1/72 Hasegawa Me 262

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J

JonCOlsen

Airman 1st Class
197
14
Mar 14, 2015
Hello everybody,

So I've been working on this for a while, but without much to show for. At this point, most of the parts are glued on. I'll glue on the undercarriage towards the end of the build as I'm afraid of damaging the wheel struts and doors if I glue them on at this stage. The canopy was masked using an Eduard set. Though not visible now in the pics below, the canopy was detailed using an aftermarket set by Eduard.

The subject I've chosen is an Me 262 A-2a fighter-bomber variant. It was coded "B3+AL" and served with KG(J) 54. Click here to read all about it. Newly discovered Me 262

I used Tamiya putty to fill in the upper cannon ports. However, I decided not to glue on bomb racks, as the particular Me 262 A-2a I'd like to depict apparently wasn't equipped with bomb racks.

Anyhow, this is my first time building the Hasegawa Me 262. I'd like to make a few comments about the build in case others are considering building a Hasegawa Me 262. On the positive side, the overall shape is very accurate. However, I did have some annoying fit issues at the joints where the engine nacelles are attached to the wings. To address these gaps, I used generous amounts of Tamiya putty and wet sanding. This process took a bit of elbow grease. There was also a thin gap at the wing roots. However, this was easily fixed by using some Vallejo putty. This is an excellent product, by the way, which I highly recommend using. It can be thinned with water and leaves behind no mess. Just put some water on a q-tip and wipe it along the surface to remove excess putty. I should also mention that when I glued the two halves of the fuselage together I had some trouble aligning the halves on the fuselage spine and also on the forward fuselage upper surface. I used some Tamiya putty and wet sanding to even out the affected surfaces.

For the next step, I'm going to try priming with Vallejo Polyurethane primer. This will be my first time using this stuff, so wish me luck...I'll need it! I'm new to Vallejo products. I've decided to use non-toxic acrylics as much as possible from now on.

I'll keep you all updated...I'm not very experienced at making models so I can use all the help I can get!
Me 262 model.jpg
 
Looks good Jon. If you haven't started with the primer yet, a few things. Shake the crap out of the primer. I have the large bottle and I usually shake it for half an hour. Overkill...I don't know but I've never had a problem with it as others have. Once you figure you've shaken it enough....shake it a bit more. I shoot at about 15-17psi and mist on very light coats. The nice thing about Vallejo is that it dries fast so there's no waiting. There is the possibility of tip dry. I use an Aztek airbrush and every 15-20 seconds or so I'll blow straight air through the tip and all is good. After you are finished painting, walk away. The biggest complaint I've seen regarding Vallejo paints is paint lifting after masking. Vallejo recommends waiting 12 hours, I recommend waiting 24 hours before masking. Take as much tack off the tape as you dare and then run a very thin bead of clear coat along the edge of the tape. Remove the tape slowly when finished painting. Using these methods on my last three builds I've probably had a total area of 3²mm of paint lift and that was because I rushed it. I won't say the paints are flawless, results may vary :) One thing to watch for with Vallejo is the older paint stocks. Some of the colours were sketchy. Unfortunately, as far as I know there is no way to tell the old stock from the new. I've seen one colour that had three different names and numbers. In the future I will be buying the aircraft paint sets. I hope this helps
 
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Your 262 looks good Jon; after seeing a few recent online builds of the Airfix kit it's nice to see those fine, subtle panel lines.

Interesting comments regarding Vallejo. I just can't get along with them, they don't seem to adhere well even when I base-coat with a lacquer-base like Tamiya's primer. It has been a few years since I tried them though, so I wonder if I just had old, bad stock as Fubar suggested?
 
Wow! Thanks for the comments guys. Fubar, your post is very informative. I appreciate the details, and it turns out everything you said about what can go wrong did go wrong. Sure wish I had read your comments before priming!

The primer came out too thick. Now I've almost finished removing the primer using a Qtip dipped in white spirit and also a toothpick. That stuff doesn't come off so easily!

When I removed the canopy masks, I did see lots of paint lifting. It gets worse... as I was removing the primer from one of the engine nacelles, I noticed that the nacelle was quite loose at the back end. Instead of just applying more glue to that part of the piece, I created a problem by removing the entire engine. This resulted in a nasty crack on the joint where the engine meets the wing. I had previously applied lots of putty to seal that joint, so when I took the engine off the putty just took some of the plastic with it.

But no surrender! Here's my game plan to fix things. 1)Remove all residue of Vallejo primer. 2)Fill the crack on the wing/engine joint with Tamiya epoxy and sand it smooth. 3)Mask the canopy again. 4) Prime it all with Tamiya Fine Surface Primer. What do you all think? I'm open to all suggestions.

Migrant, I can strongly sympathize with how you feel about Vallejo! I'd really like to give the stuff a chance, but I'm terrified of the primer now. For health reasons, I'd much prefer to use acrylics, but if I think I might have to compromise on my "acrylics only" policy. :)

Fubar, you mentioned that you spray Vallejo primer at 15-17 psi. I have a Tamiya basic "Spray Work" compressor. It doesn't allow me to adjust air pressure. Will this be a problem spraying acrylics?

I'll show you all a pic of the model soon, including that hideous gap.Anyhow, this is a learning experience. Challenges help us grow, right? :)

Your help is much appreciated!
 
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Thank you for the encouragement everyone. Here's a pic showing that hideous crack next to the engine.I'm planning on using Tamiya epoxy to fill it in and then sand it.

I'll be going on holiday the next few weeks, so I'll have to take a break from this build during that time.

Regards,
Jon
IMG20181003170800.jpg
 
Hey everyone,

I just wanted to apologize for having disappeared for a long time and not having made any updates in this build. I've taken a break from modeling for a while. I do certainly plan on continuing this build in the future. It's on my to-do list!
 
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