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Showing results for tags 'Meteor PR.10'.
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I'm back on the Meteors again. It's like an addiction but if you're of my generation where at one stage there were just occasional releases of the Airfix F.III or Frog/Novo F.4, then it's like Christmas with so much on offer today. Airfix's release of the FR.9 triggered something that has been running for a while: to convert one into a PR.10 by adding the tailplane and outer wing panels of an F.III. I have decided to give it a go and the first decision is the trickiest: do I butcher an absolutely perfect Tamiya F.III or do something radical - dismantle a 1979-vintage AMT Meteor F.I? A bit of background. The PR.10 was essentially a PR.9 optimised for high-altitude reconnaissance. It had the same engines and fuselage but used the extended wings of early models and night fighters and the tailplane of the earlier marks. From a modelling perspective the Tamiya model is a perfect donor but I must confess that to scrap 75% of such a superb model seems rather perverse, while the presence of a model I assembled and painted when I left school made me think that hoarding half-assembled model for four decades was, ultimately worth it. The Meteor PR.10: take a PR.9 and add the extended wings of early models and night fighters and the tailplane of the early marks Here is the candidate donor aircraft: the trusty AMT F.I As you can see, the AMT donor has seen a bit of action, including paint-stripping which failed to encompass the tailplane. I performed surgery on the AMT model to release the outer wing panels and the tailplane. The Tamiya F.III (top) and Airfix FR.9 fuselages compared Both fuselages above were lined-up against the rear fuselage transport joint. The FR.9 fuselage is longer as the F.8 and FR.9 had an additional fuselage section added immediately behind the cockpit. Comparing the wings showed that the AMT panels are pretty compatible with the Tamiya wing and also the Airfix equivalent. The AMT outer wing panels placed over the Tamiya wing The same panels on top of the Airfix wing To get a little more scientific, I drew-round the Airfix, Tamiya and, later, AMT profiles for comparison. The Airfix profile is in black ink and Tamiya in blue One area of concern is the depth of the fuselage profile at the rear transport joint where the tailplane meets the fuselage. Both the Airfix and AMT tailplanes are deeper than the Airfix fuselage. Airfix (black), Tamiya (blue) and AMT (red) profiles compared. Pretty good! After surgery on the old AMT model, I was able to compare details with the Tamiya model. Naturally, Tamiya wins on overall accuracy but the AMT model is not at all bad. The only issue is that the horizontal stabilisers are rather overscale. AMT and Tamiya vertical stabilisers compared The AMT horizontal stabilisers are slightly overscale in comparison to the Tamiya versions In conclusion, this seems like a worthwhile project and I shall proceed with the AMT parts, knowing that I have the Tamiya as a backup if they prove unsuitable. More to follow. Kind regards, Neil