talent but I am passionate about this hobby.  I think the passion helps fuel the hours that I spend on my modeling bench obsessing over very small details.

 

 

17 hours ago, PeterOlsen said:

Hi John, I love how your gun sight reflector glass is tapered, very cool !

 

Perhaps the HGW seats are over scale a little but I still think they look the part,

 

Cheers,

Pete

 

Thanks Pete!  Yeah, the HGW belts are the best available, IMO.

 

 

16 hours ago, johnie hopper said:

I would recommend one "last" probably visible cable from under Revi 16 along holder pipe and then down. It shouldn't be yellow but dark brown or black.

 

Got it!  That one should be easy to add!  Thanks Johnie!

 

 

13 hours ago, reserve_22 said:

Superb work but in wheel bay wasnt Rlm02

 https://www.largescaleplanes.com/reviews/review.php?rid=594

 

Thanks!  Are we sure about that?  FWIW, I am planning on painting the wheel wells a combination of metal shades and RLM 02.

 

The cockpit side walls aka "tube" have been glued into place. The fit wasn't the greatest here and I had to force some light contact areas together with CA glue.  The important thing is to not overlay force it into a shape that will throw off the fit of the fuselage halves.
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The undersides of this assembly will be visible through the wheel wells.  I'm going to be painting the wheel wells in a combination of metal and RLM 02 Gray Green, some of which is already painted.
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There is going to be some wiring work in this area so in preparation of that, I thought I'd try to create some lengths of bundled wiring.  I did this on my Trumpeter 262 build and since I used the Aires resin wheel well set, I'm going to use those details and photos of preserved 262's as references.  This upcoming work is not meant to be exact and complete... just want to add some complexity/business to the wheel well area. I'm going to test a 10-strand wiring bundle for starters.  I can add or delete if I need to but I want to see how it looks.  The wire is fine gauge copper wire that I stripped from a short length of Monster speaker cables.
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The wiring is bundled using thin strips of aluminum tape.
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The nice thing about making pre-bundled sets of wiring is that I can paint them separately with an airbrush and place them where needed.
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This is the area where most of the wiring work will be done.  So I'm going to double check the fit of the cockpit tub and make sure I can do the wiring work on the fuselage sides without getting in the way of the fit of the cockpit tub.  Note the empty space between the cockpit and gun station bulkheads.  This is where a large fuel tank resides and could be a good place to add weights.
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With the cockpit tub taped into place, the wing bottoms are attached and we can see that it all looks pretty good from up top.
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Let's add the radar operator's instrument panel and radar box and check out the view into the cockpit from the light box.
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Since I am going to rivet the model, this might be my next step since I don't want to damage any wiring work on the fuselage sides.

 

 

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