stever219

Three airframes, G-ALUN, 'UO and 'UP of which only the first was completed and flown. The other two never even had their engines installed (10 Bristol Proteus). There were proposals for a land plane version and even a nuclear-powered version made it as far as the back of an envelope, but to no avail.

Brilliant chaps, thank you! Sadly I have neither book, but your info should be enough for me to find an appropriate code letter and replacement serials, and maybe the RAFM site might have a copy of the photo on it.

I am trying to locate a photo of one particular Meteor F Mk 8 from 611 Squadron. I know I've seen one in camouflage, but with a High Speed Silver canopy frame. The photo I've seen was taken from above and behind on the port side and shows the squadron bars nicely. Predictably enough I can't remember the serial number or individual aircraft letter. Does anyone have a copy of the photo that they can obtain this information from please? Google has not been my friend here: I've tried searching by unit and aircraft type but to no avail. Any help would be greatly appreciated as I have the unit markings from an Xtradecal sheet and I think they'd look rather nice adorning my nice shiny new Airfix Meteor when it's finished.

SHOCK, HORROR, PROBE, TRAUMA. NEW AIRFIX METEOR FATALLY FLAWED AND TERMINALLY UNBUILDABLE. NO WING TIP NAVIGATION LIGHTS!! Send me all of your now unwanted Airfix Meteors and I will ensure their discreet disposal free of charge to hide your embarrassment at buying this inferior product. Muahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

If you're planning to model a 100 Group Mosquito try to find a copy of Martin Streetly's "The Aircraft of 100 Group" which contains drawings and photos of the radio and radar installations in these aircraft.

You can assemble the Mk. IV fuselage before attaching the completed wings: the openings in the fuselages are the same size. If you're modelling with flaps retracted you may well find a step at the flaps' leading edges where they meet the wing. The wings also need some gentle fettlng to get a neat finish at the trailing edges. I've got 3 Mk. Is and a IV in progress and they're all very much the same. I've done nothing to reduce the size of the nacelles above the wings (found out too late that they're a tad oversized).

Re. the plates at the front of the engine bearers (post 5) they look like the lead weights usd on early aircraft to cater for the three types of airscrew available: Watts, de Haviland or Rotol. The wooden Watts was lightest and needed most ballast to keep the CG somewhere near its rightful place. IIRC the Rotol was heaviest and needed least ballast, but still required some. With cowling s on not many people are going to know, and we won't tell ;-). How old's your kit? This could account for your woes with the decals. You could try contacting Airfix via their website and asking for a replacement set, but be prepared for a bit of a wait; their customer service seems to be going through a rough patch at present. A member of this forum known to me has been waiting since last autumn for one part for his Whitley.

Thanks chaps! I did indeed mean sprue, but unwanted and unwarranted spell-checker (who they think I am, Harry Potter? Spelling checker, please!) "corrected" it and I didn't spot it. D'oh! Both spring tab and balance tab ailerons, large and small bore intakes, both types of canopy(?). We should be able to do almost any Mk. 8 from this kit. Oh my aching wallet!

Early in WWII RAF Bomber Command was experimenting with anti-searchlight finishes and came up with RDM2A Special Night, a very matt finish. This turned out to be less effective than hoped and had very poor adhesion to aircraft structures, even when properly prepared and primed. It also, IIRC, "chalked" quite badly. It contrasted with the per-war standard smooth paints used for upper surfaces, national and unit markings. Smooth Night was introduced later, being intended to counter the high drag caused by te sooty and rough RDM2A finish and this was ultimately replaced, on some types at least, around the end of the war Anti Searchlight Glossy Black.

I haven't seen the spruce shots, so could anyone who has please let me know if both types of aileron are also in the kit?

Thanks John. I think I knew that the T.17 did but not that the 19 did also. I'll have to have a closer look at Newark's example next time I'm up there.

Antti, the T. Mk. 11s (and externally identical T. Mk. 19s) were all converted from B. Mk. 2s as radar trainers and AI targets respectively. IIRC all of the avionics kit associated with this was accommodated in the nose so the bays should have remained (almost) unchanged.

