A Restoration of an Airfix 1/72 Gloster Meteor III

[Solvent Parrot]

2 minutes ago, Brigbeale said:

This beautifully painted Beaufighter

It's certainly cheerful. Thanks very much for the info on the Dettol. Lots of this still new / relearning for me. Looking forward to the rest of the thread. 

 

 

[Brigbeale]

3 minutes ago, Solvent Parrot said:

It's certainly cheerful. Thanks very much for the info on the Dettol. Lots of this still new / relearning for me. Looking forward to the rest of the thread. 

 

 

The Beaufighter now looks like this.

[Brigbeale]

I tried the first method of simply using the white decal sheet as the backing for the red/blue decal on clear decal sheet. Where the top decal sat over the white ‘circle’ it was ok - not perfect but useable. However, where it just sat on the darker surface, the blue colour almost disappeared. It was just visible and definitely not the required result. Also, the white decal paper curled and wrinkled too easily making it difficult to apply.

I then decided to try using my circle cutting compass tool to make the masks for airbrushing the white circles onto the wings. After a few tweaks backwards and forwards of the tool, I think I have finally got the right sizing of the upper wing decals and the fuselage/underwing decals.

I used 2” household masking tape to make the masks and, after de-tacking them a bit, applied them to the Meteor in their relative locations and applied more tape in case of overspray. 
It just means the decalling is put back a bit which is no major problem.

I could have simply printed the decals onto the white decal sheet, but it leaves a white ring around the edge of the decal as seen on my Sea Venom. I could, in turn, paint the edge but it wouldn’t blend in as well.

 

The test piece on the second try with a larger backing decal. I forgot to get a photo of the first try.

 

The Meteor with the wings and fuselage masked up for white paint to be applied.

Edited September 11, 2021 by Brigbeale

[bigbadbadge]

Thanks for explaining your paint stripping process and how you reuse, that is banked in the old noggin now just incase. 

Looking forward to seeing the markings going on.

Great work 

Chris 

[Brigbeale]

I painted the white circles last night, but something went awry.

The paint, the last of a pot of Mr Color white, didn’t behave as I thought it would. It seemed to spray on ok, but when I went to remove the masking, the paint had a kind of rubbery texture and peeled away from the wings and fuselage. Obviously, not being happy with this, I found it could be removed by rubbing it - almost as thought it was a masking solution.

I was going to to get some Tamiya white, but typically, Hobbycraft were out of stock of white, so I either wait until tomorrow and buy a fresh pot of Mr Color White or re-try the white decal circle method. I have sprayed Matt varnish onto some white decal paper to re-try it out this evening.

Edited September 12, 2021 by Brigbeale

[Brigbeale]

Tonight I started off by cutting a circle out of the Matt varnished white decal paper and trying it out on a scrap wing. The decal went on as expected, maybe due to the varnish adding some strength and stopping it curling so easily.

I then cut some circles from the sheet of decal paper - a few tries were needed to get a round circle. The trick was to cut them lightly and make two passes rather than try to cut them out in one go.

 

Once I’d got the six circles, I started to apply them to the wings and fuselage. They went on nicely using water alone. Previous experience showed it was better than using a setting solution. Weird it worked.

 

The white circles seemed to set quite quickly so I cautiously applied the upper roundel decals. I was quietly jubilant with the way they turned out, so I pressed on with the black lettering decals. The roundels do require some touching in if the grey where the previously applied white Mr Color paint had crept under the masking and is visible. I can also dirty up the roundels themselves to make them appear weathered along with the fuselage and wings.

[Brigbeale]

Last night, with the little time I had available after one of my stepsons wanting me to fit a roof rack to his company van which was quite simple really - I failed to see why he was getting so ratty with it, I touched up the white paint creep around the roundels. Once the paint had dried, more Astonish floor polish was added to blend the paint in. I then used my cheap weathering powder (an eyeshadow pack from my local Poundland😆 - i know bit it works - see the Beaufighter!) to weather the roundels - I might have overdone it a bit bit it looks ok to me.

 

Tonight I started by painting the main gear using Tamiya Paints - Aluminium on the wheel hubs, Nato Black on the tyres and Silver on the gear struts.

Aluminium was also painted in the air brake recesses while the airbrake panels were stuck to some tape on a wooden stick and also painted aluminium.

While the aluminium was drying, I painted the inside of the engines gloss black leaving a grey finish to the inside of the cowlings and the horizontal splitter.

More IJN Grey was painted on the air brake raised detail and the other side of the air brake panels.

The main gear wheels/struts were fitted with superglue as they’re 3D printed items. The 2 nose gear parts I do have were pieced back together but will need building up to level the Meteor once the nose gear is re-fitted.

[Brigbeale]

Tonight, I repaired the nose gear by drilling a 1mm hole down the centre of a piece of excess sprue from another model. A similar hole was drilled in the top of the existing nose wheel and the locating hole in the wheel bay itself. A piece of 1mm styrene rod was then fitted in the holes and the assembly dry fitted. Almost astoundingly, I cut the sprue to the correct length to get the Meteor to sit level (or very near it).

I then TET’d the assembly together but had to superglue the assembly into the 3D printed wheel bay.

Once that had set, I set about painting the nose gear the same as the main gear.

The nose gear doors were then fabricated out of thin styrene card. Two 0.6mm holes were drilled in the front door and some clear nylon thread was superglued to form a hoop as highlighted by @fatalbert. (thank you for that insight). The doors were then fitted with superglue and then painted with Sky paint.

The masking was also removed from the canopy, it’s not as perfect as I’d like it, so I’m in two minds as to whether I’m going to fit the pilot and move the centre section back. The more I think of it , the more I’m inclined to do it. What’s the worst that can happen??

 

Oh….. and I need to add the underwing roundels.

Edited September 16, 2021 by Brigbeale

[bigbadbadge]

Wow, this is stunning, especially considering the state it was in when  you got it. Fantastic work. It looks wonderful .

Chris

[Brigbeale]

Well, that’s another one finished and I’m very happy with the results.

I painted the pilot and refitted him back into his seat.
The sliding section of the cockpit was refitted in the open position.

I made an arrestor hook out of copper phone wire and painted gunmetal. It’s a bit short but it’s fine for me. 

Next I fitted the upper and lower air brakes in their respective open positions.

The underwing roundels we’re fitted and weathered to blend them in with the rest of the weathering.

The last thing to do was fit the tapered aerials and pitot tubes.

 

Heres the result.

[Brigbeale]

I’ve just typed the RFI here

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235099330-a-restored-172-airfix-meteor-iii/

[Solvent Parrot]

That really is a great piece of work. 

 

[Brigbeale]

My next adventure- the Meteor’s bigger ‘brother’!😆

[bigbadbadge]

You've done a fantastic job on the Meteor, the transformation is phenomenal,  great work. Looking forward to the Canberra.

Chris