This kit comes with the fall-away wheels used for take-off, but I chose to make a flying
model to hang from the ceiling, with the skid and tail wheel extended, coming in to land.
I'll build the camoflage version resting on the wheels.
I painted my Komet with my Aztek airbrush, and the tiny details by hand:
ModelMaster enamel #2073 Rot RLM 23 (Tomato Red)- body,
Metalizer lacquer #1420 Steel- antenna tip, stick handgrip, underwing lights (base coat),
Tamiya acrylic X-27 Clear Red & X-25 Clear Green underwing lights (finish coat),
Vallejo acrylic #71056 Black Grey- skid, wheel, cockpit interior, rear jet,
Vallejo acrylic #70836 London Grey- cockpit interior, spinner,
Vallejo acrylic #70871 Leather Brown- headrest.
After applying the decals I sprayed Vallejo #520 Matte Varnish for a finishing coat.
* The Tamiya Clear colors are wonderful for lights on all models, and Vallejo Game Inks work the same *
Both are used over a high shine silver.
This kit comes with decals for the camoflaged German war version & the British post-war version.
The camo version is a beauty and I've started to build one of those too, but I wanted the more unusual
red Komet flown by EK16 Commander Wolfgang Spate. History is unclear on whether the red Komet was
delivered from the factory or painted red by the ground crew as a joking tribute to their Commander
comparing him to the famous Red Baron, with his brightly colored airplanes. It is clear, according to his
own accounts that Spate was not amused, and ordered the plane re-painted in camoflage.
Although no pictures exist of the red Komet, and no document stating the shade of red, RLM 23
is the most likely. This kit does not show the red paint scheme, and the decal sheet does not have the
numbers for it, I made my own decal for the 'PK QL' on the fuselage, and the 'V41' on the tail. This is a
clear backed decal with the letters spaced to go right over the factory German Cross. While I was making
decals I thought it would be cool to do the instrument panel too, and I had a bit of help there because
George Lucas has built a flying replica of the Komet, and I found a picture on the www of the panel,
so six hours of Photoshop later.....
I'm really not such a world-class modeler as to be adding dials to a tiny 1/72 cockpit, I really just
wanted to learn to make decals, and this was a good reason to. Of course my paper modeling thing came
into play too because above the panel a half round shroud like thing, so I made that too, out of a really
thin strip of paper and I painted it grey after it was in place. A detail shot of all this:
