Elyana the MiG Killer *Finished*

[Andwil]

For the group build I will be building this

 

 

in the markings of one of the RAAF 77 squadron aircraft that shot down MiG-15s during the Korean War.

 

AW 

Edited November 13, 2022 by Andwil

[franky boy]

Nice choice AW

 

I was hoping someone would build a Korean War Meteor. 
 

James

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Very nice choice AW, Korea was a good test for the meteor in combat and the Australians proved it could be done. 

[Andwil]

Contents of the box:

 

2 sprues of nicely moulded grey plastic. (No locating pins though).

 

 

 

One sprue of clear parts.

 

 

A small bag of resin parts, seat, instrument shroud, rockets and rails.

 

 

PE fret including a jig for the rocket fins and a template for the rocket rail attachment to the wing.

 

Decals.

 

 

To which I have some AM resin, ResKit wheels and a Pavla seat that I bought not realising the kit had a resin seat.

 

 

Finally some decals to allow me to build “Elyana” the aircraft flown by PO Bruce Gogerly when he scored his MiG kill.

 

 

I will be away for a week from the 15th so wont make a start until after the 22nd.  I don’t think I’ll use the rockets, each is 7 parts, resin body and warhead, PE fins and a PE collar that has to be bent into a circle and fitted between the body and warhead.  8 rockets each of 7 very small and fiddly parts and all butt jointed.  Life’s too short and a hobby is meant to be fun!

 

AW

[81-er]

Looks like a nice kit, AW, and I know you'll do a stunning job of it. I absolutely agree on those rockets, you could spend the whole GB just on those. Better to find alternatives, or just model it after it's back from a sortie and rocketless

 

James

[JOCKNEY]

Hi AW

Thats an awful lot of goodies for one kit,   best of luck mate.

Cheers Pat 

[Andwil]

Back from my short break and time to get cracking with my Meteor.  First some background on the subject.

 

On 1 December 1951 14 Meteor F.8s from RAAF 77 squadron were attacked by around 40 MiG-15s and a wild dog fight broke out during the course of which Flg Off Bruce Gogerly in A77-15 “Elyana” shot down a MiG for the RAAF’s first jet vs jet kill.  A second MiG was destroyed and credited to the squadron as a whole.  3 Meteors were shot down in return with 2 pilots ejecting safely but the third, Flt Sgt Armitt was unfortunately killed.  A77-15 will be the subject of this model.

 

Construction starts with the cockpit, which is made up of nine parts, all butt jointed.

 

 

the rear deck was reinforced with a scrap piece of plastic:

 

 

I also separated the resin seat and instrument coaming from their pour blocks, breaking part of the fragile coaming in the process.  I’ll have to patch that up after its attached to the fuselage.  The ResKit wheels were also assembled ready for priming.

 

 

While getting the wheels ready a small slip of paper fell out of the packet stamped “Packer Natalia 2021”.  Wherever in Ukraine Natalia is, I hope she is safe and well.  I’m not the praying type, but she is in my thoughts.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW 

[John Masters]

On 10/12/2022 at 11:04 AM, Andwil said:

8 rockets each of 7 very small and fiddly parts and all butt jointed.

That way lies madness...

[Andwil]

Cockpit painted NATO black and dry brushed grey:

 

 

 

Seat the same, plus tan padding and a bit of silver for wear and tear:

 

 

PE belts still to be added.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[81-er]

Nice work, AW

 

James

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

I like the bang-seat its looking good. 

[Andwil]

5 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

I like the bang-seat its looking good. 

Thanks Dennis, it should be even better with another coat of the tan, I’m using Lifecolour Tan which has poor coverage over a black base.  This is two coats, I’ll put another coat on the seat part, the back I’m happy with as it has a nice worn look.

 

AW

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

1 hour ago, Andwil said:

Thanks Dennis, it should be even better with another coat of the tan, I’m using Lifecolour Tan which has poor coverage over a black base.  This is two coats, I’ll put another coat on the seat part, the back I’m happy with as it has a nice worn look.

 

AW

Ive seen the life color paints but never tried them. How are they for airbrushing ? 

[Andwil]

On 10/27/2022 at 11:02 AM, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Ive seen the life color paints but never tried them. How are they for airbrushing ? 

I’ve only airbrushed them a couple of times with mixed results.  I airbrushed the wheels and props on my recent Do-217 nightfighter with their schwarzgrun and it worked fine thinned with distilled (demineralised) water, but another time I had no end of grief with blockages - which may have been my fault anyway, it was an older bottle and I didn’t strain it, there may have been some lumps.  I mostly use it for brush painting figures.

 

Back to the Meteor.  Cockpit and IP installed along with some weights.

 

 

There is space behind the cockpit if further weight is required.  The two layer PE instrument panel looks rather nice:

 

 

I also assembled the major components of the wings.

 

 

Fit not the best and the leading edges in particular will need some tidying up.

 

Attached the PE belts to the seat:

 

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[Andwil]

Today I was able to close up the fuselage and added a bit more weight behind the cockpit as a precaution.

 

 

Made up the fiddly undercarriage components:

 

 

 

The tailplane was to thick to fit into the fin, a fair bit of sanding was required to get it to fit.  I got a bit over enthusiastic with the sanding and ended up with a gap that required filler.

 

 

 

Using the PE template supplied, the locating points for the rocket rails are marked on the wings.

 

 

 

Thanks for looking

 

AW

Edited October 31, 2022 by Andwil
Re-linked the photos

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

The links work and the Meteor is looking good, particularly like the bang seat. 

[81-er]

Coming along well, AW. Interesting that they supply a template for the rocket locations, but no obvious alignment marks to help you get it in the right place

 

James

[Andwil]

8 hours ago, 81-er said:

Coming along well, AW. Interesting that they supply a template for the rocket locations, but no obvious alignment marks to help you get it in the right place

 

James

Exactly.  I lined up the forward, inboard location from the diagram in the instructions, ensured the forward spots were just behind and parallel with the leading edge panel line and taped it down.

 

AW 

[Andwil]

Wing assembly attached to the fuselage:

 

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[81-er]

You're flying along with this one, AW (no pun intended)

 

James

[Andwil]

Gun sight and seat fitted and the spent cartridge chutes attached.  The seat needed to be lowered by sanding off some of the base to allow the canopy to fit.  CA’d in place so I’ll let it cure and off gas overnight before fitting the canopy to avoid clouding.  The cartridge chutes are butt joints and far too small to allow pinning, so we’ll see how long they last.

 

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[Andwil]

Canopy on:

 

 

Rocket rails attached.  A small drop of CA was applied to each pylon position, a spot of accelerator on the pylons and carefully placed in position:

 

 

They seem to be nice and firm.

 

Pitot and antenna added, canopy masked and ready for primer.  (The bit of tape sticking up has been stuck down with an overlapping piece of tape.)

 

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[81-er]

Looking smart, AW

 

James

[Wings unlevel]

That’s come together really nicely, AW.

[Andwil]

Gave the canopy a quick spray of NATO black

 

 

before priming the model:

 

 

Its come up quite well, except for the wing underside/fuselage joint, which looks horrible (not photographed!).  I always have trouble sanding filler, it looks and feels nice and smooth until paint hits it, then 

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW