1/48 Tamiya Messerschmit Me 262 A-1a

Gallery Article by Aaron D. Bennett on Feb 23 2011

 

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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Photos and text © by Aaron D. Bennett