Trumpeter 1/32nd Me 262A-1a

[Bish]

Started on this one a while back, Trumpeter's 32nd Me 262A-1a. This is my first Trump aircraft kit and all the reviews say its a great kit and the detail looks amazing.

 

 

I'll be adding Eduard PE, HGW belts, metal barrels from Aber, resin wheels and EagleCal decals.

I have been getting the interiour together ready for priming and painting. These are mainly cockpit parts.

 

 

The guns together along with the metal barrels.

 

 

The inside of the fuselage with the none coloured PE added.

 

 

And some more interior parts along with the gun bat and undercarrage bay parts.

 

 

This was followed by primer and paint. Got the cockpit finished up. The IP is all Eduard. I know the RLM 66 is a bit off on these sets, but i still really like thyem, certainly better than i could paint.

 

 

And the rest of the Pit. Here you can see the differance in colour between the Eduard PE and what i painted. Seatbelts are HGW, love these things.

 

 

 

And the gun bay was finished off minus the wiring. The bay and guns were all done with Alclad.

 

 

Got the top part of the pit fitted after fitting the IP. I wired up the back of the IP based on some pics of a build of these kit i found online. I could find any pics of the back of the real thing.

 

 

And then got all in inside parts of the fuselage fited, including the compass at the rear and camera at the front.

 

 

 

And got the fuselage together.

 

 

 

 

More soon.

[GREG DESTEC]

Amazing details on this one. Looking good 👍

[Bish]

Thanks Greg.

[Bish]

Been a couple of weeks but finally have somthing to show. I got the wings on and have then been working on the engines. You have to fit in the front and rear sections so even though most of the engines won't be seen, i decided to build them both up and paint them. Paint is Alcla and Tamiya acrylics.

 

 

 

Most of the fit on this kit has been good. I can't say the same for the engones. There are 2 locator pins on each side of the engines, front and rear whoch go into locating holes in the covers. But putting the pins in place caused a gap of about 2mm in the bottom of the caseing, so i removed the pins on one side. The front and rear of the engine covers also neeed some trimming and still the fit is not perfect. But i got the engines fitted in the end.

 

 

I decided to cut away a section of panel on the right engine to at least sow a part of it, can't let al that detail go to waste. I will add some wiring later.

 

 

 

 

I then got it all maske up reay for priming. The panels ove rthe engine, guns and rear of the fuselage are al held in place by blue tac. The fit on these is not brilliant either so its quite lucky i don't plan on gluing them closed.

 

 

 

 

I had the day off work today so was able to get it prime this morning an dthe underside painted today. So just got to leave it a couple of days before doing the top side.

[Josep]

Very good job!

I love the engines.

[Bish]

Thanks Josep.

[Alan P]

Excellent detailing. Your paintwork is very convincing, and it's a nice looking kit as well. I have the new-ish Revell kit but won't be showing off that kind of detail!

 

Looking forward to paint 👍

[GREG DESTEC]

More great work on your 262. It looks like a nice kit 👍

Cheers Greg

[Bish]

Thanks guys. It is a nice kit.

 

I have heard good things about the Revell kit, i am thinking about getting the NF version.

[Bish]

Finally got the 262 painted up. The Eagle Cal sheets give 2 options for the colours of this aircraft. The underside is RLM 76 and the lighter top colour 82. But the darker colour is either 82 or 83. There are of course 2 versions of 83, the original brown option or the later green one. Most colour profiles of this show the brown version and i like that combination with the 82 so thats what i went with. Xtracolor's 83 switched from the brown to the green variant a few years ago, so i used colorcoats for that, all other colours including the Reich Defense band are Xtracolor.

The photo's of this aircraft don't show the tail. Some profiles show mottling while others, including the decal instructions, are solid. While other aircraft in the unit were solid coours, i went for mottling. After painting i gave the top a coat of Aqua Gloss as the colorcoats is matt unlike the gloss xtracolor.

 

 

 

 

As i was checking the referance pic prior to adding the decals i spotted somthing i should have seen before. They show my subject does not have the bulge on the gun bay doors. These were added to the late versions when the cartridge ejection chutes were changed from the standard curved type to an L shape. My kit has the curved chutes but the late style bulges. I am just glad my subject is not a late type as it was easier to remove the bulges than change the chutes, especially at this stage. When i checked further, i noticed my subject did not have the late type pilots head armour which the kit includes. So the kit is a bt of a mix and its easier to turn it into a standard version than it is a late version.

So i sanded off the bulges and then just brushed a light coat of flat black before re-painting.

 

 

Then the decals. The stencils are from the kit, everything else eagle Call. I did have a couple of these break up, one of the underwing crosses and one of the chevrons. The cross i manage to pul together but i had to patch the chevron with black paint.

 

 

 

 

I have since given it anotehr gloss coat, so next some weathering. Going to try oils instead of flory.

[GREG DESTEC]

Looks great 👍

[Bish]

Thanks.

[Bish]

Got the 262 completed a couple of night ago. I changed my mind for the weathering and just went with a Flory wash, but i didn't use my usualy mix of greys but went for grime and it had a nice effect.

 

 

 

 

All the final bit were adde and it was secured to the base. I was surprised that it was a tail sitter, early on i didn't think it would be. I used some of the Eduard PE wire but also used my own wire in some places such as the brake lines. I didn't wire up the engine, preffering just to leave as is.

 

 

The panel on the right side of the fuselage is not held in place, so that can be removed.

 

 

 

The forward panel over the guns and the one for the left side of the gun bay are removable. I figured after geting metal barrels, it would be a shame to have them covered up.

 

 

 

I have not aded chocks to any of my 32nd builds as they have all been on grass or sand till now. But i figure this could do with some so going to order a set from Hannants next week. This was a nice build with some great detail, though some of the fit could have been better, but nothing that could not be solved.

[Biggles87]

I think the ‘262 is one of Trumpeter’s better efforts and you’ve made an excellent job of it. 

I know what you mean about Eduard IPs, I put matt varnish ( W & N Galleria ) on mine to tone them down.

 

John

[GREG DESTEC]

Excellent modelling 👍

 

Your 262 looks amazing. Very well done🍺

[Bish]

Thanks guys, and thanks for the tip John.