Hasegawa 1/32 Me 262 A2 Sturmvogel

[ScanmanDan]

Well I'm back from playing with my little critters….

 

Truth is I probably wouldn't have started this kit if it weren't a birthday gift from my great boss a very good modeller in his own right.  I think I would have waited for the Revell kit to come out as I have bad memories of building this kit ages ago when I was still in my teens.

 

Nice box art.

 

 

Wow, this kit is old school.  Me thinks I will need some new decals or make some masks of my own.

 

 

I have decided to build as much as I can stand OOB, no aftermarket and as little fuss as I can live with.  I'll go wheels up and concentrate on fit and finish.  The last time I built one of these both the wings and engine cowls kicked my backside so attention will be on smooth assembly and nice paint.

 

The main fuselage parts are hammered together.  I have sanded out much of the surface details and will re scribe as little as I can as these birds looked pretty sleek in their putty and paint.  

 

 

As expected the gear doors aren't the best fit but epoxy putty and superglue fit all( Oh, and sanding, lots and lots of sanding )

 

 

The parts all fit but EVERYTHING need a nice block sanding like working on an old car.  Levelling out the shapes and fettling the joints.  There isn't much flash but surfaces are wavy and everything fits better after a bit of TLC.  Of corse this destroys and surface details and I cannot see how you could build this kit without re-scribing it. ( One reason this kit beat me up all those years ago.)  The wingtips need a brass spar as the bend way up, mine is only partially successful but will have to do.

 

 

 

I spent a lot of time working on assembling the cowl panels and getting the intake and exhaust sanded out.  I worked out that I can assemble the whole nacelle as a single unit if I chop up the engine and separate the turbine parts for latter installation.

 

 

 

Doing it this way lets me sand everything nice and flush, putty all the gaps in the exhaust outlet and sand it out.  I cannot see how you do all the sanding if you assemble it as the kit would have you.  A fair amount of work to get this far but now that I know what I'm doing the other wing/nacelle should go quickly.

 

Thanks for stopping by for a look, anybody else remember smashing this old kit?

 

Dan

Edited August 5, 2017 by ScanmanDan

[bar side]

Good effort - can't imagine that the four on the original was that good considering the way they were built.  And the engine hours must have meant regular swaps and parts not fitting precisely

[ScanmanDan]

 

Still bashing away at the forge, but there is progress;

 

 

 

I'm not too concerned about the gap at the wing root as the fuselage is sucked in there as I haven' yet installed the cockpit and it's integral  bulkheads which should push out the sides nicely.  The scribing is going slowly and I'm moving around doing other things so as to not burn myself out.  Next major hurdle will be where to stick the support peg and what attitude to have the model 'flying' at.  I'm leaning toward pitch up with just a touch of roll as if we are rolling over into the target.  I'll know more once I start mocking everything up.  Fun build so far but I'm not good at scribing and it gets a bit frustrating doing things eight times  .

 

Bar Side - I never could make miss fitting panels not look like sloppy assembly.  But you are right the cowls only fit, approximately at best.

 

 

Thanks to all for stoping in for a look.

 

Dan

[ScanmanDan]

I wish that my scribing was better than a 7 out of 10 but alas I'm still a fumble fingers, .

 

I have spent the day dubiously scribing, then using superglue to fill my many mistakes and then re-scribing, again and again.  Thankfully the superglue and accelerator combo works so well to cover mistakes that it is only the sheer madness of the task that stops you getting a perfect finish.  At some stage you have to call it 'done' and move on, lest you go bonkers.  I really want to get this sitting on it's base by close of play tomorrow.

 

Here's where I'm at tonight.

 

 

 

Still a bit rough around the edges but starting to look like something.  ( I'm not sure what, but we'll give it time. )

 

More tomorrow with luck.

 

Thanks for looking in.

 

Dan

[ScanmanDan]

Progress;

 

 

 

I'm pretty happy with the stance now.  I have to get cracking on the other wing and finish up the scribing but not too shabby for two weeks work.  Base needs to go into the spray booth for some basic black and I have to work on getting a pilot into the cockpit but everything's going to plan so far.

