"1/600th scale Komet Modification" Topic

I found these again the other day, after looking for my B-17s and other minis, when another person posted some pics, and quick-play bomber rules they're using for 8th Air Force missions over Europe, here on TMP.

Sadly, when I first received these, I was a bit disappointed with the overall shape of the Komets from Tumbling Dice.

To me, they looked a bit more like a kid's toy glider, than a copy of the real thing, due to the overly broad wings, from fore to aft. Fortunately, the fuselages are nicely shaped.

I decided to take matters into my own hands to see if I could correct them, and make them worthy of a paintjob, and launching them on missions against massed B-17s flying over Germany.

I found some plan view images of the Me-163 on-line, and copied them into MS Word, then scaled them down to 1/600th scale, to use as a guide for reshaping the wings. I printed several out on a sheet for use during the surgery.

The spans of the wings are right, but as mentioned, they're too broad, fore and aft, and the angles of both the front AND rear edges are way off what they should be.

I pulled out my little fine-toothed modeling file, and went to work, slowly and carefully, in order to try to reshape the wings to the proper angles. The inner-rear portions of the wings need the most removal, but the front and rear sections need to be totally redone a bit as well.

After a bit of judicious filing, and checking and rechecking the angles, I finally got one Komet into nice, aerodynamic shape. I then used a razor-blade to add in flaps and leading edge panel lines again on the top wing surfaces.

Took a little while, and because the minis were so small, I used magnifying eye glasses from the Dollar Store to aid in the work.

Overall, I'm very pleased with the work, and plan to do the same to a whole unit of them, just for grins.

Looking forward to getting some paint and decals on them, and then launching them into battle.

I'd post some pics here, but sadly I can't get Photobucket to work for me today, so I'll try again later.

I did post pics on the 1/600th Aircraft Yahoo Group, if you want to take a look at them there. They're in the Unpainted Minis folder.

I have one photo with a pair behind a B-17, so you can get a sense of their diminutive size, and another with just the before and after comparison of the Komet surgery. The grid shown is 1/4 inch, and the little rocket fighters only have a 1/2" wingspan.

Finally got Photobucket to work, albeit slowly:

[URL=http://s43.photobucket.com/user/Top_Gun_Ace/media/600th%20scale%20Aircraft/Komet%20Modified_zps9c3bxxje.png.html]

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[URL=http://s43.photobucket.com/user/Top_Gun_Ace/media/600th%20scale%20Aircraft/B-17%20and%20Komets%20closeup_zpsauhr6gew.png.html]

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I imagine they'll look a lot better with some paint and markings on them, so I need to get cracking on that, and the others I have to modify as well.

On my monitor, these are shown at about 500% of their real size, too.

That's a nice result and I agree the original model is way off.

Always liked the Komet. Amazing piece of technology but even in larger numbers and with the safety issues solved it could never have turned the tide for the Nazis. Just as well.

Komets appear now and then in my game and I think I got one B-17 kill with one. They only operated from a small number of bases covering specific targets. I found a website somewhere with good details. Let me know if you'd like the link.

Very nice job. I agree that your modifications make the model look much more realistic.

Thanks guys.

Yea, I'd love to see that website, if you have it handy, Skarper.

Always looking for more good info on the Komet.

Also, as an FYI, most rules have it wrong on their climb rates. Thrust was constant from the rocket motor, so as fuel was burned off, the little fighter actually got faster with altitude, instead of falling off like piston-engine aircraft. Avg. climb rate is about 12,000'/Min, up to 30,000 feet, or so.

link

Here's the website. Quite detailed about when and where the Komet was operational.

Nice Work!

Skarper: thanks for posting the link.