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Special Hobby is to release in 2018 a family of Armstrong Whitworth Meteor nightfighters kits incl. NF.11/12/13 & 14 - ref. SH72358, 72360, 72363 & 72364 Source: http://www.specialhobby.net/2017/12/sh72358360363364-aw-meteory-nf.html Canopies mould V.P.

Asking for suggestions on references similar in scope to Daco or Reid publishing referances on the Meteor, Venom, Sea Venom and Sea Vixen. Thanks.

Gloster Meteor F.4 This is EE531 at The Midland Air Museum. Technically this is the oldest Meteor in UK as the prototype aircraft did not carry the Meteor Name.

Another Meteor from me.... This started out as the Cyber-Hobby Meteor F1 and I removed the engines from the wings to create the one-off Metrovick powered Meteor. The engines started life from some old airliner kit with lots of filler, decals are partly my own and the kit. The real aircraft crashed after only a few flights and there aren't many photos of it around. Steve

I'm quite happy with the resilt, although the Airfix kit can be pain in the (...) sometimes. But in the end it's a beautiful bird.. Cheers from Czech rep. Andrew

Gloster Meteor Mk.IV 'World Speed Record' 1:72 Special Hobby The twin-engined Gloster Meteor was jointly developed by Frank Whittle’s Power Jets Limited and the Gloster Aircraft Company. It was first flown in March 1943. When 616 Squadron commenced operations on the type in July 1944, it became the first jet fighter to enter operational service with the Royal Air Force. Forbidden to fly the Meteor over occupied territory, 616 Squadron used the new aircraft to combat the threat of V-1 flying bombs, eventually accounting for 14 of them. The design evolved considerably in the post-war period, spawning night fighters, reconnaissance aircraft and target tugs among other variants. The Mk. IV was the first major post-war variant. It was powered by Derwent 5 engines, housed in elongated nacelles. Additional wing strengthening was incorporated into the design, but was found to be insufficient. The clipped wing was introduced in order to reduce stress on the airframe, resulting in improved maneuverability but reduced rate of climb and service ceiling. The type was used to set a number of speed records, a fact which this edition of the kit celebrates. Special Hobby's Meteor is a tried and tested kit, having been released in multiple guises by Special Hobby themselves, Revell and (briefly) Airfix. The cockpit is well detailed for the scale, and there is a decal for the instrument panel. Nose weight is an absolute must, and there should be enough space for this in the area of the nose in front of the cockpit. The lower wing is moulded as a single span up to and including the engine nacelles, with seperate outer wings, while the upper wing is split into four parts. If you want to build the overall blue aircraft, you'll need to use the clipped outer wings, while the other three aircraft all have the regular MK.III style wing. The landing gear is nicely detailed, but joins to the landing gear bays by way of a simple butt joint, so watch out as it could be easily broken off once fitted. The canopy is pretty good, and Special Hobby have included masks for all of the different marking options provided on the decal sheet. This is handy as some of these machines had specially adapted canopies. The decal sheet provides for three options: Meteor EE455, a Mk.III converted to a Mk.IV and flown by Gloster Chief Test Pilot Eric Greenwood OBE, who achieved a speed of 603mph on 7 November 1945. This aicraft is finished in yellow, with silver outer wings and horizontal tail; Meteor EE454, another Mk.III converted to a Mk.IV and flown by Wing Commander Hugh Joseph Wilson, AFC and two Bars, who achieved a speed of 606mph on 7 November 1945. This aircraft is finished in standard Ocean Grey and Dark Green over Medium Sea Grey camouflage; Meteor EE549, an adapted Mk.IV with modified canopy (for which paint masks are included), flown by Group Captain E.M. Donaldson, who achieved a speed of 616mph; and Meteor EE549, another adapted Mk.IV with clipped wings. This aicraft established a new Paris-London record of 520mph on the return from the 1946 Parish Air Show. It is finished in overall pale blue. Conclusion Special Hobby has the day fighter Meteor market pretty sewn up, but it's still good to see them using their tooling to release some special scheme boxings like this. The overall package is pretty complete, partcularly with the addition of paints masks, decals and full-colour painting diagram. Overall, this is a nice kit an can be highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Hi, I've had this on the go for a while and finally got it finished today, it's the MPM kit of the PR10. Nothing wrong with the kit to cause a slow build just work getting in the way of good modelling time. The PR10 was a hybrid Meteor as it had an F8 fuselage but an F4 tail, with a long span wing and of course the camera nose. VS975 served only with 541 Squadron based in Germany from 1951 until it was scrapped in 1958. It was originally camouflaged and had the earlier part metal canopy. That makes 23 Meteors completed now. Thanks for looking. Steve

