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

[Greg W]

1 hour ago, Thunnus said:

Thanks guys!  Spent the weekend up in San Francisco so no updates in the past few days.  I've finally wrapped up the putty work on the nose.

 

 

The wash will be cleaned off from the rivets and panel lines as much as possible as I move toward more assembly.  The wheel well walls have been glued into the wing bottom.

 

 

That nose is fantastic. Really, superb job on this. I am impressed by the fact that after all the surgery, the result is so clean, even and straight. 

 

Even the primer looks good!

 

Greg

[johnie hopper]

Hope that not too late again :-(

Me-262 radar versions has different type of construction of the front cone (using paywood) - probably not to shield radar rays.

That's why you will not find any rivet on the top of this cone in any original pic and Red 8 and no opening on the sight (which is normally used for access to gun camera).

I'm sorry that I always realise not before it is done 

Edited December 22, 2020 by johnie hopper

[Gazzas]

Nose end looks great!  Bummer that you went through.

[Wackyracer]

excellent work John. Nose looks spot on, looking forward to it getting some paint.

[dodgem37]

Good show.

 

Sincerely,

Mark

[Thunnus]

Thanks guys! 

 

11 hours ago, GDW said:

 

That nose is fantastic. Really, superb job on this. I am impressed by the fact that after all the surgery, the result is so clean, even and straight. 

 

Even the primer looks good!

 

Greg

 

Thanks Greg!  My scribing was not very clean at all and so I spent a lot of time finessing those crooked lines with small dabs of putty.  I had to resort to gouging out a couple of the most troublesome lines with my scriber to re-fill and re-scribe.  My goal was to make it look presentable with all of the lines/rivets highlighted against a uniform coat of primer, knowing that the upcoming camo painting will be a more forgiving visual background to this work.

 

 

9 hours ago, johnie hopper said:

Hope that not too late again :-(

 

Me-262 radar versions has different type of construction of the front cone (using paywood) - probably not to shield radar rays.

That's why you will not find any rivet on the top of this cone in any original pic and Red 8 and no opening on the sight (which is normally used for access to gun camera).

 

I'm sorry that I always realise not before it is done 

 

No, not too late, Johnie!  Plugging up the nose hole and rivets will not be a problem!  Thanks so much for the expert insight!

[Kagemusha]

Great work on the nose John, such a pity it couldn't have been produced with the cover in place, to be removed if you wanted it open.

[scvrobeson]

Also looks like that that round panel line might not be there on the nose cone.  The panel line and rivet work looks spectacular John, like always.

 

 

 

Matt 

[Thunnus]

5 hours ago, Kagemusha said:

Great work on the nose John, such a pity it couldn't have been produced with the cover in place, to be removed if you wanted it open.

 

Thanks!  It's really hard to pull off a proper, tight-fitting cowling that is removable.  Until that is feasible, I'll probably continue to show my builds with the cowlings and panels permanently shut.

 

 

 

4 hours ago, scvrobeson said:

Also looks like that that round panel line might not be there on the nose cone.  The panel line and rivet work looks spectacular John, like always.

 

 

 

Matt 

 

Thank you!  The hole and rivets have been filled.  I'll keep the round panel there for now.

 

 

2 hours ago, reserve_22 said:

Thunnis can I ask what is ,,plastic spure goop" and how (why) you do it?Isnt better use only super glue for repair panel lines.

Thanks

 

 

You can call me John!  Sprue goo is styrene plastic melted to semi-liquid form using liquid cement.  CA glue (super glue) is a very good filler but it can be considerably harder than the surrounding plastic.  It's perfect for filling panel lines when no other work is required.  If re-scribing over the fill is necessary, it can work but not ideal since the scriber will behave differently on the harder CA glue than the surrounding plastic.  My other primary filler (Mr Surfacer) is the opposite and is much softer than the surrounding plastic.  I think the ideal filling material would have the exact same properties as the plastic you are working on.  Hence the idea for using melted styrene plastic as a filler.  However, it can take a very long time for the melted plastic to harden to the same consistency as normal styrene plastic.  My first try was on my Ta152H build and I used Evergreen white sheet styrene, which is very soft.  This, combined with my trying to sand before the melted plastic was able to cure sufficiently led me to believe that the sprue goo was no better than Mr Surfacer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I thought I'd give it a try on this build using sprues from actual model kits and it seems to have worked a little better.

 

 

[Thunnus]

Making some good progress on the 262!  The outer wings have been glued into place.  Although the fit is pretty positive due to the tabs, I beefed up the contact surfaces by adding pieces of sheet styrene.  It may not be necessary since the engine nacelles will probably add to the strength/stiffness of this area once they are glued into position but better safe than sorry.

 

 

The upper wings can now be glued into place.

 

 

The ailerons have been glued into place but the flaps are still unattached.

 

 

It's time to glue the cockpit sill in.  The radio operator's instrument panel and the emergency canopy releases are glued in first.  A piece of stretched sprue was glued to the back edge of the instrument panel to help it stay in place.

 

 

The radio has not yet been glued but we can take a look at the cockpit with all of the components finally in place.

 

 

I'm thinking about adding the curtains that were used by the radio operator.  The first attempt was not successful as the foil that I chose initially was too stiff.  I settled on foil from a candy wrapper and got better results.  As a bonus, it even has some embossed texture.  Not sure what the color of the curtains were but I sprayed them with a light khaki just to see what they would look like painted.  Now I need to figure out a way to attach them without marring the clear part.

 

[LSP_Kevin]

That really looks amazing, John!

 

Kev

[MikeA]

Very cool! Would white glue/PVA do the trick? Just need to support it in place until the glue dries.

 

Cheers,

[Kagemusha]

Stunning work John. 

[dodgem37]

Good show.

 

''Now I need to figure out a way to attach them without marring the clear part.'

Future.

 

Sincerely,

Mark

[monthebiff]

Just catching up John, after the fight you have had with the nose it looks excellent! Cockpit looks extremely nice as well.

 

Regards. Andy