The Magnificent Meatbox

[planecrazee]

Hi folks,

 

I'm really looking forward to this GB as I have never built a model of this British classic before so I thought it was time to rectify this.  My kit of choice therefore is this one:

 

 

I'll also be building it in the scheme on the box art as you can't beat a bit of a classic RAF Dark Green/Dark Sea Grey combo especially when there's an eye catching yellow tail to go with it.  Here's the profile of the said scheme:

 

 

And just to round up my introduction to my build - here's some shots of the sprues and decals etc provided in the kit:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Think that's everything in the box and looking forward to getting cracking and making a start tomorrow 

 

So good luck to everyone with their builds - can't wait to see a gallery full of Meteors - that will be something to look forward to 

 

All the best

 

Kris

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Hello and Welcome Kris with a Treble one bird to add. I’ve a soft spot for a few squadrons and 111 is up near the top. 

Edited October 14, 2022 by Corsairfoxfouruncle

[planecrazee]

Thanks for the warm welcome @Corsairfoxfouruncle 

 

That's put me under extra pressure - I'll have to make sure I don't make a complete pigs ear of it now you've told me 111 Squadron is a favourite of yours 

 

Kris

[81-er]

Nice choice of scheme there, North Weald isn't far from me. I've got two of the Airfix 1/48 Meteors to build myself, it looks like a cracking kit.

 

James

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

14 minutes ago, planecrazee said:

I'll have to make sure I don't make a complete pigs ear of it now you've told me 111 Squadron is a favourite of yours 

Im sure you will do great and please don't feel as if Im pressuring you. 

[planecrazee]

2 minutes ago, 81-er said:

Nice choice of scheme there, North Weald isn't far from me. I've got two of the Airfix 1/48 Meteors to build myself, it looks like a cracking kit.

 

James

Thanks James - I thought so anyway so hopefully I can produce something that resembles what's on the box. It really is a lovely kit - I'm a massive fan of Airfix and the kits they've released over recent years and this one looks set to be a pleasure 

 

Kris

[81-er]

I've got to confess that I've become a big fan of the newest Airfix toolings as well. The Vampire I finished recently was lovely to build, and I've almost finished a 1/48 Sabre as well. That's been a nice build too.

 

James

[Ray_W]

Hi Kris,

 

The newish Airfix kit. Enjoy! Looking forward to your progress.

 

Ray

[planecrazee]

Thanks Ray - much appreciated.

 

Yes, the newish Airfix kit and so far I'm loving what I see and it's a pleasure to work on 

 

Kris

[planecrazee]

Hi folks,

 

Hope everyone has managed to make a good start with their builds so far 

 

I'm currently working on the cockpit, but decided that alongside that, I'd make a start on the engines.  Now I don't know whether it was the excitement of a new GB or I was just being completely ham fisted but I managed to ruin (beyond repair) one of the two oil tanks provided in the kit   Much racking of brain ensued as I now needed to come up with a suitable replacement.  After much deliberation, I decided to dust off my modelling skills and go for a combination of moulding and scratch building for a replacement part.

 

So I created a mould from the undamaged oil tank with silicone and then used resin to mould the new piece as seen here:

 

 

Then, with the resin cured, I added some styrene, lead wire and a fair amount of blood, sweat and tears.  By the end of all that I'd managed to create this:

 

 

The one on the left is the kit part painted black and the one on the right (as if you couldn't tell) is my homemade version.  It's not going to win any awards but I think it should do the trick once it's painted up and most of it won't be seen anyway.

 

Now, with that little distraction taken care of, I'll get back to getting on with what I originally started with - the cockpit.  Fingers crossed for no further mishaps of my own making 

 

Hope you're all managing to avoid creating extra work for yourselves like I have before the build is barely off the ground 

 

Hopefully I'll have more to update you on soon

 

Best wishes

 

Kris

[Marklo]

Good recovery, but will the oil tanks be visible on the final build ( I tend to wrestle with I know it’s there vs I can see it modelling  )

[Ray_W]

10 hours ago, planecrazee said:

the one on the right (as if you couldn't tell) is my homemade version.

 

Exceptionally nice recovery. I must try this one day. 

 

10 minutes ago, Marklo said:

Good recovery, but will the oil tanks be visible on the final build ( I tend to wrestle with I know it’s there vs I can see it modelling

 

I think there is enough visible on the engine front to make it worthwhile. Particularly in the larger scales and with the F.8 and its larger engine intake. 

 

 

 

 

I am definitely from the "If you can't see it. Don't include it" school. But, in this case, Airfix provide such an good representation of the Derwent engine, that I found it difficult to not, at least, paint it up nicely. Airfix also give you the option of removable engine covers if you're so inclined.   

 

Ray

[81-er]

That's an excellent save, Kris, your homebrew one looks very good

 

James

[Marklo]

Actually that picture makes the case. A lot is visible and because it’s a centrifugal jet engine there’s more going on than a load of turbine blades.

[franky boy]

Great recovery Kris

 

Honestly if they were both painted you’d be hard pushed to spot the difference. 

 

James

[planecrazee]

On 10/18/2022 at 8:29 AM, Marklo said:

Good recovery, but will the oil tanks be visible on the final build ( I tend to wrestle with I know it’s there vs I can see it modelling  )

Thanks @Marklo and I don't think much will be visible in the final build but I think it's the OCD in me to put things right 

[planecrazee]

On 10/18/2022 at 8:55 AM, Ray_W said:

 

Exceptionally nice recovery. I must try this one day. 

