This is my Tamiya Me-262 A-1a in 1/48. I've always liked the shark-like
lines of this jet and also the "too little too late" history of it's
use in the Luftwaffe late in WWII. I wanted to depict my 262 with dropped
slats and flaps, as this was their natural state when the aircraft was parked.
The Tamiya kit does not provide this option so, not being much of a
scratch-builder, I used the excellent Cutting Edge Resin Slat/Flap
set.
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The slat/flap detail
requires some plastic surgery to remove the existing retracted/up
slat/flap detail from the wings and is a bit delicate because the
Tamiya styrene is very thin, especially the leading edges. To get the slat
inserts to fit snugly into the leading edges I had to really pay attention
to what I was doing while removing existing detail. I did allot of
dry-fitting as I went to make sure I didn't over-do things.
As for the kit,
well, it's a Tamiya. I just shook the box a few times and it came out perfect.
I
added some Eduard PE harnesses to the seat. I painted the kit with Floquil
Railroad colors using my Iwata HP-C. As usual I used Tamiya TS-13 to prep
for decals and weathering. I used the kit decals which settled in fine with
Micro Set/Sol followed by a Raw Umber oil wash and finished off with Polly
Scale Satin varnish. Looking back, I was a little heavy-handed with weathering for
an aircraft that saw such little use, but sometimes it's easy to get
carried away! Thanks for looking.
Aaron D. Bennett
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