Messerschmitt Me 163 S, Academy 1/72

[PR19_Kit]

That looks amazing, and THEN you realise the piccies are about FIVE times life size! Gulp! 

[MichelC]

Some good tips Michel and a great lesson in super detailing.   I've got an Eduard L-39 in the stash with photoetch and I must admit I've been wary to start it because of all the tiny parts.  This guide will help!

Thanks Mossie, glad it helps.

Here is one more tip: when you go the whole hog and do everything you can see on your reference pictures it's a good idea to work out a sequence of steps. Because it's very easy to be a fraction of a mm off and the next part does not fit. Plus things have depth, so that one part cross over another but if you don't notice and you glue it first you won't be able to fit the next part under it!

Like the build as a whole you need a strategy, a plan. You can even sketch all the parts of let's say one side wall on a piece of paper and number each as to sequence of putting them in place. You avoid some nasty surprises this way. Trust me, I know!

Have fun with your L-39!

Michel

[NARSES2]

That looks amazing, and THEN you realise the piccies are about FIVE times life size! Gulp! 

My thoughts exactly Kit - great work 

When I got back into the hobby I assumed etch was compulsory after reading the magazines  Now I know better  However I have used some Eduard Zoom stuff recently on a Dauntless just to see how I got on with it. To my suprise it came out well and I was pleased with it. However once the canopy is on and painted you can't see 3/4 of it - but I know it's there as they say  I will be using etch on some of my upcoming projects but only the bits that can be seen and if I'm in the right frame of mind.

[MichelC]

Thank you Kit and Narses2.

But...er...isn't etch...er...compulsory? So why so I feel this...compulsion??

Just kidding!

[MichelC]

Here is the other side wall, finished.

Before getting started on it I sketched out the parts, including the Eduard etch and my home-made stuff, and numbered them as to the sequence of attaching them. It helps a lot in speeding things up and avoid nasty surprises when the detailing is so dense.



And here is the end result:











I have left off the oxygen tube, which would have been an encumbrance during painting, and of course the pre-painted Eduard parts.

Soon more...

Michel

[PR19_Kit]

Back in the 70s my best modelling mate was a 'hard-over' Luftwaffe modeller called Bob Owen. He built the most exquisite 1/72 scale models, many of the aircraft having been flown by his favourite pilot, Heinz Bar. One day Bob showed up with a mind blowing Me-262 flown by Bar modelled with the canopy open.

I looked at this masterpiece and 'Tut tutted' a little. Bob said 'What's wrong with it?' I replied 'You've got the altimeter calibrated in feet, not metres!'  

I can't help thinking your tiny Me-163 comes in the same class as Bob's '262. Please ensure the hydraulic fittings are Metric and not BSP or Unified.  

[MichelC]

Thanks Kit, I'll keep it in mind!

Seventies, gosh, I was a kid in the 70's, gluing planes together with all-purpose glue and paint-brushing them with Humbrol #11!

BTW, what happened to your friend Bob?

Cheers,

Michel

[PR19_Kit]

Haha, in those days I was the secretary of IPMS Trent covering the area around Derby and Nottingham, and also the IPMS Branch Liason Officer, a post with a cleft stick if ever there was one! And I was just about to start making Whiffs too, or Spoofs as I called them. My first one, the Lockheed Lightning F3 flying with 92 Sqdn from RAF Leeming (an F-104K of course...) will be on the SIG stand at Telford this weekend.

The last time I made contact with Bob was maybe 5 yrs ago and he was STILL producing gems of Luftwaffe aircraft! The one I saw was an Me-210 with the engine cowlings open! He probably had used BSP hydraulic fittings though. 

[MichelC]

Haha, in those days I was the secretary of IPMS Trent covering the area around Derby and Nottingham, and also the IPMS Branch Liason Officer, a post with a cleft stick if ever there was one! And I was just about to start making Whiffs too, or Spoofs as I called them. My first one, the Lockheed Lightning F3 flying with 92 Sqdn from RAF Leeming (an F-104K of course...) will be on the SIG stand at Telford this weekend.

The last time I made contact with Bob was maybe 5 yrs ago and he was STILL producing gems of Luftwaffe aircraft! The one I saw was an Me-210 with the engine cowlings open! He probably had used BSP hydraulic fittings though. 

You and your buddy are the picture of dedication!!

[MichelC]

Hello everyone, this is your detail junking back for another round!  

The detailing of the pit is finally complete, wheww...

In pictures:

The seat received a scratchbuilt guide for the harness in the back and an adjustment lever on the side, the latter a  leftover from the PART PE set.  





The flaps levers provided by Academy did not match reference pics.



So I made new ones out of copper wire. (I'll add blobs of white glue as knobs after painting.)



The floors:





Ouch, bad fit of the bulkhead.



Evergreen shim in place.  



And shaped to fit.



The control columns from the kit are pretty nice...



But, you know me now...they lack detail!! 

The flexible cover at the bottom was shaped by making notches with a razor saw and rounding the hard edges with liquid cement.



The trigger safety was made from a piece of foil.



Electric wires: copper wire and Tamiya masking tape.



The back pit side walls were missing so I made some with alu foil.  



The right wall received detailing similar to the front pit.  



On the left side the hardest part was to resist temptation and refrain from adding detail which, per my research, wasn't there!  



For the T-stoff lines I used copper wire. The lines are useless as the S had no engine. But as this version was converted from the B it's somehow plausible that they just left everything as-is in the front pit when they made them, including tanks and lines, doing only the absolute minimum work necessary.

Plus I like the look of them.  







Putting it all together:  







The time has come take out the paint jars!

[NARSES2]

 

[Rheged]

"......................................."   (rendered  speechless with admiration)

[PACOPEPE]

Very fine work once again; congratulations!


Fran

[PR19_Kit]

Jeepers................. 

[Ian the Kiwi Herder]

I have to keep reminding m'self that this is 1:72.... Incredible work, Michel.

Ian