LIPPISCH DM-1 (1945)

Scale: 1/48
Initial Release: 2002
Medium: Resin
Kit Rarity: 4

About the Design

Dr. Alexander Lippisch's success with the Me-163 "Komet" rocket-powered glider (1941) led him to consider using delta-wing configurations for supersonic aircraft as well.  In 1944, as the new head of the Vienna's Aeronautical Research Institute (LFW), Lippisch developed plans for a radical swept-wing glider that he planned to use as a test-bed for rocket-powered planes that could eventually reach Mach 6.

Construction of the DM-1 prototype began in 1944, but was interrupted by Allied bombings.  When the Allies defeated Germany in 1945, the Americans captured the nearly finished DM-1 and, impressed with its design, shipped it back to Langley Field in Virginia for testing.  Although the DM-1 never flew, wind-tunnel tests done on the full-scale prototype yielded data that eventually led to the design and construction of Convair XF-92A, the first true delta-wing aircraft.

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About the Kit

This 2002 release from the Czech Republic's Master-X "garage kit" company was produced as a bagged kit with no instructions and -- as was appropriate for this particular subject -- no decals.  The kit included vacuform pieces for the cockpit canopy and clear nose sections; unfortunately, both were crudely manufactured with no discernible "cut" lines, forcing the modeler to work through trial and error to fashion the pieces to the proper dimensions.  One false move and the pieces were unusable.

Having botched cutting both pieces, I compensated by filling both areas with two-part epoxy putty that I then sanded and painted black to simulate these otherwise "clear glass" components.  Not the ideal solution, but an acceptable one.

This model was built from an original issue.