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

[Out2gtcha]

Great work John! Love the method here, which is similar to my own of dry fit dry fit dry fit, until you get to a place where glue can be confidently applied.

 

I too have this kit in my stash, but it's destined for the Shatton Me262 A-1/U4 Narwhal conversion. Fortunately, with that one, there is no fettling with all of Trumpeters open nose gun panels.

 

 

Looking forward to more!

[monthebiff]

Excellent progress John, as ever the Aires stuff is nicely detailed but can be apain to squeeze in at times.

 

Regards. Andy

[Thunnus]

Looking great! Do you have a link for those dremel tools? I may have to order a set!

 

Thank you!  I got the bit set on EBay.  Do a search on "diamond burr bit set" and you should find them  They are offered in different grit sizes.  I got the 240 grit and seems to be appropriate for the type of modeling that I do... 1/32 and 1/48 aircraft.

 

 

 

Looking great! If you want to get fancy with the nose gear you can grab two pliers and place one at the top of the nose gear wher the horizontal rotation point is and the other on the nose fork and very slowly apply a torsional twist to get the nose gear angled. This is exactly how I achieved a slight turn in my nose gear!

Cheers

Alan

 

Ps. With the main gear struts, it's recommended to trim 2mm off the lower oleo - to mimick the weight of the a/c on the landing gear... as is the main oleo extension is for an a/c that is airborne with no weight on the gear! I used the plastic main gear - it's strong enough to carry the weight of the kit!

 

Hmmm... might give the nose gear twist a try  just to give more of a dynamic pose.  I'm also thinking about shortening the main gear struts.  If I do, I'll probably strengthen the join using brass pins.

 

 

 

Great work John! Love the method here, which is similar to my own of dry fit dry fit dry fit, until you get to a place where glue can be confidently applied.

 

I too have this kit in my stash, but it's destined for the Shatton Me262 A-1/U4 Narwhal conversion. Fortunately, with that one, there is no fettling with all of Trumpeters open nose gun panels.

 

 

Looking forward to more!

 

Thanks, I'm getting more comfortable with the the resin stuff now that the nose area has been removed from the equation and I've found a positive attachment for the landing gear boxes.  Right now, I'm playing around with the fuselage pieces and doing some exterior cleanup of molding marks and figuring out if it would be better to add the lower ejector chute panels now.  I'm also in the process of repairing a broken model (190D-9, Black 1) which involves learning how to use a Silhouette Portrait to replace the wave markings on the tail band.  That has taken me temporarily away from this build.

 

 

 

Excellent progress John, as ever the Aires stuff is nicely detailed but can be apain to squeeze in at times.

 

Regards. Andy

 

Thanks Andy!  I'm also looking at upgrading the wiring on the Aires set.  In particular, the wiring on the back of the instrument panel and the wiring harness in the wheel well.  Resin does a great job with wire runs along a surface but not with wiring that hangs freely in the air.

[Thunnus]

Not necessarily associated with this build, I thought I'd share my latest acquisition. The Silhouette Portrait cutting machine is here.

 

I've been reading up on the Portrait prior to its arrival so that I could jump right into making custom painting masks.

 

A small roll of Oramask 810 vinyl masking material was procured ahead of time. It seemed to be the most frequently recommended masking material by modelers. If I didn't know any better, I would say that it is the same material that Montex uses for its masks.

 

Using a scan of a decal sheet which I imported into AutoCAD, I created a vector drawing file of some wave markings that I wanted to do, both outer and inner. I also created a couple of other test masks. Sometime in the future, I am going to do a Fw190D-9 with a Ta 152 tail. I have the kit and the Eagle Editions decal sheet for Brown 4, which is one of the documented "big tail Doras". Jerry Crandall's decal sheet asserts that the "4" is curved based on a photo but I've always thought that it was the curvature of the fuselage that was causing the curve in the number. So I scanned the decal sheet, created a straight version of the "4" as well as the small "4" found on the landing gear dooor and the Werknumber. The bundled software on the Portrait, which I preloaded onto a laptop, can directly read DXF files.

 

The Portrait can handle a wide variety of materials and I think you can feed the Oramask media, since it has a backing, straight into the machine but I was more confident with using the supplied adhesive mat.

 

With the mat loaded, the Portrait is ready to cut. I used the following blade settings: Blade: 1, Speed: 5, Thickness: 10 and saved the values as a custom setting.

 

I pressed SEND on the software interface and the Portrait began to do its thing. Very similar to an inkjet printer but instead of spraying ink, the blade is cutting. After a few minutes, the activity stopped and the mat is ready to be unloaded. Wow... the cut is so fine that I can't even see it! I ejected the media and took a closer look... hey, it didn't cut anything even though I was watching the cutter move.

 

 

I soon recognized that I had not seated the blade cartridge fully! Rectified the problem and pressed SEND again. This time I DO see the cuts!

 

I pulled the Oramask off of the sticky mat and took the masks to my modeling table to have a closer look. The cutter is so precise that the backing material was not cut.

Edited April 14, 2018 by Thunnus

[Thunnus]

Back at the lab, I inspected the masks more closely. The cuts looked very good and I didn't see any obvious defects.

 

 

I decided to test the smallest mask first: the Werk Number. During the cutting process some of the mask interior pieces lifted off of the backing. Which is not an issue since these pieces will not be necessary in the masking process.

 

 

The mask behaves just like the Montex masks. Excess bits of the mask were carefully removed with a needle and tweezers.

 

 

Success!

 

https://s6.postimg.cc/eousb7gz5/IMG_2390.jpg

 

I don't know how small you can go with the Portrait but I'm impressed that I was able to get a decent mask for 1/32 Werk Numbers. The block-style of the lettering helped, I think.

 

 

Next was a test of the wave marking. Since I was able to create custom masks for this, I thought I'd explore a different paint order than what you'd commonly find in a set of Montex Masks. First I applied the outer mask and painted the whole area white.

 

 

I removed the outer mask and applied the smaller mask outline over the white area. Normally, with a Montex mask, you'd use black on first mask and then, leaving the outer mask in place, you place the wave marking itself in the center of the painted area leaving the white outline to be painted last. Well, I had a hard time centering that second mask and in my haste to document this process, I didn't give the white paint enough time to dry. So the wave marking test turned out a little messy. But that's operator error and I'm very confident that I'll get a great result using these masks.

 

 

As a final test, I tried the Brown 4 masks... perfect!

 

 

I'm pretty positive after my first experience with the Portrait cutter. The wave marking didn't turn out that well but I'm sure that this was caused by my errors and not from the masks themselves. This is a pretty powerful tool for modelers and I highly recommend one for those that are seeking to reduce their reliance on decals.

Edited April 14, 2018 by Thunnus

[Kahunaminor]

Great tutorial John.

 

The more I see these machines in use, the more I am beginning to need one!

 

Regards,

[Trak-Tor]

Great!

I need to test this...

I wonder if it cuts thin plastic as well...

 

Juraj

[Thunnus]

Thanks guys!  The Portrait was extremely easy to use, especially if you have the ability to create DXF files.  I'm just beginning to get a grasp of what this machine is capable of doing.  

 

 

John, you are going to so love using your new cutter.  I have to say that as a tool it is one of the best buys I have ever made.  With your mad skills almost anything is possible  What I like most of all is you can go from idea, to cut mask and then to sprayed markings very, very quickly. and it is such FUN!  I would say that you will need more masking materials straight away.  As you will love the ability to just jump on the computer and whip something up in a flash.  You might look into getting some transfer tape so you can move more complex masks all as one piece the weed them on the model.  Have fun and enjoy!

 

 

Dan

 

Thanks Dan!  I definitely want to track down some transfer tape... do you have any recommendations?

[Gazzas]

John,

    Man, you're way ahead of me and I've had my cutter longer!

 

I've found that the cutter doesn't work well with the Oramask on characters under 1mm tall.  I tried to do a 1/48 scale Werke nummer for a 109, and too many of the parts of the characters were lifted off, especially characters that have a hollow part like 6's, 8's, and 0's. 

 

I have some Foto Frisket, but haven't tried using it, on the cutter.

 

Gaz

[Thunnus]

John,

Man, you're way ahead of me and I've had my cutter longer!

 

I've found that the cutter doesn't work well with the Oramask on characters under 1mm tall. I tried to do a 1/48 scale Werke nummer for a 109, and too many of the parts of the characters were lifted off, especially characters that have a hollow part like 6's, 8's, and 0's.

 

I have some Foto Frisket, but haven't tried using it, on the cutter.

 

Gaz

We can help each other then, Gaz. My initial tests have gone well but I still have lots to learn. I think I was pushing the limits of the small end with those 1/32 Werk Numbers. I can't imagine being very successful with anything smaller but who knows.

 

Very busy at work and home so I haven't had much time to work on the 262. Associated with the distinctive hard mottle pattern, Yellow 3 had a wooden tail. I don't have much detail regarding this tail but I'm taking a guess and filling in the rivets and panel lines on the upper half of the tail. It was a two-part process with the initial filling done with Mr Dissolved Putty, which I find shrinks much less than Mr Surfacer. I used Mr Surfacer 1200 for the 2nd round.

 

 

 

 

The fuselage hatch was glued into place. Fit was not the greatest. I haven't documented the process but I have been going over the surface of the fuselage with sandpaper and a scriber. The surface of fuselage was inconsistent. Shiny and smooth in most areas but noticeably rough and pebbly along the edges. There was also a fairly prominent mold seam along the lower fuselage that needed to be cleaned up. Some of the recessed panel lines are shallow so I am trying to make them all uniform.

 

 

 

To close the gaps around the hatch, I used Milliput White. Using the tip of a cocktail stick, I forcibly pushed and rolled the Milliput into the crevices.

