An RAF Me 410 B-2/U2/R2 - Meng 1/48. +++++Finished+++++

[Thom216]

Agreed on the mottling! Great stuff.

[mark.au]

16 hours ago, jackroadkill said:

with a 6" brush in a hurry,  so yours is pretty much guaranteed to look better!

 

I actually cut "hand-painted roundel" masks first, thinking that would be the case.  But, the more I looked at the photos the more it looked to me like these at least were applied with some precision so I went back to "proper" Type C/C1 roundel masks.

 

16 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

I was going to say the Roundels look flippin fantastic too Mark.

 

 

 

Thank you gents.  I've found a process that works for me and the paints I use.  Alistair, you undersell yourself.  Again.

 

9 hours ago, Thom216 said:

Agreed on the mottling! Great stuff.

 

10 hours ago, hendie said:

Paint job.  I'm still in awe of that one. Probably the best mottling job I've seen.

 

Thank you Allan, and everyone who commented on the mottling, much appreciated.  It's certainly the best mottling I've ever achieved and I'm happy to have found a technique which worked for me.

 

13 hours ago, jackroadkill said:

 

This is something I've often wondered about; do you know why this would be the case?  There must have been a reason for it as it was pretty much standard practise, but whatever that reason is I can't think of it.

 

I have no idea.  It seems to me that it would be logical to remove the weapons, but I can't explain why I think that.

 

...

 

Some small progress on a rainy Sunday afternoon, I painted the wheels.  I noticed a brightness to the wheel hub's rim and wanted to represent that.  I painted the hub itself with semi-gloss black and then made a mask which covered it but exposed the rim.  I painted that with Vallejo "Magnesium" and then masked that, and painted the tyre.  It still needs a dark goop treatment and perhaps a little dry brush to pop some of the details but I like how that came out.

 

 

In between coats on the wheels I applied the decals.  These were printed by Cartograph and perfectly rendered.  I thought they behaved a little differently to the norm though.  The decals didn't react at all to MicroSet/Sol so I switched to using Mr. Decal Softener which also didn't dent them very much but did get them to stick.  

 

 

The decals themselves have a slightly matt finish which I expect hope will blend when I apply the sealing clear coat.

 

Next up, texture and weathering.

 

Cheers.

[Dunny]

17 minutes ago, mark.au said:

I like how that came out.

So you should - looks lovely. Also raining here...

[bigbadbadge]

Wheel does look good Mark.

Chris

[heloman1]

Camo paint and markings look excellent Mark. Looking foward to seeing how you progress.

 

Colin

[AliGauld]

Wheels look really good and the decals will all blend in I'm sure.

 

Cheers,

Alistair

[k5054nz]

My goodness this is gorgeous!! The paint is sublime!

[mark.au]

On 29/01/2023 at 13:37, Dunny said:

Also raining here...

 

Still raining here...

 

18 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

Wheel does look good Mark.

Chris

 

Wheels finished.

 

 

12 hours ago, heloman1 said:

Camo paint and markings look excellent Mark. Looking foward to seeing how you progress.

 

Colin

 

A bit more to show below...

 

12 hours ago, AliGauld said:

the decals will all blend in I'm sure.

 

 

They did, but there was a period when I thought I was going to have to do some fine detail painting to cover silvering...

 

3 hours ago, k5054nz said:

My goodness this is gorgeous!! The paint is sublime!

 

Thank you, very kind.

 

Those that have followed my previous builds will know that I usually texture or modulate the paint with paint, while I'm painting 🙂.  I didn't do that this time because; a. I messed up the underside paint obliterating the pre-shade, and b. the complexity of the upper scheme meant that it wasn't really practical.  Anyhow, I had a different plan I wanted to try.

 

During the closing stages of @Winded Penguin's Pink Spitfire thread I suggested one way the pinkness could be enhanced was with a stained clear coat.  Subsequently, I realised that's a way I could do a post-shade, too.  It's a higher risk strategy than my usual method as I couldn't simply keep painting until I got the result I was looking for.  But, it did seem to offer a way I could texture the Luftwaffe camouflage.

 

I mixed up a 70/30 blend of Future/Pledge with Windex and then stained it dark grey, almost black.  I also added a blue tone to compliment the overall blue look to the paint scheme.  It was a very thin mix, requiring several passes to really illicit much effect.  I practiced on a scrap and then I se to on the model.  I didn't want anything too obvious, more an impression of texture.  

 

 

 

The results were what I was aiming at and I'm quite pleased.  The effect will soften just a little under the remaining flat coats.  I also sealed the decals while I was at it, and I'm pleased to see that they blended quite well (it's interesting how the light is catching the decal on the underside of the port wing though).

 

Next task is a pin wash on some select access panels and areas of a high traffic before sealing it all with the first of the finish treatments.  

 

Cheers.

[Dunny]

1 hour ago, mark.au said:

 

Still raining here...

 

 

Wheels finished.

 

 

 

A bit more to show below...

 

 

They did, but there was a period when I thought I was going to have to do some fine detail painting to cover silvering...

 

 

Thank you, very kind.

 

Those that have followed my previous builds will know that I usually texture or modulate the paint with paint, while I'm painting 🙂.  I didn't do that this time because; a. I messed up the underside paint obliterating the pre-shade, and b. the complexity of the upper scheme meant that it wasn't really practical.  Anyhow, I had a different plan I wanted to try.

 

During the closing stages of @Winded Penguin's Pink Spitfire thread I suggested one way the pinkness could be enhanced was with a stained clear coat.  Subsequently, I realised that's a way I could do a post-shade, too.  It's a higher risk strategy than my usual method as I couldn't simply keep painting until I got the result I was looking for.  But, it did seem to offer a way I could texture the Luftwaffe camouflage.

 

I mixed up a 70/30 blend of Future/Pledge with Windex and then stained it dark grey, almost black.  I also added a blue tone to compliment the overall blue look to the paint scheme.  It was a very thin mix, requiring several passes to really illicit much effect.  I practiced on a scrap and then I se to on the model.  I didn't want anything too obvious, more an impression of texture.  

 

 

 

The results were what I was aiming at and I'm quite pleased.  The effect will soften just a little under the remaining flat coats.  I also sealed the decals while I was at it, and I'm pleased to see that they blended quite well (it's interesting how the light is catching the decal on the underside of the port wing though).

 

Next task is a pin wash on some select access panels and areas of a high traffic before sealing it all with the first of the finish treatments.  

 

Cheers.

Mark,

 

A high risk strategy which has paid handsomely! I'm sure that decal will settle down under a flat coat,

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

[Winded Penguin]

As always, a pleasure to watch this unfold Mark 👍

[AliGauld]

Very fine work.

I'm really enjoying seeing this come together.

 

Cheers,

Alistair

[AdrianMF]

Just seen the paintwork on the big screen, not my phone. Wow!

 

Your post-shading seems to have worked well too. Very subtle.

 

Regards,

Adrian

[bigbadbadge]

Oh yes, it certainly did pay off,  looks fantastic Mark, great job.

Chris

[mark.au]

Thank you all, for the kind words.

 

I'm beginning to think there's something @Fritagesque about my finding little jobs to do instead of the looming Big Jobs, like joining the wings to the fuselage and then the radar...  Anyhoo, whether I am or am not channeling our friend the Great Thread Extender or not, I found something to play with last night.

 

The exhaust covers are an oft neglected opportunity to while away some time, so I looked at a few reference pics and tried to make the 410's look somewhat realistic.  Starting with a base of RLM76 I added a coat of Vallejo Burnt Iron at the rear end of each and then worked forward with differing shades of Burnt Sienna, brown and [almost] black to try and create the look of a progressive burning off of the paint and into burnt metal.  When I was satisfied it was as good as I was going to be able to get it, I added a Tamiya Clear Blue to the back third of each to create a sort of bluing/tempering effect.  Finally, I flattened it (but I might back to a semi-gloss sheen for the rear third as that's now representing bare metal that would have a sheen as opposed to the flat paint at the front third.  I could also be overthinking that). This is what it looked like when I finished.

 

 

Oh, and I also painted the spinners with a gloss black in preparation for the spiral decals.  I'm going to use the kit decals instead of painting as the reference pics show the spirals to be perfect and I'd like to match that with the decals.

 

The legitimate job that needed to be done before joining the wings was the black goop wash on panels and control surfaces.  I did this with a combination of goop and pencil.  Here's the before and after shots; the "after" fuselage is the lowermost in that pic, and [weirdly] the "after" is the uppermost in the wing pic.

 

 

 

I'm running out of things to do before the Big Jobs.

 

Cheers.

 

[Dunny]

Mark,

 

Nice work on the exhaust covers, and the panel line work has popped nicely. NOW PUT THE BL**DY WINGS ON!! 🤣

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

[bigbadbadge]

Panel lining and exhaust covers look great Mark.

Cracking work.

Chris

[AliGauld]

Looking really good.

Don't listen to the above Philistine, there's nothing wrong with leaving the big stuff for future you. 

 

Cheers,

Alistair

[mark.au]

On 31/01/2023 at 14:33, Dunny said:

Mark,

 

Nice work on the exhaust covers, and the panel line work has popped nicely. NOW PUT THE BL**DY WINGS ON!! 🤣

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

 

Sorry, I'm not quite sure what you mean...  😄

 

On 31/01/2023 at 22:22, AliGauld said:

Looking really good.

Don't listen to the above Philistine, there's nothing wrong with leaving the big stuff for future you. 

 

Cheers,

Alistair

 

Future me was looking forward to it, but present recent-past me decided to do some base weathering.  I looked at some photos of the exhaust staining to get an idea of what it should look like.  Here's a couple of representative images.

