Me-262 Afrika begins!

[Gekko_1]

Hi guys,

well the model room is now set-up, here's the 262 sitting ready to be dealt with.



(pics of the new room are on Hyperscale, didn't see the point in double posting them here too)  

http://www.network54.com/Forum/47751/messa...The+virgin+room

Moments after those shots were taken things got under way! The cockpit area was masked-off and the wheel wells were plugged with wet tissue paper.








When building the Trumpeter kit be careful not to reproduce what I did here, the front canopy insert will need to be sanded down a little to prevent it sticking up like it now does on my kit!!!! I didn't realise how bad it was until after it was painted, then I couldn't get the ruddy thing off!!!!

Using my ancient Paasche H airbrush to lay down the base colour of pale green/tan. I sprayed a thin overall coat. Because of the existing camouflage scheme on the model I wasn't too concerned about getting an overall consistent coat, as you can see there is some variation in tone, that is what I was after. Once the second and then third colours are applied, plus all the weathering that will be done on this model you won't notice the tonal variations in the pale green/tan anyway.





Notice I had a little build-up of thinned paint here. When this happens leave it! Let it dry thoroughly and go over it again the next day. :dum:

I use Isopropyl alcohol as a thinner for my Tamiya paints, main reason, its cheap! Later on, when I get to the fine feathered edge airbrushing I'll switch over to Tamiya thinner and use highly thinned paint. More on that later. B)





Notice that ridge! Also note the fine 'dust' and a few paint specks that have built-up on the surface. Again, leave these alone, you can always brush these off the next day.

For anybody interested the paint mix for this colour it was
XF-62 Olive Drab : 1 drop
XF-55 Deck Tan : 2 drops
Isopropyl alcohol : 4 drops



I use cut off sprue for paint droppers and Testors droppers for the thinner.

If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask



Richard Chafer
Gekko Graphics

[John Howling Mouse]

I can't imagine the pressure of trying to live up to your computer-generated imagery on actual models!  

You are the king of graphics, my friend!  

Model looks great so far...no pressure, though!      

[Gekko_1]

No worries mate! Won't be a problem

I have every confidence that I'll be able to surpass my illustrations with an actual plastic model. I've been mucking around with weathering effects for years.

Here's some paint chipping, staining etc effects that I did on a "test" model a couple of years back.









Can't wait to get to the weathering stage with this 262. The reason I picked Africa as the environment it would be operating in is so I can 'go to town' with the weathering. It'll be a great canvass to work on!    B)

All will be explained in detail as I get to it.



Richard.

[BlackOps]

Cool project Richard! Thanks for the great pics and detailed write ups. I really want to get my weathering skills to match yours!!!   Look forward to seeing more progress and it's good to see you finally getting some play time

[Radish]

Oh boy, this is going to be marvellous.
I find that when panels, sections "sit up" a bit, I can usually disguise them by weathering, and of course, ancient aircraft "in the field" often fit pretty badly anyway!
This'll be good!!      

[nev]

You look like one talented modeller - but don't sweat on things like ridges and gaps too much.  Me & Chris saw the 262 at the RAF museum and were amazed at the size of the gaps on the real thing - several inches in places.

[lancer]

Amazing work Richard. That weathering has got to be some of the most realistic I've ever seen.  

[lancer]

You look like one talented modeller - but don't sweat on things like ridges and gaps too much.  Me & Chris saw the 262 at the RAF museum and were amazed at the size of the gaps on the real thing - several inches in places.

This is one of the most ironic things I find about modelling. We all strive to build the best models we can, all the time using the fill/sand/repeat cycle until we get rid of all the gaps and god knows what else, when there ARE gaps and other 'imperfections' on the real things. Note I use the word imperfections very loosely, as only the uber JMN's will and have criticised the real thing for being wrong and not, and I quote 'anything like Hasegawas kit' - Heard at the RAF museum a couple of years back on a visit.

A major bug of mine is visible panel lines. Sure, they sometimes enhance a model, unless they are way overdone, BUT, looking at the real thing's sometimes from only a couple of feet away and you can hardly see the panels, let alone the lines.  

[cthulhu77]

That should be a real stunner 262 !  Looking forward to more of the excellent build up.

 As far as panel lines go, I was always convinced they were overdone, until I visited a friend in the Air Force, and saw an unwashed A-10:

[John Howling Mouse]

Uh, Richard?
There's a separate "Plane Spotting" thread for posting such pics of real aircraft:

http://www.whatifmodelers.com/forum//index...hp?showforum=14

         

$64K question though: Did you finish that model?

(hint: more pics, please)

[Gekko_1]

Uh, Richard?
There's a separate "Plane Spotting" thread for posting such pics of real aircraft:

http://www.whatifmodelers.com/forum//index...hp?showforum=14

         

$64K question though: Did you finish that model?

(hint: more pics, please)

Oh I'm so confused :dum:

What real aircraft?

Did I finish which model?  

[Gekko_1]

Uh, Richard?
There's a separate "Plane Spotting" thread for posting such pics of real aircraft:

http://www.whatifmodelers.com/forum//index...hp?showforum=14

         

$64K question though: Did you finish that model?

(hint: more pics, please)

Oh I'm so confused :dum:

What real aircraft?

Did I finish which model?

Oh! The penny just dropped!

Thanks JHM! Now I get it :dum:  :dum:  :dum:  

In answer to your question, no I haven't finished it as such. It was finished quite some time ago, but, being such a fussy bugger like I am I relegated it to "weathering duties" and began experimenting on it with various ways of reproducing weathering effects.

I'll take a few more shots of it and try and find some pics of what it used to look like.



Richard

[Sisko]

Hello Richard

Couple of questions.

Are you using the rubber wheels of the kit or have you found some resin replacements?

Are you coming to the SAPMA expo this year?

Will you have that beast finished in time for it?

Cheers Stuart

[Gekko_1]

Hello Richard

Couple of questions.

Are you using the rubber wheels of the kit or have you found some resin replacements?

Are you coming to the SAPMA expo this year?

Will you have that beast finished in time for it?

Cheers Stuart

Hi Stuart,

yes I'll be using the rubber wheels. They seem fine to me.

Yes I'm coming along to the expo, I'm going to be doing an airbrushing demo both days, and yes the 262 will be ready and I'm hoping a couple of others too!



Richard.

[Sisko]

Cool!

See you there hopefully.