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A second build hopefully, another Alleycat conversion for the late mark of the Meteor converted to an unmanned target. 
 

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However, I can’t find the MPM/Xtrakit F8 that I bought at the same time for it. I think it’s somewhere in this stash, I’ll have do a bit of mining. And probably tidy up as well.

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There’s a few days to go so I should be lucky. Maybe I might just buy the new Airfix one instead! 

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1 hour ago, 825 said:

However, I can’t find the MPM/Xtrakit F8 that I bought at the same time for it.

Of course if you’re anything like me you’ll find the stash kit just after you’ve bought the Airfix one :) probably not a bad outcome now that I think of it.

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As I'm in the process of moving (whenever the conveyancers get their fingers out), I’ve had to resort to the drastic measures of numbering packing boxes and compiling a spreadsheet, just so I can keep track of where each kit is. Of course, until I have a moving date none of those boxes are being sealed up, and contents is varying depending on what I want to be building and to accommodate any “accidental” additions to the stash. I mean, I need to make sure it’s all packed as efficiently as possible, and empty spaces in packing boxes is a bad thing, right? :whistle:

 

James

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  • 825 changed the title to Meteor U16

Thank you @Marklo, @JOCKNEY, @Corsairfoxfouruncle and @81-er for your kind comments and suggestions. However, a climb over the stash ended with me not just finding this one but the originally lost F4, and F3 and an untouched T7 as well as an almost finished T7. Anyway I’ll stick with this one and the U15 build to get on with. 
 

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The kit has two grey sprues which are similar to the F4 and probably there’s a fair amount of common parts. 
 

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A nice clear sprue with two canopy options and a lovely transfer sheet. 
 

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Although an Xtrakit boxing MPM style instructions 

 

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The conversion kit has a little bundle of well moulded parts, not all of them for use. There is a bit of work to be done as there’s a new nose and wingtips to be fitted after cutting the existing ones off, in addition to various aerials, etc.. 

 

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A comprehensive transfer sheet but there’s some smudging of a couple of serials including the one I plan. There are extra ‘W’s on the sheet so I’ll manage. There’s also a small etch sheet. 
 

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Instructions and colour call outs for a number of RAE, Australian and a Fleet Air Arm machines. 
 

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Pleased to see you found the kit. That’s just the sort of thing Id do with parts of the stash spread about the house. 
 

Look forward to seeing you make a start. 
 

James 

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Thanks @franky boy, I do need to get some resemblance of order into the stash. I also put a bundle of duplicates up into the loft a while ago as well. 
 

I’ve done a little work to get off and going. Paint on the interior and detail parts. 
 

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First thing to do is to clean up the resin nose and cut off the necessary nose section of the kit. The resin nose fits at the panel line immediately in front of the cannon fairings. Careful cutting with a razor saw along the line using the fairings as a guide. The resin nose has four big pour stubs. Rather than cutting them off I have filed them down to act as locating pins. In general I’ve found aligning resin parts a challenge and anything that helps is useful. The cannon fairings will need filed off later. 
 

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Interior assembled and fitted into fuselage side. Black on black so at the end of the day not much will be seen. I’ve highlighted the detail with a dry brush of aluminium. There’s still a little work to do, as well as adding the replacement IP. The ejection seat has to be added but I’m currently waiting for the glue on the seat belts to dry.

 

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The cannon fairings have been sanded down and polished up. From photos it looks like there was a smooth replacement panel rather than them being sawn off and a shaped panel added. You can see the obligatory glue spot that has appeared from nowhere. I’ll let it go completely solid before trying to clean it up. 
 

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Mainplane assembled, no great problems but a fair amount of tape needed to persuade it to stay together. 
 

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The resin IP has a coat of paint and straps added to the ejector seat. 
 

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The new wingtips given a coat of paint as well. 
 

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On 11/6/2022 at 12:04 PM, 81-er said:

It's coming along well. The straps really add to the seat and should give you something visible in the cockpit

 

James

Thanks James. The cockpit is a bit bare as well as being very dark, despite my trying to lighten it up with some dry brushing. 
 

Got to the stage now to close the fuselage. The fit is good but still needed some tape to keep it all together when curing. 
 

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I’ve now added the resin replacement nose. First my idea of leaving tabs on to align didn’t work and they had to be removed. Secondly the replacement is a little bit bigger across the beam so some work is needed. It’s not that I’ve made the cut too far forward as there are panel lines that determine where it goes. And thirdly I didn’t do a great job on trimming the end so there’s some filling needed. Anyhow here we are after fixing with cyano and a generous amount of talc and cyano filler applied. One of the good things about this home made filler, as well as adhering to resin, is ready to sand after about 10 minutes. I’ll need to be careful with cleaning up, I don’t want to lose the nice detail on the side of the nose of the original kit. 
 

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10 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Are you going to sand the resin or add filler to build up the difference ? 

As there’s a lot of detail on the kit around the nose that I didn’t think I could reproduce I decided to mainly sand down the resin. Also I was concerned due to the closeness of the wing joint and canopy I would get everything out if I tried to bulk up the kit plastic. 

 

11 hours ago, 81-er said:

That really is quite a bit wider than the kit nose, hopefully it doesn't take too long to sand it down to fit

 

James

It is a little disappointing as Alleycat materials are usually very good. However I think I’ve managed to get to a workable place. 
 

Here is the nose cleaned up, Flory flexible sanding sticks are great for maintaining curved shapes when sanding down so I think I’ve managed not to sand ‘flats’ onto the nose. Cleaned up and polished, I think one side is fine but the other might need a little more work. But I’ll wait till I’ve got some paint on. I also have to check what the nose tip configuration was for my choice as I think there’s a bit more to sand off. 
 

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As the wings and empanage were already assembled I’ve added them onto the fuselage as well. And we have a Meteor. 
 

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The joints are pretty good, especially compared the F4 I’m using as the basis for the U15. A little bit of filler will be needed but not much. 

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Cleaned up and a first coat of white paint. I’ve also filed off the protuberances on the nose as my version has a clean nose. The intakes and jet pipes added, but some filler is needed at the front end. 

 

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After a number of coats of white we’re here, a little more needed on the outer wings. 
 

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And the canopy on, after installing the ejection seat. 
 

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On 11/21/2022 at 7:41 PM, Marklo said:

Looking very sharp, as is the yellow one in the background.

Thanks @Marklo, the U15 is a bit further ahead because there was a little work to do. I spent a fair amount of time on this one filling and tidying up joints. The white undercoat is good for revealing flaws that would inevitably show up on the yellow and red. 
 

Anyway the first coat of yellow is on. I reckon it’ll be another three before there’s a consistent colour. 
 

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