The bomb doors on "normal" (if there is such a thing; they're all 8l00dy different) Canberras slide up inside the fuselage walls as they open, a very bit like those on the Valiant and Victor. The later marks of B-57 had a rotary bomb bay. There are a couple of photos of a B. Mk. 2 bay in the old Linewrights' Canberra tome which show that the roof is composed of two flat panels angled upwards and inwards that meet on the centre line (like an inverted "V" when viewed end-on) and from which the bomb beam is suspended. I'm sure Canberra Kid will have some photos or AP scans on his website that'll give you much more detail, but if he doesn't I'll bet he knows where to find some. The roof features a number of evenly-spaced frames which appear about 4 to 6 inches deep through which the control runs pass on the port side (logically enough, even on the T. Mk. 4). A number of other service and systems conduits also pass through these frames. The door operating jacks and linkages are mounted on both the front and rear bulkheads. HTH..

The Mosquito could be pretty unforgiving below 135 knots with an.engine out too, IIRC. Wasn't the Meteor's "phantom dive" due in part to the asymmetric lowering of the main undercarriage? Again, IIRC, this produced a yaw which blanked one wing as the jet started to side slip, the blanked wing dropped first.and the lowered flaps and open air brakes exaccerbated this effect. At circuit heights there was probably only going to be one outcome. I have read that more Meteor, and Canberra, crews were killed practicing single-engined approaches than dealing with a genuine single-engined approaches which may go some way to explaining the horrific number of Meteor (and crew) write-offs.

I found that a bi-conical fishing weight (think of two cones joined base to base) inserted into the radar bullet fairing and one or two flat lozenge-shaped fishing weights glued to the rear of the front bulkhead behind the lower engine face did the job. Fine lead shot poured into the radome with PVA (and some in the fairing behind it and above the nose wheel bay) also does the trick.

Sorry chaps, but I have to disagree about the streaking. High Speed Silver Valiants didn't seem to weather badly (unfortunately my references are unavailable to me just now) but have a look at the photo of the three Canberras somewhere around pages 15 to 17 of this thread IIRC. The finish appears quite uniform, particularly for three airframes that probably weren't in the paint shop at the same time. Sadly I see more rubbing down in poor PC's future. PC I generally use Humbrol 27002 Matt Aluminium for High Speed Silver, applied with a hairy stick. I've found this paint to be variable in quality, sometimes even with small lumps in it, but when it works as it should it's fine. I'm wondering PC if you've got a duff tin or bottle of paint. Do you have a second sample (preferably from a different batch) that you can try for comparison? I remember when my little girl was born: she's ten now, but 3 a.m. feeds were an excuse for a bit of light modeling 'til she and mum came back to bed. Sadly we made the mistake of letting her come in to bed with us and, once she could toddle from her own bed, we couldn't get rid of her for three years! I'm sure you'll get Winston sorted out once he's old enough! Wish I'd done as well with my Valiant as you have with yours.....

I believe his drawings were used as a main refrence for the Valiant, and we all know how that's been received accuracy-wise. Likewise I recall his P-47 drawings depicting the guns along the wings' centerline as opposed to parallel to the ground.

I am lucky enough to have had a flight in TG517 (now at Newark) in 1974; she served as a C. Mk. 1, Met. Mk. 1 and T. Mk. 5, so that could be three that I'll need. So many kits, so little time.....

