Selwyn Posted January 19, 2019 Share Posted January 19, 2019 (edited) There is a chap in the US who is selling a 1/48 Airfix Meteor NF 14 conversion on Fleabay. He previously issued a NF 11/13 conversion which I have, I have not used it yet but it looks quite good. I would like to build a 1/48 NF 14, The problem I have is that he doesn't give dimensions of the nose. What is sending me alarm bells is that he has listed all the NF versions conversions availability in 1/48 apart from the NF 12. Now using the masters he has already, by issuing the NF 11/13 cockpit extension and canopy, and NF 14 nose/tail he has all the correct parts for the NF 12 readily available, but he hasn't issued this conversion. Perhaps this is because in the future he will e producing a separate NF 12 nose to cover that mark? This suggests to me that he may have repeated the often quoted error that the NF 14 nose is 14" longer than the NF 12 nose, when in fact they were exactly the same length, The NF 14 being basically a NF 12 with a bubble canopy. Can anyone confirm that the NF 14 conversion kit nose he has on sale is the correct length for the NF 14 so I can spend my hard earned on this conversion with confidence? Selwyn Edited January 19, 2019 by Selwyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaw Posted January 19, 2019 Share Posted January 19, 2019 I have ordered the NF14 conversion and had wandered the same, but fingers crossed it should be OK, otherwise some surgery may be necessary? John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReccePhreak Posted January 19, 2019 Share Posted January 19, 2019 Have you emailed him, or otherwise contacted him, with your concerns? He has always been very receptive to input. Larry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Kunac-Tabinor Posted January 19, 2019 Share Posted January 19, 2019 He posts on Hyperscale. You could ask him direct there hth jonners Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triumphfan Posted January 19, 2019 Share Posted January 19, 2019 Thanks for posting this. I wasn't aware of the conversion until now. Going to give this serious consideration, from the pics on the listing it looks well within my capability. Just concerned about the casting quality. Atb, Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
71chally Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 It's worth reading the last page of the Rumourmonger thread on this, https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235031978-airfix-148-meteor/&page=15 There is a suggestion that this resin NF.14 conversion kit is based on the Classic Airframes NF.11/13 kit, not sure if that helps with working out the sizes or not. It looks like Aerocraft (were Alicat?) are going to tackle the NF.14 in the future, I think I'm going to wait for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selwyn Posted January 20, 2019 Author Share Posted January 20, 2019 11 hours ago, Jon Kunac-Tabinor said: He posts on Hyperscale. You could ask him direct there hth jonners Fed up of trying to get registered on hyperscale, for some reason it doesn't like my e mail address. Tried through fleabay but although I have a UK account, for some reason if I try to send the seller a message it keeps asking me for my US login details which I don't have, hence the reason for this post. Selwyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viscount806x Posted January 22, 2019 Share Posted January 22, 2019 I can't see the -14 conv on there but I can see an 11/13 conversion, an early Meteor type tail and a -14 canopy,all in the U.S. which are probably the guy. The stopper for me would be the postage. I know it costs to post stuff but is that a bit on the steep side? Meanwhile, I have asked Ali (Aerocraft) the question on whether he might be considering a -14 conv. I think I'll wait dry for that myself. As an aside, it's difficult to understand why Meteor NF nose lengths still raise concerns isn't it? I think they've been discussed to death several times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selwyn Posted January 22, 2019 Author Share Posted January 22, 2019 6 hours ago, viscount806x said: I can't see the -14 conv on there but I can see an 11/13 conversion, an early Meteor type tail and a -14 canopy,all in the U.S. which are probably the guy. The stopper for me would be the postage. I know it costs to post stuff but is that a bit on the steep side? Meanwhile, I have asked Ali (Aerocraft) the question on whether he might be considering a -14 conv. I think I'll wait dry for that myself. As an aside, it's difficult to understand why Meteor NF nose lengths still raise concerns isn't it? I think they've been discussed to death several times. Link to the NF 14 conversion. NF 14 conversion Selwyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glen Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 Hi Selwyn It’s Kevin Martin that produces the Meteors. His email address is [email protected] Cheers Glen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerbob Posted January 24, 2019 Share