Here are some pics of my latest project, which I call "Fly by Night." I'm building three 1/48 Luftwaffe Nachtjagers. When I do my own "group build" like this, I work on the same areas of the aircraft at the same time. The cockpits were all painted, glosscoated, washed, dullcoated, and drybrushed together.

This is ProModeler's Ta 154 with Eduard photoetch and added wiring and hoses.


This is Trimaster's Me 262A-1a nightfighter, straight from the box.


And this is Dragon's Me 262B-1a/U1. The cockpit is dryfitted to the airframe so I could include the rear-seater's instrument panel.


Now that the cockpits are done except for wiring the backs of the Me 262's instrument panels, I can move on to the wheel wells and landing gear. These will be fully wired and plumbed.

Thanks for letting me share the project progress with you !

Looks great! I think I've found my problem with my cockpits, it's not you doing them for me!!!!

Bill your cockpits look great..the way they should, "busy" Excellent work man, well done. What did you use for the straps,belts and buckles.

Thank you Doug and Joe !

Doug - working on cockpits is one of my favorite parts of building. I use a subtle approach for washes and drybrushing. After the colors are done, I glosscoat with Future. I then use an enamel wash, mixing each color with black until I reach a shade that matches the shadows I see on the model under a light. After removing the excess wash and dullcoating, I drybrush. For this, I mix each color with Titanium white oil paint until I reach a shade that matches the highlights I see on the model under a light. I prefer this to using generic colors. The effect is more subtle, and looks more like shadows and highlights to me. I don't like to have things "pop out" at the viewer, since they don't on the real thing.

Joe - the belts are all photoetch. The Ta 154's are brass, and came from the Eduard set. The Me 262's are stainless steel, from the kits. The stainless steel is more difficult to work, as it's not as flexible as brass.

Thanks again !

Again Bill excellant cockpits. I have, somewhere read abot the Luftwaffe colour coding of verious systems, do you have this information? What references do you use for your cockpits?
I have the Revell boxing of the Ta 154 but, until now, no references for it
Nice work, thanks for sharing.
Mal

Wow! That is amazing detail! Where did you get a brush that thin?

Thank you Mal and Dave !

Mal - I have the Verlinden Lock-On book for the Bf 109G-2, which has EXCELLENT color photos of "Black 6" when it was still flying. From that, I've learned that the fuel controls and gauges are yellow, Oxygen equipment is blue, and electrical cables are yellow and white. Things that need attention (throttles, gun-arming switches, emergency controls, etc.) are red.
Sadly, I have found no B&W or color pics of the Ta 154's cockpit. I'm just using my "best guesstimate."

Dave - the detail painting was done with a sharp #000 brush. I use a magnifying lamp that has a circular florescent light and a large magnifying lens.

Thanks again !

Thank you Mal and Dave !

Mal - I have the Verlinden Lock-On book for the Bf 109G-2, which has EXCELLENT color photos of "Black 6" when it was still flying. From that, I've learned that the fuel controls and gauges are yellow, Oxygen equipment is blue, and electrical cables are yellow and white. Things that need attention (throttles, gun-arming switches, emergency controls, etc.) are red.
Sadly, I have found no B&W or color pics of the Ta 154's cockpit. I'm just using my "best guesstimate."
This itte has some good references.
{url]http://www.luftarchiv.de/[/url]
Click "English Navigation" on the left. Select "Equipments" then "Instruments." there are pics of many Luftwaffe cockpits, some very rare.

Dave - the detail painting was done with a sharp #000 brush. I use a magnifying lamp that has a circular florescent light and a large magnifying lens.

Thanks again !