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

Steve- AHA!  Another one.  Makes me feel better it does.

Crusher- Funny you mention that bit about looking like a shark.  I was just telling Katie that the other day while watching a show on sharks.

Darren- By all means, !  Glad to have you here.  I added you to the roster.

Jason- That really is some stunning detail work!  I like your paint style very much with the shading and such.  Care to elaborate on how you acheive those effects?  I really would love to hear how you do it.

Dang, Jason   What are you using for reference material?  I've scoured the net, but have come up with very few decent pictures.  Since I'm building a visible version, I'd love to get as much reference as possible.  I have the 262 "In Action" book, which is worthless and I have the AeroDetail coming from HLJ.  The AD book was pretty good for the B-17 and is supposed to be fantastic for the DeHavilland Mosquito (a build I put aside to do this one), but I don't know how it'll be for the 262.

So anyway, I received the PE from Squadron and started to do some work last night.  The IP is done and looks pretty sweet.  But the seatbelts are turning out to be a nightmare.  They're made up so many parts.  And when you try to bend the seatbelts to fit in the seat, all the little parts pop off.  Anyone have any tips on making the seatbelts easier to deal with?

-Fred

Excellent Fred!  I don't have the AD book for the 262, but the others in the series I have are pretty dang good.   Think I might have missed it, but which kit are you building again?

Also, Justinryan215 and vetteman42- Have you fellas decided on a kit to build?  I know you were considering a build and I added you as possible entries.  No pressure, just thought I would ask.

Daywalker wrote:

Jason- That really is some stunning detail work!  I like your paint style very much with the shading and such.  Care to elaborate on how you acheive those effects?  I really would love to hear how you do it.

I applied paint normally AB and hand painted. I weathered using black pastels, Tamiya weathering powders, dry brushing and some smokey ink here and there. The pastels was easy, I took a No.11 blade scraped down the side, it made a fine powder. Place this powder into a reusable dish and add water until you have a real thin mud consistency. Apply the pastel wash with a brush and let dry. I use Q-tips to remove the excess. A dry Q-tip will remove the top layer of pastel but still leave a dirty look on the paint. A wet Q-tip will remove almost all the pastel and leave a very clean surface with grim in the corners. A wet Q-tip can and will remove all the powder, carefull manipulation is needed.

Tamiya weathering powders seem to have something in them that helps them attach and smear. I used soot, green, oil stain and applied them in places to add subtle color changes in the aluminum skin.

I hope this helps. If you have any questions just ask.

Kannichiwa-Jason 

Luftwoller: Great work on the paint scheme. I appreciate you showing us each step of the process.

I found these profile pictures on another site if anyone is interested.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

MARINES!!!!

Kannichiwa-Jason

Im calling the U4 done. I must admit i was pretty dissapointed with the resin pieces. Ah well, Im still happy with the end results, but in saying that i forgot to put a pitot in. I will do that before i put it in the cabinet. Anyhoo, pics,

For the NMF on the nose i used Alclad over primer. The puttied lines were just neutral grey freehanded in roughly the right places,

...Guy

Guy-No reason to be disappointed.... Great looking aircraft and it looks like you did a outstanding job on the resin. I enjoy watching your builds.

Kannichiwa-Jason

P.S.-did your aircraft ID number on the tail silver???

Thanks, Sean.  I think I read that tip somewhere, some time ago.  I wonder, how long do you hold it over the flame?  What's the temperature difference between annealing the PE and just setting it on fire .  Maybe my belts will be salvageable after all (I only attached the lap belts, so far).

Frank, I'm building the Trumpeter 1/32 A-1A visible - hence the need for all available reference material, especially internal workings.

-Fred

Guy, I love the look of your build, real nice paint and finish. Great job sorting all that tricky resin out .

Jason I'm loving all that splendid detail work, keep posting pics.

Cheers...

Fred- Got it!  That sounds familiar to me now, sorry I missed it the first time around!

Guy- Now that großesKanoneUngeheuerthinamajiggie is a beaut!  Love the patch-work lookof the beastie.  I was also looking closer at your mottlepaint work on the fuse sides, stunning work!

 Guy on a scale of 1-10 , Ten being the best, I would score it an 11.37.  Anyone who can do that kinda gobbly goo with resin and paints gets some extra credit in my eyes!  Just terrific!  Now go change clothing as I know with all that building something has to give! LOL!

 Herc looks sharp and really gonna be a prize when finished!  Not to shabby for a leatherneck! oooorrrah!

 Now  somebody explain this to me?

Daywalker wrote:

Randy- Glad you are having fun!  Be careful, pretty soon the urge will be too great and you will be buying a kit to build here with the rest of the nutcases!

Daywalker I have been looking for a kit, however I find myself a bit on the tenitive side. With all the high quality work going on here, not too sure I can keep up with you guys

Luftwoller your U4 is outstanding to say the least. Only thing I can say about your build that hasnt already been said is, I would put your U4 on my shelf anyday, and be proud to do it.

vetteman42 wrote:

...I find myself a bit on the tenitive side. With all the high quality work going on here, not too sure I can keep up with you guys

Do not worry about that Randy!  As long as you are having fun, that is what it is all about here.  Hope to see a 262 in your hands soon!

