Rabbit Leader Posted October 1, 2019 Share Posted October 1, 2019 That’s them Pete, sorry forgot the ‘Extreme’ part. Well worth a try. Cheers.. Dave 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted October 4, 2019 Author Share Posted October 4, 2019 (edited) Touching up done and canopy on. Time to put of the transfers/decals/stickers – call them what you will. I am building this as a Meteor of 263 Squadron. Their crest is a red Lion Rampant denoting Scotland, holding in its claws a Norwegian cross to commemorate their action flying Gladiators in Norway in 1940 presumably. Apparently the motto translates as "One knows the Lion by his claws". Their nickname was “Fellowship of The Bellows” about which Wiki says the following. 'The idea of collecting "funds through fun" for assisting the war effort was conceived at a meeting of four members of the British/Anglo Argentine community in a Buenos Aires bar. The RAF was chosen as the beneficiary because at that time almost all the volunteers from Argentina had enrolled in the RAF; with losses already having been suffered it was an emotive matter in the local community. Within a short time they publicised the concept and called an open meeting at the English Club in Buenos Aires on 14 October 1940 and the ideas were outlined from behind a curtain in order to preserve their anonymity. The meeting appointed them as a committee of "Servants", and the "Fellowship of the Bellows" (for More Air Force) took off. The "Servants" consisted of the High Wind (what he says blows), who gathered round him: Secretaries – the Whirlwinds (always in a flap); Cashier – Receiver of Windfalls; Treasurer – Keeper of the Windbag; and a Lady Member – The Windlass (very easy on the air). The concept spread and from the start employed British humour and advertising copy-writing skills, with plays on words. The pressing need at that time was for MORE AIR FORCE, so clearly BELLOWS were needed to increase the AIR FORCE; thousands of BELLOWS to RAISE THE WIND. The funds raised were sent to the Ministry of Aircraft Production. The initiative proved to be outstandingly successful and within a very short time many other countries set up their own similar "Fellowships" '. Presumably the anonymity and secrecy was due to the fact that Argentina was neutral. The connection with 263 Squadron dates back to July 1942 when they acquired 20 Westland Whirlwinds “paid for” by the fund. The organisation worldwide raised over £600,000 and in 1944 the Brazilian branch “paid” for 692 Squadron to have 31 Mosquito's. Apparently the Squadron was disbanded in August 45 and reformed from 616 Squadron, and in 1958 if was disbanded to become 1 Squadron, so it no longer exists. In 1955 it switched from Meteors to Hunters, and then in 1959 it was switched to Bristol Bloodhound missiles according to Wiki, but then they also say it did not fly Meteor IV! However the Aerofax book I am using as my principal reference says that they did. So now you know! Edited October 4, 2019 by PeterB 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted October 4, 2019 Share Posted October 4, 2019 Thanks for the history lesson and the Meatbox (with new intakes) looks great Pete. Now it’s ‘Sticker’ time! Cheers.. Dave 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smellybeard Posted October 5, 2019 Share Posted October 5, 2019 Sorry about the delay... Big-can Halfords aluminium with some SNJ polishing, HB pencil and washes. Left to right: my first go at the Airfix Mustang, my belated first and last go at the Academy Mustang (which has the least work done on it) and my first go at the Revell Germany Mustang. The Revell Mustang was undercoated in Halfords white primer (as a base for the striping), the others in grey. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 The Meteor looks lovely Pete. Great work. All the best Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted October 7, 2019 Author Share Posted October 7, 2019 (edited) The kittens are down at the vets being neutered, poor little souls, so I have taken advantage of a "hairy hooligan free" house to get the decs on. I can now fit the gear doors, belly and wing tanks, aerial and pitot tube. I will also add a whip aerial behind the mast type one. The kit decs looked good but as a precaution I tried one of the spare Dutch ones on an old gash kit. It was showing no signs of sliding off the paper after 5 minutes soaking so I went and got one of the sheets from my stash, and had that dec on the plane before the other one finally decided to slide off. Both went on fine and the kit ones have a slightly better colour, but are slightly “see through” so I stuck with my spare ones. Once we get the kittens back this afternoon we are going to have fun. They have not eaten since 7pm last night so they are going to be ravenous but we will have to feed them little and often to reduce the risk of them being sick. In all probability they will have to wear plastic conical "Elizibethan collars" for a couple of days to stop them pulling out the stitches, particularly as they groom each other. The only time we have had to fit one of those collars to a cat, it decided to walk backwards around the house to avoid banging it into doors which was hilarious to watch. It also freaked out the other cats. Also, they are not supposed to go out for a while, which will be tricky as they have a built in compulsion to go out, particularly at night - they may be domesticated but there is still a lot