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1/72 - Gloster Meteor Mk.4 "World Speed Record" by Special Hobby - released


Homebee

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Special Hobby is to release in Spring 2107 a 1/72nd Gloster Meteor Mk.4 "World Speed Record" kit - ref. SH72361

Source: 

http://www.specialhobby.net/2017/02/sh72361-gloster-meteor-mk4-world-speed.html

Box art

 

Quote

Gloster Meteor Mk.4 "World Speed Record" in 1/72 (SH72361) – box artwork revealed

You may already have noticed that some of our latest box top artworks have been signed by a new name. Yes, as we are still increasing our production, we have engaged a new artist, Mr.Reiniš, who is also the author of our latest Speed Record Meteor kit boxart. The kit is due to be released during Spring 2017 and will offer the modeller a choice of three machines, the record-holding Yellow Peril and two other speed machines.

Met4.jpg

 

 

V.P.

 

MattMemory2.jpg

Edited by Homebee
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Nice choice. I love record breakers and racers. The box art is not showing the mesh guards on the intakes which were on some early Meteors including EE455 and EE454 (which did break the record of EE455 the very same day). Not sure if there is any way to represent these in 1:72 scale. I tried to in 1:48 scale but the mesh is way too thick:

René

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Not wishing to appear ungrateful (far from it actually) but this option has been printed in after-decal by two producers previously. I think that, for me anyway, the carmine red G-AIDC Mk.4 or its later incarnation, T7 prototype G-AKPK might have had more appeal due to being a little more unique.

meteorIV001.jpg

medium_zpsea4d9751.jpg

Purely economically speaking, having built a yellow  one using the Modelart sheet and having a second option in the decal bank (manufacturer escapes me for the moment) I'd be unlikely to shell out for another full kit wouldn't I. No maybe I will, being daft enough.

Nige B

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7 hours ago, Caerbannog said:

Nice choice. I love record breakers and racers. The box art is not showing the mesh guards on the intakes which were on some early Meteors including EE455 and EE454 (which did break the record of EE455 the very same day). Not sure if there is any way to represent these in 1:72 scale. I tried to in 1:48 scale but the mesh is way too thick:

René

 

Stretched ladies tights works well as mesh in the smaller scale.

 

Thomo.

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Glad to see that judging by the box art they have got the correct long-span wing on it. A lot of people seem to have modelled this aeroplane with the usual short-span F.4 wing. Of course I am half-way through it the hard way having spent ages over Christmas extending the wings of a Frog F.4 so that the join doesn't show, so you can all thank me later.

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1 hour ago, Work In Progress said:

Of course I am half-way through it the hard way having spent ages over Christmas extending the wings of a Frog F.4 so that the join doesn't show, so you can all thank me later.

 

How about we just thank you right now!!   :thanks:

Now stop this particular conversion and start hacking away at the Heller Vampire and Frog Sea Venom to create the Captain obvious subject that no one seems to want to touch!!

Cheers... Dave

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Source: http://www.specialhobby.info/2017/03/gloster-meteor-yellow-peril-sh72361-not.html

 

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Gloster Meteor Yellow Peril (SH72361) – not so yellow as it might have seemed

Did you also like the all-yellow record breaking Meteor EE455 named the Yellow Peril? Well in that case, I am afraid I do not have very good news for you now. As it seems and as you may judge for yourselves from the archive photos below, this machine that has been famous not only for her record attempt but also for being High Gloss Trainer Yellow overall was not in fact all-yellow at all. The outer wing panels were left unpainted in their natural metal finish. The photos (courtesy of Michal Hradecky archives), although some of them not very clear, do show this unusual feature quite well.
 
Therefore, we have chosen to try and do away with this deeply rooted mistake (yes, we like being slightly controversial sometimes :-) and bring the modeller the kit´s boxart and Yellow Peril marking scheme as it, to our best knowledge, did look during her world speed record breaking attempt.
 
 
yep, here one may say that only the leading edge was in metal finish
 
Meteor%2BMk_III%2BGloster%2BMeteor%2BIV%2BR%2526R%2BDerwent%2BEngines%2BEE455%2Bphoto%2B020.jpg
 
but here and....
 
Meteor%2BMk_III%2BGloster%2BMeteor%2BIV%2BR%2526R%2BDerwent%2BEngines%2BEE455%2Bphoto%2B009.jpg
 
most clearly here, it is quite well visible that the complete outer wing panel was left unpainted. The difference between the Glossy Yellow finish and natural metal wing panel (here darker due to shadow) is obvious.

 

V.P.

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This find is quite fascinating to be honest.

I need to take another sharper look however what does everyone else think about the Horizontal Stabs and Elevators also being left in Natural Metal as well?

Are these the only photo's available of EE455 in this Yellow Peril livery?

 

Cheers.. Dave.

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On 2/23/2017 at 5:25 AM, viscount806x said:

Purely economically speaking, having built a yellow  one using the Modelart sheet and having a second option in the decal bank (manufacturer escapes me for the moment) I'd be unlikely to shell out for another full kit wouldn't I. No maybe I will, being daft enough.

Nige B

 

1 hour ago, stevehnz said:

Do I need another Meteor. :unsure: Do I want another Meteor. :thumbsup:

Steve.

