1/48 Tamiya Me-262 (S) early production version ”Red 1”

Started by Louis Gardner · 54 ≡ · ↻ 6 years ago · 1/48, Me-262, Tamiya
  • Profile Photo
    Louis Gardner said 6 years, 5 months ago:

    Tonight was a good night for the 262... David L-S... Trumpy 262... that's all I'm saying...

  • Profile Photo
    Louis Gardner said 6 years, 5 months ago:

    Having said that, here's a few pictures of the progress made.

    This has me a little worried... It's adhesive made for clear parts... but it hasn't completely dried just yet. Maybe this is due to the humidity we have been having here lately, and how I have sealed off the cockpit. I hope this clears up. If not, I'll have to make up a plan B... If it does dry, I hope the tiny bubbles disappear.


    Next I masked off the clear bits, using Scotch tape.

    Then sprayed the frames with RLM 66...
    and wiped off the excess RLM 76 Light Blue that was surrounding the canopy. Originally the plan was to go with an open canopy so I pre painted the areas in an attempt to keep overspray in the cockpit area down to a minimum.

    Then everything was sprayed in RLM 76.

    Here is how it looked after the paint had dried enough to keep finger prints down to a minimum.

    and how it looks now, after the masking was removed from the jet engine exhausts and the nose gear leg / wheel well.

    Tomorrow If things go well, I'll give this a wet sanding with 2000 grit wet / dry sand paper in a few places, then spray on some "Future" as a base for the decals.
    I'm calling it a night...

    As usual,
    Comments are encouraged.

  • Profile Photo
    david leigh-smith said 6 years, 5 months ago:

    All comments are encouraged (except of course the lunatic in London who can't sleep because he's been dreaming of 262's all damned night).

  • Profile Photo
    david leigh-smith said 6 years, 5 months ago:

    And Louis, that Challenger is looking beautiful already. You're only making one ?

  • Profile Photo
    Louis Gardner said 6 years, 5 months ago:

    Ah that LIL... "Lunatic in London". I couldn't sleep either for the same reason.

    So I got up really early this morning... and went to work on the 262.

    Thanks for the compliments on the Challenger. Funny you should mention building another one. I have another Challenger car that needs restored. It's an original 1970 "Lime Green" car and is scheduled up next once I sell the one I'm working on at the moment. I need the funds from the sale to finance the costs of restoration on the next one... and I'm keeping the next one for me.

    I have a 440 "six pack" engine, a "Shaker" hood, and a pistol grip 4 speed for it. It should be a hoot to drive once completed. Here it is in our driveway,


    and then I stored it away inside the enclosed car hauler until I can get to working on it, where it's waiting on me ever so patiently.

    Here's a previous Challenger I restored for a friend. This is the original color for it. It's a high impact color called aptly "Plum Crazy"...

    Enjoy David. I hope you get some sleep.

  • Profile Photo
    Louis Gardner said 6 years, 5 months ago:

    Here's the 262 after this morning's progress...

    I think part of the reasons why I couldn't sleep is that I was thinking about the canopy on the 262. I believe it is getting better. After removing the masking you can see the slight change in it. I think it's just taking forever to dry under the glass.
    the original picture I posted:


    followed by the one from this morning...

    Here's how she looked after a quick wet sanding in a few places.

    Followed by a picture after the Future was sprayed.

    In case you're wondering how I managed to let this dry and not touch the lower engine nacelles... I simply cut off some wooden tooth picks and inserted them into the main gear stub locations.
    .
    Maybe later today I can add the decals...

    as usual,
    "Comments are encouraged"... even ones from the sleepless "Lunatic in London". 🙂

    Take care everyone.

  • Profile Photo
    Rob Pollock said 6 years, 5 months ago:

    Coming on nicely. The only 262 I’ve built was Trumpeter’s 1/32 version, which I absolutely pimped with cables etc. Trouble is it’s such a sleek aircraft you don’t actually need bells and whistles, so I think you’ve gauged this just right.

  • Profile Photo
    david leigh-smith said 6 years, 5 months ago:

    I knew you'd have at least another one tucked away, Louis, you can't help yourself. Your work is even better at 1/1 scale, and boy, that's saying something. Just magnificent, Louis.

  • Profile Photo
    Louis Gardner said 6 years, 5 months ago:

    Thank you David... Once the Lime Green car is completed, I'm done. It's a lot of work involved and I spend a lot of time on a build. It's not like what you see on some TV car shows. A car doesn't get finished in a week... unless it is slammed together. My builds typically take a few years or so. It's not uncommon to have spent 1500 hours or more on a single car. But the end results are worth it. They are better than new when I'm done with them. Not bragging, but it's true. My cars have been show quality.

    It's relaxing for me to get the radio turned on in the shop, and get busy for most of the day. Before you know it, it's dark outside... and the day is gone.

    I decided to do a little more work on the clear finish on the 262. I went back and wet sanded the clear again in some spots. Then I gave it another coat of Future.

    While this was drying, I spent some time on the Monogram He-111. I'll post up the progress over there in a few...

    Now I am ready to start adding the decals... which just might get done later tonight.