 

 

 

Note the quite heavy staining on the underside and the outboard staining on the topside.  I couldn't find a photo of the port wing topside so I'm not sure if the right side (inboard on that wing) would have a similar stain.  I used Future/Pledge as my main medium as I am coming to the belief that it carries the pigment better when looking for a very fine edge.  It seems to be more ink-like than when I thin with more conventional thinners, or Windex for that matter.

 

 

The result was satisfactory.  I used black as the exhaust looks quite sooty to me.  I'll enhance the finish with chalks when I've applied the flat coat.  @Dunny may be getting excited at the image above, but the wings are only dry fitted at this stage...  

 

Next, it was time to actually attach the wings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No, not really.  It was time for the propeller spinners.

 

I had intended to use the kit decals so had already painted the spinners black.  I simply. Could. Not. make the decals work for me so it was painting time after all.  First, I had to repaint the spinners White as a base and then mask for the spirals.  I neglected to take photos of the progress but I'm sure you all know what a mask looks like.

 

 

I had to hand paint the very beginning of the spiral.  I think I can improve on that result but overall I'm pleased with how they came out.  I didn't try to make them identical, I like the visual interest of them being slightly different, though not too much.  I used the same mask for both, its application was a little different between the two.

 

Then I moved back to the wings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes Roger, I did.

 

This is what I had, when the wings were on and glued.  Top seam...

 

 

Just a little clean up to do, plus a wash and we'll be good to go.  Though, it seems to me that the demarcation between the wing paint and fuselage paint may have actually be a soft one (i.e. painted after the wing was joined to the fuselage in the assembly plant).  I'll have a review of the evidence on that and make a decision later.

 

The underside though...  Not sure where I went wrong on this as the fit is way worse than when I offered the wings up pre-painting.  

 

 

Some work to do.

 

I started by ensuring that the wing dihedral and overall set up was correct.  It was, so the gaps would have to be filled, I couldn't simply persuade the wing join to close up with a little "help".  The composite below shows the process; first I used some plastic stock to fill the gap.  With the card in and glued, I used Vallejo putty to fill the remaining gaps and then lightly sanded to smooth it all out.  Process...

 

 

Final result...

 

 

Next, I broke out the airbrush and made everything whole.

 

 

Not perfect but under a little weathering it'll pass muster for me.  I've...

 

On 31/01/2023 at 14:33, Dunny said:

NOW PUT THE BL**DY WINGS ON!! 🤣

 

Next, I'm going to finish off the underside completely before turning it over and doing the same for the topside.  An end is in sight, it will probably be done by the end of the weekend.

 

Cheers.

 

I just noticed that I have to finish off the longitudinal seam marking - a light pencil line will do for that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 3, 2023 by mark.au

[Dunny]

28 minutes ago, mark.au said:

Yes Roger, I did.

And the civilized world breathed a sigh of relief that the master craftsman had overcome his bout of procrastination 🤣

[bigbadbadge]

Looking great Mark, strange re the underside wing joints.  The spinners look great. Cracking work.

Chris

[AliGauld]

Well you let him push you into it, didn't you.

No bad thing, mind as is all looking excellent.

Nice work with the spinners and those wing roots.

 

Cheers,

Alistair

[Fritag]

Typically very accomplished work Mark.

 

I probably don’t need to say that the painting is well thought through and beautifully executed, cos it’s obviously obvious to all that it is; but what the heck, I’ve never been averse to stating the bl**din obvious   (too many obviouses?)

 

Good save on the underside  join.

 

Oh and I obviously (that word again!) don’t take any issue at all with the the merits of finding lots of little jobs to do to avoid the big jobs.  Sounds like a sensible and sophisticated workflow to me 

 

 

 

[mark.au]

4 hours ago, Dunny said:

And the civilized world breathed a sigh of relief that the master craftsman had overcome his bout of procrastination 🤣

Who is this master craftsman you speak of?  Mrs. Mark does agree about the procrastination though…
 

1 hour ago, bigbadbadge said:

Looking great Mark, strange re the underside wing joints.  The spinners look great. Cracking work.

Chris

 

Not so strange, Chris.  I’m not very good at assembly and I’m quite certain I did something dumb! 😆

 

18 minutes ago, AliGauld said:

Well you let him push you into it, didn't you.

No bad thing, mind as is all looking excellent.

Nice work with the spinners and those wing roots.

 

Cheers,

Alistair

Thanks Alistair; truth is I just ran out of things to do! 
 

2 minutes ago, Fritag said:

Oh and I obviously (that word again!) don’t take any issue at all with the the merits of finding lots of little jobs to do to avoid the big jobs.  Sounds like a sensible and sophisticated workflow to me 

I’ve followed your work with awe Steve, and learned a great deal from you, not the least being proper pacing

 

[AliGauld]

1 minute ago, mark.au said:

I’m quite certain I did something dumb! 😆

I resemble that remark.

[hendie]

I see Mr Fritag is trying to take over my role as Stator of the Obviance .  I won't complain though cos he saved me a lot of words.  I'll go with exactly what he said, with an extra WOW thrown in for good measure.