Posted January 24, 2019 I did warn him about the length issue, with a link to a Britmodeller thread discussing it. I don't know, however, whether he heeded it. bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaw Posted January 24, 2019 Share Posted January 24, 2019 I have been e-mailed to tell me that mine has been posted. So all will be revealed when it arrives! John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaw Posted January 29, 2019 Share Posted January 29, 2019 Having just donated £13.22 (£5.22 import duty and £8 PO handling charge) I have just taken delivery of my Meteor NF 14 conversion. I have to say on first glance it looks pretty good to me. The casting is good although there is some flash. I see that one of the cannon in the wing is a bit mangled but the rest looks fine. In the pics on e-bay it was not clear whether the fin had been changed to include the extension upto the bullet - it has. And the length seems OK too although I have not measured it. The only real issue to my mind is that the instruction sheet is poorly printed but I am sure that we can overcome that. The fuselage casting needs to be converted to remove the housing at the rear of the cockpit and replace it with the turtle back piece provide. All in all I am pretty happy with it. John . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Martin Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 (edited) Hello all! I have molds for close to 50 parts for all the various Meteor sets I make under the 109ACE brand on Ebay. I had no idea amongst all that rubber, I had all the parts needed to make a NF12 . Kind of like unknowingly going past the finish line and not noticing I won the race. RAF aeronautics is a bit of a black science to this yank. Need a reference wheel to keep track of it all. Thanks for the heads up. You asked for it, I provide it. The NF 12 is now for sale. My sets are easy to find by going to Ebay and searching seller "109ace". A google search of 109ace will also bombard you with pictures of my sets and links to the listings. Edited February 5, 2019 by Kevin Martin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Martin Posted February 21, 2019 Share Posted February 21, 2019 wow! did I kill this thread or what? worse then letting off some gas in a small room. At any rate. I will be posting my "15 for 15" sale on Hyperscale on Feb 22 probably 2 PM England time. That is 15 Meteor NF11/13 converion sets will be on sale for $15.00 each. When the 15th set is bought, that's all. That should take a bit of the sting out of the $14.00 shipping fees from the States. And because I feel I personally know all of you, I mark the customs form as gifts if you like. I love sending gifts around the world. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
71chally Posted February 22, 2019 Share Posted February 22, 2019 Thanks for posting here, can you confirm that the NF.14 kit is indeed of the correct length? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Martin Posted February 23, 2019 Share Posted February 23, 2019 17 hours ago, 71chally said: Thanks for posting here, can you confirm that the NF.14 kit is indeed of the correct length? what is the agreed length it should be? I can say I did NOT employ the theroy that the NF 12 radome was 17 inches longer then the NF11/13. And that an additional 17 inches was added to the NF12 radome to get to an additional 34 inches total added to the NF14 radome over the original starting point of the NF11/13 radome. To make this NF14 radome I used a picture of a NF14 side profile of an actual NF14 and with my printer, adjusted the size to 1/48 scale to lay under the kit fuelage half. If anything, and I hope it so, my radome is longer then needed as I believe in modeling, it's easier to remove material to adjust, then it is to add material. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viscount806x Posted February 23, 2019 Share Posted February 23, 2019 Mr Bass Man, I quoted this on the forum a while back and gives a good grounding on your rhetorical question regarding nose lengths. If you can stay with the following pasted text, it will greatly enhance your grounding on the subject. Mind you, your resin looks really good by the way. "Nose lengths of the nightfighter Meteors used to be a minefield until John Adams of Aeroclub got it sorted for us. At the risk of plagiarising his good work and findings, it might be worth repeating again. John did measurements from actual airframes using plumbs dropped onto the hangar floor so they are very reliable. Most sources have the NF.11 and NF.12 correct and most sources have the NF.14 WRONG. And I mean most sources, including many esteemed and worshipped books. Indeed, out of more than 10 books on my shelf specifically on the Meteor, all bar one gets the NF.14 length wrong. The correct one is the Haynes 'Super Profile' by MJ Hardy. Unfortunately he quotes the NF.12 as being the same as the -11/13. You just cannot win it all can you? The NF.11 and NF.13 are both the same, both being versions of the same variant. The NF.12 was longer