1/48 Italeri Messershmitt Me 262 A-1A

White Eight Diorama

  “There I was”   

by George R. Mustafa on Sept 1 2003

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Well, guess I have deviated a bit from my favorite large-scale planes and ventured into the 1/48 scale realm with this diorama, and it came out excellent.

I like all my war scenes located at a given point in history, sometimes extrapolated between a known and recorded “then” and a lesser known one. I titled this diorama “There I was”, and it won first place 1/48 war scene diorama and first place best aircraft model in the PR scale modeling regional competition on 20 July 2003.

The scene comprises many important elements. The scene has Hauptmann Karl Schnorrer’s Me 262 A-1A fighter from 11./JG8 just been refitted with a new engine, and getting ready for the next mission. In the foreground you have Major Walter Novotny listening to his team-mate and wingman, Hauptmann Schnorrer relate an aerial dog fight that shot down another allied bomber, (Hence, There I was). Atop the aircraft we have Schnorrer’s crew chief climbing over the cockpit seal to reach inside and secure some switches.  On the starboard side of the aircraft we have an armament specialist, just finishing loading the plane’s 50mm cannons. On the port side, just under the wing we can see one of the engine technicians reaching for the tool he will need to close the engine cowling. In the back we can see two additional engine technicians getting ready to move the old engine out of the way, (not seen in the diorama, but a ketrencraftrad would come to tow the engine away). This entire scene is being conducted in the open, over the typical Luftwaffe hardstand of the forward airfields on late 1944.

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To create this scene I used the Italeri 1/48 scale Me 262 A-1A and modified it using Verlinden’s seat and cockpit consoles, the photo etched parts, the flaps and the slats. The two engines shown come from Engines & Things and were extra detailed with wires, solder, and bits and pieces for authenticity. The engine dolly was scratch built following my reference pictures. I used the 1/48 scale SOL Kubelwagen model and one of the standing German pilot figures to add a bit contrast to the scene. The other figures come from the Praiser German WW-II set, and the Verlinden gun cleaning figures set. The starter cart seen in the front right of the jet comes from the Verlinden Luftwaffe airfield set, and the oil drums and wooden crates come from another Verlinden set.

Italeri’s model is pretty well detailed, has recessed panel lines, real rubber tires and the fit is pretty good (about a 9 out of 10). The model went on with minor filling needed in the fuselage and wing seams, and was painted with enamels. The camouflage scheme was painted free hand with an Aztec airbrush. The entire plane was then weathered with a thinned water color/dishwasher goop mix and grinded down pastels over a gloss coat, then sealed with a flat coat, the usual technique. I used the model decals.

The hardstand, typical of the late Luftwaffe airfields was made of an inexpensive 8.5 x 11 picture frame. The static grass was glued to the glass, and I used real wood sticks cut to size and glued to the glass for the wooden planking. 

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In summary, making this 1/48 scale diorama was an exercise to my eyes as well as to my brain and skills. I’m very used to working large scales like 1/32 and especially, 1/24. But, it was a good exercise that have paid a good deed, and won first place in a regional contest. Additionally, it does not occupy so much precious space! I do have many other 1/48 models in the not yet built stock, and think I’ll be making many more dioramas like this one in the future. Lastly, for all of you wondering, I obtained the Tamiya model after this diorama was in the making, and rest assured, my good folks, it will be seen here, in a near future, in another prize winning diorama.

Any comment, please email me at mustafa56@msn.com.  

Until then, happy modeling.

George

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Photos and text © by George R. Mustafa