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Me.262A-1/U4 w/50mm Bordkanone 1:48


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I picked up this at the weekend as a distraction from review builds and reviews, as it's ages since I've built anything just for my own pleasure. This is a Cyber Hobby Orange boxing of the Dragon (Trimaster?) kit of the proposed Bomber Destroyer that was fitted with a 50mm Bordkanone 5 in the nose. Only two prototypes were finished before the end of hostilities, and the box top artwork shows a drab RLM 81 with RLM82 spinter pattern on the wings, over RLM76. That late in the war, I'd have thought that a bare metal finish under the wings would be more likely, but what do I know? :shrug:

 

I'm in the market for a more interesting colour scheme, as the 262 is one of my favourite looking of the early jets. Putting a big fat cannon on the front of it just appeals to my sense of "wrong", so I treated it to one of Master's excellent turned brass and aluminium examples off eBay. I also had a cheapo Zoom! set of Eduard PE that was meant for a nachtjager, so I pressed the front half of that into service. I also killed two birds with one cannon shell and built up a set of the new Eduard "fabric" seatbelts, which took a while, but paid off. It allowed me to write the review with more conviction into the bargain, which is nice :)

 

The cockpit of this ageing kit is a little rough and not very ready. The tub is nothing more than a section of tube with front and rear bulkheads built in, and some very sketchy detail moulded in. There were tooling marks and ejector pin marks all over the show, and the bases for the side consoles were a bit narrow, so I skinned those with some 0.1mm styrene sheet patterned from a masking tape template. The floor was also given a little extra care & attention, plus a new cross-board in front of the rudder pedals, which were replaced with some early LionRoar examples from the stash. Some of the detail was removed to accomodate the PE, which was pre-painted a not especially convincing colour. Once I'd painted the cockpit I touched in the grey with my shade, so it blends in better (I think?). I also added some lead wire to the rear of the instruments, which has been largely a waste of time and effort, after seeing the part in place :shrug: I squished the control column's grip and have carved a new one from styrene rod, which is sitting beside me now waiting for the glue to cure, after which it will be painted up... again :S

The nose gear bay had some tricky looking ejector pin marks, so those were filled with punched styrene circles and sanded flush (enough) before being painted. The kit includes a couple of PE sheets in some tough ferric blend of metal that really doesn't like to be cut or bent. Curiously enough, most of that is used in constructing the main gear bay, so that was built up after some seriously aggressive clean-up of the styrene parts, which were 'orrible. They were glued in the lower wing, primed, painted, varnished and washed, then matted down. I also built up the nacelles for the engines, electing not to use the extra sprues of Jumo engines for the stripped down option that's included with the kit along with a couple of mechanics and a stepped platform. The fit of these parts wasn't the best, but it's nothing that some CA and sanding sticks can't sort out, although some minor rescribing looks to be on the cards. These are currently setting up with CA in the joints, waiting for me to create a haze of styrene dusk at some point in the near future.

I'm considering riveting the entire airframe once I've built up the fuselage, as there's not a massive amount of surface detail on the kit, as it's quite an old one. It's also got some horrible rubbery tyres and quite nice styrene hubs, which I'm trying not to use, but I'm also trying not to spend much money on it, as it's an old kit. If anyone's got any good ones that they have no need for, I'd be happy to negotiate their release ;) I've added a few tabs to strengthen the obvious underside seams of the fuselage, and the wing joints, but these are going to need some adjustment, as the wall thickness is extremely variable all over the kit due to the old skool techniques used for tooling back then.

Enough waffle - here's a pic of everything sat together.

assemblies.jpg

 

Looking forward, I think I've still got a lot of work to do, as the inspection panel covering the cannon breech fits where it touches. I think the guy that tooled the part was told there was a kit being tooled, but not about the dimensions. :S The landing gear could be interesting, but I'm sure I'll manage. Then there's the colour scheme - I'd prefer not to do the kit scheme, so if anyone's got any ideas, I'm all ears ^_^

 

I guess it would have been easier to just buy the newer Hobby Boss kit, but this was just staring at me from the shelf, looking all forlorn with its partially crushed box and simple artwork. "buy me a cannon" it said, and I did. I'm impressionable like that :shrug:

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Dunno - I'd be more worried about it coming to a grinding halt mid-air when it fired! :lol:

 

