Maquette 1/72 Messerschmitt Me 163

MAQUETTE 1:72 MESSERSCHMITT ME 163

Reviewer: Wayne Keegan (rec.models.scale)
Kit Review submitted: 17 February 2004

Kit Details:

Maquette #3114 - 1/72 Messerschmitt Me 163

Aircraft History:

The Me 163 was a short range rocket powered interceptor employed by the Luftwaffe to knock down the ever increasing number of allied bombers attacking the Reich. The first prototype flew in 1941, but production did not begin until 1944. Unlike many other "last ditch" German X-planes, this little gem went on to have some degree of success. The Me 163 had excellent climb rate, a top speed of 955km/h and was armed with 30mm cannon. However, the plane had it's shortcomings: its 35km range meant that the pilot had little time to intercept and return. In fact the planes would glide back to their airfields, this made them highly susceptible to allied fighters, and once past the fighters the pilot would have to land on a skid, as no landing gear was mounted on early models.

The Kit:

There is one sprue made of very soft white plastic with 21 parts and lots of flash. The clear sprue consists of 4 pieces, the largest being the canopy which may as well be stained glass as you cannot see through it. Instructions came on an A4 piece of paper. With both Russian and English wording.

Construction:

Cockpit first, this consists of a tub, seat, control stick and back panel. All very basic but seemed to fit together ok. Next came the three piece tail section and rudder which needed a lot of cleaning up. Now we hit the first of many problems. The fuselage is split top and bottom instead of the more normal left and right sides with the upper wing surfaces attached to the top half and the lower wing surfaces with the bottom. Great I thought, no wing to body joints to fill and sand but with the cockpit tub installed the top and bottom wouldn’t come together.

Also there was a largish amount of plastic missing from the moulding around the nose cone so the filling and sanding was just moved from wing joints to the nose cone instead. Time to attach the tail section but wait, what’s this? The two parts don’t come together as they should. More filling and sanding. By now I was more than a little Pee’d off with this kit so undercarriage, skid and aerials were fitted, allowed to dry them I set to painting.

Colour Scheme:

I decided to do the recommended RLM 71 / RLM 70 splinter camo on the upper half and RLM 65 on the underside. Cockpit was painted a light grey and the seat was painted leather brown. A coat of Johnson’s Kleer was applied and then left to dry.

Decals:

These where the best part of the kit. They are by Prodecal and are very nice with plenty of detail and even swastikas. They represent tow versions, Me 163B-1a 2/JG400 based at Leipzig-Brandis or Me 163B-1a 3/JG400 from Merseburg. Needless to say these decals went straight to the spares bin, I wasn’t wasting them on this hunk o’ junk. I got a few crosses and numbers from the spares bin applied them and lacquered over them.

Overall Recommendation:

I can honestly say that I will never, ever buy another kit by Maquette and if I had paid more than One pound sterling for it I would have been very upset. At least I’ve got a nice set of decals for when a nice Me 163 comes along.

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