**** DONE 1/48 Tamiya Me 262 A-2 Heavy Hitters Group Build

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Some more.

Finished the RLM 81 overspray and worked on the underside. First batch of photos shows various views of the upper surfaces. The close-ups reveal some of the trouble I had with the squiggles. I tried to hide the paint bursts as best I could but the close-ups are merciless. I don't know what happened with the "Y" decal on the starboard side. It almost seems like the bottom of the black outline broke apart, possibly from a blob of Solvaset. I'll go over it with a fine brush later to touch it up.

The top side has a flat coat applied to protect the Pollyscale from masking I need to do. The white nose and fin top have to be done yet and I'll probably get at this tomorrow. Canopy mask was peeled off but a bit of touch up is needed.

Final two shots show the underside. Panel lines and rivets were traced in pencil and areas around the engine panels were smudged with ground graphite applied by brush. A coat of Dullcoat has been applied. Wheels go on next and some subtle weathering is left to do. Also a few stencils yet to be applied.

Thanks for tuning in.
 

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I appreciate all the nice comments guys.

I suffered a major setback during painting of the white fin tip. After painting the white, I removed the Tamiya tape only to find that half the basecoat was coming off with it and, just to ice the cake, along came the half the swastika with it. More choice words. Pic below.

I can see two things that possibly went wrong here. As Dwight pointed out, I should have washed the model before painting. Secondly, I didn't reseal the decals with Future after they were applied. Rather, I went straight to the flat coat. I would have thought that applying the flat coat over the decals would have been enough to seal them. I didn't flatten the tape over the decal, just lightly applied it and yet it pulled away. The decals were Tamiya from the kit applied normally and with Solvaset. Is it strictly verboten to mask over decals? In hindsight, I should probably have used paper to cover the decal.

Any thoughts/tips? In the meatime, I have some rework to do and will have to hunt through my spares to see if I have some swastikas of the right size.
 

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What a bummer! I've never had that problem, but I use enamels, whcih stick like s**t to a blanket! I've found virtually any clear coat, matt or gloss, seals the decals and they can be easily masked. I've been using a matt clear I make from Klear (Future) and Tamiya Flat Base. If you're using acrylics, the problem might be lack of primer. I haven't had a problem with Future lifting off, or paint, on the two occassions I've used only acrylics, over primer.
 

Oh man, Andy that totally sucks! It was looking really good too!

I normally have everything painted first before I clear coat but As Terry said the flat coat should have sealed things so that shouldn't have been an issue. For some reason your paint is not adhering well and I'm not sure why. Maybe the lack of primer is the issue but I haven't primed any of my kits and I'm not getting that peel away at all.

Damn! Tamiya tape is fairly low tack and just lightly putting the tape against the paint surface should have minimized any tack UNLESS you got a bad batch of tape. One thing to try is to first use a very narrow strip of tape (say 1mm or 2 mm) instead of the full 6mm or 10 mm tape width. Then overlap a wider piece of tape onto that narrow piece. That minimizes the amount of paint surface that the tape sticks to. But again Tamiya tape is such low tack that it shouldn't be the problem.
 
Thanks for the responses guys.

Karl, thanks. I appreciate your offer but I did find some extra swastikas this morgning from my Eduard Bf-110 that will be just right.

Terry, I also have never experienced this issue before with enamels. I did not use a primer and am sure that would have helped. Are there special primers for acrylic top coats? On my unfinished Bf-110, I useda thin coat of RLM 76 enamel to prime the surface. On this Me-262, I applied a coat of Pollyscale white - not a primer, just something to reveal finish defects.

Dwight, everything but the white tips was painted before aplying the clear and dullcoats. Not sure why that would make a difference. Like you, I didn't think that the Tamiya tape would pull the decals off. I used the technique you speak of on the nose, since I had to taper it back up the fuselage. I had no issues there and everything stayed put.

Repairs will be done today. I'll feather in the edges of the torn paint and roughen the plastic with sandpaper before applying the 76/81 and the new decal. Hopefully that will do it.
 
Crimea_River said:
Dwight, everything but the white tips was painted before aplying the clear and dullcoats. Not sure why that would make a difference.
Click to expand...

I don't think it should make a difference either. You should be able to paint over clear coats with no problems. I was just saying that I usually do all the painting before clear coating.

I'm wondering if it might be an issue with the polly scale white as your base coat. I could NEVER get decent coverage with the PS White and switched to using either Tamiya Flat White or Model Master Acryl White.

Best of luck with the repairs.
 
I think there are primers for acrylics, but I'm the wrong person to help, as I use enamels. When I have used acrylics, I first sprayed a thin coat of light grey enamel as a primer - just ordinary Humbrol paint, not a dedicated primer. Any sign of grease at all on plastic, and acrylics will not 'key' properly, and will lift very easily. Even with Tamiya tape, I always 'de-tack' it slightly before use, just in case. After cutting the required length, I then pull this between finger and thumb, which 'dampens down' the adhesive just a touch, but still allows the tape to stick. It's a technique I used to use when I used ordinary 'Sellotape' for masking, donkey's years ago, long before Tamiya tape was a twinkle in Mr Tamiya's eye!.
 
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