1/32 Trumpeter Me 262A-1a "Yellow 3"

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Thanks for the comments guys!


A bit more to report on the 262. Being identified as an early 262A-1a and positively ID'd as having the old skool tail light, I decided to replace the solid panel with a clear one. I used a piece from a clear toothbrush that I had laying around.





I used the outline of the rudder to guide my grinding and sanding and I think I'll have to re-shape the bottom section a bit. There is also a gouge mark from the rough sanding that I need to fill.





The clear canopy parts were given a dip of Future to increase their clarity. This is my second attempt as I had some unanticipated pooling on the first go.





One of the things that had me procrastinating was how to add weights to avoid being a tail-sitter. The answer was right in front of me but I was a bit slow to recognize it. The kit comes with three fuel tanks. The one in the front is completely sealed by the gun bulkhead in the front and the cockpit/wheel well bulkhead at the rear. The front fuel tank is a hollow three-piece box... a perfect storage container for weights!







With the lid on, I didn't even have to add any glue! I'm guessing this is enough weight to keep the nose down but I can add a few more weights to the two forward bays ahead of the weighted fuel tank. I will not be adding the gun assemblies on this buttoned-up aircraft.
 
Good work John. I was trying to find a good pic of the tail light lens but couldn't. It strikes me as being a tad too square and that the corner could be more rounded but I'm not sure.
 
Good stuff John.
I took some close-up pics of the gun bay, and a few other details on the '262 at Cosford, in case you might need them. Obviously you now won't need the gun bay shots, but let me know if you'd like the others - slats, undercart etc.
 
In addition to the tail lamp modification, I thought that I should remove the gun blister on the nose per the early 262A-1a.



Before the removal...



After removal and restoration of panel lines and rivets...



The fuselage halves have been cemented together using Tamiya Extra Thin.


 
Thank you Kirby!

Now that the fuselage halves have been glued together, I can start working on getting the nose panels to fit. It's not the greatest fit here so I had to use some shims made of sheet styrene to close the gaps. I've not yet glued the panels in place as I want to make sure I do everything BEFORE the glue so that I can minimize the seam clean-up.


 
To tighten things up, I added a final shim to the whole back of the forward gun cowling piece. My goal is to have the cowling pieces finished separately so that I won't have to do much corrective work after the wings go on. Although I think I added enough weight into the forward fuel tank container, I wanted the option of adding weight to the space in the nose and if I close up the nose now, I'd have to tear it apart to add weight.







There are some overhangs and gaps here and there but I think it'll tighten up nicely once I get some glue on the joints.



The biggest overhang occurs here at the joint between the front and rear gun cowlings on the starboard side.



But adding just a little finger pressure eliminates it. From the photo, I see at least one previously glued joint that needs to be cleaned up!



I will square off the edges of the gun cowling pieces, restore all of the rivets and panel lines and then set the pieces aside for assembly later. During this time, I've been cleaning up the fuselage joint and restoring the rivets, panel lines and hatches in preparation for the addition of the cockpit and eventual attachment of the wings.
 
I've started work on the engine nacelles. Since the engines will be hidden, I am only using the engine parts that will be seen at the two ends of the nacelles.



The engine nacelle joints need lots of clean up due to the glue seam and also a rough pebbly texture along the joint area.



The view into the back of the engine will be very limited so I'm not doing much work here except painting the area in a dark steel color.



Here are the two nacelles with the seam cleaned up.



I've done a lot of seam work on the fuselage so I'm ready to glue the cockpit tub into place. Before I do that, I attach my previously made wiring harnesses to the wheel well. These will be trimmed once I get the sidewalls in place.



The sidewalls are glued onto the tub and the whole thing is glued into the fuselage halves. I used JB Quik Weld for this to allow for any positioning adjustments.





There are some various bits and pieces to the Aires wheel well that need to be attached so I'll be taking a look at that next.
 
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