Graham T

Plot revolved around a US Airman gettng an English women in the family way (this is 2008, not 1945 you know!). Anyway, some scenes were shot at RAF Marham (or "RAF Fakenheath" as we were asked to believe by the cunningly amended gatehouse sign), & in one particular shot, the main character was talking to the US commander as he got into his USAF Tornado GR4! Clearly in shot bellow the a/c belly were Brimstones on multiple racks. Is this munition operational yet?

Yes, the outer doors seem to be "protected" by the leg/wheel. What are those loops attached to the nose gear door?

The new "corporate" titleing is absolutely awful.

One more thing to be aware of, theses "Sea Meteors" had their main u/c doors removed to prevent fouling the arrestor wires. Have to confess that I'm not sure about the belly tank & it's use (or lack thereoff) on the F3. I cannot find any pics of F3's with it, only profiles such as that in the Warpaint book.....but then they put that eroneous fin flash on as well!

certainly too wide & probably too long - the shin guards are ENORMOUS, the seats are really a poor representation. This wouldn't matter if going for a closed cockpit but so bad is the canopy fit that I may have to cut & display it open.

This thing is a hair's breadth from being slung in the bin! The cockpit canopy doesn't fit & the seats (such as they are) don't even fit in the cockpit!!

You know, the value of my loft full of Airfix 1/48 Lightnings is going down all the time don't you .

That looks nice. Note that there is no fin flash & this seems to be correct (see my earlier post). The colour profile I mentioned in the Warpaint book shows a fin flash but a photo of the same machine in the same book shows NO fin flash & this would be more in keeping with RN practice. One other matter, the Modellers data file on the Meteor states that the "Sea Meteor F3" possessed localised rear fuselage strengthening. Presumably this comprised plates "a la" Hawker Typhoon, intended to prevent the rear fuseage being ripped off by the arrestor hook but whatever it was, it isn't apparent in photos. (Sorry no, you can't have my Dynavector Sea Vixen!)

That nose looks unusual! I have a pic that proports to show WK198 being refuelled for it's record breaking run, no dark nose.

That looks brilliant & despite being a vacform I suspect it involves less work than the Academy kit to achieve a good result!

Yay, someone on the same wavelength! How about: Don't clean me, plant something or This is not just dirt, this is M&S dirt (will mean little to those not in the UK!)

OK, I'll bite - "I WISH MY WIFE WAS THAT DIRTY" Altogether now...............

No Bill, you're thinking of Hunter undersides again!

Relax Nev, no one's getting their knickers in a twist. At least we haven't got to the ludicrous levels that HS did over the colour of the area behind the P47 Razorback windows or the "Malta Blue" Spitfires!

3.......2........1.........

Yes, I guess if you'd meant the flash you'd have SAID the flash. Looking at the pic, yes this area bounded by the a/g panel, the nose ring & the flash does appear to be painted as opposed to NMF but my comment about the colour to use still stands! Interestingly, in the pic, it's in company with a single seater P1B XG331 which is painted in the same manner.

Is this the lightning flash marking? Only got one shot (from the Crowood Aviation series book) & that's in b/w. Paint it as you see fit & let someone prove you wrong!

Yes, the Warpaint book has a pic of one of the "Sea Meteors" on board Ilustrious in 1949 - high speed silver finish

Basically, there were 2 x FM3's which were fitted with an A frame arrestor hook for carrier ops & painted in the standard FAA colours of EDSG over Sky & served as test machines with 778 squadron. I think the Warpaint book (22) has some more info but that's the gist of it. Found the book - serial of one was EE337. The EDSG top colour extended nose to root of tail fin, about 1/3 of the way down the fuselage sides. Standard Roundels in 6 positions, side no. 051 aft of the fuselage roundels, fin code FD, serial on base of fin with "Royal Navy" title above it, standard RAF type Meteor fin flash above horizontal planes. If I had a scanner, I would but HTH!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Airfix-EE-Lightning-...1QQcmdZViewItem on this basis, I've got about £900 in the loft!

Yep this subject can run & run, in fact I think it has been! According to "Hunter Squadrons of the Royal Air Force" by Richard L Ward, the underside colour changed from HSS to LAG "in about 1966" & "From the date on which any change is officially promulgated, it can be several months or even years before all the aircraft affected by it actually comply, depending upon the urgency of the change & of course, anomolies can always be found - there are quite a few in this book". I always used to assume that toned down (tactical) national markings meant LAG undersides but on the basis of the above thim might not be the case, except, where an a/c went in for the new markings to be applied, might they not have taken the opportunity of painting the LAG if not already done? Or maybe the other way around - an a/c goes in for LAG repaint & tactical markings applied at the same time. So that's cleared that up then.

Yes Jonathan's right (my humour ). So now, with the MRA4 scheduled into service in 2012, we can look forward to the Airfix MRA4 in say 2052! I've preorderd from Hannants.

If at all. I read the other day that, following the current problems with the MR2' in service, the whole MRA4 project may be in jeapordy.

If I read it correctly the reviewer was saying that the inside of the gear & bomb bay doors were sparse. I've now decided not to buy this kit as it doesn't contain parts for the MRA4 - what are Airfix thinking??!!

but I think you may be right! To be honest I just "slavishly" added the part provided in the conversion without checking refs! Too late now.