Thank you for this very thorough history of the real Komet, the various kits through the years, and your appraisal of the Gaspatch kit. I just ordered one off Ebay and look forward to following your build video as I go along.
There is a really good flying game in VR called Ultrawings 2. One of the planes you can get and fly is a Comet! I couldnt believe it when this video appeared , and had to watch as i also am a massive military plane nerd! And i love making model planes too! But if you get a chance to try Oculus Quest2 VR-- you MUST fly a Comet. Also a nice P-51.
Hi Gary. I've seen photos of captured AC and one thing that stands out on all of them is the painted out gerry markings under the new markings. Ir possible that, at the ebd of the war, AC fell into allied hands before the crosses were applied but ...... A little extra for the history. The fuel was so volatile that if the fuel was not fully used up, the shock of landing could cause them to explode with unfortunate consequences for the pilot. Looks like a good kit, happy building. I will watch.
A few years ago I bought the 1/48 Gaspatch Henschel Hs-123B kit (the Biplane Dive Bomber/Ground attack aircraft that preceded the Junkers Ju87 into Luftwaffe Service) and it was also a brilliant kit. It had resin and PE parts but also included a cardboard jig to align the undercarriage (Fixed) legs correctly and options for the U/C fairings (Fully faired, semi faired and "naked struts) I have the Dragon kit of both the 163B and the 163 S (Habicht) so I'm not really too worried about getting this, and I bought the superb Meng 1/32 kit also. Enjoy the build. The Italeri ex-Esci) kit of the Hs 123 is the A Model of that plane - which had an all-fabric covered upper wing. The B model had extensive metal surfaces on the upper wing. BTW if you look closely at the top un it badge you can make out the German Motto: "Wir Ein Floh - Aber OHO!" Which roughly translates as "Just a Flea - but WOW!" On one of the other badges, The man on the Cannonball is Baron Munchausen.
This is hands-down the best looking kit in the box I’ve ever seen. The presentation is amazing. It’s so good it feels like a shame to actually build it. I’m about to go watch your build video now. Thanks!
A beautiful little kit! Would be perfect to do something else than armour modelling. The kit doesn't appear to be too comlicated to build and 1/48 is better than 1/72. At least for my eyesight. Those two-part swastikas are quite funny. I live in Germany and these and a couple of other German WWII insignia are prohibited for well-known and understandable reasons. If the decals are cut in halves they're technically not swastikas and manufacturers can't be forced to remove them from the decal sheet. There's even a German company (Peddinghaus) that prints decals for German WWII aircraft with "DIY" swastikas and SS runes in halves that look like tiny 7s or 77s. Maybe our politicians and law enforcement think or hope that young modellers maybe don't know what they are and thus maybe won't use them. In Buddy Holly's words: "Maybe, baby."
Very nice, looks like it's going to be a first class build and with that colour scheme truly outstanding, this week someone did a unboxing of a Wingnut Wings kit and mentioned the Komet and this manufacturer and said Gaspatch was second to Wingnut not only the moulding but the instructions 👍
Good review Harry! This kit is a jam: shape-accurate, decent details, exceptional molding and decals quality... Good luck building it, looking forward to watch a video build!
A lot of bang for the buck there, very reasonably priced considering the contents and quality. Look at the price of masks alone if you buy them separately! I agree about ‘captured aircraft’ or markings that differ from the norm. Just finishing a French Aéronavale F4u7 Corsair in la guerre algérienne markings. Heavy weathering and no US markings is what attracted me to it plus the fact that my father in law soldiered there. Looking forward to to seeing your RAF version. Ian
What a lovely kit. You really did it justice with your build. I think Trimaster blundered when they called the double seat version "Habicht". There was a Habicht used in training of Me 163 pilots, but it was the aerobatic glider DFS Habicht. Versions with truncated span (down to 6 m IIRC) were built, to familiarise pilots with the situation of having to land a glider in highe energy state. Google "Stummelhabicht" (literally Stumpy Goshawk) for an interesting story.
Indeed so. It trained them for the very high speed approach, but not for the huge ground effect the Me163 got from the big wings. I believe that's why the underwent flap panel was fitted, to reduce the cushion effect to allow the plane to touch down with a reasonable amount of grass ahead of it! Probably why they eventually made some two-seaters.
Whew, glad that was just a few of the more familiar kits. Going to be an interesting build with those fiddly bits. Definitely like the looks of the kit and instructions all around. Thanks Gary 👍☕🐢
Ooh, that does look nice! The only criticism I have is that the box looks to be a lot bigger than the kit requires- it takes up unnecessary shelf space. Still it’s a very small aircraft and Gaspatch probably have a standard box size.
Looking good Gary. Did you know that not everybody liked winkle brown. Controversial, but my dad was RAF, although he spent 6 months on attachment to the RN, flying sea v?? The naval vampire ..... and his large cards debt may have influenced his view!
Interesting vehicle indeed. I am surprised that this actually glides successfully, especially the training version. That fuel mix sounds frightening however. Bring on the build!
As a glider it was very fine indeed - to the point that landing was a problem due to ground effect with the big wing - hence the landing flaps to disrupt the airflow on the underside and bring in some drag. In the stall it would kind of squish down with no dramatic nose-down pitch and I believe it was impossible to spin. Extremely stable design, but not always what one needs in a fighter as stability tends to be the enemy of manoeuvrability. But then the "hit and run" tactics employed didn't require tight turning circles, and in a gliding dive it would outrun pretty much anything!
Excellent choice Gary, that British Trainer Yellow is pretty striking. I already have a few Me 163 kits but this one is too good to ignore. Did you get a Wingnut Wings vibe from that instruction booklet? I did.
Re the history, basically if you add the number lost in accidents to the number shot down, more 163s were lost to Germany than they shot down. BTW as you did, I noticed Eric 'Winkle' Brown was quoted as an 'RAF pilot' and my first thought was 'Er no he was Royal Navy [so Fleet Air Arm]'. Re the decals, they do look well printed. I'm curious though, why are the ones in capitals such as 'LOCK TAIL WHEEL BEFORE TAKE-OFF' and 'TYRE PRESSURE' in English? Are they later additions by the RAF for testing? The coloured instructions look superb, although as you mentioned Gary they're probably expensive. Perhaps manufacturers could include a link in the printed instructions so if modellers wanted colour as well as / instead of the enclosed monochrome they could download the linked instructions? That way manufacturers would save the expense of printing them but modellers could see what they're aiming for. Everyone wins :)
These days I'm not sure there's a huge difference between printing black or four-colour, I'd have to look more closely to see if they've added spot colours. I think a lot of the cost is in the nice glossy paper! Yes, Winkle was FAA although he was seconded to the RAE at Farnborough when he flew the Komet while on a recce trip to Germany - he bagged some Arado 234s and a Dornier 335 as well. And yes, I think the English stencils were added at Farnborough!
I compared it to the Dragon and the wings are very different, including in span... Gaspatch is more accurate, but I like the Dragon canopy better, and it fits (!)...
A nice little kit ,Gary , and a very well researched history . ( echoes of V2 rocket fuel ) .Really looking forward to the build . On a side line , do you know if there is a kit of the , Republic XF-84H Thunderscreech , supposedly the loudest aircraft ever to fly ?
Only know of two and they are both resin kits - most likely to be able to get the Anigrand in 1/72, the only other I can find was made by Collect-wire Models in 1/48 but that's probably one you'll not find easily...
The germans truly were ahead of the time....who knows how things would have turned out f it wasnt a case of "too little too late" which also appliez to others such as the ME-262.
