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Hello everyone! I’m in with this (hopefully) simple conversion. 

 

I bought what I thought was a standard Matchbox Meatbox from the Chester Model Centre last year.

 

28017231159_a668cc1991_b.jpg

 

Sure enough it came with all the bits (I think I’ve lost half a drop tank though....)

 

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But wait! Unexpectedly, the box came with these goodies too.

 

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(no I don’t know why there are Panther markings in there either!).

 

I have T.7 and single seat canopies, a white metal bang seat, two sets of noses and not to mention the early style tail and tailplane. 

 

Ready for the off.......

 

Trevor

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You did well with that purchase - Aeroclub Meteor conversions are probably pretty hard to find these days!

 

looking forward to this - it will bring back some memories - when the Matchbox Meteor first came out I built mine as an FR.9 using the Aeroclub conversion. Bought it the first time I went to the Nationals at Stoneleigh - 1987ish I think.

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2 hours ago, John D.C. Masters said:

Will it be Belgian?  You could celebrate the build with some mussels and chips...^_^

...and mayonnaise!

Mussels ... Chips ... Mayonnaise ? Interesting combination ? And SWMBO thinks I eat strange things. 🙄

 

i guess i should try it before i knock it ...

Edited by Corsairfoxfouruncle
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2 hours ago, John D.C. Masters said:

Will it be Belgian?  You could celebrate the build with some mussels and chips...^_^

...and mayonnaise!

I didn’t know Belgium used them. I’ve found it hard enough getting RAF images!

 

Trevor

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So it starts!

 

This is a more detailed shot of the Aeroclub parts. 

 

39816561281_4ea7b666a9_b.jpg

 

I seem to have two identical nose pairs. There is the T.7 canopy which I won’t use for this build (I feel an RN TT.20 in my future) and what at first I thought were two identical single seat canopies, but squinting hard at them, one appears to be the early version with the metal rear part.

 

I have an aversion to adding noses and tails after the fuselage has been buttoned up as I have visions of mismatches and steps in the join. Looking at the way Aeroclub designed the tail for example, either by accident or design wth the starboard fuselage ‘stump’ will allow me to attach them whilst the fuselage halves are separate.

 

I’d forgotten about the white metal seat and on advice given, the PR.10 has a MB Mk.2 unit.

 

So why am I procrastinating? I’ve got to cut the nose!

 

Yipe.....

 

Trevor 

 

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The first cut is the deepest or whatever.

 

39817089581_936829dff4_b.jpg

 

So is the second!

 

I think what I’ll do at the appropriate time is to fix the starboard side front and rear early on in the process on a flat surface and get a good, strong joint. That way hopefully I can ensure that I don’t end up with a banana shaped fuselage.

 

Not sure about opening up the camera apertures in the nose due to the thickness of the plastic; they may end up as a black transfer patches. I have a plan for the ventral cameras in the rear fuselage though.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Trevor

 

 

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Whilst I ponder my next move on the cheat’s Spitfire Vc, I’ll turn my attention here.

 

Following the Aeroclub instructions I removed the plinth for the pilot’s seat.

 

39233991674_2558ce2e3f_b.jpg

 

Googling the interwebby for single seat Meteor cockpits I realised that I would need to fix the instrument panel to the Aeroclub part. It touches where it fits though. So how to get a firm base for it to grip?

 

I know, I’ll use the box I just chopped off!

 

39233991564_7cfb250b35_b.jpg

 

And this is the result.

 

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So still dealing with the cockpit here is the two piece ejection seat superglued together.

 

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I now need some side consoles. Looking at the pictures, they only seem to come up as far as the bottom part of the seat.

 

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Yes I know it’s Matchbox, so what am I doing with this piece of scrap?

 

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Trimmed and with a support they make an ideal console.

 

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With a rough and ready placing of the Aeroclub dorsal cockpit foaming it looks a bit like this....

 

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I’m sure that with some left over consol transfers, bits of scrap plastic scabbed into the cockpit sides and lashings of black paint, the cockpit will look ok ish?

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Trevor

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I’ve done a little bit more on this one. 

 

To give the seat something to sit on I glued a scrap of plastic card on the underside of the hole and then glued a square of plastic into the hole.

 

The replacement upper fuselage and instrument panel, the cockpit tub and kit fuselage have been primed and sprayed matt black.

 

Next job will be to finish off the cockpit, paint the seat, add ballast (maybe some screws superglued into the fuselage) and then add the Aeroclub nose and tail to the port half and once dry, button it up.

 

No pix at the moment, I’ll sort that out later.

 

Trevor 

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  • 2 weeks later...

A bit more progress this afternoon.

 

Some dry fitting of the main fuselage parts showed that the instrument panel was catching against the scratch built side panels so a bit of trimming was in order.

 

That done I decided to glue the two fuselage halves together.

 

39474288034_fe0262b0aa_b.jpg

 

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Not one of Matchbox’s finest fitting kits.

 

So it was time to have a look at the Aeroclub replacement single seat dorsal insert. There was a problem though. If it fitted at the back, it wouldn’t sit properly at the front 

 

25314034827_82dfbe4c17_b.jpg

 

and of course vise versa.

