Here is my 1/48 scale Tamiya Me 262, I put this model in the markings of ''yellow 2'' a Me 262 flown by 3./KG(j) 54 in May 1945 while based at Prag-Rusin. The Me 262 was known for having a weak nose gear design and ''yellow 2'' had a replacement nose taken from another Me 262 after the original nose gear failed.

I used Model Master enamels and for the markings I used the new decal sheet from EagleCals.









Matrixone

Very unique colors Les. Tell me what you used? Looks like some RLM 83 in there along with maybe 75? Good job. Russell

Thanks Russell!

The colors of this Me 262 started out as the standard Me 262 colors of that time which was 81/82 over 76. The additional camouflage colors are hard to identitfy, it is thought the wide bands of light colored paint sprayed on the airframe were the light green/blue color seen on many late war fighters, the darker colors that were sprayed inside the light green/blue color bands could have been 81, 71, or 83.
You will notice that only the front part of the aircraft received the darker paint sprayed inside the light green/blue bands...I think the aircraft repainting was only part of the way finished, perhaps interrupted by an air raid or the need to get the aircraft back in service ASAP.








Matrixone

Congratulations on really excellent work, very realistic. Excellent done the difference scheme of the nose and fuselage. Great photos too. This inspires me to finally finish my 262

MATRIXONE:

Very very good your work, i found very interesting your comment about the nose troubles about the 262.

I read about the reihn-metal cannons ,that make a headche to the technicians, because it gonna fail very continuosly.

I read an prologue of Von Ohain, who was the constructor of the engine , in a Propulsion Book of Engineering; and ,-curios thing- he said that the medium life of the reactors it was around 24 !hours!......

But , in Nuremberg Judge Goering said that the reactors of the 262 only live ........!six hours!

That time is coincident , whit the Speer¨s testimony...thats history make the topic of the 262 an interesting and unfinnish theme.

Congratulations for so beatiful work!

hatts!

SALUDOS!!

Excellent build, Les! A plane that is a must in every warbird collection. Also the photos are very well done, better than I can. Looks quite realistic. I guess I have to start my two-sixty-two also ..... one day .....

@Rafael
Yes. the Jumo engines had a short life. Somewhere I read about 10-12 hours maximum. Often they went up in flames (remember Walter Nowotny's fate) or stopped during flight and it was impossible to start them again in flight. So the pilot had only one chance and bail out.

Happy modelling!
Torsten

Thanks very much for the comments guys!

The Junkers Jumo 004 jet engines had a lot of problems to be sure, but that is true with any new weapon rushed into service.
I have read somewhere that some of the problems with the Jumo 004 were fixed by a better fuel regulator and also by using fan blades that were hollow and were attached differently. These changes were done so late in the production cycle that probably few of the improved Jumo engines were used on the airframes that had seen combat.

I think I have read that Novotny's 262 was shot down by Mustangs after an engine failure in one of the Jumos.







Matrixone

You are correct Les, Nowonty was shot down by a Mustang, I don't know if it was an engine failure before or after struck by rounds from the Mustang. Russell

Russell,
From what I remember reading about the death of Novotny he scored a kill and radioed that one of his turbojets failed and he was under attack by enemy fighters and a few moments later he radioed the other turbojet also failed and he was taking a lot of hits from the enemy fighters and then the radio went silent.



Matrixone

Les,

Very good 262!
You've managed to present a camo brand new to me, and probably to others.

Looks every bit like a true 262. Excelent choice with an excelent finish

Cheers

Just as everyone else said here, this is one fantastic build you have on your hands! I really like the nose-fuselage discontinuity and the story behind it, and the camo is superb! I wanna ask about the background you have though...I assume the sky and mountains are printed, but what about the other planes and trucks? Are they past builds or are they also just pictures? Very convincing scene overall and a pleasure to view!

Thanks pedro rocha and Buckeye198!

I use different backdrops in my model pics, three of them I airbrushed myself and the other two are store bought backdrops.
All the other models seen in the pics with my new Me 262 model are old builds, for example the Me 262 seen with the nose gear collapsed is an old (1968 mold) 1/72 scale Revell Me 262 I built eight years ago and recently dropped it and broke off the nose gear. Instead of throwing it away I kept it for use as a prop in the pics of my new build models. I don't like to throw older models out because you never know when they might be of some use.

Matrixone

Les,

As usual your model raises the bar here!

I appreciate how you will model aircraft with dissimilar replacement parts. Well done!

That's cool...I didn't know that they sold backdrops like that! I guess I should've figured though, since they seem to make EVERYTHING for this hobby (although it's usually either very hard to find or very pricey to buy...oy!)

