Me410 B6/R2 ProModeler (Completed)

Sweet stuff! Congrats on your first Luftwaffe bird. Can't wait to see that pe in use. Let the Mottling begin!

Well, progress continues. I managed to complete the assembly of the cockpit. Adding in all the PE stuff was a learning process. I definitely need to invest in some CA accelerator. It went together with no real worries. I made sure to move slow and test fit everything a few times and the only issues I had were the instructions are a bit vague on exactly how they want certain pieces to be laid down in various areas. With a little patience I was able to get it all sorted out. I only knocked the control levers off 3 times, so yeah me!! 

So far I am happy with the fit of the pieces of this kit. I have had very little sanding to do and there is very very little flash on the small stuff but not really all that bad. The kit is pretty tight overall. The painting instructions in this kit are far too broad and could use a lot more detail on exactly where certain colors are to start and end. I found this challenging in the cockpit, mostly because this is the first German plane I have assembled. It is coming along nicely and I am pleased with it. 

In the next shot you can see the very tiny control levers that were challenging to install as they only have the thickness of the PE to stand on. 

And here we are getting ready to my wash with artist oils. Before and after shots...

And finally, the cockpit is in place and the fuselage halves are drying. As you can see by the photo, the cockpit fit the two fuselage halves very well. No complaints here.  

Gonna let it sit today and work on my "Hell-er-Bust" kit. Back later gents.

I just finished a 1/48 P-40 office i was rather proud of....that is until I saw this post  :(

WOW is all i can muster at this point

Great start Brandon.  That PE really makes a difference.  I'm curious to how this one will go together.

Joe

Thanks guys, I appreciate it.

Joe, so far it has been a very nice kit with no fit issues. But now the real issues, if there are any will show up.

BrandonK

Thanks guys, I appreciate it.

Joe, so far it has been a very nice kit with no fit issues. But now the real issues, if there are any will show up.

Have you dry fitted the canopy??

Nathan T

BrandonK

Thanks guys, I appreciate it.

Joe, so far it has been a very nice kit with no fit issues. But now the real issues, if there are any will show up.

Have you dry fitted the canopy??

Nah, I'm just gonna use toothpicks and cling wrap. I'm sure it will look fine. 

I've just seen how it can be a trouble spot on this kit. It seems to take a fair amount of blending in to fit the fuselage profile.

Well, I will be on the look out then. But hey, I finished the Revell Corsair, and nothing has fit problems like that one, right?

Well, I had a chance to spend some time with the canopy on this bird and quickly discovered that you really need to assemble it first and then attach it to the plane. To attempt to put this set on piece by piece would be an exercise in rage. But, I put it together and found to my amazement, it's a near perfect fit. I won't have any gaps to fill. This kit is going together like a dream. I am very pleased with it. The lower nose panel and front glass are perfectly aligned as well. So far the modeling gods are shining down on this one.

Nicely done so far Brandon. =]

GAH !!!!!!  Mental note..... don't trust the paints to be the correct RLM colors, even when they say they are a certain code.

Anywho,  I was painting a bunch of small pieces with Mr. Color RLM02 and I thought things looked a bit too green for my taste so I went and checked the color against the RLM chips on iModelKit. Well, it wasn't even close. So, using the app I spent a few hours going through all the RLM chips and playing with my mixes in the app using Tamiya paints and I managed to get very close on nearly all the RLM codes and nearly perfect on a couple. So, I mixed up a new batch and sprayed everything, AGAIN, and it looks like a near perfect match. I should have taken shots but I was focused on getting the color right and spaced it off. Maybe I can do a pic with the Mr Color lid and the painted parts so you can see the difference.

I then checked my previous interior RLM66 against the apps paint chips for RLM and found it is not dark enough, too grey. Oh well, too late for that now, but all the other colors will be correct RLM chip matched. If you haven't downloaded that app, it's free and it works with nearly all the paint suppliers and has nearly all the country's paint codes and sample chips with the ability for you to set up custom mixes to match those colors. It really made a big difference for me. I'll post more pics this weekend.

Nice to see this being done as a WiP as well.

Bish,

Thanks, I hope folks are enjoying this one. It is really a very well fit kit and is falling together for the most part. I am pleased.

Brandon

Dammit boy! Looking good so far in that pit Brandon! I do love me some 410's!!!!

Alright gents, I managed to get the interior detail and tiny work done, and there is plenty of that. I got the canopy dialed in where I like it and glued in place and the wings are together. Now that all the tedious work is mostly done this build should really pick up speed.

Nice clean work on this build. Glad you got the canopy in without fuss. Time to start Mottling!

Looking really nice. I'm enjoying following along here!

I've been making some good progress of late so here is where I sit today.

