Academy Scheuch Schlepper

And now comes a proper milestone. The first completed model of 2017. This is firmly in the category of padding out the annual completion statistics. Hold on. I was misquoted. This was all taken out of context. I of course meant I am very proud to have completed this fine example of the modelling art.

And it wasn’t even an aircraft. This is the second variant of the Scheuch Schlepper, vehicles that were meant to haul around the wheel-less Me-163 (it landed on skids). There is a slightly different variant that hauled the Me-163A, which has compressed air tanks for inflating the devices that sit under the aircraft’s wings. That is included in the most recent Special Hobby Me-163A kit, which is on the way to my house currently.

But this is the one meant to carry the Me-163B. The plastic is included in the Academy kit, and has been sitting in my spares box since I first built a Komet probably 20 years ago. I got into a slight fascination with airfield support equipment in early 2017 – which also explains the RAF Ground Support kit from Airfix being on its way to me as well.

The kit is simple, though the painting requires a small bit of forethought. Wheels and tracks were kept separate while the main assembled bits were painted RLM04 Gelb. Hubs were then painted RLM02 and the tires and tracks done separately.

I don’t generally do much in the way of weathering. I prefer models to be a bit more pristine than that, as if they were on display in a huge air museum. I enjoy looking at dioramas, but don’t really have the patience or artistic flair to put together a complex and nice one.

This is completed vehicle #1 (0 aircraft, 0 ordnance, 1 vehicle for the year 2017), finished in March of 2017.