Natter Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 I can't believe no one has gone for this one already, so baggsy first dibs. This is the Xtrakit (ex Matchbox) NF.11 plus the Airdecal Raspberry Ripple Fixed Wing decals, the Alleycat resin nose and the Airwaves photoetch. WD790 was a radar test bed which I believe was used in the TSR.2 programme. It was painted in a couple of schemes, though I will complete it (I hope) in the Rasberry Ripple scheme. The nose section is now preserved at the North East Aircraft Museum (been there, got some photos) though the rest was scrapped or used for spares to support the original Vintage Pair Metoers. Please don't expect to see rapid results, I have a lot on at the moment, but I will have this done for the deadline. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BritJet Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 This is on my to do list as well. Should look good in raspberry ripple, I saw WD790 a few times and it was always very smart. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelSatin Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 Gotta love the RR scheme, looking forward to yours! Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natter Posted December 12, 2015 Author Share Posted December 12, 2015 Good afternoon all, I am back to the Metoer after finishing the Honda 350/6 which has taken me far too long. I have managed to get the Aeroclub etch to fit with a little adjustment here and there and I have added some scratch built bits here and there. I have added bulkheads in to the cockpit and have removed the block of plastic in front of the pilot's seat. In place of the lum I made a representatuion of the prominent wheel cover, but in 72nd you can only see a tiny bit of it when the fuselage is together. I have reshaped the seats to give them a better shape, closer to the originals, but filing off the mouldings at the back. WD790 didn't seem to have any cannons fitted in the reference photos I have found, so I will remove these. One set removed, one set still to be taken off - mmmm..... those gaps in the intake to nacelle fit will take some filling. This is where I am with the added detail so far, some scratch building to represent the 'bits' on the front of the engines added too: Why I did the engine bits I really don't know, they will be well buried: Sometimes it is useful to have an extra pair of hands to help with fiddly bits, but extra paws aren't quite so useful.... As an aside, I know that WD790's front fuselage in the NE aviation Museum has duals fitted but there aren't wenough bits in the kit or on the etch to make up a second set of controls, so I have just used what is available. If it should have had duals then I beg forgiveness. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natter Posted December 13, 2015 Author Share Posted December 13, 2015 Cockpit painted. I have added some detail to the sidewalls using the photos of 790's cockpit as it is now as a reference. Everything was sprayed Model Air matt black and then dry brushed with grey enamel to ease the darkness a little. The etch instrument panels were held over the kit panels and the black sprayed. The etch panels were lifted off leaving the black circles where the instrument dials are. The details are painted on the dials and the etch panels fixed in place with Klear. A few extra painted details and voila. Not quite Eduard pre-painted, but not too bad. Lots of the detail is hidden but there is enough for the cockpit to look rasonably busy. The insert for the top of the fuselage is to allow the NF11/12 or the NF14 to be built as the top of the fuselage was slightly different for each. More gaps to deal with. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RNoAF Aerobatic Team Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 Nice progress:-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigReg Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 Fantastic work on the cockpit. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natter Posted December 20, 2015 Author Share Posted December 20, 2015 A wee bit more progress has been made. The main sub assemblies are made and the process of filling the gaps, the yawning great chasms of gaps, and the filing and sanding of the steps where parts don't line up has begun. With the fuselage pieces glued together it seemed to be reasonably balanced without too much risk of it being a tail-sitter, but it's better safe than sorry. I had made a bulkhead in front of the cockpit so I could add some nose weight without it being pushed back in to the cockpit itself. The space this made was filled with small lead shot and plasticine: The plug was cut off the resin nose leaving a little bit to locate into the forward fuselage and it was ready for a straightforward fit to the front of the fuselage. The bottom of the plug was filed flat so it would fit above the nose wheel shelf: Did I mention gaps? This is the one at the aft end of the cockpit insert: And these around the front of the cockpit and the nose: In some areas the parts were short-shot: The overlaps were accompanied by gaps as well, and the front and rear pieces for the engine nacelles were particularly bad. Gaps were all filled with a superglue and talc mix, flashed off with accelerator and filed and sanded down. This is a before and after photo of the nacelles, with final gap filling and tidying up still to do: With the fuselage gaps filled and the filler smoothed out the gaps look much better. Once they have been primed the last cleaning up can be done, but they're looking much better: Mmmm.... did I say the resin nose was a straightforward fit? Not quite. I needed to put shims of plastic in to the upper and lower fuselage at the front, something I didn't discover until I fitted the nose with superglue, much like the F.8 prone pilot builds in this GB. Getting that apart was not fun, but it was done without inflicting too much damage. Gaps filled, all rubbed down: Can I get this finished for this year's yearbook? We shall see. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SleeperService Posted December 26, 2015 Share Posted December 26, 2015 With feline assistance I'm sure it'll go just fine. My Feline Assistant bolted from my friend's house where she was quartered while I moved. I hope to see her back but at least my life is my own for a while! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natter Posted December 28, 2015 Author Share Posted December 28, 2015 I keep forgetting this is a WiP post! After some more assistance from Tom the cat I have actually done some more on the Meteor. At last year's Huddersfield show me ole mate Mark from 580 Modellers couldn't believe I had never used Mr Surfacer, so I got some promising myself I would try it some time. This is some time. Gaps have been filled with a mix of superglue and talc, perfect plastic putty and Mr Surfacer 500. You can see what the gaps were like in the photos below. Masking the canopy was not fun. If I ever get around to my Bv141 or my Fw189 in the stash I am going to invest in some pre-cut masks. Wing root, cockpit insert and engine cowling gaps all filled and cleaned up: The model is primed in white and once it is dry the Appliance White will go on. More soon. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davek72 Posted December 28, 2015 Share Posted December 28, 2015 Top work on the gaps. All looking good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natter Posted January 2, 2016 Author Share Posted January 2, 2016 More progress has been made. I did a bit of work through the last week and have set about the model this weekend. The undercarriage is quite simple, fair enough as is will be hidden underneath, and the wheels are wrong. The port side of each wheel should have the brakes so the lighteninng holes only show on the starboard side. Oh well. As Matchbox intended with paint and before additions... With additions and a dark wash... The canopy has had the handles added from fine wire, using photos of the original taken at the NE Aviation Museum as a reference: ...and the internal frame was added from plasticard: The lower frame will be added with the support when the canopy is fitted at the end of the build, so I can line it up with the cockpit structure. The canopy will be posed open. For the time being the canopy is placed over the cockpit to keep dust out: More soon. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelSatin Posted January 3, 2016 Share Posted January 3, 2016 Very nice Natter, almost there! Only a week left but I think you've got this. Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natter Posted January 4, 2016 Author Share Posted January 4, 2016 What now? Well The forward undercarriage location was gone in the midst of the filler so I used a couple of pieces of wire to provide positive support. As you can see, the forward undercarriage 'bay' is non existent on this kit. The main undercarriage was better supported that I thought, though the support struts are more representative than accurate. (I have touched up the chipped blue paint). The forward fuselage at the NE Aviation Museum has a panel around the back of the rear cockpit and I replicated this with a trimmed offcut from photo etch fret. The PVA isn't dry in this photo: The support strut and the cockpit frame have been modelled from plasticard and Albion Alloys tube and provide good support for the open canopy: The whip aerial is from fine wire, the UHF aerial is plasticard, the anti-col light is painted plastic rod and the pitot is Albion Alloys tubes. It looks like this: A couple more can be found in the Gallery. Done. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magua87 Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 Beautiful work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exdraken Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 very nice work! super! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rudi Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 I did this kit OOB (Matchbox boxing) and found it to be a pain...your build and finish is excellent! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natter Posted January 10, 2016 Author Share Posted January 10, 2016 I did this kit OOB (Matchbox boxing) and found it to be a pain...your build and finish is excellent! Thank you. There are a couple of builds on BM, as well as this one, which show how awful the fit is and how much filler is needed. I am pleased with it though, it brings some colour to the display cabinet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caerbannog Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 Amazing result - even if the kit was a state of the art kit I would have said so but regaring this tooling... Wow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Heath Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 Nice job, looks a treat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBaron Posted June 14, 2016 Share Posted June 14, 2016 I've only just seen this but wanted to say a belated Bravo! I'm currently wrestling with the Marchbox original so appreciate the effort you've put into is one. The results look superb. Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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