1/32 Meng Me163B - Mojo Reclamation Project

[Thunnus]

I'm not sure anyone has noticed but I've stalled out on a couple of builds that I had going.  In addition to the distraction of fishing season, other family obligations have cut into my free time and I've been finding all sorts of excuses not to work on the F-14A and the Tempest builds.  So... I'm gonna start a new project.  Something large scale but hopefully not overly-complicated... the Meng Me163B.  From reading all of the online builds I could find, I know that there are some probably fit issues that will arise.  Right now, I'm ok with doing some putty work but wanted to minimize the need for any scratchbuilding, which I suck at.  The kit arrived this afternoon so the mojo building process has officially begun.  Can't really dive in since Step 1 is usually the cockpit and the Aires resin cockpit is still on its way.  So I decided to take a closer look at the kit and do a little sprue review.  The box is pretty small, which I guess is appropriate for the size of the subject... the Komet is a wee aircraft!

 

 

The majority of the model is molded in dark grey plastic, which suits me just fine.  Much better and easier to photograph than the light grey used on the Tamiya Tomcat. Sprue A holds the major fuselage parts.  Panel lines are finely recessed and the surface detail is very nicely done.  There are some nicely riveted areas as well.  Note the separate canopy frame in the lower left.

 

 

Sprue B has the swept wing components.  Surface detailing is minimized since wood was used extensively here.  All control surfaces are molded separately, including the flaps which drop from the middle of the wing bottom.

 

 

Sprue C contains some of the smaller external components including multiple covers for the top of the fuselage.  Since the external airframe is comprised of so many parts, I can see how fit issues might arise during this build, especially if the covers and panels are posed shut.

 

 

Sprue D is molded in black for some reason.  The landing gear, which is comprised of jettisonable wheels for take-off, a retractable metal skid for landings and a small tailwheel, are found on this sprue.

 

 

Back to the dark grey with Sprue E.  This one has the cockpit parts and other internal components such as the guns. Both 20mm and 30mm cannons are provided for the wing gun positions.  The kit provides two options for the instrument panel.  One is a fully detailed instrument panel that can be painted by hand or you can opt for the multi-media approach using the smooth-faced plastic panel, brass instrument panel surfaces and decals for the dials.  

 

 

Sprue F houses the engine components including a large cylindrical fuel tank. There are some very fine... very breakable... parts to represent hydraulic/fuel lines, which will be a challenge to remove from the sprue and clean up.

 

 

The clear parts are on Sprue G.  A couple of issues here.  First of all, I do not like having the canopy frame as a separate part. It's a cute idea on paper but hard to execute cleanly... really nowhere to hide that glue seam.  Secondly, you can see that the sprue tab on the front of the canopy is bent and taking a small chunk of the canopy with it.  I've already sent off an email to Meng to request a new clear sprue.

 

 

The decals look ok, except I don't like the light grey they used for the instrument panel dials.  No biggie since I'll most likely be using a third alternative from Aires.  The major markings will be painted using custom masks so I'll only be using the data stencils.  Online reviews of this kit showed decals by Cartograph but these appear to be made in-house by Meng.

 

 

The kit comes with a couple of photoetch frets.  The larger one has the flaps, seatbelts and some hatches for those multiple covers on the top of the fuselage.  The smaller fret has the instrument panel components that I mentioned before.

 

 

In addition to the assembly instructions, which are in black and white, Meng provides a nice color sheet for the three markings options.

 

 

The color call-outs refer to paint lines that I am not familiar with and, strangely, do not use RLM designations either.  

 

[Citadelgrad]

Awesome, John!  This one is in my stash. I hope you don't mind me going to school to watch this happen. 

I ordered a resin one piece canopy.  It came from England, I will dig out the packaging and specify who made it, I do not intend to fool around with the kit setup. 

Looking forward to seeing what you do with this one! 

 

Bill

[Iain]

It's a nice kit - you'll have fun with this one - builds very nicely in my experience. 

 

IIRC I glued the wings to the fuselage halves before closing the fuselage - this enabled me to seat the wings properly on the fuselage and avoid some of the 'fit issues' that get reported with this kit occasionally.

 

Had absolutely no issues with the canopy - final result was excellent!

 

Iain

[Gazzas]

I'm glad you're doing this one John.  I'll be interested to see your spin on detailing those wooden wings.

[Greif8]

I'll follow along with your build John.  I hope you have a nice relaxing build that gives you much fun!

 

Ernest

[Beaconroot]

Really looking forward to this build John. Cannot wait to see your results. I'm quite sure you will build another stunner! 

Jim

[Nighthawk Calling 1]

Looks like a great kit hope you have fun and get your mojo back, will be watching with interest.

[scvrobeson]

Look forward to seeing it. Sometimes it's best to move to a new build when the mojo drops. I'm sure you'll do an awesome job on this one.

 

 

 

 

Matt 

[Kahunaminor]

Nice choice John,

I have a penchant for parking builds that I lose momentum on, so it’s nice to hear I am not alone. I have this one to build so a few AM pieces have been acquired.

 

The one piece canopy is probably the Alley Cat one here:

 

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/alley-cat-ac32029c-messerschmitt-me-163b-one-piece-canopy-and-mask-set-meng--1023750

 

Best of luck and I will be following.

 

Regards,

Kent

Edited July 11, 2021 by Kahunaminor

[Troy Molitor]

I was thinking on you last week, John..   I was seriously working the bass population in the middle of Wisconsin.  Catching bass in front of my father in law time and again with the same lure in front of him was a blast.  Good to see you back in the fold!   nice choice on the Comet.....  .

[Thunnus]

On 7/10/2021 at 10:49 PM, Citadelgrad said:

Awesome, John!  This one is in my stash. I hope you don't mind me going to school to watch this happen. 

I ordered a resin one piece canopy.  It came from England, I will dig out the packaging and specify who made it, I do not intend to fool around with the kit setup. 

Looking forward to seeing what you do with this one! 

 

Bill

Thanks Bill!  I appreciate the comments!  I seriously considered picking up either the Alley Cat or HPH resin canopy replacements but tried to simplify the build as much as possible.  I'm going to give the kit canopy a go.

 

 

 

23 hours ago, Iain said:

It's a nice kit - you'll have fun with this one - builds very nicely in my experience. 

 

IIRC I glued the wings to the fuselage halves before closing the fuselage - this enabled me to seat the wings properly on the fuselage and avoid some of the 'fit issues' that get reported with this kit occasionally.

 

Had absolutely no issues with the canopy - final result was excellent!

 

Iain

Thanks Iain!  Great encouragement on the kit canopy... hope I can succeed as well.  Gluing the wings to the fuselage halves first seems to be an excellent idea and I'll be considering going that route myself.

 

 

 

21 hours ago, Gazzas said:

I'm glad you're doing this one John.  I'll be interested to see your spin on detailing those wooden wings.

Thanks Gaz!  Since I'll be doing a full camo version, the wooden wings will pretty much be covered with paint.  I may establish a brown/tan coat on the upper wing roots as a base for some hairspray chipping.

 

 

 

17 hours ago, Greif8 said:

I'll follow along with your build John.  I hope you have a nice relaxing build that gives you much fun!

 

Ernest

So far, so good, Ernest.  Just a few hiccups so far but nothing serious.

 

 

 

13 hours ago, Beaconroot said:

Really looking forward to this build John. Cannot wait to see your results. I'm quite sure you will build another stunner! 

Jim

Thanks Jim!  I appreciate the comments and hope that I can knock a few birds down with this one build, including a decent paint/weathering finish.

 

 

 

13 hours ago, Nighthawk Calling 1 said:

Looks like a great kit hope you have fun and get your mojo back, will be watching with interest.