I managed to get the wings attached and they hold much better than I thought they would so I am no longer worried about them snapping off. I also got it primed yesterday and painted all the panel lines today. I used a new technique this time on the panel line shading. Rather than airbrush them like normal I decided to try a fat tipped acrylic pen in gloss black and simply traced them out using that. It was much easier, faster and came out perfect.

I also managed today to get down the RLM 76 on the underside and sides of the fuselage and now it is curing out. I will hit the upper surface tomorrow with the lighter of the two remaining colors. I also mixed all the colors for this paint job using my iModelKit app on my phone to match the colors to the RLM chips, mainly because I found the "RLM" paints in the bottles to be willfully lacking in accuracy. My ROM 76 is a bit more grey than the chip but much closer than my Mr Color's were. So, all in all I am pretty happy with it.

I also started using Mr Color/Gunze paints and once you get the thinning figured out they spray very nicely and cover very well. I also think the end result using them over Tamiya is better and more durable. The Tamiya paints are easier to spray but I am not happy with the end result like I am with Mr. Color.

Once I get the three colors RLM 74 75 76 down, it will be time to start mottling. Yeah !!

Painting looks real nice. Although I can't imagine Gunze's rlm colors being that far off. Gunze is all I spray and I find their colors to be dead on to any Luftwaffe color ref out there. I'm not familiar with the tint of the color chips as I normally find those to be out of wack, and that maybe due to viewing them on a computer screen and not in person. The preshading looks like it all but disappeared, and I find that its almost useless to pre shade under colors such as rlm 74/75, as they are a bit dark. Much better to post shade over those 2 colors.

Ya, the pre-shading can't be seen in the photos at all, but your eye does pick up on it just a tad, which is where I wanted it. I got lucky on this one and the paint really cooperated going down. I need to "blue" that shade up a tad it's just  a bit to grey.

The reason I find the paints off is they all seem way too light in color compared to the chips from several sources. But yes, I agree there is some variation when viewing them on different computers and not with an actual paint chip in hand. I had the chance to see some color war footage of German planes and I couldn't believe how much darker the tones were over what we see in modeling. And it was a really good color film, not that crappy re-color stuff you see. So, that's kinda what got me started off on the track to see if I couldn't get my mix a bit closer. Trial and error all the way. 

And you nailed it on the darker colors, post shading is the only thing that will work well there. So that's where we are heading.  Thanks for commenting, it is helpful. 

I was just beside myself with disgust at how the colors turned out on this so I am respraying the whole thing with new colors. I think these are a better match than before. I have two of the three down and it is looking more like I had intended. Here is the before and after shots of the underside.

Today was a banner day. I tried my first mottling job. I have had NO practice I just read some forums, watched a few vids and set to work. I first disconnected my Iwata hp-cs and hooked up my Badger Sotar 20/20 which has an extra fine needle. I turned down my air pressure to about 8 psi and thinned my Mr Color paints until they would spray at that low pressure. It was almost effortless using that combination. I actually enjoyed the process better than regular air brushing. I am very pleased with the outcome, especially since I've never done this before and I was quite worried I would botch the whole thing up and flip out.

Here is the before and after the color change shots I spoke of last time.

It's difficult to tell by the photos but the colors are quite different. The second shot is the final color. 

Here is how the mottling turned out.  It's nearly there now.

Sweet!  That looks fantastic!

Groot

Hey Brandon, your mottle job looks very good!  It's easy to over do it on the mottle but yours looks just right.

Steve

Had you not said anything , It would appear you were an old pro at this. Nice job.

Looks great !    TY for posting the air comp. settings etc. for the motling.  I am no longer afraid to try this because of your explaination.

Your paint work looks great Brandon!   I noted your comment about the Sotar 20/20.  I have as brand-new one that I've never used yet; do you have any observations/critiques/suggestions to make about that AB?  Thanks, Gary.

Texgunner

Your paint work looks great Brandon!   I noted your comment about the Sotar 20/20.  I have as brand-new one that I've never used yet; do you have any observations/critiques/suggestions to make about that AB?  Thanks, Gary.

I would say that this little guy loves lower pressure and sprays best at the lower pressure. It is made for super fine, hair like detail work and pushing it to do larger scale work is frustrating. That is why I use it for panel lines, small details and now mottling. It excels at it and really shines. I have found that it can even repair chips in the paint from tape pull off without masking due to its up close ability. I found that I can even work along a hard paint line with it up close and personal and not get overspray over the line. My Iwata does the heavy lifting but the Badger rocks the small stuff. 

I also found that it comes with two shields for the tip. One protects the needle and the other leaves it exposed. For some odd reason I can't get it to spray well with the shield on, so I run it with the tip out there where it can get damaged and it sprays very well. Not sure why that is, perhaps its just me. I am just super extra careful not to hit it or catch it on anything.