"You would think, given all the plastic model kits that have been released of Willi Messerschmitt’s diminutive Me163 Komet over the years, that it was one of the more important German types to fly during the Second World War when in fact nothing could be further from the truth. An offshoot of investigation of rocket-powered flight that began in Nazi Germany during the late 1930s, the diminutive Me163B was developed and put into service by a desperate nation as a point defense interceptor in a vain attempt to stop the unceasing bombardment of Nazi Germany by the Western Allies. Though possessed of blinding speed and heavily armed it proved a failure as an interceptor, scoring just a handful of kills during the course of its brief combat service. In many ways it was more dangerous to its own pilots than it was to the enemy due to the explosive nature of its fuel and that substance’s propensity for dissolving unprotected human flesh on contact—the Komet was not, to put things mildly, a better mousetrap.
In spite of all that, the airplane has been kitted several times over the years beginning with Hawk’s primordial 1/48th scale offering (first released in 1960) and with new kits being released right up until today. We’ve seen replicas of varying quality issued in 1/72nd, 1/48th, and 1/32nd scale and for all its operational obscurity the airplane has become a mainstay of any Luftwaffe enthusiast’s collection. We were adequately served by a couple of those existing kits but GasPatch, who have a considerable tendency to march to the beat of their own drummer, or perhaps even to their own entire band, decided we needed another one. Of course, there’s only so much that can be put into a model as tiny as a 1/48th scale replica of an airplane that is this miniscule in the first place, but GasPatch have found a way to make their kit into something far greater than the sum of its parts. Think back a moment to that prehistoric Hawk edifice if you will, or maybe Lindberg’s 1/72nd scale offering from a slightly later time frame. Both of those kits were basic in the extreme, consisting of just a few pieces of plastic and a minimal decal sheet. They were adequate back then, within the context of their time and place, but grits ain’t groceries and those old dogs no longer hunt. In point of fact, even their more recent brethren left a few things to be desired detail-wise, regardless of the time of their introduction or their scale. We’re willing to go out on a limb and state that this is The Kit of the Komet, or at least it is if 1/48th is your scale."
