Me 262 Wrk Nr. 500531 interesting paint scheme question

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I see what you mean about the color balance of the photo being off. The jeep and soldier's uniform noticeably appear lighter than normal. You've got a point.

I also am glad that you've reminded me about the "chessboard mottles" conforming to panel joints. I basically agree, especially when the mottles most clearly appear to have a distinctive chessboard-like shape. However, at least some of mottles do not have any clear relationship to panel joints as far as I can tell. For example, I've mentioned before that at least two sizable mottles can clearly be seen on the port side wing root where there aren't panel joints.
 
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Researching a camo scheme of any Luftwaffe aircraft that was put into service late in the war (especially January 45 onward) will be an adventure, to say the least. Very few followed a strict standard, everything was in chaos throughout Germany (not just Luftwaffe, but all services).

A close friend of the family had served in the Luftwaffe and mentioned that they had to use some paint traded from a nearby armored unit to upgrade their spring camo on their aircraft in '45, as they had none available. So you can be sure that a few of their aircraft were not RLM colors and being done in haste, meant that there was not a "standard" pattern to the scheme.

If you research the late-war Me262s, you'll start to see that there was a real inconsistency. Like this pattern for example:



Here is an Me262 being assembled. Note the panel seams and rivets that have been puttied, but not yet painted?



Perhaps do a search for comparable production units (500461-500540) and compare the finishes to get a solid idea
 
Found this online. I believe it is also 111711, the same as the aircraft above and I'm thinking the same as the photo Andy posted on Pg.1.



Looking back at the original photo in Post #1, I don't think the camo follows the panel lines all that precisely, the port side patches being quite irregular and to me, not very "checkerboard" like. Just my 2¢.

Geo
 
I definitely agree with you that some of the mottles are irregular, and so unrelated to panel lines. However, I do think some of the mottles are quite checkerboard-like and probably roughly conform to panel lines.When I paint the model I will create both checkerboard and irregular mottles, trying to replicate what I can see in the photos as much as possible.I assume that the wings exhibit a similar pattern, though I will include the splinter scheme as well. UNLESS... anyone can propose a more likely alternative that would give me cause to reconsider.
 

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