Here's the 1/48 Prone Pilot Meteor I just finished in the Prototypes, Experimentals etc group build. It's the Airfix kit with the Brigade Models conversion. A very straightforward build - completed in under 3 weeks, which is incredibly fast by my standards. WIP is here

Aeropoxy has just released a 1/72nd - Ikarus Meteor glider resin kit - ref. Sources: https://www.facebook.com/121276231237463/photos/a.122285194469900.12687.121276231237463/1482662818432124/?type=3&theater https://aeropoxy.wordpress.com/2017/04/14/moson-modell-show-2017/#jp-carousel-1514 V.P.

I'm joining the group build with a 1/48 prone pilot Meteor. This aeroplane has fascinated me ever since I first saw it at Cosford many years ago. Since then I've been back a few times and always make sure I get a good look at this aircraft. It's just so... weird! The prone pilot (or prone position) Meteor was used by the RAF Institute of Aviation Medicine to test the concept of a prone pilot - a second cockpit was added to the nose, with the pilot lying prone on a bench seat, flying the aircraft with specially modified controls. The idea was that a pilot in this position would be less susceptible to g forces, and an aircraft with a prone pilot would result in lower drag. The new cockpit was added as an extension to the nose of a standard Meteor F.8, WK935. A normal cockpit was retained. The other major modification was to replace the standard tail unit with the tail of a Meteor NF.12. As you've probably worked out from the lack of prone pilot aircraft flying today, it wasn't a great success. WK935 flew 99 flights over the course of a year, and was never flown solo from the front cockpit. They found that the aircraft could be flown from the prone position, but the prone pilot had a limited rear view so it wouldn't be much use in combat. The development of the g suit dealt with the problems the prone pilot idea was trying to solve. I'll be building this using the Brigade Models resin conversion and the Airfix 1/48 kit. I've also got some Eduard PE and Brassin wheels. I've got a Neomega ejection seat too, but not sure I'll need it. Box shots: And a shot of the resin parts and decals from the conversion kit: The resin bits look quite nice. Just a few bubbles to fill and the normal clean up of the parts is needed. You get a one-piece nose, with some cockpit detail inside, a tail unit, instrument panel, couch for the prone pilot, new undercarriage doors, two vac form canopies and some smaller detail parts, and a decent looking decal sheet. Looking forward to getting into this - hopefully I'll get a chance to get started tomorrow.

A2Zee is preparing in the Alley Cat range (?) 1/48th Gloster Meteor F.Mk.4 and T.Mk.7 resin conversion sets. NF. variants being also looked at. Conversion sets for Tamiya Meteor F.Mk.III or Airfix F.Mk.8? Source: http://www.alleycatmodels.co.uk/ To be followed V.P.

Special Hobby is to release in Spring 2107 a 1/72nd Gloster Meteor Mk.4 "World Speed Record" kit - ref. SH72361 Source: http://www.specialhobby.net/2017/02/sh72361-gloster-meteor-mk4-world-speed.html Box art V.P.