    Thanks again gents for the compliments...

    and as per my usual sign off.

    "Comments are Encouraged"...

  • Profile Photo
    Louis Gardner said 6 years, 5 months ago:

    Tonight I added the decals...

    I ran into a little problem with the choice of numbers on this plane. The number 3 decal that I had originally decided to use for "Red 3", was a different font style than the ones used on the actual plane. I realized this just before I started adding the fuselage radio codes. Luckily I noticed this before I started applying the decals.


    I was worried because the other plane shown in the photos was "Red 6", and it too had a slightly different style font than anything I had in the decal stash.

    Back to the drawing board. I was doing some reading in several of the 262 books I have, and noticed another overall RLM 76 colored Storm Bird. This was "Red 1".

    The scramble was on to see if I had the proper number. As luck would have it, I did. Upon further research, it is a blessing in disguise, as I have a few more pictures of the original "Red 1" than any other early "S" type 262.

    So now I went with "Red 1" which wore the radio codes of "V I + A F"... which was also carried on the underside of both wings.


    I still need to apply the "Werk Number" under the stabilizer as seen in this photo of "Red 1".
    "Red 1" was Werk Number 130006.

    Everything worked out just fine in the end.

    Calling it a night. This one is much closer to being finished now. It also looks as if the windshield armor glass is drying out a little more, so I'm going to ride it out and see what happens.

    "As usual,
    Comments are Encouraged."

  • Profile Photo
    david leigh-smith said 6 years, 5 months ago:

    Your rebuilds are clearly a real vocation. Any work you can get lost in, so engaged that you lose all track of time, is a blessing. When you have work that you enjoy the rest of life is so much easier. Not to say that it goes well all the time, but challenges are so much less difficult to overcome when you are emotionally and intellectually 'invested'.

    It's clear to see also where your modeling methodology comes from; attention to detail, planning, carefulness (spilt glue pots aside...).

    Inspirational work on both counts, Louis.

  • Profile Photo
    Tom Bebout said 6 years, 5 months ago:

    Looking nice Louis that 262 is going to be some real eye candy when completed. As to the canopy, I hate to be the skunk at the party but I believed you screwed the pooch on that one. However, it may clear up yet, lets hope it does.

  • Profile Photo
    Louis Gardner said 6 years, 5 months ago:

    Thanks David... As far a "glue gate", the ICM kit looks almost as if it never happened now that some fine sanding took place.

    I do indeed enjoy myself with the hobbies. You're quite right, they rarely ever go off without some sort of problem. It's how you deal with the occasional setbacks that make the difference. Years ago I would let them really bother me. Anymore it's a laid back approach. Once things happen you can't go back and change it. You simply need to find a fix for what is wrong and move on. The old saying goes "No sense in crying over spilled milk..." or a bottle of glue for that matter. 🙂

  • Profile Photo
    Louis Gardner said 6 years, 5 months ago:

    Thanks Tom.

    I was beginning to think like you about the pooch. I couldn't let this go as it was, and I needed to do something before the rest of the glues set up.
    So I carefully cut the main canopy away using a single edge razor blade. Since I used "Future" to install it, this part came off fairly easy and thankfully did not crack.


    Then I broke away the armor glass from inside the front windscreen. I accidentally broke the Revi gun sight too, but this was an easy fix later...

    Next I removed the armored glass completely and cleaned both sides of it out of the plane.

    After some careful cleaning with some wooden tooth picks, rubbing alcohol, using a Q-tip, and a soft cotton polishing cloth, I was able to get the remaining glue off of both parts.

    Since I had used Testor's canopy / white glue and Future, both types of glue came out fairly easy with a little work. I was very lucky not to break anything, (or scratch anything).

    I decided to use only "Future" to reinstall the armored glass.


    Next step was to reinstall the canopy... it was at this step where I seriously thought about borrowing another canopy from another kit and using it. This way I could pose the canopy open. I decided against this, since I wanted to preserve the sleek lines of the plane. It would be hard to do with the canopy open. Maybe on the next build... 🙂

    and this is how we are looking at the moment... much better I think.

    Once everything sets back up, I'll go back and touch up the paint on the canopy frames.

    I think I dodged a bullet on this one...

    as usual,
    comments are encouraged...

  • Profile Photo
    Louis Gardner said 6 years, 5 months ago:

    I'm getting closer to calling this one done.

    Tonight I added the landing gear and bay doors.


    I also gave the landing gear parts and associated wheel wells a light oil wash using a lamp black and burnt umber mix. It shows up the finer details rather well.

    Here's the nose well. If you look closely, you can see where I wrapped the chrome portion of the stuts with "Ultra Bright" Bare Metal Foil.

    Here's a picture showing the plane from a different angle. I'm going to let it dry overnight in this position.

    This last photo is a close up of the main gear and doors. Here too you can see the Bare Metal Foil.

    There are some various little bits left to install. I'll do this once I add the Werk Number... I have to use dry transfers for this. As a rule, they are fairly hard to get just right. Hopefully not...

    Calling it a night.

    As usual,
    Comments are encouraged...

This site and web app uses cookies.
More information about this and other usage of our services can be found in: