Meteor night fighter

[Lord Riot]

I've been wondering what to do as a bit of a change after three 1/144 airliners. I considered (briefly) a 1/72 Valiant, then 1/48 Jaguar, F-16 and Meteor F8, before deciding I need another shelf before making any more big ones, so I've settled on this; the 1/72 Xtrakit Meteor night fighter to complement my collection of 50s RAF jets (and take up less shelf space to placate the missus!)

 

I like Meteors, and there's something fascinating about these basic jets flying out of their bases in eastern England during the Cold War era. The east Anglian skies must have been filled with jets in those days.

 

Here's the box and sprues. I'm assuming it's based on the Matchbox kit?

 

 

 

That bag of bits is left over from the Matchbox Meteor I built a couple of years ago! Might come in handy. I still like my NF14, just needs an aerial fixing, but I'll see if I can make a tidier job of this one now I'm a bit more experienced.

 

 

I was rather underwhelmed by the Xtrakit decals, especially given the plethora of bright markings from this era, so I treated myself to a set from ebay as they were only a fiver!

 

Xtrakit:

 

 

 

Any advice welcome!

 

 

 

 

[BritJet]

Yes, it's the old Matchbox kit and construction has a few quirks but it's not a bad kit. Some suggestions for you;

 

The tail joint is very weak and likely to break at some point also there is usually a step between the fuselage and tail which is difficult to deal with.

Cut away the lip on the rear of the fuselage halves and clean out the opening. Find some sprue that will fit into the tail unit to brace across the joint. Pack inside the rear fuselage so the sprue is a good fit. Glue some thin plastic card onto the rear face of the fuselage halves and make a hole in the middle to take the sprue – this is to shim the joint and avoid the step. Trim the plastic card on the outside once the parts are joined together.

 

 

 

 

The fuselage is very flexible due to the design and needs to be braced under the top-deck. Cut some lengths of sprue and glue in place avoiding where the cockpit opening/parts are.

 

The intakes do not fit very well as they get opened out by the lip on the nacelles – remove the lips and just butt-join the intakes. The jetpipes usually fit ok but if not remove the lips there as well.

 

The tongue on the wings is not thick enough and the joint will be sloppy. Insert some plastic card to shim until the joint is tight – make sure it is clear of the wheel well.

 

The radome shown on the instructions for the NF14 is too long. The NF14 radome is the same as the NF12. Add weight to the nose.

 

None of the above are difficult to do but will help reduce the amount of fill, sand, repeat that this kit is known for. I've built 9 or 10 of these and these modifications avoided them all taking a very short flight......

 

Hope this helps.

 

Steve

[Lord Riot]

That's very helpful Steve, thank you! Hopefully I can include some or all of these improvements in my build. I'll probably try and make a bit of cockpit detail too. 

[Timbo88]

The trusty old Matchbox Meteor. Same as Steve said, it's not a bad kit provided you carry out the work he mentioned. I have built several too, as it lends itself to conversion to other versions. Years ago I managed to create a U15 drone, mixing the Matchbox kit and an elderly Airfix F3. Hope you have fun.

[jackroadkill]

I built one of these (the Matchbox one) when I was in primary school.  I think I was given it at the school Christmas party.  I wish I knew what happened to it.  I'll watch this build with interest.

[Lord Riot]

Seats done. Not much detail at all so I just added the usual masking tape straps and a buckle cut from sprue. I followed the kit instructions of black with a green seat pad, then just a bit of dry brushed silver around the edges.

 

The lads flying these had some cahunas operating them without ejection seats!

 

[stever219]

I’ve built a few of these too but haven’t felt the need to do all of the bracing and shimming, which probably explains why they’ve all been filler queens.  That said the one that’s not buried in the loft (depicting NF. 14 WS838 of A&AEE Boscombe Down) has been hoiked around a number of model shows over the years and has suffered only a broken pitot boom.

 

Of the options on your Modeldecal sheet the 96 Squadron example floats my boat, as do WS836 and ‘844 of 33 Squadron and WS841 and ‘844 of 264 Squadron.

1 hour ago, Lord Riot said:

The lads flying these had some cahunas operating them without ejection seats!

 

Too right, but think also of the poor souls flying Vampire and Venom night fighters over the North Sea with only one, not very reliable, engine.  It’s a matter of record that more Meteor crews were killed in simulated engine failure drills than due to actual engine failure as the Meteor’s Derwents were that much more reliable.

[Lord Riot]

Seeing everyone's builds on BM I'm trying to follow suit and jazz up the cockpit a bit with various scraps. No Eduard etches or Aires resin here! Do they even do a Meteor NF? Anyway, I've painted the cockpit (no decals for it in the kit) and added a wire down one side.

 

 

 

 

 

They always look worse in close up photos! Hopefully being so small they'll be adequate in the cockpit, though I do want to display it open.

 

@stever219 that's a good point about the single engine types. I remember reading that awful statistic in Meteor Boys, and I think something similar in Jet Jockeys, which is a great book too.

[Mike]

34 minutes ago, Lord Riot said:

They always look worse in close up photos!

