sroubos Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 (edited) Matchbox' NF11/12/14 Meteor is just one of those kits you gotta love for offering so much in such a small package. No less than three marks in one cheap box! Lots of spare parts, especially if you decide to use Aeroclub's conversion set. This kit has quite a bit of history behind it. I first started building kits when I was 7 or 8 or so and it was of course my dad who brought me into the hobby. We set out together to build all aircraft types ever flown with Dutch military or civil registrations, as well as all Dutch-designed types. The Meteor was of course on that list and my dad bought it as it looked like the two-seater T.7. We found out it didn't have the right parts for that however. The kit never reached the top of the build queue and languished in the stash. Fast forward thirty years or so. My dad passed away two years back and I ran across the kit when tidying up the house, many kits had gone into storage. By then I'd also picked up a set of Dutch Decal's Facts & Fiction sheet, which had a very attractive scheme for an NF.14 which the Dutch Air Force was about to buy before the Americans stepped in to supply the F-86K. However, when I opened the kit there was a surprise: It included the Aeroclub conversion to build it as a T.7, fully marked up by my dad to show which parts where applicable. So that clinched it, build it as a T.7 as originally intended! This is one of those Matchbox kits with very fine raised detail. Unfortunately it is also one of those Matchbox kits with slightly worse than average fit; particularly the exhausts and intakes and the upper fuselage insert require a lot of filling and sanding so much of that detail was lost. I decided to use the kit as a bit of an exercise in rescribing, which made the build twice as long. I'm happy with the result though; I used some tape of unknown provenance I had in my stash which was quite thin and flexible but also had some 'height' to it which was perfect for fitting around curves and guiding the scribing tool. Painting was easy and quick, for the 'high speed silver' I used Humbrol Polished Aluminium from a rattle can. Goes on quickly and results in a nice finish I think. Decals were a combination of a very old Dutch Decal sheet which I had stuck behind a window for a few weeks to get rid of the yellowing and the Matchbox decals for the walkways. They both performed very well for their age. An Albion Alloys pitot completed the job. I'm quite pleased with the result. This kit and conversion combo has of course been superseded by the much better Special Hobby tooling but if you have these kits around, they deserve the effort and will reward you for it. Edited July 13, 2020 by sroubos 33 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Lime Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 52 minutes ago, sroubos said: they deserve the effort and will reward you for it. And your example has perfectly illustrated that point. A really good looking model you've ended up with there. Mark. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wulfman Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 Very good conversion, nice work ! Wulfman 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAT69 Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 Beautifully built. Love the overall "high speed silver" finish, the yellow trim and the Dutch Air Force markings. Great looking airplane. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FPDPenguin Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 (edited) Lovely job, great finish to it. One of my favourite machines too. Built 2 of my own so far, although one is now a paint mule. Ive got the xtrakit one waiting on the wings. Edited July 10, 2020 by FPDPenguin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aces High Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 That's a splendid model and a great story too, thanks for sharing. Seriously long wait in the stash for the kit was obviously worth it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-32 Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 Top work, that's a lovely clean build 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
binbrook87 Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 Wow! You've got the best out of that one...a superb build and flawless finish. Not seen that scheme before really suits it 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sroubos Posted July 10, 2020 Author Share Posted July 10, 2020 Thanks folks. Yes forgot to mention the scheme, this is the target tug scheme as used by the Dutch Navy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha Delta 210 Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 Lovely build and a great tribute to your late father. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canberraman Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 A super build for which I'm sure your dad would have been proud. Well worth the wait to see this and the aluminium finish looks great. Mark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 A really nice build & a great looking T.7. I sure your Dad would have been thrilled to see this come up so well. Steve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bell209 Posted July 13, 2020 Share Posted July 13, 2020 Ik vind het heel leuk! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sroubos Posted July 16, 2020 Author Share Posted July 16, 2020 Your Dutch is excellent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orion Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 Hello Sroubos, Interesting history regarding the kit. Always good to see Dutch Naval Aviation on this website. Have to look into the history regarding the Meteorin MLD service. The model looks fantastic. Regards, Orion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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