Hi all, I've just got a small query concerning airfields in England. Would a Spitfire F Mk. 22 be seen on the same airfield as a Gloster Meteor? Thanks in advance, Cam

A couple from Biggin - Twin Pin from 1972 and the Meteor from 1974:

Having spent most of last year on the Vulcan build , then finishing a Spitfire I'd had kicking around half finished for a while , it was time to pick a new project for a WIP. After half an hour our looking through the stash looking for something that would be a nice quick build I decided on the Matchbox Meteor. I only received this as part of my Christmas present from my wife last month. I've seen a few Matchbox kits built on here recently and have been impressed by what can be done with them. I haven't built a Matchbox kit since the 70's so I'm really looking forward to this one. I'm going to build the NF.14 version as it was based at RAF Church Fenton, just up the road from where I live. I'm planning on building it mostly as it comes, but having said that I'm rescribing it, just bring it up to date a little. I'll see that else there is to do along the way. Here's the box contents. A real blast from the past with the multi coloured sprues. I feel I'm reliving my childhood I'll post some more pics as soon as there's any visible progress.

I like to have 3 models underway at any one time. Definitely no more. This way I have something to work on while paint is drying on two other models. So, this one got started today as number 3 in the queue. 3 shall be the number of the count, and the number of the count shall be three. Anyhoo, was quite interested to take a look at one of the latest releases from the all new and improved Airfix. I'm a lazy modeller - I no longer have any time for hours and hours of re scribing and filling. I want good quality kits that minimize the amount of that stuff I have to do. My hat's off to the serious modellers who do all that to get the most accurate representation of a subject possible - it's an awesome approach. But I'm too lazy for that. So having heard good things about the recent Airfix incarnation kits, this seemed like fun. Box: The mouldings do look nice. There are very small amounts of flash here and there, but nothing serious. I haven't found anything in the way of sink marks either - so far so good. Made a start with the cockpit tub and ejector seat. Gone are the old days of a crudely moulded seat to be placed into a bare cockpit area - now the tub is made up of several pieces, as is the seat. Not bad really - I think that will look OK through a closed canopy once painted up. Certainly not up the look of a nice resin cast seat, but not bad. I thought it was interesting that there were two seat options - one without moulded in seat harness. Great idea - but no pilot chappie to put in place on the bare seat. Oh well. Cockpit parts Front wheel well assembles on to the underside of the tub. Dry fit of the seat into the tub looks good. I also assembled up the undercarriage bays on the wings. Really, I'm quite pleased with this model. For the price, there is plenty of detail included. I think that with some basic techniques this will make into a nice OOB model Meteor. I got as far as priming some areas today, and I'm looking forward to picking this up again next time I get to the bench.

This is the *finally* completed Airfix 1/48th Gloster Meteor F.8 marked as WH364 believed operated by Royal Air Force No.85 Squadron out of RAF Binbrook in 1948. Supplied by the always reliable MJW Models May last year, built Out of Box and airbrushed in Humbrol Metalcote 'Aluminium'. I did use Humbrol Dark Grey Wash in the gun bays and the engine nacelle. Quite a few mistakes and some parts missing however I am impressed with this kit, a bit different from the Airfix of my very young days! What was good? I loved the detail in the cockpit, the gun bay, and the jet engines. Superb decals as well. Generally went together really well. Not so good? The nose wheel well area, was a serious challenge. My first Airfix kit for many years and seriously impressed! Michael

Just finished (apart from the pitot which has already broken off and will be replaced at some point) - Meteor F(TT).8 WE876 of 1574 flight, RAF Tengah, 1969 - Airfix 1/48, decals from Xtradecal Lovely kit, mostly built when I needed a mojo restorer (and it did the trick) part way through building the VC10s. Xtradecals worked pretty well - didn't bend immediately round the leading edges, but micro set and sol and a bit of gentle pressure did the trick - although I suspect the dayglo stripes on the nacelles might be too long. Nice, straightforward kit to build. There will be more Airfix Meteors in my future. Airfix 1/48 Meteor F.8 by Julian Griffiths, on Flickr Airfix 1/48 Meteor F.8 by Julian Griffiths, on Flickr Airfix 1/48 Meteor F.8 by Julian Griffiths, on Flickr Airfix 1/48 Meteor F.8 by Julian Griffiths, on Flickr

Gloster Meteor MK.8 Stencil Data 1/72 & 1/48 Red Roo Models This sheet provides comprehensive stencil data which can be used on any kits of the Mk.8 Meteor in 1/48 & 1/72. The placement diagrams from Red Roo are excellent in being clear to read, and the numbering style used on the sheet allows for easy identification of the right stencil. Conclusion This is a great sheet of stencil data for the Meteor, Highly Recommended. 1/48 1/72 Review sample courtesy of

