Martin R's Schwalbe

[ShaunW]

Coming together well Martin. I love the shark-like lines of the Me-262. The Bodenplatte KG(J)51 scheme looks interesting, something a bit different to the usual mottles and heavily "scribbled" schemes of many '262 fighter-bombers. The Schwalbe is fine for this scheme too as KG(J)51 ended up largely using A1-a Jabos (hence the "Jagd" in the unit's title which indicated that in theory this bomber unit could be called upon to deploy in the fighter role in defense of the Reich ops against US bombers etc) rather than the dedicated A2-a Sturmvogel fighter-bomber, which carried only two 30mm cannon instead of the four carried by the A1-a. Jeez, I'm sounding like an Me-262 geek. Soz.

[Martin R]

Shaun,

Please feel free to continue educating me.

If its a Jabo, I'm assuming it'd be carrying bombs on Bodenplatte? Glad I filled the recesses for the wikingershiffe then! (To be fair, I did that before choosing the paint scheme).

Regards

Martin

[ShaunW]

One of the most regularly carried ordnance loads by KG(J)51 was in fact bomb containers, which looked similar to iron bombs but in fact were loaded with small fragmentation or incendiary bombs. The casing of the bomb container was designed to separate thereby releasing the bomblets which then scattered around the target area causing general mayhem. The aircraft normally carried one AB 500 bomb container or two AB 250 containers. According to one of my primary sources for Me-262 bomber ops, the Osprey title "Me-262 Bomber and Reconnaissance Units", for Bodenplatte orders were given for each of KG(J)51's jets to carry two 250kg iron bombs to be dropped on enemy flak positions.

[Martin R]

No pics, but I should have finished the RLM76 undersides and started the topside colours by tonight. Pics soon.

M

[DazDaMan]

Looks great. Been a loooong time since I built a Stormbird!

[Martin R]

Looks great. Been a loooong time since I built a Stormbird!

Maybe with the new builds flying, they'll take part in a war film. Perfect excuse!

Regards

Martin

[Martin R]

Pics as promised.

After 5 or 6 coats of Xtracrylix RLM76



And after 3 coats of '81, she's still a bit patchy, but I'm guessing it won't be noticeable after everything else that's being done.



And finally, I pushed my luck and slapped on a coat of '82 without benefit of marking guide or masking tape. As long as there are blocks of colour in plausible places, I'll be happy.



So, 10 coats of paint in 3 different colours in a day and you can still see the surface detail. I love xtracrylix.

Regards

Martin

[ShaunW]

Coming together nicely Martin. I wonder if the acrylic range is similar to the old Xtracolour enamel range that did not like to be put straight onto bare plastic without an undercoat. I recall getting very patchy results from the enamel range before that was pointed out to me. Whenever I use those paints now (I still have a few in stock) I apply an undercoat, often a neutral grey Tamiya acrylic and one coat of Xtracolour by airbrush does the trick. Great range of authentic colours and they dry gloss, which helps with the decals.

[Martin R]

And here, looking like the proverbial dog's breakfast, is the latest state of play on the Schwalbe:



I think that, despite appearances,it can still be made to look rather good. Time will tell!

Regards

Martin

[ShaunW]

Keep the faith Martin, another coat on the stripes will do the trick!

[DavidWomby]

A lot of good work going into that paintjob, Martin.

David

[Martin R]

Thanks, chaps.

It's already had another coat this morning, and it'll need at least another couple this evening as well.

Regards

Martin

[gnomemeansgnome]

It looks pretty good and perhaps can be mitigated by the fact that much of these schemes were done rough in the field, were they not? Your paint job shows that in a very realistic way.

[Martin R]

Thanks, chaps.

I intend to do another coat as soon as I can. I will then give it a coat of matt varnish and do some stippling

Regards

Martin

[splash]

Looking good, I like the stripes over the normal colours very cool.