 

 

 

Milliput is water soluble before it sets. I like to use this characteristic to clean the putty joint as much as possible before it hardens. I wet the the putty with water-soaked paint brush. And then using a dampened piece of paper towel, I wipe excess Milliput putty away, leaving a clean line of putty in the gap. Similar to removing a panel wash. This is a great way of filling a gap along a panel line or recessed corner without having to sand.

 

 

 

The lower forward covers were also glued into place at this time. They were treated in the same way as the hatch but additional puttying and sanding might be necessary along the top joint.

 

 

 

 

At some point soon, I'm going to have to commit to the Aires cockpit/wheel set and start some of the tedious removal along the inside surfaces and wings. I think I'm almost ready to do that.

Edited April 14, 2018 by Thunnus

[alaninaustria]

Good progress!! I like the Milliput trick!

After seeing your progress with the Silouette cutter - I am going to have to buy one of those at some point!

Cheers

Alan

[Out2gtcha]

Great work John! They are indeed pretty dang handy little pieces of equipment eh? 

 

 
Success!
 
https://s6.postimg.org/eousb7gz5/IMG_2390.jpg
 
I don't know how small you can go with the Portrait but I'm impressed that I was able to get a decent mask for 1/32 Werk Numbers.  The block-style of the lettering helped, I think.

 
 
To answer that question John, pretty dang small..............
These are codes I made with my Portrait for Glen of Kitty Hawk for the OV-10A I built him. The "OV-10A" code letters here are roughly 2 - 2.5mm high:
 

[Thunnus]

Good to know Brian! I'm just stoked to have such a useful tool. Wasn't cheap but it wasn't too expensive either. It should pay for itself by the end of the year, based on decals/masks that I no longer have to buy.

 

On with the 262 build. Having played with the Aires resin set for some time now, I feel fairly confident that I can make it work. So now it's time to commit and start hacking at the kit plastic. The resin cockpit/wheel well tub cannot fit until the molded details on the insides of the fuselage are removed so I'll start there.

 

 

 

I use my Tamiya cutters to remove the bigger protrusions and then a stone grinding head on a Dremel to remove the ribs. Coarse sandpaper is then used to even out the surface.

 

 

 

Ok, that's done. Once I get closer to attaching the resin tub to the fuselage, I may have to thin these areas but we can stop for now.

 

 

 

I also have to remove the main landing gear boxes molded into the upper wings.

 

 

 

Due to the depth of the resin box, I have to perform some thinning of the inner wing surfaces as well grinding down the height of the resin box. So much so that I've broken through the roof of the resin box. Not a big deal here since the main landing gear mounting hole is reinforced by big rib running north/south through the mount.

 

 

 

Repeated iterations of sanding and dry-fitting get me closer to an acceptable fit. The main thing here is to make sure that top and bottom wing halves close naturally without having the resin box increase the depth of the wing, which would result in a step at the wing root when the wings are attached to the fuselage.

 

 

 

 

I also have to check to see if the wheel wells are oriented correctly within the wheel well opening and that the landing gear mounting holes are clear of the opening edges.

 

 

 

Removals at the wing root of the fuselage are also necessary to allow the new boxes to fit unimpeded.

 

 

 

You can see that my removals have poked through the surface of the wing root, I need to make sure this area is reinforced before any glue hits this area. Note the sink mark caused by the big mounting tab on other side, There are a few of these that need to be addressed.

 

 

 

Slipping the wings onto the fuselage shows me that the new wheel boxes have been accommodated. That's one piece of the puzzle. The big cockpit/wheel well tub assembly is the bigger piece and I'll have to tackle that carefully.

 

 

 

I can't make an accurate assessment of the fit with the resin pieces sliding around. So I need to connect some parts together. The tub and rear bulkhead is a smooth butt joint and can't be held together with Blu-Tack or tape. So I am going to temporarily glue them together with white glue. We'll let that dry before we continue.

Edited April 14, 2018 by Thunnus

[Thunnus]

After the resin tub and rear bulkhead were glued together, I tried another round of dry-fitting. The main resin tub components seemed to fit without too much trouble. I had to cut the ends off of the forward resin spar so that it would fit within the fuselage extension at the wing but other than that, it seemed to be a preliminary thumbs-up. The view into the wheel wells represents the main attraction of this Aires set with lots of fine detail along all of the walls. There are a bunch of other small parts... spars, braces and even resin wiring runs and I'll have to figure out the construction order (What do I paint first? What do I glue in place first?).

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cockpit tub doesn't contact the fuselage sides except at the sill so no thinning of the fuselage sides is necessary.

 

 

 

 

 

That was a major effort so I breathed a sigh of relief and occupied myself with a smaller detail. I'm going to cut the main landing gear legs down a few millimeters. I haven't gone through the effort of gauging the actual stance of my 262 but I've read enough builds to trust this step will be ok. If not, I always have the metal legs to fall back on.

 

 

 

 

To give the legs some strength, I'm using brass tubing to reinforce the joint.

 

 

 

 

Here are the cut-down plastic legs compared to the full length metal legs.

 

Edited April 14, 2018 by Thunnus

[alaninaustria]

Great work so far!!

Cheers

Alan