Messerschmitt Me 163 S, Academy 1/72

[MichelC]

Hi everybody !

So, the pits are a done, and that feels almost like I finished an entire model! A kit within the kit as we say.

The steps, after the base coat was applied, were more or less as follows:

- Chipping: light gray applied with a sponge (never with a brush, except on the edges of objects).
- Detail painting with Vallejo paints.
- Dry-brush with light gray Vallejo (I prefer to do this step at this point rather than after mat clear cos I find the satin finish of Gunze and Vallejo paints ideal for dry-brushing: enough grip but not too much.
- Put in place the pre-painted Eduard PE, which will become integrated fully through the subsequent steps. BTW, the seat harnesses are a bitch to bend and get to conform to the seats without damaging the paint. I use tweezers whose ends have been coated in Maskol as well as toothpicks and small modeling Q-tips. Forget about handling with normal tweezers or other metallic objects. Even so paint came off bending points but Humbrol Radome Tan with some light gray added makes a pretty close color match and so touch-up was easy.
- Acrylic sludge wash. No prior coat of Future, no moping up, just slop the stuff on, let it dry and that's it. 
- Gunze mat clear. 
- Mig pigments: Concrete (gray) on the walls and upper surfaces to give it that worn, dusty look and Dry Mud on the floor. 
- Gluing on of the teeny-weeny, tiny little thingies.
- Gluing in place the IPs, which didn't get any weathering (who wants a dirty IP?) Glass for the dials was done with Future, not the best for this purpose but that's all I had on hand...
- A few touch-ups here and there and voilà! The rest in picture:

















































Now that detailing work is out of the way we can get on with the rest of the build.

I know that every modeler is not a detail junkie like I am but for those of you who are I highly recommend the Eduard set. The IP alone are worth it! A true masterpiece of unequalled detail and realism. Same goes for the other items on the fret. With some scratch building (don't laugh!) one can get a very, very realistic pit even in that scale.

Thanks for watching !

Michel

[Sticky Fingers]

Fabulous work there, on the painting as well as on the detailwork
If it wasn't for the grid on your cuttingboard  I'd believe you if you said it was 1/48.

[NARSES2]

I have to keep reminding myself this is 1/72  Marvellous

[PR19_Kit]

STREWTH!

[Rheged]

STREWTH!

I wish to concur with the honourable gentleman's statement!

[Ian the Kiwi Herder]

STREWTH!

I wish to concur with the honourable gentleman's statement!

As do I...

Ian

[Gondor]

STREWTH!

I wish to concur with the honourable gentleman's statement!

As do I...

Ian

I concur

Gondor

[Ian the Kiwi Herder]

Anybody else ??

Ian

[scooter]

Anybody else ??

Ian

Dear Cthulhu in Ryl'eh... what *are* you using to see all that little detail, an electron microscope?  I have problems enough working in 1/48th...

[royabulgaf]

Gorgeous.   I think I'll chuck it and just buy some snap tite kits, Testors paint in the little square bottles and a cheap paint brush. 

[dumaniac]

and its a STREWTH for me

[MichelC]

Hello everyone and thanks a lot for the all the nice words!

I'm posting in more than one forum but I must say that you guys are the most enthusiastic bunch!  Not to run down any other forum (each is great in its own way) but I find this one is less...serious. Some modelers get so engrossed into the 'correctness' of a model that I think they lose sight of the fun aspect of the hobby (not to say the artistic aspect). It must be that Whiffing has a liberating effect, hence the laid-back, cheery atmosphere that reigns here. To which I say:

Michel

[Sticky Fingers]

Nah, you just caught us before nurse had been round with her jar of little pills. Had you posted it just a bit later you would have had comments on the incorrectness of your cockpit ("Actually, the pilot's seat was angled just a bit more forwards. Better fix that, everyone can see you've got it wrong now" ), the missing bits ( "I know for a fact that there should be a switch on the left of the Fuel Condenser Level dial. What? You don't know what a Fuel Condenser Level dial is? Tsk!" ) , wrong colours ("Rear of the instrumentpanel should've been a shade darker mate, shame you've got it wrong" ) etc.

No, you're right, this is one hell of a group of enthusiasts. Not wanting to hi-jack your topic but...
Yay forum!

[MichelC]

Nah, you just caught us before nurse had been round with her jar of little pills. Had you posted it just a bit later you would have had comments on the incorrectness of your cockpit ("Actually, the pilot's seat was angled just a bit more forwards. Better fix that, everyone can see you've got it wrong now" ), the missing bits ( "I know for a fact that there should be a switch on the left of the Fuel Condenser Level dial. What? You don't know what a Fuel Condenser Level dial is? Tsk!" ) , wrong colours ("Rear of the instrumentpanel should've been a shade darker mate, shame you've got it wrong" ) etc.

No, you're right, this is one hell of a group of enthusiasts. Not wanting to hi-jack your topic but...
Yay forum!

That's what I'm talking about!

 

[MichelC]

Here is a little update before Xmas !

The Komet did not have a normal landing gear setup, which means no brake lines to scratch, no masking of the wheels and no detailing of the gear bays. In its stead a simple skid. Much easier. Or is it ?  

Here is what we start from :





Rather basic with lots of room for improvement. There is the PE of course, but unfortunately that ain't enough!



I used hypo needles not only to detail the holes to the rear of the skid but to make new operating arms for the skid as the PE ones are too flat-looking.

From left to right, what is being offered by: Eduard, Part and yours truly.



Needles is good stuff for this kind of work because it's steel and doesn't warp. But it has to be filed and for this you need a vise to hold it. An X-Acto handle makes a good vise.



Here is the end product:



Everything is glued with CA.





The hydraulic jack is scratch built as well:









As far as the skid is concerned, one is spoiled for choice as both Eduard and Part have done an excellent job. I used some of both. Plus some scratch, of course.  











When it comes to the gear bay Eduard is the best with very final detail and excellent fit.





Next is painting then we'll set it all aside till the end of the build, which I'm sure will have some interesting moments when attaching the skid!  

I wish you all a Merry Christmas with lots of plastic under the tree (resin is OK too) 

Michel