 

Dan

[ScanmanDan]

 

Progress;

 

In keeping with the basic brief I used the kits bomb mounts.  They fit well but could use some more details , I do what I can quickly and then move on.  I would have loved to use the resin ones from RB but I'm trying for simple, quick and cheap. ( I might as well be describing my GOOD character traits  )

 

You can also see the square brass tube I use to support my inflight builds.  I'm not too fussed that you can see it as opposed to a clear acrylic rod.  I prefer a good strong bond to the supporting peg ( super glued with added support of epoxy putty ) that I can use to hold the model during painting and finishing.

 

 

I was itching to paint something so...

 

I used the kits bombs with a added sway bracing from 0.05mm plastic rod.  Not flash but will and once again fit the mounts perfectly.

 

 

 

Next up is the pilot and sorting out the other wing.

 

Thanks for dropping in for a look see.

 

Dan

[Plasto]

Looking good...

[Blitz23]

Love the scribing you've done looks awesome.

[ScanmanDan]

Thanks Plasto and Blitz23 for your kind comments,  it's nice to know I'm doing something right.

Progress;

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wings are on and scribed, I added wingtip lights and the second nacelle is built and both pods are ready for scribing.  I have left them loose for now to make it easier to do the scribing.  I have added some brass wire pins to the horizontal stabs to keep them level and true.  I should be able to leave them loose to make painting easier.  I have to tackle the heavy mouldings in the main canopy next, never fun to have to cut, sand and polish out canopies.  

 

All in all she's coming together okay.

 

Thanks for looking in.

 

Dan

[colin]

Silk purse out of a pigs ear comes to mind, your doing a fine job on that Swallow

[ScanmanDan]

Colin - Thanks - The Hasegawa kits not too bad, just need a lot of TLC and sanding, lots and lots of sanding.

 

 

Progress;

 

One of the reasons I keep making 'rules' for my builds is that if I don't, I get so sidetracked and bogged down that I loose interest and wander off to do something else. ( The so called Squirrel syndrome )  I thought I'd just whack the rudder on today and be done with it but Noooooo I decided I didn't like the simple butt joint and wanted some gap between the rudder and the vertical stabiliser.  Then I needed to add the hinge detail then I thought that the rear light need attention…. In the end I spent the whole afternoon to only get this done.

 

 

I'm happy with the effect but not so happy with my slow progress.  

 

I'm off to polish the freakin' canopy some more as that little do dad is taking ages too. When will I get to do some painting?

 

Thanks for looking in.

 

Dan

[ScanmanDan]

I make no bones about the fact that painting and weathering models is the part I like best.  So it is important to me that I get to painting something as a reward for all the hard slog of construction.  I spent most of yesterday with brush in hand and bashed out this pilot ( Thanks Brian    )   I think he'll fill in the cockpit nicely and truth is not too much can be seen once the canopy is on.

 

Progress;

 

 

 

 

 The nacelles are scribed and I'm painting the internal bits now.  Once I get the canopy sorted I should be close to primer stage.  Trucking along nicely so far.  I want to try my hand at cutting stencils for most of the markings so we'll see how that works out  .

 

 

Thanks for dropping in for a look.

 

Dan

[Lowbrow]

Looking great!

[ScanmanDan]

A little mile stone reached. She's ready for masking and primer.  ( Needs a good clean too ) The very rear most part of the canopy didn't fit well as it was too wide for the bustle and I had a high pucker factor moment of adding a wedge of sheet styrene to make the bustle wider.  Lots of sanding and superglue 'putty' but it looks better now.  Then it was just a lot of assembling all the sub-asseblies and a little bit of 'putty' followed by more sanding. 

 

Progress;

 

 

 

 

 

 

So far so good and I should be able to get some paint on her soon.  Thanks for stopping by for a look.

 

Dan

[Thom216]

Lovely job. Nice work making a sleek looking fighter. I'd say it looks well worth the time and effort built into it. Can't wait for paint!

[ScanmanDan]

Thanks Thom, Glad you like her so far, she's destined for colour so lets make a start.  I hope you like the results.

