ME-262: Reich Defender II 10/09-7/10

Hey Frank, thanks a lot for the help on the colours. I really want to get it right and Tamiya only give out their numbers. In this case AS-3 and AS-4 uppers. My aircraft of choice is white 2  W.Nr 170071 of  Erprobungskommando 262, whatever that means. Im sure you know Frank. I know one of the colours are Grauviolet but want to get the green correct.

Thanks in advance, Steve

Steve- Really some phenomenal work there, great pics too!  Glad to hear Mike got you sorted out on the paint.  He is correct, 76 for the undersides and 83 (most likely) on top.  I recently have acquired a few new 262 reference books, and if you can tell me the aircraft you are modeling, I may be able to help more.

Bish- I am happy to see V186 here!  Certainly an interesting aircraft, with that rocket hanging under the tail.  Your mottle looks very good indeed, especially for a first attempt!  I was going to ask you if those were the kit decals, and looked at page one to see what scale.  This is 1/72?  Incredible stuff!

SupressionFire- By all means, to the group build!  I have added you to the roster on page 1.  Believe it or not, I ALMOST bought that very kit last week, after seeing that it comes with the little Kettenkrad!  I finished Eduard's little 262 a little while back, and am looking forward to seeing how this new model compares.

Can you believe it?  This makes 40 participants!  Great to see so many Sturmbirds being built here, and some unusual versions to make it even sweeter.  And, we have 1/144, 1/72, 1/48, and 1/32 kits being built.  Has anyone seen this kit?  A 1/18 ME-262, WOW!

MPM 1/18 ME-262

Daywalker Hello! Would like to join this group build, just bought a kit today that qualifies. Should be able to make the deadline as its a 1/144 Me 262 A1

Afraid i haven't been on much this week mainly down to my bloody slow connection. So i gave the net a miss and concentrated on my modelling. Some great work here, Steve that looks great, some amazing work you have there.

Mine has come on well this week. Got two lots of pics. The first lot were taken last Sunday after it had been masked and was ready for the top half to be painted.

It then got the first colour, RLM 82 on Monday night, and on Wed it got the RLM 81. Both are Xtracolour Gloss Enamels. I then spent last night and most of today putting on the decals in small stages. and here is how she looks now.

I am rather pleased with the motteling on the tail. This is my first time doing that and wasn't nearly as bad as i had expected. Though i doubt it would have been so easy with my older cheap compressor which had poor airflow and no way of adjusting the pressure.

Next it will get a coat of future to seal the decals and then i will be trying Pro Modeller wash for the first time. Managed to find somwhere over here that does it and it arrived on thurs, just in time.

Thanks for the comments guys, had a night off tonight but hope to get bac to the bench tomorrow and finish off some small details and then prep for masking and paint

Steve

mucker

Mike and Steve...that's some outstanding work! Keep the progress pics coming!

Mike and Steve...that's some outstanding work! Keep the progress pics coming!

Thanks Steve, mine is just the normal version not the clear edition. Your making great progress, cant wait to see these clear ones finished, you've put in a lot of work. I think I'm correct in saying you need RLM76 and RLM83, I'm sure someone will confirm if I'm right.

Cheers...

Thanks Fred, you are correct I am doing one side visable and the other side painted. You can see that I have one side with just the nozzles and rear installed and the other fully plummed. Tamiya give enough parts to do both engines both ways, and I amgoing to put the spare engine on the dolly cart for display. I checked photos on the net and tried to get them as close as possible. The manufactors seem to have at least 4 or 5 versions of what the engines look like from what Ive seen. My mind is racing as to the way I am going to mask this thing for how its going to be displayed. Speaking of paint, what are the normal paint codes for this period especially the underside blue, is it 76 or 65. The top I know is Grauviolet and it just says dark german green, what would be that code of green???. Help

Steve

Sweet looking build, Steve!  Are you going to leave both engines visible, or paint the nacelle on the one that wasn't plumbed?

I did notice, on the engines, that there are details that Trumpeter missed (that I ended up building myself) and there are details on the Trumpeter that Tamiya missed.  I can never figure out why any one company goes through the trouble of getting the details 90% correct and then misses the simple stuff.  On your engine, there's a small bulkhead that acts as a hydraulic junction.  On the real Jumos, a lot of small hydro lines and electrical lines connect through that bulkhead.  Trumpeter missed it completely.  I ended up scratchbuilding it.  I don't mind, but i don't think I should have had to.

Anyway, looking forward to seeing it painted up - have fun masking  

-Fred

Mike the interior work looks great, we are building the same kit it seems. I recognize all the parts.

OK gents one last look before I buttoned up the fuselage. I added a lot of wiring under the pit and the rear fuselage as well as extras to the engines. I just wanted to jazz up things and add a bit of visuall interest. None of it is official just where I presumed you would see a lot of wiring so dont hang me on accuracy.

All the parts ready to go

and thank goodness it all fit and showes pretty good. Only fit problem was a small gap at the nose that will need a bit of filler. The rest quite litreally snapped together. BTW this is my first Tamiya build and I am loving it

It is flying together now and at the rate its going it will be time for paint soon. Thanks for looking and any critique is welcome

Steve

Thanks Fred thats great, I think i'll stick with what I've done so far then. Hope to get the fuselage done up this weekend.

Cheers...

Almost all of my reference pictures show bare aluminum main gear wells, inside flap colors are either RLM02 or white.  I do see the occassional half-a$$ed application of some sort of blue-green color in some wells, but I'd go with bare aluminum.

The nose well references are sketchy.  I've seen bare aluminum and RLM66 - seems to be your choice.

-Fred

Thanks guys for your comments. I just noticed that the camera shows up the odd little streak or something in a wash here and there, sorry if it sounded like I was having a moan.

Fred, I'm using gunze aqueous rlm66 which I had noticed is a little lighter than I expected but I'm pleased with it. glad your Mr Color thinner worked out Fred.

Could someone confirm the colour I should paint the wheel wells, I've got them Aluminium at the moment for nose wheel and main, is that correct?

Cheers...

Mike- That cockpit looks perfect, what on Earth could you possibly not be happy with?  Wish mine looked that good mate!

Fred- I concur, that Mr. Color thinner is awesome stuff.  Strips paint like regular lacquer thinner, but doesn't attack the plastic.  I keep a bottle of it handy myself.

Always glad to help my fellow modelers, Mucker

Spike, great looking pit - what about it, aren't you happy with?  Also, what color did you use in there?  It looks a bit lighter than German Grey (Tammy's eqivalent to the correct RLM), but I like that it actually let's you see the details in there.  If given the chance, I'd probably do my office in a slightly lighter shade, just so you can see what's going on.

And on a personal build note, I'm 99% back to sqaure one with the paint.  I'm just waiting on my new supply of Mr. Thinner to clean up some details, then I'll re-mask and finally repaint.  I can't believe how much detail I was able to recover thanks to Mr. Thinner.

-Fred

Mike, That is incredible man.

what Dupes said, a very nice office you built there. Cant believe the detail you guys get in those cockpits.  

Wow. That pit is beautiful. Great work.

Fred, I use mr color thinner to thin my paints for the airbrush but it's rescued me a couple of time when I've needed to correct stuff.

A few more pics for you gents, I've fitted the harness, got it from MDC with my paint order. Also started on the gunbay, not sure if I will have it open or closed yet.

Pictures always highlight the bits your not happy with! Grrrrrrrr....

Feel free to comment.

Cheers....

THat's a good tip to know, Fred. Thank you for that

I finally mamged to find a place that had Mr. Color Thinner, in stock.  So I ordered 2 400ml bottles.

I have to say, this stuff is some of the best cleaner I've come across.  It really does break down all the gunk - even dried MM acrylics.

Just thought I'd put that out there, LOL

-Fred

Thanks for the heads up, Frank.  While stripping it, I did notice that I forgot to glue one of the wing joints - OOPS LOL.

Hopefully, I'll have all new updates after the weekend.

-Fred

Fred- Sometimes, that is the only way to go.  Be careful stripping it, as the thinner can really weaken the plastic.  I was stripping a Corsair a few years back, and was holding it firmly by one wing while working on the fuselage.  Suddenly, the model broke away and crashed to the floor, leaving me sitting there still holding the wing.  The solvents had weakened the structure so much that the plastic just broke.

I think Bill was right, sorry I hadn't even thought of that!  12-18 seems too far, I usually spray between 2-6 inches from the model myself.  Good luck!

I decided to just strip the paint and start from scratch.  The needle isn't burred, but Bill (bgrigg) suggested that I may be spraying from too far back.  I was working from a distance of 12-18", whereas I should be working in the 2-6" range.

So, it'll cost me a few days and a bottle of Mr. Color Thinner.  But it peels off all kinds of paint, so at least the work is fast.

-Fred

Thanks fellas,

Sounds like a plan Fred, order all of them and you cant go wrong LOL.

Mucker, I think you did better than me with decals, couple of my dials went awol, prob to much prodding by me.

Cheers...

Tamiya and MM acylics with the occassional PolyScale acrylic.

-Fred

Fred- Remind me again what paints you are using?  I forgot, sorry!

Frank, that is such a cool addition.  I only hinted at the possibility of a telescoping sight, you actually went and did it, . 

I actually did do a full teardown after it started spitting the first time.  I even broke out the Mr. Thinner solvent to make sure everything was out of there.  I hate using it because it's expensive, hard to find and stinks to high heaven - but holy cow does it ever work.  I'm leaning towards a bent or burred needle, because it continued spitting even after the cleaning.  Any advice about recovering from a gritty paint job?  I may end up stripping it because, besides the grittiness, I think it's too thick (plus, one of my repair jobs is still visible on the bottom side).

Mucker, great looking pit and bay - I really love the wash and weathering you've got going on.

Spike, sweet looking pit, can't wait to see the rest.  As for the paint, I needed to order a few other colors (ok, 25 other colors, for various kits I have that I don't have the correct color for), so I ordered both RLM 82 and 83.  Never know when you're going to need either one.

-Fred

Good stuff, Spike! Great work on the 'pit. Mine is not the clear version (thank God!) IN another life when I'm capable of Fred-like detail, I'l try the clear version!

Mo, I wish I could take credit for the dials, but theyre the fine work of Tamiya's talented decal department.