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

[adameliclem]

John, the rolled-up screen looks great. Foil from a candy wrapper? Who knew? Great idea.

 

Adam

[dashotgun]

beautiful work as always  john

 

[Thunnus]

Thanks guys!  Hope you are all having a wonderful Holiday Season!  Such a strange year for almost everyone I think.

 

Using the same candy wrapper (Ferrero Rocher, if you must know), I re-cut the curtain pieces so that the crosshatch texture would be at an angle.

 

 

Thanks to the great suggestions on how to attach the curtains.  I chose to use dabs of white glue along the canopy frames to attach the rolled-up curtains.  Hopefully, I've avoided any visible glue marks.

 

 

I started masking the clear pieces using the wonderful Eduard masks.  The armored glass was previously masked and painted in dark grey (RLM 66, Mr Hobby Aqueous) and was glued into position after the windscreen masks were applied.  (Sorry Johnie... I elected not to represent the wiring for the heating element within the armored glass)  The Revi 16C gun sight was glued into position at this time.

 

 

Before the clear pieces were glued into place, I made one last adjustment to the radio, which was finally glued in.  The radio leads were painted dark blue per Vincent K's suggestion, although I kept a random strand in yellow just for visibility.

 

 

I've decided to glue the clear parts into place before I mount the wings.  I thought it would be easier to address any of the joint clean-up without the wings in the way.  First the windscreen...

 

 

And then the two hinged canopies.  All of the clear parts have been glued using Tamiya Extra Thin cement as a little bit of force was needed to get the parts to sit down.

 

 

It's very difficult to judge any joint involving a clear part without any paint on it. So the interior color, dark grey, was sprayed onto the canopy frames and along the joints.  As you can see, the fit is pretty good although there are some noticeable gaps that need to be closed, especially around the windscreen.

 

[scvrobeson]

Truly excellent work John.  Always like your problem solving ability on these builds.  Hope the windscreen fits a bit smoother when glue is applied.

 

 

 

Matt 

[dodgem37]

Good show.  Beautifully rendered cockpit.

 

Sincerely,

Mark

[alaninaustria]

Really awesome work so far John!

Cheers

Alan

[Dpgsbody55]

More wonderful work here.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

 

PS.  Note to self;  must buy some Ferrero Rocher.......

Edited December 26, 2020 by Dpgsbody55

[Thunnus]

Thanks for checking in guys!  I hope everyone is having a wonderful winter!

 

Only engine components at the intake end and exhaust end are going to be painted.

 

 

And only the basic structure of the engine will be constructed.  Revell includes some detail bits and pieces that I am leaving off since the engine will be sealed off from view.

 

 

The initial gluing the halves of the engine nacelles together feels very vague.  But each additional piece adds a bit more rigidity to the structure.

 

 

The fit of the engine nacelles is not very good.  Methinks I'll be spending quite a bit of time smoothing out the joints and re-scribing and riveting both nacelles.

 

 

Work on the fuselage is wrapping up as I finish fairing in the clear parts.  No work on the wings is needed until the engine nacelles are joined.

 

 

Here's a dry-fit of all of the major components.  The wing/fuselage fit looks pretty good with some minor gaps at the wing root that might go away once the proper wing dihedral is established.

 

[Kagemusha]

I'm thoroughly enjoying this build John, you really are getting the very best out of it.

[Thunnus]

3 hours ago, Kagemusha said:

I'm thoroughly enjoying this build John, you really are getting the very best out of it.

 

Glad you are enjoying it!

 

The cleanup around the windscreen is just about finished.

 

 

The rivets around the nose cap have been removed to reflect the wood construction in this area.

 

 

Prior to gluing the wings into place, I've placed tabs to reinforce the joint.

 

 

The wings are glued into place and the fit is very good all around.  Just some minor sanding and finishing with a little bit of putty work on the port wing root joint.

 

 

With the wings finally attached, I can secure the loose ends of the wiring in the wheel wells.  There will be one set of hydraulic lines hanging loose which will be attached to the landing gear leg actuators, which will be glued in later.

 

[scvrobeson]

Excellent update John.  Even though I know it was a bunch of work, it all looks like it was meant to go together that way.  The riveting work definitely does add a certain amount of "weight" to the model.  Makes it seem a lot less like plastic bits, and more like an airplane.

 

 

Matt 

Edited May 30, 2022 by scvrobeson

[Thunnus]

Thanks Matt!  I know not everyone agrees with my decision to apply rivets to the model but I feel like this surface detail adds to the visual interest and also helps give a better impression of complexity/mass.  Plus it is relatively subtle compared to the molded rivets found on the Trumpeter model, which I elected not to remove.  Just a personal choice and I totally understand the modeler that doesn't add rivets to the Revell Me262 model.

 

The biggest gap in the wing/fuselage fit is the easiest to address.  Some White Milliput forced into the gap at the forward wing root and then cleaned up with a paper towel moistened with water.  No further work will be necessary here.

 

The other areas are being refined with putty work, re-scribing and riveting.  Like the other areas, the brown pastel wash will be scrubbed away after photos.

 

[Thunnus]

Something that I just noticed looking at archive photos of Red 10.  It appears that Red 10 had the older style enclosed tail light?

 

 

Looks like I'll have to modify the rudder accordingly since Revell has depicted the later exposed bulb tail light...

 

[Radub]

56 minutes ago, Thunnus said:

Something that I just noticed looking at archive photos of Red 10.  It appears that Red 10 had the older style enclosed tail light?

 

 

Looks like I'll have to modify the rudder accordingly since Revell has depicted the later exposed bulb tail light...

 

Before you cut the part make sure you double-check all photos. That may be repair’, repaint or a “patch”. That kind of clear dome over the tail light would be unusual.

Radu

[Thunnus]

2 hours ago, Radub said:

Before you cut the part make sure you double-check all photos. That may be repair’, repaint or a “patch”. That kind of clear dome over the tail light would be unusual.

Radu

 

Thank you Radu!  I would like to avoid any unnecessary modifications so I would prefer to leave the rudder as is.  But the only other photo of the tail of Red 10 seems to indicate the enclosed light as well.  You can almost make out what appears to be actual light bulb within the enclosure.

 

 

Although the resolution is not great, it should be sufficient to show the small blister that characterized the exposed bulb configuration.  Compare with this photo of Red 12...

 

 

I've held off on any modifications to the rudder for the time being.

Edited December 28, 2020 by Thunnus