Me262 Werknummer 500071

[Lord ReDhAwK]

Thanks gents.

I appreciate the link lyric.  That definitely helps with a couple of the B&W photos I have for the decals. 

Archiaus, the research I did showed that she had a scheme of RLM 83-82-76.  The 76 underbelly was very thinly sprayed and completely unsprayed in most of the underbelly area.  She has a lot of bare metal on her where she was such a late production aircraft with the Germans running out of paint.  I knew that I wanted to do a 262 with some bare metal showing that had decent mottling that needed to be done.  I had been working on a new mottling technique and wanted to try it out    I found the book with all the period photos and knew I had found her.

Being that I was working from photos, I tried to match the actual painted pattern to the model as closely as I could.  Each surface has its own unique paint scheme.  There was no copy/paste one side to the next.  She has a couple of very neat things about her that I would never had believed had I not had the photos.  Example, the Port and Starboard Fuselage Cross is located differntly on each side.  The cross touches the Reich Defense band on 1 side, but has equal spacing between the band and the number on the other.

Lots of other neat things as well.  I will try to make a list for you'all to see when I post the final pics for critique.  Thanks for the comments fellas.

ReDhAwK

[Lord ReDhAwK]

All done and ready to fly.  I will let her sit for 1 week to work out any suggestions anyone has.  I see from the pics I still need to reduce the opacity of the stenciled lettering on the wings and ailerons.  The step line looks good to me as is.  Decals look good IMO.

Tried to give as many views as I could.  You will notice lots of bare metal on the underside of the bird.  RLM 76 was used very sparingly up to the outer portion of the nacelles.  I tried to duplicate the exact paint strokes on the underbelly of the 76 color.  She has 4 red flares front, 4 white flares rear.

Uppers consist of RLM 82 over RLM 83.  She has been weathered with scratches, chips, scuffs, and operational discolorations.  Lots of ground in dirt on the belly in the panel lines and rivet placements.  Keep in mind she only operated for 1 month in Bavaria with JG7 prior to being flown and hangered with the Swiss.  So the weathering is there, albeit 1 month old.  You will also notice what I had mentioned about the Fuselage Crosses not being aligned.  You will also see that the Werknummer is not aligned and that the first number is obliqued.  That is the way the stenciling was actually done and is reflected on the photos.  Werknummer was only placed on the Port side, per that particular factory SOP.

Couple of notes for you gents that may be thinking about skinning a 262.  She has a couple of stretching issues, although nothing major.  I couldnt place the real fuel cap decal behind the canopy because of the stretch.  You will notice a bit of stretching with the cap I placed there, but it worked.  The decal, However, was a no-go.

A bit of stretching on the base of the nose and some stretching on the rear/bottom fuselage.  You will see the stretch marks with the riveting when you look at the screenshots.

Thats about it.  More pics follow (9 total)

ReDhAwK

[Lord ReDhAwK]

Pics 2

[Lord ReDhAwK]

Pics 3

[Xasthur]

Are you intentionally going with that wing walk-way pattern?

As I understand it, it should look like this:



Everything else is absolutely stellar, mate. The attention to detail on the underside in particular is nothing short of impressive. Well done.

[Xasthur]

[Lord ReDhAwK]

Salute Archiaus,

I chose to go with the single line I did for 2 reasons actually.

  The current museum photo that was posted on page one reflects the single line which I thought initially was wrong.  However, i scanned a picture from the book and blew it up.  I then over-exposed it to where I could see the darker details more clearly.  Once I did this it became pretty clear to me that the original did not have the standard step box stenciling (at least, that was my deduction.)  I could not see any indication that it was there on the inside portion of the wing.  Of course, the area that would have contained the line, as reflected in the museum shot, was covered by a worker and could not be verified either.  However, I chose to go with the museum line because

1..it was uncommon. 
2..I verified (in my mind) that the standard box was not present.

So I guess it just boiled down to my interpretation.    I do know that the aircraft was rushed through its painting process to get it out to the line.  Remember that the war ended shortly after she was accepted into her unit.  I deduced that paint and time were probably in short supply so a single line could have accomplished the job.  Now, dont get me wrong.  There are a few things that are wrong on the Museum paint job, but I dont think that is one of them.  I am attaching the photo that I over-exposed so you can see what I was looking at.  Now, I blew it up 400% when I evaluated it, but the normal size from the scan is here for you to look at.

Thanks for taking the time to look at it sir..  I appreciate the feedback and will certainly change it if ANY evidence otherwise can be provided by anyone.  And thanks for the comment on the underside.  It was a task to say the least 

ReDhAwK

[Xasthur]

Thanks for the response, I thought you might have discovered something interesting like that. There most certainly were many shortcuts taken with paint and finishing details with 262s. I am eagerly awaiting this skin. 

[RATTFINK]

I am eagerly awaiting the perks to fly it   I always get a wild hair and grab a 262 or a 163, only to run them into trees.

[Lord ReDhAwK]

Salute Gents,

I appreciate the feedback given.  I made the corrections to the stenciling and have submitted her for the approval process.  I look forward to seeing her in the game.

ReDhAwK

[Lord ReDhAwK]

Salute all,

Just got the accepted e-mail from Skuzzy this morning.  She will be in the new release.

ReDhAwK