All, Here's the latest from the Williams' paint shop. In keeping with my current Latin theming it is a Meteor FR.9, operated by Grupo de Caza 2111, Fuerza Aerea Ecuatoriana. They operated this model from Taura AB between 1954 and 1972, with 12 delivered from Tarrant Rushton. I used the MPM Meteor FR.9 plus a resin cockpit set from CMK and a set of rails from an MPM "Aussie" Meteor F.8. In Ecuador it was operated solely as a fighter/ground attack machine and the recce ports were blanked. For the decals I made the serials and some stencils and used a set of Aztec roundels that were for an A-37. They are not the exact size but close enough. I finished her is Humbrol 191 and dirtied her up with Flory "Dirt" and then finished off with Humbrol Gloss Cote. Oh, and a bit from my broom for the aerial! The only image I have found of these machines. that are not showing the aerobatic team, is this: The MPM kit was generally okay, as many of you know, but a bugger around the nose and nose wheel. I did my best. I hope you like her. Martin

When did the RAF start using FOD covers? Were early ones simple canvas bags/covers? If they were originally canvas when did they change to solid boards such as used on the Javelin? Where they always red, or did they change from green canvas to red at some point? Any help would be appreciated

Greetings all! Im pleased to show you my latest the well-known and oft-built Matchbox 1-72 scale Armstrong-Whitworth Meteor, built in this instance as the NF.14 variant. This, the last in a series of night-fighter variants of the Meteor, really only saw active service for about 2 years ( I think from 1954-56), largely as an interim solution prior to replacement by Gloster's own Javelin. Common to all the NF variants were performance problems due to the extra aircrew and associated radar equipment, meaning that climb-rates and performance-at-altitude etc., were unfavourable when compared to other contemporary aircraft like the Canberra. Despite this I find the NF.14 a graceful-looking aircraft: theres something about the morphing of the various Meteor variants - from early to late - that seems to illustrate the evolution in jet aircraft design of the period,This is perhaps best typified by the NF.14 canopy and nose more flowing and aerodynamic feeling than early versions you can almost feel the later shapes of Hunters and Phantoms straining to burst out (if that makes sense?) The WIP for the build is over here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235002360-the-dual-build-diaries-a-meatbox-apocalypse-172-edition/page-1 A final bit of background: this was a dual-scale, dual-build, started at the same time as John (The Spadgent), who was himself building a 1-48 Gloster Meteor F.1 from Tamiya. You can find Johns RFI over here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235004487-meteor-dual-build-the-tamiya-148-one/ Wed done this once before as Britmodeller virgins (doing dual-scale Stringbags) earlier in the year, enjoying the process of building in tandem so much that we decided to do it again here with Meteors. For myself, its been a blast! My build is a largely pro forma job, using the included Matchbox 85 Sqn decals and paint scheme - the only AM items were an Airwaves photo-etch set for cockpit walls and aerials; everything else additional was scratch-built. This is, of course, an absolute creature of a kit to wrestle into shape (had I read some of the build reports of other modellers more thoroughly, I might have got cold feet). Im not going to criticize an old kit for different production values, but be prepared to spend a long time filling and sanding and scribing. The decals showed their age by being very brittle, which caused a number of problems that I covered in the WIP. Paint was self-mixed by eye, from a range of Tamiya acrylics. I started the build convinced that if I was going to build a model that had been done umpteen times before, I had to offer people something different to look at, so I decided to build the NF.14 variant with a removable radome, in order to show the AI.21 radar unit. I havent seen this done before. <pauses for flood of corrective replies> The biggest problem I faced was an almost complete lack of photographic documentation for this part of the aircraft lots of shots of empty nose units, but nothing with the radar in. As I predicted early on, it was only after Id built everything that I finally found a single photo of an NF.14 undergoing maintenance, in the archives at the RAF Church Fenton website here: http://www.rafchurch...er pic 015.jpg From the photo, (which isnt very detailed) my guesses about form and scale dont seem too amiss. If anyone wants to follow the research for this build with a view to making something similar themselves, its in this topic here in the Cold War discussion thread: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235001940-meteor-nf14-radar-images/ as well as further info here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234990198-nf-meteors/page-5 The following BMers were extremely generous with technical and historical advice on this build: 71chally, (who put me on to the YAM restoration of an NF.14). You can catch up with the lads here: http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?137187-A-W-Meteor-NF-14-WS788-Restoration-Thread Jun in Tokyo, John Aero, fatalbert, and NAVY870 all weighed in with a selection of drawings culled from various official sources, all of which were immensely helpful in visualizing form. John (canberra kid) also provided a couple of photo references, which helped greatly in terms of colour work. Thanks, you are gentleman all. The WIP says it all in terms of what needed doing. The scratch-built elements on this briefly were: cockpit (pilots gunsight area and observers radar units, seat frames), wheel wells, AI.21 radar equipment and radome, Hispano muzzles, brake lines on main gear, rudder pedal assembly, landing-light window in nose-gear door, topside aerials and flap at rear of sliding canopy, the Derwent engines, maintenance trolley for removal of radome. Be warned that some of the Airwaves etch for this kit is insanely small, to the point that there is so little surface area to glue onto the aircraft (like the steps) that I ended up leaving these out as simply impracticable. Also, the rudder pedal assembly seems oversize for the scale when compared to reference photography, hence I discarded these for my own scratched-up items (a biro refill seems the right scale for the rudder-pedal channels!) Aside from the above web links above, books I found useful on the build were the Warpaint (Good panel drawings!) and SAM volumes on the Meteor, as well as the Pilots Notes for the NF.14. My thanks to John, for being such an engaging and amiable companion on the build. Tony Firstly some plan views: Some obliques: Finally: the 'Night-Prowler': Thanks for all your support, comments, criticisms during the build

