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Airfix 1/48th Gloster Meteor 'Halestorm'


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Latest off the bench is this beauty from Airfix. It's not a perfect kit but absolutely worth putting a little bit of effort in to build a classic British jet, even if, ironically, I built it as an RAAF one. I never really had much love for the Meteor, in terms of ever wanting to build one but that all changed when I went to Australia in 2018 and was lucky enough to attend the Warbirds Down Under Airshow. There is a Meteor F.8 based there in these markings and it looks absolutely gorgeous, so wind forward to now and here she is in plastic. The current one isn't the original airframe and has differences that have to be ignored for an authentic build and hopefully I've managed to get something close to the original setup.

 

Extras added were:

  • Eduard Cockpit Etch Set
  • Eduard Brassin Wheels 
  • Pavla Spent Case Chutes
  • Master Pitot Tube.

 

Everything else out of the box. Build wise there's lot of good detail in the kit, it just falls short on a short shot part (Horizontal tail is a bit short at the rear) and a fairly unnecessary gap on the wings. I though to start with that I'd got it wrong somewhere but I can't see any way to avoid this gap, as the bottom wing dictates the width of the fuselage at this point. Annoying but not insurmountable with basic modelling skills, which is good because that's all I have.

 

All finished with Alclad High Speed Silver, Future and Xtracrylix Matt. The decals were superb and only my ham fistedness with a few, that curled up and caused endless cussing before getting them straight and in place, causing any headaches. 

 

But for good or bad here she is and, as always, comments welcomed.

 

Onto the next which is equally as Airfix, British and early Jetty. More fun ahead I'm sure, now where did I put that filler.

 

Pete

 

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Lovely looking Meteor Pete. I have some of the Alclad High Speed Silver but I thought it didn't look right when I tested it. I will have another look - it looks pretty good here.

 

Cheers

 

Malcolm

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Wonderful! Like your story as well, it shows that a personal connection to a subject makes for a better endresult.. Now I just wonder if I should add this to my stash..

 

Kind regards,

Gerben

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Great job on the Meteor, Peter, and that NMF is superbly done.  Did you highlight the panel lines with a wash?  They appear that way, but whatever the case they really look nice.  One of these days I'll break open my kit, and hope for no short-shot parts.  I've been lucky with my Airfix kits so far, but from everything I'm hearing it's wise to open the kit right away and make sure that, if there are any, one can contact Airfix right away and hopefully get any replacement parts.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark

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Thank you to everyone that has taken time to comment or like this build, it's very much appreciated.

 

6 hours ago, Mark Joyce said:

Great job on the Meteor, Peter, and that NMF is superbly done.  Did you highlight the panel lines with a wash?  They appear that way, but whatever the case they really look nice.  One of these days I'll break open my kit, and hope for no short-shot parts.  I've been lucky with my Airfix kits so far, but from everything I'm hearing it's wise to open the kit right away and make sure that, if there are any, one can contact Airfix right away and hopefully get any replacement parts.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark

Mark - I forgot to add that to the opening post but, yes, I used Flory Models Dark Dirt for the wash. I didn't want to go too crazy on it and, with a nice glossy finish, It took most of it off when I cleaned it up. Just enough to dirty the panel lines a bit.

 

On 5/24/2020 at 4:26 PM, Baldy said:

Lovely looking Meteor Pete. I have some of the Alclad High Speed Silver but I thought it didn't look right when I tested it. I will have another look - it looks pretty good here.

 

Cheers

 

Malcolm

Malcolm - It took a couple of coats to get a good even coverage but turned out really pleasing in the end. I really liked it and will definitely use it again.

 

Once again thanks to all.

Pete

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