OK, here she is: the ultimate member of the Me 163 Komet family. It flew 3 times as a glider in the closing months of the WWII. In April 1945 US troops overran the Junkers family and 2 prototypes were destroyed. the third was given to the Soviets who developed the MiG I-270 interceptor out of it in 1947, which turned out to be a failure.
Messerschmitt Me 263 V1 Scholle (Ju 248 V1)
Junkers Werke, Dessau
April 1945
I built 5 subtypes of the Komet-family up ti now. There are 2 to follow: thee Me 163C V01 prototype (Special Hobby) with the lengthened fuselage and the Me 163S two seat glider trainer (Academy). Finally I got my hands on the Japanse version of the Komet: thee Mitsubishi J8M1 Shusui:
Here are the only pictures of the Me 263, made in 1945:
Thanks for looking and for your positive feedback!
Nice - a rarely seen model subject. I assume it is a MPM/Special Hobby kit?
I noticed most 1/72 Komet kits have the C-slots on the outer wings kind of mixed up; the airflow entered the slot under the leading edge and exited over the top, but most kits represent the lower slot as an air exit as well. It bugs me that such a simple detail gets overlooked.
I remember seeing an actual Walther rocket engine with the auxiliary cruising chamber that the Me-263/Ju-248 used, at a museum. It surprised me that such a rare artifact survived.
I had the Huma 1/72 kit, but it was really bad so I sold it.
Hi, the kit was a real pain in the neck and tpook me a month to build. Lots of flash, a cramped cockpit and parts that were either too small of too big. The kit is released by Mikro Mir, a brand from the Ukraïne or Russia. The only reason I built it was to complete my Komet-family. I just received the Japanese Komet:the Mitsubishi J8M1, another horrible kit by MPM. More info on my Me 263 can be found here: https://www.scalemates.com/kits/mikromir-72-001-messerschmitt-me-263-v1--155208
JayJay, I make my paint as thin as possible and prefer acrylics. The mottles were made by small amounts of paint. softened with a short haired brush. However, in my opinion it is too solid instead of vague…
I thought I had commented on this yesterday oops. The komet is a very interesting aircraft looks like you got all the variants’ covered. The small prop at the front is for the power generator I believe.
Yes, the prop was to run a generator to operate the electrical systems, as the rocket engine did not have an alternator like in piston or jet engines.
Hasegawa made a nice J8M1 Shusui that is much better, if you can find one. The Academy Me-163 is a nice kit, and the Me-163S two seat option is a nice bonus.
German ink spot camouflage in 1/72 is notoriously difficult to do. Here is a friend’s Tamiya Bf-109E, spotted using a fine cotton swab and thinned paint.
To my unaided eye, they looked perfect. But under the harsh, unforgiving, all-seeing camera lens, I can see the hard edges of the thinned paint. A workaround would be to use fine torn sponges to break up the edges more. But considering the kit was my friend’s first airplane model, it came out very well!
@ Real G, the mottling is sooo hard to do. I once used a tiny piece of sponge and “stamped” thinned paint in two colours on my Horten. When the paint was still wet I redid the first colour to get it more blurred and the effect was quite satisfying in my humble opinion.
I am a brush painter but I heard that doing this with an airbrush is quite difficult too…
As for the J8M1, I’ve been looking for the Hasegawa kit for ages. In vain, alas, so i will give this a try.
" I make my paint as thin as possible and prefer acrylics. The mottles were made by small amounts of paint. softened with a short haired brush. However, in my opinion it is too solid instead of vague…" I think it looks just fine in the pics. TY for posting your answer Mate.
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