Seems to be working so far!  A short trip to LA tomorrow but I should be back in a few days with another update.

 

 

 

11 hours ago, scvrobeson said:

Look forward to seeing it. Sometimes it's best to move to a new build when the mojo drops. I'm sure you'll do an awesome job on this one.

 

 

 

 

Matt 

Thanks Matt!  I like finishing projects and am committed to finishing the F-14A and Tempest builds but I was having a hard time finding motivation with those builds for some reason.  Starting this third project seems to be helping.

 

 

 

7 hours ago, Kahunaminor said:

Nice choice John,

I have a penchant for parking builds that I lose momentum on, so it’s nice to hear I am not alone. I have this one to build so a few AM pieces have been acquired.

 

The one piece canopy is probably the Alley Cat one here:

 

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/alley-cat-ac32029c-messerschmitt-me-163b-one-piece-canopy-and-mask-set-meng--1023750

 

Best of luck and I will be following.

 

Regards,

Kent

Thank you Kent!  Like I mentioned before, I'm going to try the kit canopy but it is good to know that I have recourse if I don't get acceptable results.

 

 

 

6 hours ago, Troy Molitor said:

I was thinking on you last week, John..   I was seriously working the bass population in the middle of Wisconsin.  Catching bass in front of my father in law time and again with the same lure in front of him was a blast.  Good to see you back in the fold!   nice choice on the Comet.....  .

Thanks Troy!  Glad you got to whack the bass in Wisconsin!  I've got two bass trips in the span of six days lined up towards the end of August so no need to pity little ole John here.  I even picked up a new rod/reel combo to play with... Megabass Levante Braillist rod paired with a Daiwa Zillion SV TW (Japan Domestic Market version)!

 

The first thing I did with this build was to cut the fuselage and wing components off their sprues and attempt a dry-fit.  That didn't really work out since there are some internal components that need to be in place for the fuselage and wing parts to come together correctly.  So I'll have to wait on that.  First mishap of the build when I was freeing the wings... didn't see an intermediate sprue between the wing and the whip antenna.  Gonna replace the tip with wire anyway so no big deal.

 

The wing cannon covers will be shut so I glued them in.  Decent fit but I'll need to do some minor fill work.

 

 

 

Here is the kit canopy resting on the frame.  Fit is very good but you can see the small divot at the front edge.  Meng has already replied to my email and have notified me that a new clear sprue is on the way.  Great customer service!

 

 

The canopy is very clear.  What looks to be distortion is just some sloppy fingerprints.

[monthebiff]

Interesting choice of kit for a mojo rebuild project John, I have this in the stash with a few bits of AM, I am so looking forward to your build. 

 

Regards.Andy 

[Jeff T]

Good choice John, I built this kit a few years ago and from memory I didnt have much trouble with it,.....a bit of sanding and filling here and there, but not much drama.

 

Looks awesome when done, and is one of my favourites in my collection.

 

 

Cheer's,

Jeff.

Edited July 13, 2021 by Jeff T

[LSP_Kevin]

Will be following along with interest, John.

 

Kev

[Thunnus]

Thanks very much for checking in everyone!

 

A couple of aftermarket items arrived in the mailbox yesterday.  

 

 

The weighted resin wheels are from DEF Model and include the little tail wheel.  On initial inspection, it looks like the hole in the hub is too small for the kit axle... always a tricky proposition enlarging an existing hole in a resin hub.

 

 

Here is the Aires resin cockpit sets for the Me163.  As usual, the detail is excellent.  After the parts are removed from their casting blocks and test-fitted to each other, I'll have to check the fit of the resin tub between the fuselage halves.  It will not be a drop-in fit due to the amount of solid resin on the bottom of the tub.

 

 

The Aires cockpit comes with a fret of phototetch stuff.  The instrument panel features instrument dials printed on clear acetate.  I much prefer this "older" technique than any of the pre-painted options currently available including the newer 3D stuff.