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Armstrong Whitworth Meteor NF.Mk.11 (SH72358) NATO Users 1:72 Special Hobby


Julien

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Armstrong Whitworth Meteor NF.Mk.11 (SH72358)

NATO Users

1:72 Special Hobby

 

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Yes that an Armstrong Whitworth Meteor, not a Gloster one.  Gloster did design the Meteor, however by the time the cold was was upon us the RAF had Meteors in the day fighter role but were still using Mosquitos in the night fighter role.  At the time Gloster were heavily into the design of the Javelin for the RAF so it was put to AW to design and build a Night Fighter version (they did build the majority of Fighter Meteors for the RAF as well).  The NF Meteor would come about as an amalgamation of meteor parts already in use, the main body was that of the tow seat T.7 but with the later tail of the F.8. The four 20mm cannon were moved into the wing  outer spans to accommodate the AI Mk 10 Radar in the nose.  Like the T.7 the crew would not be afforded ejection seats.  The first aircraft flew in May 1950. Later on the NF.12 would feature a US built APS-12 radar, the NF.13 being a tropicalised NF.11. The final version of this venerable night fighter would be the NF.14 featuring a more modern blown canopy,  As well as being supplied to the RAF NF.11s were supplied to other NATO countries. Belgium received 24, Denmark 20 and France had 41. 

 

 

The Kit

This is a recent new tool kit from Special Hobby now being released in a boxing for NATO users;. As a new tool the moulding are of good quality with good detail and nice recessed panel lines. The kit arrives on 4 main spures, a smaller sprue and a clear sprue. Construction first begins in the cockpit which builds up to a complete module that slots into the fuselage when built up. The centre bulkhead is added to the floor and then the left side is added. The centre radar console is then built up and installed along with both seats. The rear bulkhead goes on, and in the front cockpit the control column goes in. The right side can then be added. To the underside of this module the nose gear well is then added.  This assembly can then go into the right fuselage. The pilots instrument panel then goes in as does the deck behind the radar operator.  The fuselage can then be closed up.

 

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Construction now moves onto the wings. Firstly the engines and jet pipes need to be assembled. There is a basic representative Derwent which you will see the front face of through the intake. Behind this there is the jet pipe, and exhaust. These go into the one part upper wing. In front of the engines goes the fairing over the front wing spar which is seen through the intake. Single part intake inners are then fitted.  The aperture for the fuselage at the leading edge of the wing will need to widened slightly.  Moving on the the lower wing the main gear wells need to be built up. The two wing sections can then be joined. The intake leading edges, and exhaust trailing edges are then fitted.

 

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The fuselage can now be joined to the wings.  At the rear the tail planes then go on. The main gear units are then assembled and added along with their retraction struts and the main gear doors. Like the real units these are complicated and care need to get them right. At the front the nose wheel and its doors are then added also. To finish off the wing and belly tanks are fitted followed by the canopy, gun muzzles and pitot tube. 

 

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Markings

The glossy decal sheet is printed in house and looks sharp and in register. There are marking for three aircraft

 

  1. EN5/KT-S No.11 Sqn Belgian Air Force
  2. NF11-32/346-QH French air Force
  3. 501 of 723 Sqn Royal Danish Air Force

 

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Conclusion

It is good to see a new kits of the Meteor Night Fighter out there. Highly recommended. 

 

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Review sample courtesy of

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Thanks Julien, I think this series of NF Meteors will run and run.

 

Small point, the NF.13 was a tropicalised version of the NF.11 and not the NF.12.  Thus the -11 and the -13 were the same overall length, shorter than the previously SH kitted NF.12. This must therefore be a completely new tool for the fuselage parts.

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14 minutes ago, viscount806x said:

Thanks Julien, I think this series of NF Meteors will run and run.

 

Small point, the NF.13 was a tropicalised version of the NF.11 and not the NF.12.  Thus the -11 and the -13 were the same overall length, shorter than the previously SH kitted NF.12. This must therefore be a completely new tool for the fuselage parts.

Small typo on the Mk numbers, yes these are new tools, they tooled different fuselages for the different lengths.  They even corrected the oft repeated error on getting the 14 length wrong.

