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Playing in the Sandbox Group Build Sept 1, 2024 - Jn 1, 2025

British Rocket – Captured ME-163 - MENG 1/32


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Hola Senhoras e Senhores,
this nasty little rocket powered beast will be my lazy summer build. Between surfing and mountainbiking, lots of swimming and gardening there are only little amounts of time and only place for a little bird with not too much extras included.

The Komet or Kraftei or whatever names where found for this pocket rocket was always a subject of fascination to me, because of it’s radical design and raw power for the short rocket burst it was able to produce out of an obscure reaction between the T-Stoff and C-Stoff fuel components.

When MENG released their kit some years ago I had to purchase one and what’s in the box looks promising in detail and engineering. I added some AM stuff like the EDUARD interior set and some Barracuda wheels

Because I wanted a quick build and I want to show the Komet’s pure shape, I decieded against detailing the rocket engine and close up the bird permanently.

The interesting appearance of the captured ME-163b which was flown by Eric Brown in 1945 caught my eye and kept my hooked. The combination of camo and bright yellow belly is somehow funky.

The pictures of the first steps look a little crude, but that will get better with more advancements. The cockpit needed a lot of surgery to replace parts with more refined PE parts. Next steps will be priming, yeah, good old stinkin’ Tamiya rattle can stuff, and then some RLM-66 mixed to fit the printed PE.

Cheers Rob

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Thanx guys, one question arose my mind when looking for pictures (no photos) of the captured Komet. Some of theese pictures showed a two tone camo on the upper wing, some, like the MENG instructions sported monochrome upper wings in RLM-81. Who is wrong and who is Right? It's hard to believe, that the British did more than to add the yellow belly and some markings to the bird.

Cheers Rob

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Thanks Peter and Mike, I guess it will take a little while to finish with all the distractions of summer :), but some work has been done, Pictures will follow shortly.

Is there anybody out there with some knowledge about the upper wing camo of that British Komet flown by Eric Brown in 1945. Is it a two tone affair or just plain monochrome? A photo would help too, I was only able to find shots from the side, where the wing camo couldn't be identified clearly.

Cheers Rob

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Brown's comet did not have the engine, it was pulled behind Spitfire mk.9 mostly at the Wisley airfield, also  Wittering and Farnborough .

There was some overpainting on the tail, and wing root, otherwise the top camouflage was standard. Stencils were translated and added creating interesting mixture with German ones placed on light blue-grey base. 

 

 

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There are also lengthy debates about the colour applied on the bottom of this aeroplane, yellow, sky? That is something I am not sure about, maybe some RAF experts can pitch in with documentation clarifying this mystery .

Don't hate me too much  LOL

Cheers

M.

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Wow Martin, thanks a ton, that's a lot of well appreciated input for my Little project. Great photo material to get the Komet detailed. Are you sure, that Brown was only "sailing" the Me-163, being pulled by a Spit? The Interviews with Eric Brown are not conclusive, but sound like he piloted the Komet rocket driven.(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PN9AP710e0

Cheers Rob

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18 minutes ago, DocRob said:

Thanks for enlighten me Wumm and Martin, you are just awesome. I built the rocket engine for nothing :), but what the heck, I can use that perfecly for a future steam punk project.

Cheers Rob

I made the same 'mistake' when building mine :)))

You could imagine that right after the capture the MK108 guns and engine were still in place. They only took them out in order not to kill the pilot and perform glider tests to evaluate the aerodynamics. 

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Nice built Jeroen, even if it's historically questionable :D. What I love about LSM is that I'm able to learn through others, even through their mistakes :lol:. Your Komet is looking great, with all theese treacherous opened Panels. Mine will be closed up for showing the unique shape of the bird and sans rocket-engine.

Thanks for the pics

Cheers Rob

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21 hours ago, Martinnfb said:

Here you can clearly see the demarcation lines of the colours on the top wing with walkway stencil by the root of the wing. The "repair" colour on the tail is most likely of British origin.

Cheers

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You can also clearly see the absence of the rocket engine. No guns, no engine. They did however add weights to simulate the balance.

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Back to building, after loading up my brain with so much kindly provided Information.

As it is a modern well designed kit I will document the building process loosely and concentrate on painting and weathering. The substructures are ready for priming or for a trip in the spare box (rocket engine and cannons, which where installed before I read otherwise) The Barracuda wheels need only seconds to clean up and fit perfect on the axle.

Cheers Rob

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Yes Grunhertz, it is so far, instructions are ok, but not pefect, but that seems typical for MENG kits. You often have to build a section and don't get Information about where to mount all the tiny bits with some other subassemblies. Not hard to deal with, but a little annoying, because I noticed it on other more complex MENG kits too. The colour callouts are only Vallejo codes in black and White, so pageflipping is necessary. Historical inaccuracies are also included like the mentioning of the rocket engine and 30mm cannons for the captured British Version. The quality of the plastic parts is really good and detail is very sharp. The fit is above average til now. Decals are from Cartograph and also look very good.

A first Verdict would be great plastic and soso manual.

Cheers Rob

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10 hours ago, DocRob said:

Yes Grunhertz, it is so far, instructions are ok, but not pefect, but that seems typical for MENG kits. You often have to build a section and don't get Information about where to mount all the tiny bits with some other subassemblies. Not hard to deal with, but a little annoying, because I noticed it on other more complex MENG kits too. The colour callouts are only Vallejo codes in black and White, so pageflipping is necessary. Historical inaccuracies are also included like the mentioning of the rocket engine and 30mm cannons for the captured British Version. The quality of the plastic parts is really good and detail is very sharp. The fit is above average til now. Decals are from Cartograph and also look very good.

A first Verdict would be great plastic and soso manual.

Cheers Rob

That sounds like their me410 I built a few years back. I may have to get one of these 

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