Hi, I finished this one a couple of weeks back. Finally got her into the photo booth. Xtradecals leave a lot to be desired, with mis numbering, brittleness etc to deal with, but gentle coaxing with X-20A did the trick... 1:48 Airfix meteor F8 NEW TOOL Paints used: Gunze Light Aircraft Grey, Tamiya XF-3 Flat yellow, XF-69 NATO Black Extras: Pavla Mk 4 Seat, Albion Alloys telescopic Aluminium tube for Pitot Decals: Xtradecal X48160 Cheers Chris

There's a topic in another section concerning limited use of Meteor before the VE-day, so - instead of asking there - I'd rather go for a new topic here, as my question concerns limited combat use of RAF Meteor during the Cold War period. As all we know Meteor and Vampire were not only two first British jet fighters, but also two most numerous ones in whole history with Hunter and Venom (a Vampire half-brother BTW) far behind and all others still more exotic. Both (i.e. Meteor and Vampire) were widely exported and their final users didn't hesitate to use them in combat ranging from minor skirmishes up to the serious conflicts like Korea or Israeli-Arabian wars. AFAIK the RAF also used Vampires in combat against Malayan and Kenyan guerillas (No 45, 60 and 8 Sq.) and flown them operationally in other "hot" areas like Cyprus and Oman. So why wasn't Meteor F.8 combat-tested by RAF, while the contemporary FR.9 made combat sorties over Suez in 1956 and ex-RAF F.8s fought with RAAF No. 77 Sq. in Korea ? Cheers Michael

Finished this one last weekend so I thought I would add to the shower of Meteor builds on BM lately (did you see what I did there...lol) This is the first of two I intend to build, sort of a trial run. Pretty much oob apart from Xtradecal sheet X48-043. 74 sqdn "as it may have looked after the introduction of sqdn markings" to quote the placement sheet! Paint is decanted Tamiya mixed with some other stuff broadly based on Jonners mix and thanks also for the hints and tips Jonners as I followed your build on BM. Next one is going to be camo scheme and will have detailed engine and gun bays and probably a resin seat (although the kit version aint half bad) All the best and thanks for looking in, Steve.