and was identical in length to the NF.14, contrary to quotes still seen regularly. The apparent differences were due to the later NF.14 windscreen being redesigned in shape and appearing to be further back along the nose than the -12. The shorter 'Deep Breather' nacelles on the -14 compounds this visual anomaly. When the radar became redundant in the NF.TT.14 era, sometimes the metal ring around the rear of the nose dielectric cone also got painted on some a/c, making the nose radome appear longer. All this is detailed in a couple of places by John Adams. One I dug out today is a letter in Scale Aircraft Modelling Vol.26/10. Thanks John. Incidentally, the -14 length at 49ft 11in. is also confirmed in AP 2210AP Vol.1. Lengths: NF.11/13 48ft 6ins. NF.12 49ft 11ins. NF.14 49ft 11ins. It also turns out that later in life, all -14s and some -12s received a tail radar warning receiver, the antenna being in the extreme tail cone which shortened these a/c by 3.5ins. This wouldn't change the nose length though. at some point in prehistory, someone got the quoted length of the -14 wrong and it has been perpetuated ever since. Certainly Shacklady had it wrong. Was he the original sinner? Certainly his book has been the Meteor bible down the decades hasn't it? I hope it is of interest anyway, cheers. Nige " 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Martin Posted February 23, 2019 Share Posted February 23, 2019 I will point out that the same radome used in my NF14 is the same used on my NF12 conversion. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
71chally Posted February 24, 2019 Share Posted February 24, 2019 19 hours ago, viscount806x said: at some point in prehistory, someone got the quoted length of the -14 wrong and it has been perpetuated ever since. Certainly Shacklady had it wrong. Was he the original sinner? Certainly his book has been the Meteor bible down the decades hasn't it? I hope it is of interest anyway, cheers. Nige I guess it depends what source you trust, but Flight, period Observers aircraft books and Glosters' own references always stated the 49' 11" for the NF.12 & 14, thankfully I've always used these - time for new reference material maybe! It is interesting to to work out when the information was corrupted, but various threads on here have prompted me to look at Putnam's the British Fighter, and an Air Britain NF.14 article and both give the erroneous longer length. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theplasticsurgeon Posted February 24, 2019 Share Posted February 24, 2019 (edited) I've just measured one of my Matchbox NF-14s, built using nose parts for the 12. 49'11" is 599" long/72 = is 8.319" model length. Measured as accurately as I can to 8 and 5/16" or 8.3125 - spot on! Bin the longer nose parts! Very happy about that, it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling. Edited February 24, 2019 by theplasticsurgeon more info 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Martin Posted February 24, 2019 Share Posted February 24, 2019 I have the NF14 Bubble Top on sale for $15.00. limited to 15 sets. Sale ends when all sold, Or they sit without interest for more then 20 mintutes......hehehehe..... 'Did he fire six shots or only five'? Well to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, i kind of lost track myself. But being that this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well do ya, punk?....Dirty Harry 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feifeitim Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 Order on its way from me for a 14! Always loved the look of this aircraft and a soft spot for it too as my Dad flew it on 153 and 25 Sqns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franky boy Posted March 3, 2019 Share Posted March 3, 2019 Hello chaps Just wondering if anyone has got their hands on one of these conversion sets yet? Ive taken the plunge and ordered the nf12 set and was wondering what are the first impressions? Thanks James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaw Posted March 3, 2019 Share Posted March 3, 2019 On 1/29/2019 at 1:19 PM, jaw said: Having just donated £13.22 (£5.22 import duty and £8 PO handling charge) I have just taken delivery of my Meteor NF 14 conversion. I have to say on first glance it looks pretty good to me. The casting is good although there is some flash. I see that one of the cannon in the wing is a bit mangled but the rest looks fine. In the pics on e-bay it was not clear whether the fin had been changed to include the extension upto the bullet - it has. And the length seems OK too although I have not measured it. The only real issue to my mind is that the instruction sheet is poorly printed but I am sure that we can overcome that. The fuselage casting needs to be converted to remove the housing at the rear of the cockpit and replace it with the turtle back piece provide. All in all I am pretty happy with it. John . James - see above. John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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