Hoverspeed allegedly came by one of those engines by a slightly dubious means: the story is that the MoD (Misery of Disarmament or Mismanaging our Dough) had a hovercraft for sale which, like the SRN4, used the Marine Proteus engine. Hoverspeed were always desperate for engines and associated spares, so two engineers were dispatched to, oddly enough IIRC, Lee on Solent to check it out. They duly looked it over and found the engines to be OK. There was a spare engine lashed down on a dolly on the vehicle deck. Disembarking they checked the terms of the sale with the man from the MoD. "As seen." he advised them. They duly phoned the office and filthy lucre changed hands. Shortly thereafter two of Hoverspeeed's finest jet jockeys arrived, boarded, started up and departed in their new acquisition which, sans engines, would soon be on its way to becoming saucepans. A few days later Hoverspeed got a phone call from MoD Sales. "Did you recently buy a hovercraft off us?" they asked. "Yes," was the reply, "and it's been paid for." "Did it happen to have a spare engine lashed down on the vehicle deck?" asked MoD. "It did." replied Hoverspeed. "Could we have it back, please?" "Have a look at the contract; "sold as seen". The engine was there when we saw it, it's ours!" MoD went very quiet at that point, and stayed that way. A combination of this paucity of spares, rapidly-increasing fuel prices, declining passenger numbers, Maggie's Hole (le grand, sous-mer triple bore) and the demise of Duty Free due to the advent of the rabid nightmare of the so-called Single European Market ensured that the SRN4s just could not compete with the slower, larger, more fuel-efficient ferries on the short sea routes. There had never been the investment in the UK that would have given us better skirts (oo-er missus), more efficient engines and better sea-keeping qualities. At least we were better at it than the French: their effort lasted about two seasons before getting the saucepan treatment. They had built two, but one was destroyed by fire before carrying a single fare-paying passenger and a replacement was never ordered.

Thanks for the reply John: I really hadn't intended to cause you more work. I "got round" it on my attempt at XM277 by lowering the flaps,but that caused another issue because they aren't quite long enough span wise. As a spotty CCF cadet I went on annual camps at both Wyton and Cottesmore and was photographed, along with my spotty mates, in front of Canberras at both, one being the late-lamented '305. I can only agree that, at best, the destruction of that airframe was thoughtless, IMHO "wanton vandalism" is nearer the mark. I'm looking back 40 years to those photos, so I hope you can forgive my inadvertent relocation of '305. I'm thinking of doing a Mk. 6 (RC) using the Alley Cat set but that's a bit of a retirement project at present; I can't see me doing a B-57 though. It can't just be you and I who want some decent Canberras in 1/72th and 1/48th scales: if only Airfix had gone to John Adams for some reference material when they started work on their kits. I still have his Aeroclub B(I)6 unfinished (no fault of the kit, just this builder) and I'd lve to have another go at it. A multi-mark kit to the standards Airfix are achieving now would still sell well, even to those of us who already have a pile of unbuilt present-generation kits. Maybe we should all make a concerted effort to attract Airfix's attention to this unacceptable state of affairs vis-a-vis one of the most significant aircraft of the late 20th and very early 21st centuries. Steve

Our local ironmongers n model shop in Bedford has some, but I don't know how much they're asking for 'em. If you're in the UK give them a call on 01234 352321 and ask for Chris or Kate and they may well be able to sort something out for out. (I'm not on commission, btw.)

John, I'd like your opinion please. Canberras have straight trailing edges to wings and tail planes but Airfix have moulded a gentle convex curve on the outboard trailing edge between nacelle and aileron. How does this compare with your drawings? Do we have outer panels with too much chord or inner panels with too little? You can see the curve on the upper panels in the second photo in Post 46. Also is the radome and fairing on '333 the same shape, or nearly so, as that used on the B. Mk. 6(RC) aircraft, e.g. WT305 which, for many years, stood at Cottesmore's (?) gate? Now that Airfix have LIDAR I wonder if they'll have another look at the Canberra and give us some more accurate ones to play with. Or maybe I should just go and count some more rivets....... All the best, Steve.

Just had a shufti at the Walkarounds page on here: looks like the main wells are Interior Green, but this is a restored aircraft. Spar faces where they pass through the fuselage are Zinc Chromate. Anyone got any photos of Hawg Wild at Duxford? It's a long time since I've seen her, but I think her wheel bays are also Interior Green.

D'oh! Flippin' typical! I stand erected :-)

No, the B. Mk. 5 was based on the Mk. 2 airframe but, as John said, with the Mk. 6 "wet" wing. I think that the PR. Mk. 3 prototype was VX165 but I can't get to my references just now.