Me 163 kits and accessories


Mike Good wrote an extensive review on Hyperscale of the A/R Modellbau C/T-Stoff truck. A compilation of the article is shown here. Photos and article are copyrighted by Mike Good.

A/R Modellbau of Hannover, Germany do a number of different kits in 1/48 scale, designed for use in aircraft dioramas. The quality of the castings is very good, and A/R have managed to avoid the extensive cleanup required by the large molding sprues used in most resin kits. The best feature of this kit is the excellent engineering: all parts fit positively with one another.

The chassis depicts the Opel Blitz 3 ton "A" (allrad, or all wheel drive) chassis. The few photos I have found of these vehicles showed it mounted on a standard "S" type, 2 wheel drive chassis. I cannot say whether or not any T/C stoff trucks used the type "A" chassis. The rear compartment has separate doors that reveal a convincing fuel pump assembly.

I only encountered two problems in assembling this kit:

The kit does not include windows, windshield wipers or a mirror. I carefully made a template for the windshield out of sheet plastic. It was shaped by trial and error until it fit neatly and flush. This was then used as a pattern for cutting the window out of clear sheet plastic and glued in after everything was painted and weathered. Thin plastic was used and effort was made to insure that the window remained flat after gluing. This is critical to a realistic appearance.

Beyond this, everything went together smoothly and effortlessly. I felt that the model could use a little extra detailing though, so I added some bits here and there:

The model was painted with Tamiya paints. The basic paint job was followed by a wash of Humbrol flat black. I then drybrushed progressively lighter tones of the base colors, yellow over yellow and green over green. Finally, the whole model was lightly drybrushed with dirt colors.

This is a really nice kit, and I enjoyed building it immensely. Except for the glitches mentioned, it was a very straightforward build. For those interested in this kit, A/R Modellbau can be contacted at:

   Horst Ragge
   Hudeplan 42
   30453 Hannover
   Germany

Pictures of real C and T-Stoff tankers are quite rare. This one was published in "Le Fana de l'Aviation", February 1997 issue, showing the tank procedures of the Komet. It shows an older type C-Stoff truck, rather different from the one portrayed by A/R Modellbau. Its dark grey color suggests a 1943 vintage. The picture itself must have been taken in the spring of 1944.



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