Would you mind posting a picture of how much space this dio takes up? Between the multiple vehicles, figures, scenery, and that hangar, I can't imagine that this takes up any less than an entire kitchen table!

And by the way, what did you use for the grass and for the tarmac?

Thanks Fred!

Robby,
If you buy a backdrop make sure you look at it before you buy, two of the backdrops I bought a few years ago turned out to be junk and I threw them away. There are no hobby shops where I live and all my supplies I use I get through mail order and the two backdrops I threw away I had seen in a model RR catalog and they looked very good in the catalog but when I got them they looked like crap.
Another way to go is to paint your own backdrops, they are easy to make, the ones I painted were made from a large sheet of white foam board and painted with model paints.
I built three photobases to use for photographing my models and they are simply a piece of plywood covered with model RR static grass or poster paper(for tarmac).
I don't take any overview pics of my photobases or backdrops because it ruins the illusion of reality but I can tell you they are not as big as you think they are and in the case of the pics you see in this thread I only used two of the three photobases. For photographing 1/32 scale models I will use all three sections of the photobases put together.

Matrixone

Wow, that's really impressive! It doesn't sound as difficult when you explain it all, but no matter what, it certainly does the job, and very well at that. I hope to see more builds from you soon!

Thanks again Robby,
If you are interested, the last backdrop I painted I posted in-progress pics of it here at Aeroscale. You might have to go back over a year or maybe two to find the post.
If anybody can airbrush a camoflage scheme on a model airbrushing a backdrop is not anymore difficult, just keep a picture of the type of scenery you want to paint nearby as reference.
The first backdrop I painted was very crude but I learned a lot from that experience and the second one I painted was much better.

Matrixone

My estimated friends MATRIXONE and TORSTEN:

I see in your diorama an 262 whit the nose put in the floor...tha´ts remind me the testimony of Goering,an history before his prosecutors of the U.S.A.A.F.:

He said that the speed-approach of landing of 262, it was so high, and for that reason they lost many pilots and airplanes; the brakes simply cant work. they need a long tracks.it was very dificult to land.

My instructor of visual flight rules in two engines, he was an Fight Pilot of the F.A.M. (Mexican Air force)he flew moore than 1200 flight hours in a T-33 plane, (the grand child of the P-80, today retired of service) and he said something alike to your comment (he study that topic,because the 262 was an contemporary of the P-80) :

" I have read somewhere that some of the problems with the Jumo 004 were fixed by a better fuel regulator and also by using fan blades that were hollow and were attached differently."

Thats right, and he comments something moore: the 262 have a "flame-out" (failure in its engines) for turn in a marcade degree (moore than 60o for the TRIM, cause the engine had no auxiliary and mechanics intakes, and thats the real reason that the plane needs escort for take- off and landing,it had a low drive (maniubrability? sorry my poor english).

Just for acommplish, let me show you an TRIM intrument, for you can imagine the situation of turn in high degrees:



In the picture,you can see an light turn of the airplane (around ten degrees), in a 262 ,if the turn was superior to the 60s degrees, in a continuos time, the pilot had the risk to flame out the reactor.

I read that Nowotny had that trouble: flame out of his right reactor, and for the loss of his airspeed,he down to crash, to few minutes after he take off, cause a discussion whit his superiors (nowotny has forbbidden to fly).

Very Interesting theme ,of the very beatiful plane .and very beutiful model and diorama.

CHEERS!! (SALUDOS!!)(HATTS!!)

Thanks very much Rafael!

I re-read what happened to Walter Nowotny on his last flight, there is a good account of this in Jerry Crandall's first Dora book and it has the details of this event taken from the diary of Hans Dortenmann who listened to the radio while seated in his Fw 190D-9 and heard Nowotny's radio transmissions during the last few minutes of his life. Nowotny said he had one kill and then scored another one when his right engine stopped working and he came under attack by a large number of Mustangs before his left turbine also stopped, his last words were ...am under attack...receiving hits...receiving hits... shortly afterward his Me 262 dove straight into the ground. He did not bail out.


Matrixone

My estimated friend MATRIX:

This is EXACTLY, the thing what im looking for; a very good talk, while see a scale model. thank you.

In my books, it say that Walter Nowotny, after a discussion whit his superiors ( Goering himself) who acused to him and his mens of cowards, he run like hell to aboard a 262 to demostrate he´s wrong.

He had the order for not to fly, the order forbbiden to fly any fight mission, cause they need instructors whit experience desperately .

Altough he was forbbiden to fly, he take off;but a few seconds after, he suffered a flame out (in my books, there is no report of scores). he said something like:

"god damned! the engine stop! ...i cant get it on!."..the rest is history.

And this is the point : how we learn all these histories, how it can be diferents across the years.....that make a interesting and unterminable theme.

Thank you and forgive me if im to be "off topic" sorry...

CHEERS!!

Rafael,
So far everything I have read about Nowotnys last mission says it was not an aircraft accident that killed him but was indeed the result of air combat with Mustangs of the 20th and364th Fighter Groups. There was a large number of Mustangs that was escorting the bombers and probably many Mustangs took shots at Nowotny during his attacks on the bombers and that might have caused the jet turbine to stop working, a Me 262 with only one working jet engine would be easy for the Mustangs to catch and shoot down.
Jerry Crandall thinks the pilot that sealed Nowotnys fate was Lt. Richard Stevens of the 364th Fighter Group but two other Mustang pilots of the 20th Fighter Group Captain Merle Allen and Lt. Edward Haydon were officially credited.

Matrixone

Estimated MATRIXONE (LES):

Very Interesting, I didnt known that.....But ,you know; it discovered relativity recently, that the average of scores from nazi pilots there were exagerated...part for propaganda,part for wrong testimony.

The reason that i meet hard to believe it, (the scores in the last fly of Nowotny) my estimated friend (and its just my opinion) it is because,at first place Nowotny had forbbiden to fly, in a fighter mission,and in second place; if P-51 interceptors meet a 262, surely they clobbered it .¿how i know, if im not be there?.

An interceptor P-51, whit cilindric engines, had the last word of that engine class...it can do moore than 400 m.p.h. (a very respetable fight airspeed,still in our days).it had a superior engine, and the MERLIN in true it was.

The 262 had a very high airspeed,(over 500 m.p.h.) its true; but it only was superior in a level flight, in a fight fly,whit turns, dives ,or another manouvres the superior airspeed means nothing...and the P-51 (and others fighters planes) whit experienced pilots, who have moore than two years of training, and in that time already whit combat experience, against a plane whit a unsafe and unproved engines, that continuosly get flame out......how can we believed a german pilot diary?

It is hard to believe,whit that facts ¿dont you think? but any way, it was a beutiful plane,beutiful model, and thank you for your comments about my Dornier do -335.i try to do better for my next model.

CHEERS FROM MONTERREY,MEXICO!

Hi my friend Rafael,
A pilot as good as Nowotny was surely needed to fly combat missions and his last flight on November 7th 1944 was for sure a combat mission when he took off with Lt. Schall to intercept bombers. Both Schall and Nowotny scored victories and they were both shot down but at least Schall had time to bail out before his aircraft exploded.
No matter how good or fast the Me 262 was it was still not able to fight the mass of Allied aircraft and survive. The Me 262 was a good machine but early on it was not deployed correctly and there was poor leadership and training within Kommando Nowotny for it to have success against large numbers of experienced Allied fighter pilots.
All of the combat reports on both sides match the written events of that day and there is nothing that would cast any doubt on the combat diary of Hans Dortenmann as being accurate. There were many witnesses of Nowotnys demise including Adolf Galland.

Which book do you have that claims Nowotny was killed in a non combat flying accident? Not one of my books says he died that way, even my older books say he died during combat.


Matrixone

Hello again ,my estimated friend LES (MATRIXONE).



Thats right. Nowotny was being down while flyin a combat mission.

im just to read it, and i discovered that efectivitly it happened two things:

One: its true; Nowotny was shoot down by P-51 escort Mustangs, during a fight against fortress, and efectivly he shoot down one fortress, before himself were atacked and shoot down by the escort planes.

Two: its true; Nowotny has the order for not to fly, an direct order by Goering himself, after a discussion whit him, were he has the order, angry for the acussations of "cowards" he said :"i dont mind,im gonna fly" and Galland try to stop him, just before when he run to his 262 , to fly a combat mission.

Efectivly, he reported a flame out, before the crash, and try to bail out, but the parachute it hooked whit the rudders plane.....he crah near the airdrome..

The book that im read, the tittle it is "GESCHICHTE DES ZWEITEN WELTKRIEG" by DR. KURT ZENTNER. (i got the Spanish edition;i show you the book:



And it is part of a books series about WW II, let me show you:

.

ZENTNER, call a citation of the Gallands Book "Los primeros y los últimos" (i dont know the english tittle, traslate that it means: "The first and the last ones"). the book series are a amazing colection of archives.

It is very nice talk (write) whit you,LES, about so interesting topic. thank you again. very kind.


CHEERS FROM MONTERREY !!