Airfix 1/72 Me262 2a (after a false start!)

[KeithA]

Hello everyone. I've been lurking here for a long time and, like many it seems, returning to aircraft modelling after a very long break ( about 30 years in my case).
My plan was to kick things off with a confidence builder-build. Nothing too complicated, cheap and straight out of the box but sadly my first choice of kit had other plans as you can see ...

Attempt 1: Revell 1:72 Bf109 G10

I know the marque pretty well so this seemed like a good bet. Progress was slow though, at least partly because of short-shot moulding around the exhaust areas.
These had to be rebuilt and once I'd started down that road ... I attempted to add a seam to the exhaust stacks, drilled them out, added a weld to the intake, tidied up innacurate rivet detail. Already slipping down the rabbit hole ... and my efforts were a bit heavy-handed.

 

 

So, cockpit. Nice and simple. Aftermarket additions would cost more than the kit so I added some masking tape seatbelts and, figuring the cockpit view would be limited by the thick transparencies provided, just painted most of the details in there. Bit odd but perfection is the enemy of done, right? My hope was that a high-contrast approach would at least be somewhat visible.

 

 

 

 

Then disaster struck. Already this has become far more involved than planned for my 'first' and when the fusilage halves were married it turns out there's a distinct lack of symmetry between the canopy and nose. Picture doesn't do it justice but that will need resculpting to look anywhere close to true. I've not removed material here yet - but there is a prominent 'slump' to port when viewed from the front. For now this is headed back to the box to have a word with itself. Frankly I'm not ready to reshape the distinctive later 109 cowl.

I admit I was starting to get quite dispirited and wondering if I'm cut out for this business. Very happily though Airfix came to the rescue when I decided to have another shot, this time at their Me262. Again, I know it pretty well so fingers crossed ...

Attempt 2:

So far it's fallen together like a dream. Within a day I have all of the main components together and it looks like an Me262. Cleanup has been really minimal with the only slight wrinkle being where the engine nacelles meet the wing leading edges - predictable and so far looking pretty easy to fix. The experience of building this kit could hardly be more different to the 109 and I'm hooked. Only addition so far is a masing tape and scrap plastic harness.

So, long story short, this is what I'll try to document here, if only to keep me focused, and so far very happy with the kit. Any pointers or advice very gratefully received.

 

Will add some details to the rear shelf here after cleanup. Perhaps a suggestion of panel wiring but I suspect invisible with the canopy on.

 

 

Slightly worried about rescribing the two ports in front of the cockpit but might have a plan.

 

 

First layer added here - will build these up a bit more and then shape. Wing roots are impressively tight and won't need filler. Nacelles need an extra polish to smooth out any remainign join lines but feel smoother than they look here.

Edited May 27, 2021 by KeithA
duplicated pic

[billn53]

Good job on the 262’s engine nacelles, which to my knowledge is the only problematic area on that kit. Should be pretty much smooth sailing from here on. I can’t wait to see how your’s ends up. 

[KeithA]

10 minutes ago, billn53 said:

Good job on the 262’s engine nacelles, which to my knowledge is the only problematic area on that kit. Should be pretty much smooth sailing from here on. I can’t wait to see how your’s ends up. 

Thank you. Enjoying the lack of drama so far

[Johnson]

Good luck with the Me262 Keith, one of my favourites!

I have a couple un-started in the stash so will be interested to see how your's progresses. Have fun!

Cheers,

[wombat]

Now I can’t wait to see what your hi contrast cockpit looks like under the canopy. Sneak dry fit preview? I’d never have thought of it but it makes perfect sense,

[KeithA]

 

@Johnson Thank you!

 

@wombat I'll have to dig the 109 out again to show you - seems to work ok. Packing the house up at the moment so bear with me

Brief update. Things are progressing quite well and not far from a first shot of primer. One slight snag though that might be a bit of a test.

 

 

Office nearly ready. Added some suggestion of detail to the rear shelf which should be visible under the canopy.

 

A very exciting pic of the WIP nacelle blend. At this point moving from filler to very matt acrylic paint to fill very small issues. Starting polishing passes with very fine grit paper. Looks messy here but feels pretty good after a few more passes.

 

Ok, this is. a bit more dissapointing. Something nasty is going on with the back and front of the canopy middle section and while the front isn't so bad (but quite flaky or whispy to clean up) the back section is a mess. Most of the rear canopy frame is missing and very rough.
After taking this pic I also realised the back portion of the canopy seems to be short-shot right at rear where it should meet the curve of the fusilage. Sadly I'm moving house very soon so I think make do and mend is the only option. I'll clean up as well as possible, get everything installed and masked before trying to rebuild and smooth the framing.
There's a good chance this will go horrible wrong but I'm resigned to the outcome at this point.

[Johnson]

6 minutes ago, KeithA said:

Something nasty is going on with the back and front of the canopy middle section and while the front isn't so bad (but quite flaky or whispy to clean up) the back section is a mess. Most of the rear canopy frame is missing and very rough.
After taking this pic I also realised the back portion of the canopy seems to be short-shot right at rear where it should meet the curve of the fusilage.

Airfix (Hornby) have a good customer services dept, they might even replace them for free? Why not send them an email and your pic and see what they say.

 

https://support.airfix.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360016154139-Contact-Details-Airfix-UK

 

[email protected]

[Graham Boak]

When you do get back to your G-10, take a look at the position of the u/c legs.  The problem, IIRC, is that they are mounted too far out, and need to be brought closer to the fuselage.  As for the distinctive cowling (but which one?  G-10s do vary) one thing to watch for is that the bulge should be less prominent on the starboard side.  I don't recall whether or not the Revell kit got this right.

[KeithA]

@Johnson I did think that would be worthwhile but it would delay the build by a month or two. Decisions decisions

@Graham Boak Thanks for the heads-up. Will definitely need to check the undercarriage then. Sadly I think there's shrinkage at the front and, unhelpfully, it's on the port side. Even if Revell got the shape correct it's now rather thrown off by this issue. I do keep coming back to it though so will consider a plan of attack.

[KeithA]

Brief update.
With the canopy masked it now has it's first coat of primer. I used Ammo Titanium rattlecan which, up until now, has been excellent. I think the change in temperatures affected things though and the surface was gritty in a way i've not seen with this before. Oh well, after some polishing it looks like this. Still a few areas to sort out but I'm quietly hopeful that the canopy repairs will work ok. Really looking forward to getting some paint on her now.