 

Thanks very much Ray.  It was actually much more therapeutic than I thought it would be and would definitely recommend giving it a go to put scratch building skills to the test 

 

On 10/18/2022 at 8:55 AM, Ray_W said:

 

I think there is enough visible on the engine front to make it worthwhile. Particularly in the larger scales and with the F.8 and its larger engine intake. 

 

I am definitely from the "If you can't see it. Don't include it" school. But, in this case, Airfix provide such an good representation of the Derwent engine, that I found it difficult to not, at least, paint it up nicely. Airfix also give you the option of removable engine covers if you're so inclined.   

 

Ray

 

Yeah I'm hoping something will be seen and the pics you've provided prove that you can see a fair amount of detail through the intakes.  I agree Ray - I think because the engines the engines in the kit are so nice I felt compelled to do them justice I suppose even if most of them won't be seen.  I suppose I know it's all there lol 

[planecrazee]

On 10/18/2022 at 9:58 AM, 81-er said:

That's an excellent save, Kris, your homebrew one looks very good

 

James

 Thanks for the kind comments James - I don't often do much scratch building so I really enjoyed the challenge and getting some practice in 

[planecrazee]

On 10/18/2022 at 12:21 PM, franky boy said:

Great recovery Kris

 

Honestly if they were both painted you’d be hard pushed to spot the difference. 

 

James

 

Thanks for the feedback James and I'm hoping that will be the case.  I'll show you the finished articles once complete and you can see what you think 

[planecrazee]

Hi folks,

 

Just a very short and sweet little update - just finished the instrument panel and used the kit decal.  The kit decal (as is usually the case with Airfix decals) performed beautifully with a bit of Set & Sol and completely disappeared down into all the various details and dials.  Then it was just finished off with a little gloss varnish in each of the dials to replicate a glass effect and I've ended up with this:

 

 

Now I must get cracking and finish off the rest of the cockpit which has had about 25g of weight crammed into it as opposed to the 15g recommended in the instructions.  You can never overdo it when it comes to avoiding a tail sitter 

 

Kris

[Ray_W]

That IP decal settled down nicely. It looks really good. Minor correction to the Airfix decal I picked up from the Red Roo instructions and I quote:

 

"Instrument panel decal D1 - Paint the yellow disc on the lower section black as it is an instrument face (the voltmeter), not a blanking plate."

 

This seems typical for the Meteor examples I have researched.

 

 

I expect Airfix has based their research on this oddball. What is it? I am not sure. Is it original, a special instrument, or just the backing plate with the dial face gone? Someone might know.

 

 

I was happy to just go with my research and the Red Roo comments.

 

Ray

Edited October 20, 2022 by Ray_W
Replaced Image

[franky boy]

Nice work on the ip decal Kris. 
 

I did mine last night for my build and it behaved as yours did. Like you say, Airfix decals are really very good these days. 
 

James 

[planecrazee]

18 hours ago, Ray_W said:

That IP decal settled down nicely. It looks really good. Minor correction to the Airfix decal I picked up from the Red Roo instructions and I quote:

 

"Instrument panel decal D1 - Paint the yellow disc on the lower section black as it is an instrument face (the voltmeter)

 

Thanks very much for this information Ray ‐ very much appreciated. I'm always grateful for any research info to try and make a model that bit more accurate.  It's funny you've flagged this because I remember thinking at the time that the yellow seemed a bit of an odd colour to be seeing on a dial on a panel of this era but had just assumed it must be correct as I'm no expert on these things 

Kris

[planecrazee]

15 hours ago, franky boy said:

Nice work on the ip decal Kris. 
 

I did mine last night for my build and it behaved as yours did. Like you say, Airfix decals are really very good these days. 
 

James 

 

Thanks James ‐ much appreciated and I'm glad to hear you've had the same success 

 

Kris

[planecrazee]

Good evening folks,

 

Hope all's well with everyone and their builds.

 

I've been busy working on getting the cockpit completed and it's been a pleasure to work on especially with the amount of detail OOB.  The only thing I haven't done yet is added the bulkhead at the front of the cockpit as after doing a bit of dry fitting I think it will be best to try and do that when I come to close up the two fuselage halves to ensure as good a fit as possible.

 

I'm just building this kit pretty much OOB - I did think about using an aftermarket ejector seat but once the kit part was painted up and had a dry brush and a wash, I was happy with that so stuck with it.

 

The only thing I've done out of sequence at this point was to skip to step 91 and back again by adding the gun sight into the cockpit so I know it's done 

 

So here's where I am to date with a completed cockpit:

 

 

 

 

 

The blobs of blu-tac you may have noticed at the back of the cockpit are there for extra stability for keeping all the nose weight in place that I added.  None of this can be seen once the tub is in the fuselage halves - I made sure when doing a dry fit 

 

I've also got back to working on the engines after my oil tank mishap (as detailed previously) and as you can see below I've got the main parts all painted up and have begun to start weathering them in with a wash and I think I'll do a bit of dry brushing on the black areas just to make them pop a bit more too:

 

 

So that's the state of play for the moment and I'm really enjoying the build so far.  I have a couple of days off work next week so hopefully be able to get plenty of bench time in and get even more done on the Meteor

 

See you soon for the next update 

 

Kris