 

I know it's heretical but I pre-shade, there, I admit it.  I like Spanish school too so that makes me a double heathen heretic.  But I can't get the results I like without using basic pre-shading overlaid with many multiple translucent coats of paint on top.  Post shading and washes, inks and other assorted blasphemes abound.  As everything I do tends to darken the finish I start with a over bright and light colour scheme and adjust as I go.  Two new wrinkles I'm trying out here are adding a fair whack of Tamiya flat clear to the overpainting and rubbing out each successive layer with a Tamiya 3000 grit, foam backed, sanding pad.  I'm just starting out so many miles to go before I'm anywhere near done.

 

Progress? ; 

 

 

 

I've barely started the belly.

 

 

So far so good but I'm far from where I want to get.  I do like that the 3000 grit sanding seems to both keep the overspray roughness under control and buffs out the finish nicely.  It also helps with the occasional oops  She'll look less 'quilted' next time.

 

Thanks for looking in.

[Hewy]

I'm a heretic too,  good start to the finish

Glynn

[ScanmanDan]

Thank you to everybody who has left a response.  It's nice to know that folks like your progress. 

Glynn - Nice to know I'm not the only heathen out there

Progress?;

 

 

 

 

 

Added some brown tones to the green and some grey tones to the blue and a fair few more blending coats to try and tie it all together.  Finished up with a first semi gloss clear coat to try and homogenise the whole thing.  I will look over the bird in the morning and see if I mess with it some more or go on to painting the markings.  Though I'm pretty happy with this so far.

 

Thanks for looking in.

Dan

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Ive followed this build from the start. Excellent and very impressive . Its made me want a 262 in my collection. I cant do the 32nd option but maybe 48th or 72nd. 

[Pete in Lincs]

Dan,

One of my favourite all time aircraft and you are really doing a lovely job on it.

It has been worth all that hard work. The quality shines out.

Thank you and good luck for the rest of the build.

[ScanmanDan]

Spent the morning tidying up the colour and then fired up the Silhouette cutter to try and make some numbers.  I was thinking about a 4 but settled on a 3 as easier.  I did find a website called Wordmark.it that lets you compare lots of fonts all at the same time.  This made it easier to pick a font I liked, no it isn't accurate only close.  Then it was a matter of sizing it to where I liked it and away I went.  It came out pretty good but needs a rub down to knock off some ridging around the edges.  Next time I'll try a coloured number with an outline.  As this one was surprisingly easier than I thought it would be.  I'm next going to try and draw out the white crosses and see if I can stuff them up.  The swastika might be a bridge too far... 

 

The yellow stripe, which on reflection is a touch wide, was made easier by using the Tamiya white vinyl tape for the outlying as it is very stretchy and conforms well to the curved fuselage shape.  All up not a bad look so far, maybe not 100 percent accurate but looks okay to these tried eyes.

 

Progress;

 

 

 

Thanks for all the nice comments and support.

 

Dan

[ScanmanDan]

 

This cutter is so cool...

 

Sorry but I just had to add this cause I'm happy dancing all over the place,

 

Progress;

 

 

White crosses on with very little fuss after I got my head around drawing in Silhouette design software. It's not especially hard I'm just very thick.   I used the Hasegawa decals for reference but that opens a whole new can of worms as far as markings go.  The crosses look okay so I'm going to roll with them as they are.  I need to man up and draw the black and white crosses for the under wing next,  Fingers crossed I do a decent job on them.  Thanks for looking in.

[Michael51]

Gosh that's great work.

 

The pilot really adds to the effort.

 

Michael

[Hewy]

Really is looking ace dan, great job on the markings too

Glynn

[ScanmanDan]

Thanks Michael - Glad you like the 262.  I do like to add pilots as they add a bit of life to the model.

 

Glynn -  I am happy you like her so far.  I'm almost up to decals and I'm not too good with them.

 

The good and the bad...

 

Went nuts after getting home from work tonight.  I just had to see if I could get these painted.

 

 

I had one good one, well it's okay.

 

 

and one not so good one.  I didn't get the second mask just right.  Must try harder next time.

 

 

I have been thinking about other ways to use the masks and I'll see how I go.  I have now got to draw up the swastika and see if I can paint that on the tail without a mishap.