Antigravity Drone Gunship

The Antigrav drone model was done as a side-kick to the 1/72 Italeri Predator. I used the recce version of the same kit and scratchbuilt the mods. Inspiration came from the Maschinen Krieger universe.

 

 

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Drones, The New Generation

(An article published in the April issue of Jane's Defense Weekly)

 

"During the nineties, while fielding their MQ-1 Predator, General Atomics initiated work, under a cloak of utter secrecy, on a much more advanced UCAV design. After close to twenty years in development, the prototype was unveiled two days ago, stunning observers and shocking the competition. Integrating such advanced technologies as anti-gravity lift and ion propulsion with a sophisticated flight control system using thrust vectoring, differential lift and air-brakes, the UCAV is a highly maneuverable, fully autonomous gun platform with full hover and extreme skid capability. The company claims that the drone can fire not only the turret gun but also its fixed cannon at virtually any angle to the line of flight and hit targets with computer-controlled precision while itself remaining extremely hard to hit, making it, in the words of the spokesperson "the ultimate gunship." Standing in sharp contrast with these technical innovations, its armament is comprised of two of the oldest items in the US arsenal: the M61 Vulcan and the M2 Browning, which could almost be qualified as an anachronism. However, judging from the absence of a cartridge ejection port for the Vulcan and other hints, there is good reason to believe that the cannon is a dummy installed for demonstration purposes only and that the production series will come with weaponry of a much more exotic nature, perhaps still in development, such as excimer laser cannon. But even as is the drone unquestionably sets a new standard for the industry. Comparing it to its ancestor the MQ-1, with whom it shares a common airframe but little else, makes the latter at once seem antiquated. But then its very name 'Predator,' with its double meaning only now becoming apparent, points to the fact that it wasn't ever meant to be anything else than a stepping stone in the developmental line, predating the attainment of what had been the company's true objective from the very beginning!"

 

 

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Messerschmitt Me 163 S--The End

 

 

As far as weathering is concerned I wanted to show an operational aircraft so a certain amount of wear and tear was in order.

 

 

The underside of the Rocket plane took a good amount of beating due to its particular take-off and landing method.

 

 

Wing roots were being trampled as on most fighters. The paint in all these areas was chipped using the masking liquid method.

 

 

Notice that the undercoat on the wings is red brown rather than metal as the Komet's wings were wooden and coated with a reddish primer.

 

 

An oil wash was applied to the panel lines, which turned out to be too dark. Oh, well...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's as far as I went with the weathering as gliders are kept clean as a general rule and the Komet trainer would have been no exception.

 

This is the end if this buid report but not the end of the story. After spending many months on the build I lay the model aside once complete and turned to something else but I haven't build the Scheuchschlepper (towing tractor) yet and I do intend to make a little dio for the model in the future.

 

As a footnote, the model got a Gold at the 2913 IPMS Hellas!

 

 

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Messerschmitt Me 163 S--Painting & Markings

The spraying of the RLM and colors was done with Gunze paints. The two-tone RLM 75/82 scheme is based on my imagination in keeping with the whatif motive.

Doing the mottling wasn't particularly difficult, thanks to the high-quality paint and my trusted Iwata airbrush.

Markings were down with custom made masks from Miracle Masks. I highly recommend those for their quality and ease of use.

Even the outline swastika could be easily done with this method, in spite of their small size in 72 scale.

Decals were used for the stencils, mostly from the kit.

The emblem came from the Rocketeer sheet for the Komet and was donated by a fellow modeler.

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Messerschmitt Me 163 S--Corrections

The Academy Komet is quite accurate but in need of correction in some respects. I have quite a few reference books about the Komet, including the two-tome work by Ransom and Cammann (Classic volumes 8 & 9), arguably the definitive Komet reference book. It contains many of the famous three-view drawings by acclaimed aircraft drawing artist Arthur Bentley.

By comparing the kit's panel lines to the drawings I found a certain amount of discrepancies, which I decided to remedy: some panel lines had to be removed completely (e.g. from the wings, which were wooden on the real thing and had no panels at all) and others were missing and had to be scribed.

Why would I go to such lengths on what is ultimately a 'whatif' model? Well, the idea was to make an exact representation of the Komet trainer as it could have been, had time and circumstances permitted it to go into service. Perhaps I also wanted to prove to myself that I was able to do the necessary corrections and make a model 'true to technical drawings'.

Pictures show the amount of re-scribing done. Some missing details, such as the towing cable attachment point and the small scoop under the nose, were also added at this point.

Talking of references, among the ones in my possession I found Aero Detail 10 most useful from a modeler's point of view as it has plenty of excellent color photos of surviving Komets from around the world, accompanied by helpful captions and some useful diagrams as well.

The already mentioned Classic volumes are a scholarly work that will be found invaluable by anyone interested in the history of the Komet. In addition to the Bentley drawings it also contains color profiles and many contemporary photographs.






A 'fun' read, and my personal favorite Komet book is Rocket Fighter by Mano Ziegler.

No list of Komet references would be complete without mentioning the excellent on-line resource by Rob de Bie.

Me 163 by Rob de Bie

It is by far the most exhaustive and complete source of information about the Komet to be found on the Internet and it is continually being updated with new information. It has everything a modeler can desire, including a wealth of information about any and all Komet-related kits and other modeling products as well as walkarounds and much, much more. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Rob for what he is doing for the modelers and Komet fans communities!

Messerschmitt Me 163 S--Landing Gear Part 2

Here are some more pics of the Komet's landing gear on the finished model.

Messerschmitt Me 163 S--Landing Gear Part 1

The next area that was in need of detailing after finishing the cockpit was the landing gear.

Photoetch to the rescue, both the Eduard and PART frets were used for both the gear and the bay.

Some details that were not covered by either kit or detailing set, such as the landing skid and tail wheel actuators, were scratch built.

Some of the items that were included in the Eduard set had to be redone from scratch, for example the skid operation arms. The flat photoetch just didn't render well enough the 3-D aspect of the real thing which was made of tubular steel. The PE arms when not totally useless though, as they could be used as a pattern to make new ones with lengths of wire from a paperclip.

I used the kit's wheels for the dolly, although they are reportedly wrong, because I was unable to find replacements and so decided to enjoy the perks of whatif and depart slightly from reality on account of this being a Luft 45+ build.