of wild cat in them, which is why my daughter calls them "our house panthers"! Trying to stop one "escaping" is difficult enough but with two working as a team it is almost impossible. Wish me luck! Pete Edited October 7, 2019 by PeterB 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted October 7, 2019 Share Posted October 7, 2019 The Meteor is looking lovely Pete and 263's bars are always great to see applied over a good finish. Good luck with the rest of the build.. and with the little 'panthers'! Cheers.. Dave 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnson Posted October 7, 2019 Share Posted October 7, 2019 Meteor looks excellent Pete, the silver finish has gone on very well. Best of luck with the panthers too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted October 7, 2019 Author Share Posted October 7, 2019 Hi Charlie, The silver looks good from a distance but close up is a bit grainy. The cats were a bit woozy when they came back but are fine now. Fortunately they did not need the collars. They really want to go out, but will have to wait a couple of days apparently. Pete 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted October 7, 2019 Share Posted October 7, 2019 Very nice. Clean as a whistle. I've got a book on the Meteors rather appalling accident rate somewhere. Learning about the losses put the plane into a more human perspective for me. Tony 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted October 7, 2019 Author Share Posted October 7, 2019 Thanks Tony, It will look a bit more cluttered once I put the various tanks on. I don't do weathering much, though I guess it could be improved with a bit of staining. Not sure how clean they kept them. As I mentioned previously my 1970's attempt looked rather ugly so I think I threw it. This one seems to look a bit more attractive, though never a beautiful machine. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smellybeard Posted October 7, 2019 Share Posted October 7, 2019 3 hours ago, TonyW said: I've got a book on the Meteors rather appalling accident rate somewhere. It really was an appalling beast, significantly worse than more famous 'widow makers'. Recent theory tends towards canopy failure being a profound hazard - either injuring and disabling the pilot or ripping his oxygen mask off. F.4s were probably the worst. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted October 8, 2019 Author Share Posted October 8, 2019 Of course the RAF Mk IV did not have an ejector seat which can't have helped, particularly with the high set tail surfaces. I see the Dutch version of the kit has ejector seat triangles so presumably had an upgrade. The shortened wing would mean it did not glide very well if both engines went out and by all accounts the engines were sufficiently far apart to make single engined handling tricky. I have already mentioned the wing problem, and although clipping it relieved a lot of the stress, I suspect that if dived too fast the wing would still be fragile. As to the canopy the Mk 8 had a revised version of a somewhat different shape, and initially had a metal fairing for the rear section so perhaps there was a problem with the Mk III and similar Mk IV canopies. After all, together with the Vampire it was pushing the boundaries at the time as far as Britsh engineering was concerned. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Law Posted October 9, 2019 Share Posted October 9, 2019 Talk about hormonal cats. My personal favorite among the farm cats is a black and white cat I call Bindy. She has been pregnant for awhile now. Today she suddenly tried grabbing the smaller cats like they were kittens and dragging them off to somewhere. She was going potty. I think the family will have a new set of kittens in the morning. I have never seen her act like that. By the way Pete, the Meteor is looking excellent. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted October 9, 2019 Author Share Posted October 9, 2019 (edited) Ok, the Meteor is finished. As you will see the wheel doors are horribly thick but their shape is such that I could not easily replace the main ones so I didn't bother. The paint finish is still grainy looking after a couple of coats of varnish. I realise that the kit is probably not too accurate in this respect, but as you will see the clearance under the wing drop tanks is pretty small - about a scale 1ft! When I built my first Meteor IV back in the mid 1970's I just threw it together (wheels up) in a couple of days and splashed on a coat of Humbrol 11 silver. For some reason I never really liked it so it was scrapped a few years later. This has taken rather longer and is slightly better finished so I am quite pleased with it. When I finish my Meteor F8, probably in the "Year I was Born" GB I will have a set showing the development of the RAF's first operational jet fighter. Unlike the later Hunter it was never really that impressive but at the time it was new and unexplored territory so perhaps we should not be too critical. So, four and bit months later the 2 kits I was originally going to build have turned into 8 plus a major refurbishment - this is definitely the last! I will post pics in the Gallery as soon as I get a bit of decent weather. Thanks for watching and I will see you around in other GB no doubt - to those sweating over finishing their builds - Good Luck, or as Lufwaffe pilots were reputed to say before taking off "Hals- und Beinbruch" - "Break your neck and leg"! Pete Edited October 9, 2019 by PeterB 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnson Posted October 9, 2019 Share Posted October 9, 2019 Very nice Pete - though I had no idea that the Meteor was so lethal! And it went on to fly and fight in Korea as well. The finish looks great and the decals have gone on superbly. Well done on all your builds! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted October 9, 2019 Author Share Posted October 9, 2019 (edited) Thanks Charlie, Now there is a thought - perhaps I should do my F8 in Korean War Aussie markings to please the organiser of the "In the year I was born" GB. Only joking Dave, though I guess it would be "D Type" roundels again! Pete Edited October 9, 2019 by PeterB 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted October 9, 2019 Share Posted October 9, 2019 Very nice work Pete, the Meteor looks great. Congratulations on all your builds. Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 13 hours ago, PeterB said: Now there is a thought - perhaps I should do my F8 in Korean War Aussie markings to please the organiser of the "In the year I was born" GB. I'm smiling already Pete! To be honest, our Korean Meatboxes were pretty bland in comparison to some of those nice RAF kites with squadron bars. We did arm ours with 60Ib rockets though, that'll show em! Well played throughout this GB Pete. You've been an absolute star and we've all very much enjoyed your great input from start to finish. Cheers.. Dave 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted October 10, 2019 Author Share Posted October 10, 2019 (edited) It's in the Gallery but here is one last photo of the Meatbox. The F IV was based on the F III airframe so here it is alongside my ancient Airfix F III. Other than the heavily cropped wing and the difference in engine nacelles they should be identical, but the Airfix kit seems to have a slightly longer and more "pointy" nose. I refurbished the Airfix kit quite a few years ago and fitted the Aeroclub white metal undercarriage. They might appear again in my F 8 build thread for comparison and I might have repainted and re-decalled the F III by then - it certainly needs it. Thanks to the organisers for thinking up this GB, and particular thanks to Dave and Pat for their work and encouragement, Some of you will be on other threads I join, but a whole lot of new people are about to have the dubious pleasure of my company - fun! In the meantime I better go and see what the hairies are up to. They can go out again thank goodness, but during their enforced confinement they learned a few new tricks, like sitting in the kitchen sink to have a drink from the tap! Cooking is now difficult unless the little beggars are out - they have worked out how to open the sliding door into the kitchen. Cheers Pete Edited October 10, 2019 by PeterB 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOCKNEY Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 Great work Pete Looks the business. I couldn't help but notice the gallery pictures also provided another shameless opportunity to show off your building skills with the "Great Wall of Wales" as a backdrop ! Nice one mate. Cheers Pat 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnson Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 (edited) 4 hours ago, PeterB said: the Airfix kit seems to have a slightly longer and more "pointy" nose. That was the same as the one I built probably about the same time, brings back memories. Great stuff Pete, I've enjoyed all your builds and my knowledge has increased considerably! Cheers, Edited October 10, 2019 by Johnson Grammer! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smellybeard Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 4 hours ago, PeterB said: the Airfix kit seems to have a slightly longer and more "pointy" nose. There's something very wrong with the Airfix Meteor. The fuselage is very parallel; too slim amidship and too broad immediately forward of the windscreen. I don't think the fuselage is boxy enough around the wing. I started hacking these about before I had a printer and both will benefit from a bit of re-hacking. That aside, I think it's fairly easy to see the bluntness of the FROG nose. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted October 10, 2019 Author Share Posted October 10, 2019 (edited) Hi, I seem to remember reading somewhere th Airfix kit had shape problems but at the time it was the only show in town if you wanted a Mk III. The cockpit opening on the one in the foreground looks rather long - were you thinking of making a 2 seater or is it the Matchbox NF? Incidentally, I should have once more thanked Rob S for donating the kit in the first place. Cheers Pete Edited October 10, 2019 by PeterB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smellybeard Posted October 11, 2019 Share Posted October 11, 2019 The T.7 is my favourite Meat Eater with the PR.10 the runner up and the F.4 third. The longer fuselage definitely improves the looks but it's not really a Meteor without that tail. Next T.7 I try will have a printed extension and perhaps a nose. The F.III is just held together with elastics so I think it will get some printed bits - a wedge, some internal bulkheads and perhaps a nose. I think a Meteor group build is in order - or at least a centrifugal compressor one. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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