 

Julien

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18 minutes ago, Work In Progress said:

Is the wing the same somewhat over-thick geometry as the other earlier SH Meteors, or have they thinned it down a bit?

It bears no relation to the earlier kit, to my eye the wing looks fine.

 

Check out @Rémi build of the NF.12 version here...

 

...and his RFI here...

 

 

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38 minutes ago, Giorgio N said:

Are the NF.13 parts included? I know this variant will be released in the future but as I already have decals I'd be tempted to get one of these now..

No Giorgio, they're not.  For an NF.13 you need a clear section in the fairing behind the canopy (just don't paint that are in the kit part), a couple of scoops for the fuselage underside (easily scratched), and a couple of extra aerials, plus scribing in the extra flaps on the outer wing panels, none too difficult for a man of your calibre I'd suggest.

 

If you want to open the canopy, @Ali62 does a rather nice clear resin one, you could just use the clear section from the rear of the kit canopy for your NF.13.

 

 

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17 hours ago, Wez said:

No Giorgio, they're not.  For an NF.13 you need a clear section in the fairing behind the canopy (just don't paint that are in the kit part), a couple of scoops for the fuselage underside (easily scratched), and a couple of extra aerials, plus scribing in the extra flaps on the outer wing panels, none too difficult for a man of your calibre I'd suggest.

 

If you want to open the canopy, @Ali62 does a rather nice clear resin one, you could just use the clear section from the rear of the kit canopy for your NF.13.

 

 

Id like to do an Israeli version, is there a walk-around to show the 13’s differences ? If its not to hard id give it a shot scratch-building the bits. Does the Israeli come in the Blue/Earth camouflage or the 3-tone later camouflage ? 

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1 hour ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Id like to do an Israeli version, is there a walk-around to show the 13’s differences ? If its not to hard id give it a shot scratch-building the bits. Does the Israeli come in the Blue/Earth camouflage or the 3-tone later camouflage ? 

Walk-around here

 

Taking the top left photo as number 1 then working left to right, top to bottom, picture 2 shows the cold air unit intakes, picture 7 and  picture 19 the extra flap.

 

The clear part to the canopy fairing has been overpainted and the aerial fit has changed.  This aircraft has also had some later modifications carried out and is not representative of the as delivered configuration.  As they were originally delivered in the 1950's, the aircraft were, IIRC, originally operated in the blue/earth scheme (didn't the later scheme come into service during the 1970's)?

 

I'm going to throw out a call to Dennis @sloegin57 as he's previously posted pictures showing the NF.13 as built.

 

 

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1 hour ago, Wez said:

Walk-around here

I'm going to throw out a call to Dennis @sloegin57 as he's previously posted pictures showing the NF.13 as built.

 

No problem Wez.  

 

I'll beg off for today as we are all celebrating my eldest Grandson going solo at Dundee Airport on Friday.  Once he gets his PPL, he than qualifies to commence his Airline Transport Pilot Licence (ATPL) and a BSc (Hons) Degree in Professional Aviation Pilot Practice. A course about four years long.

 

The walk-around you featured is one of the best I have seen but I will try and find the original folder and repost the stuff in it.  I think it includes photos that my nephew Phil Boyden took for me some years ago.

 

HTH

 

Dennis

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41 minutes ago, sloegin57 said:

No problem Wez.  

 

I'll beg off for today as we are all celebrating my eldest Grandson going solo at Dundee Airport on Friday.  Once he gets his PPL, he than qualifies to commence his Airline Transport Pilot Licence (ATPL) and a BSc (Hons) Degree in Professional Aviation Pilot Practice. A course about four years long.

 

The walk-around you featured is one of the best I have seen but I will try and find the original folder and repost the stuff in it.  I think it includes photos that my nephew Phil Boyden took for me some years ago.

 

HTH

 

Dennis

Thanks Dennis and congratulations to your eldest Grandson.

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Thanks Wez, I was hoping to find the intakes in the box, guess I'll have to wait. I realise that they are quite easy to scratcbuild but scratchbuilding two and hoping they look the same on both sides is something I'd prefer to avoid. Guess I must be getting old, I used to do much more more elaborate conversions in the past...

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