Tamiya 1/48 Me-262 "White 3" Completed-07/08

Yes light coats !

mustang1989

Now working top side....

 

Love the results. She's gonna be one great looker when completed.

Thank you Nick and Ernie. So far.....so good.

'Preciate you stoppin' in Johnny. Hope all is well with you friend. 

Got the topside colors on and was hoping for a little better definition on the mottle pattern. I might come back over it with some more over the weekend. Disregard the hard demarcation line between the upper and lower colors on the gun bay doors as that one piece panel is temporarily in place while the paint work is going on. I'll be going with the opened up panel piece after all that's done. Here we are as of now.

looking good!

Thanks John. 

Ya know.....the more I look at my reference the more I think that I can do better than that. I think I'm gonna have another go at those sides. I spent too much time trying to cover the sharp horizontal demarcation lines on the upper camo pattern on the sides of the fuselage and ended up covering too much of the sides with the dark color. I'll be getting that taken care of.....and soon.

Joe that's some terrific mottling camo! 

mustang1989

Got the topside colors on and was hoping for a little better definition on the mottle pattern. I might come back over it with some more over the weekend. Disregard the hard demarcation line between the upper and lower colors on the gun bay doors as that one piece panel is temporarily in place while the paint work is going on. I'll be going with the opened up panel piece after all that's done. Here we are as of now.

 

Maybe I will bring it off the disabled list this weekend and see what I can do for it...

Thanks Chad and Justin. I decided to give the sides another "go" this morning by painting some RLM 76 on the sides and then working in the mottle pattern again only this time a little higher up on the sides.

To Recap.

Before:

aaaand after....

I applied the gloss coat on the top side yesterday using Vallejo's Acrylic Gloss. Dunno what it is about acrylic glosses but it was fairly difficult for me to apply (probably because I thinned to down too much) and it puddled in a few areas on the starboard wing. Gimme some lacquer based clear and I can work wonders with it but this stuff is like me trying to speak a foreign language!

Anyhow.....I sanded the irregularities out of the gloss , touched up some paint where I burned through in the sanding process and re-applied the gloss this morning. Cals are coming up next......

mustang1989

I applied the gloss coat on the top side yesterday using Vallejo's Acrylic Gloss. Dunno what it is about acrylic glosses but it was fairly difficult for me to apply (probably because I thinned to down too much) and it puddled in a few areas on the starboard wing. Gimme some lacquer based clear and I can work wonders with it but this stuff is like me trying to speak a foreign language!

Anyhow.....I sanded the irregularities out of the gloss , touched up some paint where I burned through in the sanding process and re-applied the gloss this morning. Cals are coming up next......

 

Good morning Joe. Yea buddy I hear ya on the application issues. We get accustomed to a specific type of paint and clear and do wonders with it then along comes the changes that throw a wrench at the progress. I too have been experimenting Vallejo and seems to be going on ok but not as well as with my Model Master enamels. Did you get any pebbly or grainy finish with the Vallejo clear? I haven’t shot the clear yet but have a small bottle with the paint stash.

Back to your 262, the mottling looks fantastico and can’t wait to see the decals on that bad boy.

Paint job came out great, Joe.

You're not the only one who's struggled spraying acrylic clears. Glad you got the Vallejo to more or less work, it is perhaps my least favorite of all the clears I've tried to spray. It lays down great with a paint brush, though!

Hi;

 Now you know why I use craft clears on my models, Craftint or another brand that is also sold at Hobby Lobby. I never had luck with either Tamiya or Vallejo clears. Or, I will raid my stash for Testors Model Master Clear or Model Master, Boyd's Clear. They work better than anything.

Thanks Ernie, Greg and TB. I appreciate the comments and the input.

Been going on with the decals for the last few days. Those #3's were giving me a little static but other than that everything else worked out well. NOTE......Do NOT EVER purchase decals from Peddinghaus. OMG they're bad. I only used the big 3's and the tail number out of the whole set. Just terrible in termos fo out of scale stencil lettering and walkway red dashed lines. It was like there was little to no research on them at all. For the rest of the stenciling decals and markings I used everything from the EagleCals set that I started out with on this one before I decided to build "White 3". 

Hi;

 Promise not to laugh? I love the way your Bird looks Right Now! This Very Minute!! That is one Bad&**^% looking "Swallow"

Wow! that basing turned out great Joe.  I've heard that about those decals and have avoided them for that reason.  Techmod is garbage too FYI.  Probably the coolest 383 Silverado I've ever seen. When I get my GTO someday we'll race!...  

Thanks TB and Joe!! 

You'll have to pop me some pics of that GTO when you buy it. I'm a sucker for an older musclecar. 

Got the washes on and went with a friends advice and applied a light colored wash on the bottom and worked my way to darker washes on the sides and then darker for the topside.

and then I applied the dull coat over the entire aircraft. Got some subtle weathering, soot signatures from the guns and some silvering to do around the edges of the access panels and the painting/ weathering process will be done. Then it's off to landing gear, canopy and finishing bits.....

That looks great Joe. Love the mottling. 

Thanks Ernie!! 

Been a bit since I've been in here. Lots going on at the house these days. LOTS!!! 

This will most likely be my last update till I post the finishing shots of her which aint all that far away. Still got the canopy to paint and install, gun bay doors to display opened up, aerial antenna and last little detail parts to install. She's on her feet now....

A couple of weeks ago I had a very good friend of mine lose his battle with the after effects of Covid-19. Stuff just left him with next to nothing for lung capacity and he had spent the last two months in the hospital in and out of the ICU and it was finally looking up for him the week before he passed away. My loss is nothing to the loss his wife and four kids are feeling right now. The oldest was 20 and the youngest was 12. My wife and I are helping them out by staying close and helpful yet still giving them their space in which to grieve. 

It's been pretty tough the last week or so now that the out of town funeral and the local memorial services over and I haven't been on here in a while so I decided to take today off to finish this build up. I'm pretty dang happy with most all of this build but I didn't like the way the sindscreen assembly fit onto the fuselage and ended up removing it after I took the original pictures, sanding the fuselage/ windscreen joints and reinstalling for a much cleaner look. I have posted the updated frontal pictures to reflect that change. Whew.....that was a close one!! Thought I was gonna have to either do some surgery or heavy duty paint work.

Anyhow......after 6 + months here's the completed build. I'd like to thank Bish (Martin) for hosting a great group build. Awesome work by you buddy. I may try another aircraft build soon after I get through with my AMT '67 Mustang Fastback build that I'll be starting up with next.

Sorry to hear about your friend.  I feel for his family.  
The kit turned out great.  Love the finish and detailed gun bay.  Well done. 

Thanks John! 

Really appreciate the comments on both subjects.

This kit really is "all that".

Superb, Joe!

KInd of you to support the family, that's what is most important now.

I’m so sorry about your friend , you have my condolences. 

On a more positive note, great looking 262. The paint looks superb. 

Hey Joe. Great job here. Glad I popped back on here and caught it. 6 months is fast for me nowadays =] so don't sweat it. Happy to see you come back after that repaint on the fuselage. Grab that bull by the horns! I love the cockpit details too. Very solid.

Thank you John, Ernie, Johnny and Britt for you kind words of advice and encouragement. I've got my Mustang build but am certainly looking forward to my next aircraft build. I've got plenty of Luftwaffe subjects to keep me busy for a looooooooooong time.

Truly sorry to hear of the loss of your buddy, Joe.

That is one supurb-looking aircraft. Great job.