PaulR

Kit: 1/72 Xtrakit Meteor T7 OOB apart from tamiya tape belts and Xtradecal markings . . . edited with marginally better photos - not much of a photographer!

Now, I have just realised the end of this GB is mid October . . . shall I go for that swordfish, and see if I make it a double?

Well - done and done! Wheels on (that was a bit of trial . . ) and a couple of aerials added to the spine and underwing that seemed to be specific to FAA T7s. I have to say that I have thoroughly enjoyed this project - it has sparked a plan to build more FAA subjects in the near future, and also for acquiring new skill sets, specifically using dayglo paint! As for the kit itself, I would heartily recommend it; canopy niggles aside (and that came out fine) it makes for a pleasant model if treated with the care needed for a limited run type kit. The only thing I would say is that (having built three of these Xtrakit meteors) is that the central underfuselage fuel tanks is rather too skinny; I might try building it up a bit using milliput for my other, current, Meteor project, that of an target tug F8. Anyway, here is a link to the gallery!

Heading toward the finishing line! I have glossed the airframe with Xtracrylic gloss varnish, and applied the decals. These settleD down a treat with a dab of Microsol/set, and have really brought the model to life. I've still got to give it another coat to seal in the decals, but in the meantime I am working on the undercarriage, which I always find very tedious. I still have to mask off the wheels before I give them a coat of Tamiya's new rubber black, which I spied in my local oasis of modelling heaven, Model Junction!

Quick update! Have built the cockpit, prop etc and have primed all the internals and the cockpit sides, followed by a slight preshading. Not sure why, as very little will be seen once the pilot is in and canopy is closed, but it leaves a warm feeling inside. Unfortunately, have just realised that my father has my stock of Luftwaffe paints (he's building this kit as well) so will have to leg it over the aged P's to retrieve them. Plenty to get on with, not least of which will be sorting out the pilot figure. Speaking of the pilot, Xtradecal kindly noted his name, which was a certain Gunther Bode. Googling turned up this picture of him standing next to a staff car, apparently attached to JG2 at the time. He looks every inch your classic fighter pilot. Haven't found anything else on him yet, but judging by pics of his crashed plane, I am believe he may well have survived the crash landing. It would be interesting to know what happened to him (POW? Further service in the postwar Luftwaffe?) or anything about him generally. I'll post anything I find, but if anyone has any info I would be very interested. Period photos and associated information turns putting together pieces of plastic into something else entirely!

Had the BBMF fly at what felt like rooftop height directly over my house earlier on! Heard merlins, rushed to the bedroom window and was confronted with the lancaster bearing down on what felt like a collision course with the house! fabulous!

And there I was thinking I was the only one who was interested inthat book. It is amazing how certain things stick in our minds - just glad it's not just me!

Pleased to oblige!

And . . . the reveal! Always anxious moments when removing masking, but am pleased to report it was fine - first time in ages when I haven't had to do any touch-ups! It's really beginning to come to life now, and am very pleased I went with this scheme - a bit out of my normal field, and it has inspired me to tackle more FAA subjects - just found a Revell Gannet in my stash with Eduuard masks that I had forgotten about, so this might be next but one! Next up - mask up the wheel wells so I can paint those, and on with the first coat of gloss to prep up for decals and all that jazz. Out of interest, does anyone know if this was a one off scheme, or was it applied to a range of FAA T7s?

Nostalgia fix as promised! Getting back to the original premise of this thread, the canopy has been 'futured' prior to masking (Eduard is pretty much essential these days!) and I am working on the cockpit as I type . . . more or less!

I'll be onto it later on tonight!

Thanks for posting these links-very cool! Only goes to show what exists on the net! However, the edition shown on the link differs in several respects and several pages from the Dennis knight version I have. I'll take shots of these particular pages for the sake of interest. One of the neatest parts of the Dennis Knight version is the pages on building your own BoB fighter station...another long term project!

Consider it done! I'll get on it tomorrow...

Dead right! much to my disgust, I managed to lose my original copy around 1985 or so... but then found a mint copy at an airshow book stall around 1990! I have done a few of the rubdown stickers just for fun, but it is a great book, and a great memory. I am looking for the dambusters booklet at the mo. I don't think it would break any copyright rules to post pics of a few pages- any in particular stick in your memory? Glad to see the post had provoked a few fond memories. The older I get (42) the more modelling is a link to a very happy childhood. I've even bought an original 1979 Airfix spitfire mk1 in the original blister packaging; I've no intention of building it, it's just a tangible link to standing in my local model shop as a wee chap. The Dennis Knight book is another part of that. I am going to do the rest of the rubdown stickers with my own 'wee chap' in due course, and I've a couple of the old mould airfix spitfire mk1s to do with him. Pass it on,chaps, pass it on!

Count me in for this!

Further thoughts. . . while I am getting in touch with my childhood, I might well build this 'wheels up' and mount it on one of Airfix's new stands. . . perhaps with a spitfire in hot pursuit!

Evening all. The Battle of Britain has long been my favourite period of aviation history, and for the last few years I have aimed to do a BofB subject every summer. This year it is one of the opposition, namely JG27. I have an old Dennis Knight BofB activity book (a treasured possession since I was 7!) that has JG27's badge (albeit labelled as JG3) on the first page, and I have always wanted to do a model of one of their aircraft, complete with tribesman and tiger head. Cue Airfix with their new 109 and Xtradecal's 70th Anniversary sheet! I am aiming to finish this by the 8th September, which will be the 73rd anniversary of this particular aircraft being shot down. As an aside, I have the Eduard kit of the ME110, which happens to have the markings for the exact sharkmouthed Me110 shown crashed in the activity book. Next year I think!

Moving on. After masking all the dayglo, a couple of coats of Tamiya flat black. I have never had much luck with gloss black, so I'll rely on good old Xtracrylix Gloss varnish for the decals and final effect. Of course, in the rush to get the black on, I forgot to spray the wheel wells! Oh well - more complicated masking coming up . . . silver seems to go everywhere!

Adventures with Dayglo! Well, after trying a variety of paints, I finally settled on Revell's acrylic dayglo. An absolute pain to spray (even after being thinned) - the paint dried on the needle tip after about 7 or 8 seconds of spraying - it nevertheless gave a really good finish. I gave it the essential white undercoat (Tamiya flat white), and applied it in thin coats, gradually building up the colour. I am really pleased with the result, not having attempted any dayglo before; am now looking through my Warpaint books for other schemes! My dodgy photographic skills have managed to show it as coming up rather blotchy, but it isn't like that in the plastic, honest! Next steps; mask up and paint black.

Evening all, haven't posted any completed models for a while, so thought I'd out this recent completion (last night!) for perusal. It's part of an Austrian airforce theme I've got going at the moment. I have already completed a Revell (Hasegawa) Draken, and there's a Heller Tunnan with a Pavla resin/vac canopy update to do next. I know there's a new tool kit out, but at £25 it's a bit much for my wallet! Anyway, the Revell Typhoon is a great kit; care must be taken in certain key areas that are well known, but considering this my 6th 1/72 version I have a pretty good handle on these. What is rather more concerning is the state of the moulds. There's some flash, but not big deal, but on the latest two I have bought the windshield is progressively worse. The first was just a case of a polish and Klear dip, but the last one (slated for an Italian airforce example) is practically opaque. Luckily Pavla do a really good vacform replacement that even someone as hamfisted as me can use, but I would have thought that with a flagship kit like this, which is likely to remain a top seller, Revell could recondition the moulds. Anyway . . . am really pleased with this one. Paints are Tamiya XF19 for the radome and dielectric areas (the best match for Barley grey I have found yet) and Xtracrylix FS36270 for the main airframe. The Austrians use a different grey to the Germans, despite what Revell say in the instructions, by the by. There's a resin MK16 instead of the perfectly good kit part; I just used it for speed. Kit decals were used throughout, aside from the wing roundels; the kit ones are too small, so I nicked some from a Revell 1/48th Typhoon. There is something about the Austrian aircraft that is particularly smart. . .but if only they'd do what they did with the Drakens and add unit badges and big dayglo numbers on the wings! C+C welcome! Paul

I am in exactly the same position! however, I understand from a very recent thread on this site that heritage models are planning one to be (hopefully) released at the nationals. Here's hoping! Paul

What a great choice of scheme! One of my favourite F-16 schemes, and remember seeing them in the metal. I'm building the self same kit, but using the xtradecal sheet with the squadron commander's a/c. Hope it turns out as good as yours! Paul

Cheers old chap!

Evening all. Am building an RN meteor T7 for the FAA group build, and I need a good dayglo orange paint in acrylic. Anyone have any tips or guidance in thid regard? Many thanks in advance, Paul.

i have often read about micromesh - can anyone advise where you can get it? Thanks in advance, Paul