 

Well, that's two sales today for Special Hobby. No, three actually :like:

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I seem to be acquiring quite a few Meatboxes as well, however I'm pretty sure this edition looks likely to be another 'must have'.

The differences in wing colouring making this one all the more interesting.

 

Cheers.. Dave

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I reluctantly buy the NMF wing theory. I say "reluctantly" because my own home-extended Novo wings with hand-scribed ailerons and so on are going to be an absolute sod to make work under an NMF finish. However, it certainly creates visual interest.

 

The question of "why?!" is nagging me. The fact that they've bothered to paint the roundels on the outer wing panels suggests that this was not a temporary state. And I would expect the aeroplane to be faster with filled panel lines and a nice smooth coat of paint. I could easily imagine them leaving the paint off the ailerons as a safety measure, given that they were playing around with IAS beyond normal operating limits, but that doesn't explain the main wing panels.

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The Meteor wings outboard of the engines were bolt on panels, and thus relatively easy to change. The photos would seem to indicate that at some point during it's time with a yellow fuselage this airframe appears to have been fitted with natural metal or HSS painted outer wing panels.

Unless the photos can be positively dated to the record flight date they do not prove that the airframe was not all over yellow on that day. You can model it with outer wings silver and claim it is accurate,  but you can't positively claim it represents the airframe at the time it broke the record. There may be other evidence to prove the case either way, but the photos above with no provenance don't on their own disprove the all over yellow scheme.

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I think that HSS, or High Speed Silver, postdated the World Record run.  The wings, if not repainted, will just be in standard Aluminium.  That the roundels are on suggest they were already painted, and therefore pre-filled.

 

It's a very good point about the importance of dating these photos - or indeed any photos - but I find if difficult to understand why two outer wing panels and possibly also the tailplanes would need replacing.  One panel maybe.  The simpler suggestion seems to be that this is how it was all the time.  Why? is perhaps more difficult to answer.

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I accept that judged purely as images the outer panels could be viewed as painted aluminium rather than unpainted metal, but is that likely as early as autumn 1945? When did Meteors start being delivered in aluiminium paint? (Would go look it up myself but I am away from the books this week, sorry)

 

The other 1945 high speed Meteor was in camouflage...

https://www.flightglobal.com/FlightPDFArchive/1945/1945 - 2246.PDF

 

And even the later 1946 record breakers, EE549 and EE550 were in camouflage too.

f4_ee549a.jpg

 

See also the camo in this pic from Flight of 18 July 1946, here:

https://www.flightglobal.com/FlightPDFArchive/1946/1946 - 1374.PDF

Edited by Work In Progress
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2 hours ago, Dave Swindell said:

The Meteor wings outboard of the engines were bolt on panels, and thus relatively easy to change. The photos would seem to indicate that at some point during it's time with a yellow fuselage this airframe appears to have been fitted with natural metal or HSS painted outer wing panels.

Unless the photos can be positively dated to the record flight date they do not prove that the airframe was not all over yellow on that day. You can model it with outer wings silver and claim it is accurate,  but you can't positively claim it represents the airframe at the time it broke the record. There may be other evidence to prove the case either way, but the photos above with no provenance don't on their own disprove the all over yellow scheme.

 

But by the same token is there any good reason to believe that the aeroplane was ever yellow overall? I've never seen a photo that proves it, only models and illustrations (and as I mentioned above, a lot of models I've seen even have later production short wings so are clearly not evidence-based).

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14 hours ago, Work In Progress said:

 

But by the same token is there any good reason to believe that the aeroplane was ever yellow overall? I've never seen a photo that proves it, only models and illustrations (and as I mentioned above, a lot of models I've seen even have later production short wings so are clearly not evidence-based).

I don't know off the top of my head, and I'm away from my library at the moment. Up until the above I don't recall any indication that the airframe was anything other than overall yellow, and that seems to be the general perception. If the record run was made with yellow and/or short span outer wing panels a couple of possibilities are that they were changed for direct comparison of performance on the same airframe, or they were removed for examination for percieved or actual stress or damage sustained during the high speed run. This could also apply to the tailplanes. To ascertain the exaxt configuration at the time of the record run we need to examine contemporary records, photos and film of the event. All the above photos above indicate is that at some time the airfame was fitted with silver (as Graham says, not HSS) outer wing panels and possibly tailplanes.

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I think my point is re evidence is now as follows:

1. We now have undisputable photographic evidence of the wings being not yellow at least at some point in the short period that EE455 had a yellow fuselage as part of the speed record effort

2. No-one has yet been able to provide any photographic evidence or reports from the time of the wings being yellow at any stage

 

Perhaps point 2 will be addressed shortly, but other people's models and historical assumptions don't cut it. Eyewitness accounts saying "yellow all over" or actual coloiur photography clearly showing yellow wings, even b/w photos showing the wings in the same tone as the fuselage, with no demarcation lines outside the nacelles, would all be of value if they exist.

 

While we're at it, is there any any actual contemporaneous evidence of the 1945 record aircraft having reduced span wings, or of there being any reduced-span Meteors in existence at all during 1945? I suggest not -- everything I can find says that the short span mod was first seen in the subsequent 1946 record attempt.

Edited by Work In Progress
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