As the Allies continued to roll back the Third Reich in 1944 and 1945, the German situation called for new weapons and new tactics.  This was especially true of the desperate battle against the hordes of Allied bombers that darkened the skies over the Reich on a daily basis.  Unfortunately, by this time in the war, the masses of Fortresses and Liberators were well guarded by escort fighters, predominantly P-51 Mustangs.  Against these excellent and numerous foes, the Luftwaffe's traditional fighters stood only a limited chance of successfully engaging the bomber stream.

What was needed was speed.  The legendary Me-262 was one answer to the problem.  However, there was another aircraft, one that was even faster and more radical in many ways.  This was the egg-shaped Me-163 Komet, the aerodynamic brainchild of tailless glider pioneer Alexander Lippisch.  The Me-163 Komet was a tiny airplane, only 18 feet 8 inches long, with a swept wingspan of 30 feet 7 inches.  It was powered by a Walter HWK 509A-2 rocket engine, burning a lethal mixture of T-Stoff (hydrogen peroxide) and C-Stoff (hydrazine/methanol), and was able to achieve speeds in excess of 580 mph.

This is an in-box review of Academy's most recent Komet offering, the 1/72 Me-163 B/S first issued in 2000, kit #FA174/#1673.  I'll eventually get around to building it, but it's such a cool kit of such a futuristic and unusual aircraft that I can't wait to share this little gem with you.

Academy has been turning out some good kits the last few years.  This Komet is certainly one of them.  There are 58 pieces to this kit, although they aren't all used, depending on the version you build.  All the parts are moulded in standard aircraft model light grey, except for the canopies and armoured windscreen, which are clear.  The parts come on one clear sprue and two grey ones.

Detail on the Komet is amazing.  Given the plane's small dimensions, I really didn't expect much in terms of fine details such as rivets, cockpit dials and the like.  Was I wrong!  The surface of the plane abounds with beautiful, straight and crisp lines.  There are rivet holes, hatches and panel lines galore.  Also, the cockpits are beautifully detailed, with full instrument panels (NOT DECALS, but real, moulded dials!), nice seats and control columns.  Even the smallest details seem to have been given loving attention, including the little generator prop on the nose.  They even remembered the valve-stem openings on the jettisonable trolley's wheels!

You can tell this kit is new, since everything is supremely crisp.  There is no flash, anywhere, and it looks like all the injector pin marks are on the inside of the plane!  The decals that it comes with are extensive, including markings for two aircraft from JG 400.  The only problem is, as expected, there are no Swastika national markings.  I find that a shame, since in every other respect this kit is as close to perfect as you're going to find.

As a bonus, the kit even includes the 'Schueschlepper' recovery tractor that was tasked with driving out to where the Komet glided to a halt, picking it up by the wings, and carrying it home.  This little tractor includes the V-shaped lifting apparatus for field recovery (always an interesting proposition in the face of Allied strafing, I'm sure!), although it doesn't seem that the V is positionable.  The tractor is a half-track (kind of), but the little tracks are not as detailed as the plane.  I'm sure armour builders will cringe at them, but maybe there will be some aftermarket individual tracks even for this little guy one day!

The biggest plus in this kit, however, is the fact that it can be built as a two seat Me-163 S version.  I have only ever seen a few photos of this two seat bird, and it was a real surprise to find that there was now a kit of it!  The S uses the same wings, tail and undercarriage as the B, but a totally different body and cockpit tub.  The sheer obscurity of this trainer version makes it immensely appealing as a subject for modelling.  Anyone like me who has a Luft '46 fetish will want a two-seater for sure!

Overall, this kit looks like it's going to be a heck of a lot of fun.  However, I think I'm going to have to airbrush it, if I'm going to preserve all that panel detail.  With that in mind, it will be a while until I build it.  I'm going to have to improve my skills in that area.  But, that's what that cruddy old Matchbox F-4 is for!

This is definitely one kit that WWII plane fans shouldn't be without.  It is a great kit of an extremely advanced and futuristic plane, albeit one whose impact was not as great as it could have been.  The good news is that it won't impact your wallet, either.  I got mine for 10 bucks at LewisCraft.  Unfortunately, it's the only one I've seen in the city.  Good luck finding yours!