"Me-163 Wing Crosses" Topic

I am working on a couple of Me-163 Komets and am not sure how to apply the wing crosses. I have seen pictures of models done with them aligned with the leading edge of the wing, which makes them at an angle, and I have seen them aligned with a straight line going fore and aft. But I have not found any contemporary photos that show this. Is there is information which tells us which is correct? My thanks in advance,

Terry

Hmmm, I would have thought they would be aligned with the wings.

However, some of these WWII photos show an interesting mix of applications, e.g. see pages 6 – 8+, of the black and white photos, and the one color photo:

link

This one says it is from the San Diego Air and Space Museum, so may have been repainted, since the cross on the fuselage looks too large, and poorly placed, to me:

Even some of the other museum photos may be incorrect, so I recommend relying primarily on the old black and white photos from the war. In at least one, it appears they've tried to split the difference between alignment with the front wing, and being squared up, on White 54:

On this one, they are square:

Here's a mix also (and the A-0 and B model photographed together are from the war):

link

Given the wide variety of camo schemes on them as well, I suspect pretty much anyway you want to apply them, of the three versions will be fine. It appears the painters didn't quibble too much over markings consistency.

Hmmm, not sure why I can't get the San Diego one to work, but the fuselage cross looks wrong to me, so probably shouldn't be used as a reference.

Please post pics of those Komets when you're done, I'd love to see them!

—Rolando

In all the actual (presumably) WWII photos I can find online, the crosses on the wings seem to be aligned with the trailing edge of the wing.

The photos above I believe show that as well.

Are these for a game ? If so, what one please ? I mean who wouldn't want to fly a Me-163 ?

Although I better be careful or I'll be spinning off on my "I really should set up a Mustangs and Messerschmitts game some time" which did have rules for the Me-163. Hmmmm, If I cleaned out the garage…

Exactly!

Me as well.

And the performance stats you see published for them in games are all wrong too. They actually speed up in their climbs, and have to either pull up more steeply, or throttle back a little, in order to avoid entering the Mach 1 barrier.

Rockets are slow to start, as proven by modern satellite launches, manned moon launches, etc., but their thrust is pretty constant after that, so not subject to the effects of the thinning atmosphere.

As they burn their fuel, they actually get lighter too, increasing the thrust to weight ratio of the aircraft, so they should actually be constantly increasing speed as they climb. The only way to stop that is to increase the climb angle, or to throttle them back a bit (later variants were able to do this more successfully, without flaming out, or exploding).

First off, this is all good information and I am very grateful for the links and pictures. Extremely helpful! I had not the luck to find them in my searches.

Yes, they are for a game, but not one you would be expecting. I am a DBA/HotT payer and have been working on several WWII era armies based on the recent Captain America, the First Avenger movie. Since Red Skull is going to be flying around in an Ar E-555 (as an Airboat), I figured why not go with Me-163s as Flyers. Although armies based on the fantasy side, I still strive to paint and do my models as accurately as possible, having been a historical gamer far longer than I ever ventured into fantasy. If anyone is interested I can share the army lists.

Thanks again every one.

Terry

I mean who wouldn't want to fly a Me-163 ?

Anyone who wanted to live?