I'm trying not to get too bogged down in the details for this - just a relaxing and hopefully quick build, so I've not done much in the way of research, other than the occasional "what colour is that?" trip to the internet :)

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We do like Cannons ^_^

 

I've had a proper look at the fit of the intakes on the engine nacelles, and it's a bit grim. The intakes have a balloon-like profile, which results in quite a groove around the diameter where it meets the nacelle parts. I've been sanding the bejeezuz out of them both this last hour or so, and my arm aches. Three or four sessions of fill with CA, sand, inspect and repeat, but I think I'm almost there now, so I'm giving them a coat of primer to see what the shape it like. When I'm satisfied with the shape, I'll start reinstating the panel lines that have been obliterated, and add in some rivets. Should be fun :S

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Before you go spending too much time on the rivetting, bear in mind that panel joins and rivets were typically puttied smooth. This photo should give an idea of the extent, and might help make this an even more relaxing build :winkgrin: :

Messerschmitt_Me_262_Schwable.jpg

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I thought those engines were a funny shape.

Hopefully were as they've had a furious sanding since then :)

Am looking forward to doing one of these some day but with the Hobby boss kit... :popcorn:

Amen - if that hadn't meant getting a new kit, that's what I'd be doing now ;) I quite fancy the one with a clear nose next :)

Before you go spending too much time on the rivetting, bear in mind that panel joins and rivets were typically puttied smooth. This photo should give an idea of the extent, and might help make this an even more relaxing build :winkgrin: :

You make a fair point John :hmmm:

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Blimey, Mike. Not sure you've chosen the right kit if you want an easy, relaxing and quick build. I seem to remember Mish having fun with one of the Dragon 262's, a while back (I think fun was the word she used... it was definitely an F word :hmmm:).

On the other hand though, I have one of the Revell reboxings of the Dragon kit myself, so I'll watch along in order to pick up some build tips. :)

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A quick shot of the smoothed out engine nacelles. The pen-nib plates at the rear of the engines still need a little work to fettle the joint, but the shape is improved enough for me, and they don't look like a bunch of parts that sort-of fit together anymore :)

 

engines1.jpg

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Blimey, Mike. Not sure you've chosen the right kit if you want an easy, relaxing and quick build. I seem to remember Mish having fun with one of the Dragon 262's, a while back (I think fun was the word she used... it was definitely an F word :hmmm:).

I realise this now... still, I'm enjoying it, and isn't that what it's all about? ;)

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I realise this now... still, I'm enjoying it, and isn't that what it's all about? ;)

Is it weird that I actually find it more enjoyable to knock a challenging kit into shape, rather than build the latest shake n' bake modern tooling?. :shrug:
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Great start Mike. This modelling for pleasure could catch on :lol:

Hmmm, I never thought of doing it for that reason. :hmmm:

Martin

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I finished sanding the engines this morning, then scribed the basic panel lines back in. After John's comments about putty in the panel lines and over the rivets, I happened across a prototype U4 in the early stages, and guess what? It was unpainted and showed evidence of having been puttied, just like John's example. That saves me a lot of work, so I attached the nacelles to the wings, which was another promprt for fill, sand, repeat. Not as bad as the fit of the loading/maintenance hatch for the BK5 though, although I suspect I didn't help by gluing it ever-so-slightly left of centre. It's all be filled with CA and polished up, ready for a test coat of primer. As yet the wings aren't joined to the fuselage, but I have done a little work on fettling the joint since the photo was taken. A slight issue was caused by the landing gear bay being slightly off-centre, or the wings are, or something. A pitfall either way, as you put the bay in place before you put the upper wings on, so have no way of telling if you've got it central until it's too late. I've shaved a little off the inside of the fuselage around the wing root though, and the fit is improved. I think it's going to have to be glued with CA though, as I doubt it'd stay true without finger pressure in places where clamps just can't go.

 

The joint between nacelles and wings needs finalising, and then the panels reinstating, and once I'm happy with the fit & finish, I'll join the wings. I've glued the rudder on since the picture too, as the airframe just looks better with it on :)

 

airframe1.jpg

 

 

Looking back on the picture, you can see clearly that the joint isn't going to stay closed without some assistance. The right pressure makes for quite a neat joint, so I'll have to see how good I can get it :S

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Saving tedium is good - although having done a fair bit of re-riveting freehand on the Gripen, I don't find it as boring as I used to :shrug:

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