It's a problem we all suffer from, and so do our models

[Lord Riot]

Another gory close up, it does look better at arm's length! Still more to do in the cockpit yet anyway, but the basics are in to make sure I can close up the fuselage and all-important nose weight.

 

 

Filler will be required later:

 

[Selwyn]

On a joint like that I usually slide a piece of plasticard the appropriate thickness ino the gap and when dry then trim and sand to match the fuselage contour. Saves a lot of filler and sanding and looks a lot better!

 

Selwyn

[Kushan_Farsight]

Nice progress!  i keep seeing this tape belt method and must remember to attempt a go at it myself ..... before i fix the cockpit in place! 

[Lord Riot]

 

Typical 50s RAF cockpit! 

[Lord Riot]

Unlike the Xtrakit Meteor F8 kit, this NF doesn't have any detail on the front of the engines, so I've started to make my own. Just a couple of bits of wire so far, though I'll add a small cylinder later too. You can hardly see anything once sealed up anyway.

 

 

The rim around the wheel wells was too shallow so you could see a gap into the engine nacelle even with the wing halves closed, so I cut and added a piece of scrap plastic into each, making sure it didn't stick up too high to let the wing halves join.

 

 

Not decided whether to fill the holes for the fuel tanks or not yet. I read an account by a Meteor NF11 pilot in 'Jet Jockeys' by Peter Caygill that generally they preferred to fly without the wing tanks to improve manoeuvrability, but often the CO made them use the tanks to give extended flying time so the squadron could meet its target flying hours for the month.

[Lord Riot]

Wings done, with a bit of engine detail visible. 

 

 

I've painted the inside of the intakes medium sea grey, but if anyone knows a more appropriate colour please let me know. Hard to find colour sources for these old jets. Any photos are pretty much all black & white or very dark, or both!

 

I'm glad I ordered some Mr Dissolved Putty from  @Duncan B at Black Mike Models! ...

 

 

The radome is an even worse fit! 😂

[Lord Riot]

One of the small-bore intakes (which I'm assuming are correct for an NF11?) was pitted. Luckily I had a spare pair. They were ill-fitting, in keeping with the rest of the kit so far, but a bit of sanding sorted them out.

 

 

[Lord Riot]

Engine intake detail. If you look really hard with a bright light it shows up!

 

[Lord Riot]

Decals finally turned up! Some lovely markings here, I'm glad I have another Meteor NF in the stash. Still not decided which scheme to use though, I like them all. I'd wanted to do a UK based one, but those 96 and 256 sqn colours are tempting. 

 

33 sqn would be nice too but this model will be an NF11 not a 14, so those will have to wait. Only downside is there are no serials included, so I'll need to see what I can find.

 

 

I think I need to buy more 1/72 Meteors!

[Lord Riot]

Been waiting for this to arrive! Thanks @Duncan B.

 

 

It's good stuff! Straight to work on the gaping holes in the Meteor. 

 

 

 

The radome is a particularly bad fit. It'll need another coat of putty after this one dries. 

 

[Lord Riot]

A bit smoother now!

 

 

Starting to look a bit like a Meteor ...

 

[Lord Riot]

This is not my photo so mods remove if it offends copyright. Anyway, this is the colour scheme I'm aiming for. The decal instructions say medium sea grey, does anyone know if this is the same as 'mid sea grey' I'm assuming it is, but the 'light ghost grey' actually looks a bit lighter and more like the photos.

 

 

What colours should I use? Guessing the usual AS-30 is ok for the green?

 

 

 

[Lord Riot]

All sealed up for spraying with Humbrol mid sea grey.

 

 

I'm sure this is too dark, but all the references point to medium sea grey all over for most standard NF11s, with dark green camo pattern above. Perhaps the grey will look lighter against the dark green?

 

[JosephLalor]

Seems odd that the rattle-can is labelled Mid Sea Grey, when 165 is Medium Sea Grey in the enamel and acrylic ranges.  Maybe it was so that the name would fit on the label.  In my experience 165 brushes out lighter than the paint looks in your photo, in which it seems more like Gray FS36173.  Of course that could be down to lighting, my laptop monitor or my own colour perception.  You're correct about the specification - the colours you need are from BS381C, namely 637 Medium Sea Grey and 241 Dark Green.  If you see any references to 641, that's the same dark green.

Edited June 12, 2020 by JosephLalor

[stever219]

49 minutes ago, Lord Riot said:

 

I'm sure this is too dark, but all the regerences point to medium sea grey all over for most standard NF11s, with dark green camo pattern above. Perhaps the grey will look lighter against the dark green?

Humbrol 165 is OK as Medium Sea Grey; it looks quite dark on the upper surfaces of my otherwise all-white Shackleton but is much paler on the upper surfaces of my Meteor FR. 9 when seen against Light Slate Grey and PRU Blue.

[qn30jEkPz7]

Have the same kit so will be following to pick up advice/pitfalls to avoid

 

Have a sheet of serials if, once you’ve settled on your final scheme, you fancy a swap of serials for some unused chunks of the decal sheet?