Sebastijan

Here she is completed. You can see the in progress thread in the In progress forums. For full article and gallery, you can check my site: https://vvsmodelling.com/2025/03/14/messerschmitt-me-163-b1-komet/

Thank you, indeed it is! When shoot hits the fan. One of the negative sides of 3d printed models is the brittleness of the material. It is very fragile and I have cracked these parts before, while holding the model. However I managed to glue it back and blend it in without a problem. However, during the final steps of the assembly, the model slipped and hit the edge of the desk breaking away the rear part of the aircraft. Oh the frustration. But I knew one thing - if I am gonna recover from this, I have to fix it immediately, while the rage inside me was still ho

thank you!

Vacation only a warm distant memory, I finally managed to snap some modelling time. The landing gear was assembled without much problems and the model was given a coat of VMS Satin varnish to unify the work so far, protect the decals and prepare the surface for some light weathering to be done next. The wooden inner part of the skid can be seen from some angles and adds a nice contrasting touch of colour to the model.

Small update! Wheels were painted using AK Interactive markers - Black for the hubs, Tyre for the tyres and it can't get any simpler than this! While reading the Valiant's Me 163 book, I noticed a photo, where the inner part of the landing skid appears to be wooden and the whole thing wrapped in aluminium. So I've painted the upper part with AK Wood Base marker and then recreated the grain pattern with Abteilung oil paint (some brown shade, don't recall the exact name). A little detail, that will add some colour to the model albeit being

After the paint job it was time for decals. Not much to say on this topic - they are one of the best kit decals I have worked with - thin, sharp details and nice colours and minimal carrier film.

Painting time! After all the struggles, the model was primed with Mr.Surfacer 1200 grey and painted as always with MR. Paint RLM 76/81/82 combo. I've decided on the White 14 option with the attractive whole fuselage mottling. This was also a first real test for my brand new Harder & Steenbeck Airbrush Infinity CR Squidmar Miniatures special edition and it performed with flying colours!

Problems ahoy! The brittle resin bite my behind again. Dryfitting every major part as usual, when trying to remove the wings from the fuselage, the attachments grabbed the fuselage so hard that they broke parts of the wings off. I managed to superglue some parts back and fill the remaining gaps with green stuff putty and I am now in the process of fill-sand-primer- repeat until I'll be satisfied with the result. #fixthatshit

Awesome build, Andres!

Moving forward with the build. Interior and guns were painted up and this part of the build now looks quite busy. Also forgot to mention that you get interior and exterior masks for the clear parts, which makes painting these a breeze.

Got bogged down by another session of flu or something like it, so a little delay with update on this little bird. A few things were added - nose cone, vertical stab, rudder, spine panels, side windows as well as full renditions of Mk.108 30mm cannons. Unfortunately the first problems of this new medium appeared - I hold the model too tight at the back and a crack appeared in the wall of the tail wheel well.

Well, she ain't big, that's for sure! Not much to show, sorry, but the fuselage halves are glued together now. The kit is designed in a way, that most seam lines will be hidden, so there's not a lot of clean work at all - just a tiny seam at the front (front of the cockpit and on the bottom) and equally tiny one at the base of the vertical stabilizer.

3d printing - a technology that really is changing the world of scale modelling. I have been following the development of this technology since the beginning and it's amazing how fast it is developing. And I have to admit, that I would be one of the proud 3d printer owners, if I could just found a place to put it on - but I guess this will happen at one time in the near future. While it is a great thing for creating model add-ons I wasn't really sure about the quality for full models. Afterall it is not just the quality of the files that determine the success

Planned to visit it, but I couldn't due work commitments. Hopefully next year.

Beautiful Flanker, Alex. I am fortunate to have seen Knights display 4 or 5 times now and I might build one myself.