 

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So, what to do? Tack one end down and then superglue the other half? Then I had a brain wave. I sawed down across the top immediately behind the canopy rail. I first thought that I would need to cut it into two and apply each half separately. However, after cutting part way down, I then bent the part and it fitted better.

 

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I’ll stuff the cut with plastic card, wipe some filler over the top and that should do the trick.

 

The fit at the rear will still need attention though.

 

39287508235_94402748b0_b.jpg

 

As it is though, I’m leaving this off for the moment as I will need to drill the ventral camera holes. My plan (yes I actually have one), is to drill the holes, scribe the removable hatches around them (or I may do that the other way around), back the hole with clear plastic sheet and paint the inside surface of that in black, before glazing the hole on the outside with Contacta Clear or PVA glue.

 

You may have seen the tail in some of the pictures above. My original intent was to glue the smaller fillet to the starboard side to ensure it was flat and then attaching the other tail part once the two fuselage halves had been glued together. Unfortunately the two parts are only a vague fit. Additionally I discovered that the starboard side had a distinct concave area so making the two sides assymetrical. So I joined the two parts together and applied filler before blending. Add to that I also needed a dab of filler to the bullet fairing on the vertical tail because there was some mould mismatch too. This is the result.

 

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In the process I’ve removed some of the raised line detail. I’ll remove the rest later. There is very little in the way of panel lines on the donor kit, so I’m debating on leaving it devoid of panel lines. I’ll have a think about that one. I’m also debating on whether to rely on butt-joining the horizontal stabilisers, or should I drill a couple of holes and snip a paper clip to add strength. Again the jury is out.

 

Still on the tail, I turned my attention to how I would now fix it to the fuselage. There are mating lips and recesses on the parts. Unfortunately they don’t work! This necessitated me reaming out the tail and hacking away at the fuselage aft end.

 

40186041541_9d5611076b_b.jpg

 

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The fit still isn’t great and there’s will be a lot of filling and blending involved at the appropriate time. Again would a sprue rod add strength; probably, as all the filling and sanding would probably lead to the tail coming off and me introducing the cat to some new Anglo Saxon words. That’s a task for another day though as I need to do a lot of other stuff on the fuselage first.

 

Oh aye, the nose will require my attention too.

 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m definitely not criticising the Aeroclub parts. This after all was a limited run conversion pack and using these parts makes the task of ending up with a single seater onehecuvalot easier and I wouldn’t even contemplate the conversion without them. I know MPM do a PR.10 and if I didn’t have these bits, that would be the obvious way to go. But this is modelling and I’m having fun!

 

More soon and thanks for looking.

 

Trevor

 

 

 

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Putty monster part 2......

 

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And it’s only going to get worse isn’t it!

 

Putting the fuselage to one side, my next task was to reconfigure the wings by removing the armament. 

 

Before......

 

40171300382_67a9cfeb3a_b.jpg

 

After

 

40171300262_7697fc976a_b.jpg

 

Repeat for the other wing. A similar procedure was followed for the upper wing but the very fine raised lines representing the gun hatches would also need gently sanding off.

 

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Thats all for now whilst I wait on the Green Stuff to harden.

 

Trevor

 

 

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Well this is my “I learned something today!”  moment. It looks like they moved the cannons outboard of the engine nacelles/pods when these were converted to Recon birds. I never would've guessed that. I would’ve assumed they were like U.S. conversions and weaponless. If memory is correct the cannons were in the fuselage ... two on either side of the cockpit tub ? 

Edited by Corsairfoxfouruncle
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@Corsairfoxfouruncle

 

The PR.10 was unarmed, so I’ll be removing all evidence from the fuselage too.

 

No idea what went in the spaces vacated by the guns in the nose unless it was ballast otherwise the cg would suffer?

 

Trevor 

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A small update.

 

I don’t know if it’s me but the ventral fuselage halves underneath the cockpit seem to want to separate if I manhandle it.

 

40189575482_0ba16c7ebb_b.jpg

 

So slatherings of liquid poly and superglue was applied. Let’s see if that holds.

 

In the meantime I temporarily push fitted the port underwing so that I could position the camera ports. It was then that I discovered that Matchbox had sort of forgotten to finish off the engraving for the flaps and airbrake. If you look here the forward part of the airbrake has been done and the inner flap is represented only by a very fine raised line.

 

Before......

 

28443558929_a35f066e48_b.jpg

 

and after.

 

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Repeat on other wing.....

 

.....and on top too!

 

40225136611_6210b39923_b.jpg

 

Next I think will be to glue the two underwings so as to get the right position and to minimise the join line and inevitable filler.

 

More soon

 

Trevor

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I’d forgotten quite what a putty monster this kit happened to be!

 

Lower wings glued on and filler applied at the wing root underneath and on top. Not sure why Matchbox decided to mould part of the upper wing root on the lower part but that’s what they did.

 

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Remember “This is Fun.”

 

Trevor

 

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Last update for today

 

40192191272_58884725c9_b.jpg

 

Not bad (but look at all that swarf lying around).

 

This is best viewed as solving one problem at a time, rather than as an exercise in gluing a ‘shake-n-bake’ kit together.

 

Thanks for looking!

 

Trevor 

 

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