Guy, you know what I'm going to say... "your ace and I wish I was your son".   That is some very fine looing work on that Cannon blaster.

Dirk, those are some lovely looking profiles!    Thanks for sharing.

Well with today being a Holiday I was able to work on the front gear. tamiya made the front gear well from metal and looking at pics & refs I noticed there was alot of detail missing. I thought about drilling the access panels out and sheeting them, way to hard. So i decided to make the plates and glue em to the metal.

here is the access door on the rear wall.

These 2 sides of the well are mirrored..oval brass panel & the piece of added styrene and a circle panel above it.

Hyd lines and electrical wire, plus a hyd valve... valve is large and out of scale

Missing bolt detail added to the nose strut plus brake line. Front gear door mount must be drilled out for brake line routing.added detail added to piston.

Group shot.

What do you guys think. I am really in a rush to get this thing closed up. I worked so hard getting the interior complete (previous page), it seems i have a mile to go before I can close her up completely.

Kannichiwa-jason 

Jason, your detail work is looking fabioso. Watch the length of the brake pipe over the oleo as there wasnt a great loop in it when sitting on the tarmac.

Thx for the kindlies everyone. I really appreciate it, especially with all the great builders here. As for another, that may have to wait.

 At my monthly model club meeting, this month. We had a guy in from the New forest Airfields association. Im not sure if you septics were aware, but in the New Forest in Dorset, and surrounding areas, there are loads of old WW2 runways that were hugely busy back in the war. The guy is the owner/ curator of the museum and hes coming back again for next month and bringing a prize for the best model on the night. Me and my mate, Big E are going to do 9th AF P-47's. Hes doing a Razorback and im doing a Bubbletopped 'D' The 9th AF was very active in the south of England, apparantly. Operating from Christchurch which is just up the road from me. Im hoping ill be done in plenty of time, as the Tamiya kit im doing looks great. NMF though so there may be probs.

Anyhoo, i do plan on doing a repaint on a 2 seater that i have, and i may convert it into a wheels up flying jobbie. Complete with 2 pilots. Should be fun.

...Guy

Guy-Thanks for the advice. Good luck on your bubble top and hurry back.

Can anyone help me find the decals for Yellow 3??? I found out the are on the "Too Little Too Late PT. II" 262 sheet but I cannot find anyone whom carries them. Any Help would be appreciated.

Kannichiwa-Jason

It looks like Sprue Brothers has a set with these markings:

http://store.spruebrothers.com/shared/StoreFront/default.asp?CS=sbm&StoreType=BtoC&Count1=380336940&Count2=297477364&CategoryID=373&Target=products.asp

Edit:  Hmmm, that link doesn't take you to the actual product.  The name of the set is 1:48 Eagle Editions Me262A-1a's  Stock #48029  They currently have 2 listed in inventory.

Jason -  I am really enjoying the extra detail and work you are adding to your kit.  Looking really Good

Guy -  There is Nothing I can Say about your Me 262 with the Big Gun that has not been said already.  Wow- You Are the Master when it comes to Lufty Aircraft The filled in seams really makes it Grab Your Attention !

Aggieman-Thanks for the info. I know have em on order. Gig em Aggies!!

Kannichiwa-Jason

Well, let's say I now know how close, too close, is when it comes to annealing color PE.  Anything under an inch and the color burns off.

So, now I have PE lap belts and masking tape shoulder harnesses with PE accoutrements.  A quick wash and the seat will be finished (and only after 4 hours of work )

Once the seat is done, I'll post some pics of it and the IP, so you can see I really am trying to be a part of this GB .

-Fred

Guy- fantastic work, truly one of the nicest 262's I've seen!

Jason- You're doing some incredible detail work, love it!

I finally got my books last night and all I can say is, if you're looking to add detail to these birds, it's definitely worth the effort to track down AeroDetail no. 9.

Between Trumpeter's included detail, Eduard's PE additions and this book, I should be able to come up with one kick-@$$ Stormbird

-Fred

Masks have arived today! As my buddy on the other side of the pond likes to say Woo Hoo! To much football on tomorrow so Monday night I can get the old 262 production rolling agian.

                                                                                                 Soulcrusher

Hi gs,

While I can't swear to it, my imprerssion is that the necessity of carrying bombs caused a critical full-forward centre-of-gravity situation in the aircraft's trim and removing two of the guns and their ammunition systems brought the C-of-G back within the design's trim compensation range. Takeoff with trim full-aft must have been hairy! The moment the bombs were dropped the pilot would have to crank the elevator trim to full forward to compensate for the absence of their mass. At least, this is my interpretation of the situation in the absence of hard info! Any Experten with firm refs?

You can see how frustrating Hitler's stipulation after the invasion that all new aircraft must be capable of carrying bombs must have been for the designers and pilots alike, as the firepower and handling characteristics of a jet interceptor were being sacrificed to take a half-hearted stab at a job done far better by the Fw 190's ground attack variants.

Cheers, Mike/TB379