Dragon 1/48 He162/Me262 Mistel

[Carsenault]

Instead of watching glue dry on my Hurricane IIc today I decided I could crack open the Mistel. The Kit instuctions are nicely done and each component is completed before the next one starts, The 3 components are the He162 Salamander which serves as the control aircraft, the Me262 warhead aircraft and a heavy duty trolley to support the combo on the ground until take-off.

First up in the instructions is the He162 control aircraft. Contruction started with... (surprise) the engine. The He162 is powered by a single BMW 003 axial flow jet turbine. The engine is nicely rendered with many small parts destined to be consumed by the carpet monster or the space/time worm hole. After gluing together the left and right halves of the turbine casing, I quickly lost 2 small engine accessory parts to the dreaded carpet monster. Oh well, nothing I cant scratch build. So I decided to put that aside so I could work on the working pe piano hinges for the cowling. Well I quickly determined that whoever designed these PE piano hinges must have had very tiny hands to be able to manipulate each little tine, coz there was no way on earth I was gonna be able to make these work. I tried for an hour or so, managing to get one hinge put together but not to the point of being able to fully open. I believe the designer of these detail parts must also be the one responsible for the headlight assembly on my Mazda 3.

After fiddling around for a bit trying to see if I could simulate some hinges using evergreen stock, I discovered the kit comes with parts to display the He162 with the engine cowling closed! Took me all of 3 minutes to get all that put together. I also closed up the fuselage, Im not spending too much time on the interior, and there is no landing gear components ot build so the overal buildup should be fairly quick. Pictures soon.

 

[ScaleModelMadman]

Sounds good,

anxious for some pics. ;D

 

[Carsenault]

Pictures soon, I promise. I have taken a few, jut havent had a chance to upload them yet.

The airframe of the He162 guidance aircraft is pretty much complete, I just have a few gaps to fill before I start with the primer. I decided to use the standard "H" shaped tail instead of the optional "V' tail, because I was worried about properly allinging the stabs on the V, Looks a little more 'retro" that way too. Ill save the swept back stabilizers for another project. They should make nice canards for a What If subject. like maybe my upcoming Fiat G.91/F1 project.

I have also started on the Me262 warhead aircraft. The vertical stab of the kit supplied warhead fuselage was not shaped right compared to a standard Me262. So... in keeping with the garbage theme. I put the razor saw to it and removed, and sliced on the tail of the un-used standard Me262 fuselage.

I filled in most of the panel lines on both sections and I'm sanding them smooth. WWII german jets often had thier panel lines puttied and sanded smooth to improve thier speed. In a dogfight, even a 1 or 2 mile per hour difference can be big when your trying to out run your opponent, or to catch up to him.

Right now, Im concentration of finishing a special build for the CAMS show this in Fredericton, New Brunswick. For those of you going, Ill see you there, for those that can make it but havent been there yet, you got to go!!!

 

[Carsenault]

Finally some pictures to show. Sorry for the delay, I was busy over the last few weeks finishing another model for a special group build for the CAMS hobby show in Fredericton last weekend. Now that that is done, I can start catching up on other projects. On to the pictures...

Here's a shot of the two tails provided in the kit, the one on the left is from the warhead Me262 fuselage after it was cut off and the one on the right is the new tail from the standard Me262 fuselage.



Puttied seams on the 262.




Here's the 162 almost ready for paint.



It's stance reminds me of a Klingon Bird of Prey

 

[Carsenault]

Now some shots of the painted components. For paint, so far its been all acrylics, I normally use enamels but I find some of the Luftwaffe colors are better represented in acrylics.

Here's the dolly, partially assembled and painted, Im leaving it like that for a bit til I complete the airframes in case I need to add some ballast to keep everything grounded.


Close-up of one of the bogies. I used Vallejo Air for the RLM02, and the wash is ProModelers Dark Dirt, I love that stuff.


Here's the He162 Salamander, Im not happy with the paint on this one, Ill be touching it up later today.

 

[Carsenault]

And the Me262 warhead component. Greens are Vallejo, Metalics are Tamiya and Model Master Metalizers, the light grey is Model Master Acryl.

 

[Junkie]

Really cool Charlie. Coming along great.

Can I ask, what are you thinning the Vallejo paint with? Ratio, air pressure etc....

 

[Carsenault]

Really cool Charlie. Coming along great.

Can I ask, what are you thinning the Vallejo paint with? Ratio, air pressure etc....

Thanks Scott

I haven't perfected the thinning ratios yet. The Vallejo Air does not need to be thinned normally. For the regular Vallejo, I was just using tap water and a drop of Liquidtex retardant. They say distilled water is better for the Vallejo. Trying to thin to the consistancy of skim milk. I havent found the sweet spot yet for the air pressure either, been working aound 15-20 psi mostly. Im using a gravity feed airbrush (H&S Evolution) for the first time, I've been using various siphon feeders since 1995. So Im on the bottom of the learning curve with the gravity feed airbrush right now.

 

[Carsenault]

Major painting done last week, Just finally got a chance to seal it all in Future this evening, I should get some decals on tomorow with any luck.

 

[ScaleModelMadman]

Cool kit, nice build.

;D

 

[Carsenault]

Hey Guys, Im calling this one 99.44% done. I just need to paint a few small details and let the last little bits of glue set. Ill take some pictures over the weekend.

Thanks fpr putting up with me.

Charlie

 

[ScaleModelMadman]

No worries Charlie, I'll be looking for pics though.

;D

 

[Carsenault]

FInally some pics to show. This came out better than I expected considering I usually spend uch more time building that I did on this one.

Scott, Im not sure if the completed pics belong her or if you'd like them in a different section. I can move them if you like.

 

[Maknifiso]

Great job on this Carsenault!

Very cool kit too. Congratulations!

 

[mariosmodelkits]

Very nice man, looks like a winner. cheers.

 

[Grendels]

Interesting aircraft, I would NOT want to be the pilot of that thing. Well done with the build.

 

[java]

Cool!,nice work on the camo. 8)