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Uncle Frank's scary Night fighter - Finished!


Geo1966

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My Uncle Frank flew Meteor NF11’s in the early 1950’s, so I am building this to show and remind him of his fly boy days. He told me when he joined the RAF he first learnt to fly a Tiger Moth, then moved on to Havard’s. Once he had passed that he was straight into a Meteor! He said it was scary to put it mildly! Apparently, a lot of guys didn’t return from training flights in those days.

 

Frank is 93 now and although he remembers flying NF11’s he is a bit unsure of which Squadron he was with or where they were based. I will try and find out more over the coming weeks, as it would be nice to do this as one from a Squadron in which he served.

 

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Not sure which scheme I will do yet, depends on what I can glean from Frank. There are four options.

 

Vhie4eQ.jpg

 

George

Edited by Geo1966
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A great back story to go with your build. 

 

I have all all three of the SH NF Meteors in the stash and look like great kits. 

 

Will follow with interest. 

 

James

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This is only my second aircraft build since I was a lad (40+ years ago). The first a couple of months ago was an Eduard 1/72 Spitfire, but I managed to break the front windscreen part of the canopy while masking it, so it ended up being binned. Hopefully I will have better luck this time and to be on the safe side I have invested in a canopy mask. I have been building 1/35 AFV’s since I returned to the hobby about 3 years ago, so have a bit of experience, just not with aircraft builds.

 

CSe7Txe.jpg

 

George

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  • Geo1966 changed the title to Uncle Frank's scary Night fighter
34 minutes ago, Geo1966 said:

Frank is 93 now and although he remembers flying NF11’s he is a bit unsure of which Squadron he was with or where they were based.

Surely you could contact the RAF and with Franks consent (thank you GDPR) make enquiries. 
 

Must be really nice to build something with a family connection like that.

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27 minutes ago, Marklo said:

Surely you could contact the RAF

Thanks Marklo, i am going to try and get a copy of his flight log book from his Daughter, so fingers crossed that will reveal all.

 

George

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Have made a bit of a start on this. Lovely detail in the cockpit.

 

hy30NvG.jpg

 

Painted with Tamiya NATO black, then dry brushed with gun metal. In a couple of references i saw the harnesses were blue, so i went with that for a bit of colour.

 

fNM1SPz.jpg

 

George

Edited by Geo1966
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Nice start

 

The cockpit is really well detailed for 1/72, that could easily pass for 1/48. Not sure about the nose weight. Just shove as much into the nose as you can!

 

James

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5 minutes ago, franky boy said:

Just shove as much into the nose as you can!

Thanks James. Strange they don't mention it in the distructions.

 

George

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52 minutes ago, Geo1966 said:

My first question to the BM collective, how much weight do i need to put in the nose please?

 

George

 

George,

 

My approach to establishing the required weight is to get the fuselage built but not joined together, then tape the fuselage together. Add the lower wing temporarily then put some matchsticks in the undercarriage mounting points so that the model pivots on that point.

 

With it teetering like this you can see how much weight you need (depending on the construction of the model you may be able to drop it into the fuselage or you can tape a small bag to the fuselage and tip it in there).  Once you have established how much weight you need, add a bit more weight for good luck.

 

Now you've established the weight you need, you just have to find room for it, you need to place it as far forward as possible, fortunately the Meteor has a nice long nose you can put it in.

 

I've got some lead shot and sheet I use for providing the necessary weight.

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19 minutes ago, Marklo said:

I tend to just put as much lead shot as will fit :) much less scientific but it’s worked so far for everything except my TA154 which needed weight in the front of the engine nacelles too.

 

Which is OK if the undercarriage is nice and sturdy...   ...trust me on this.

 

George,

 

Nice start on that cockpit, the SH kit is well detailed in that area.

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Thanks for the info on the nose weight Gents.

 

Spoke to my Uncle at the weekend, but he is very confussed about Squadrons, locations, etc. He is 93 so it is understandable i guess. Also he has no idea where his flight log book is. My plan now is to build the Meteor and show him it when completed, thinking that perhaps it will jog his memory.

 

Perhaps wasted some time and paint on the engines as i don't think much will be seen. At least i can sleep easy knowing they have been done.

 

NRSkluE.jpg

 

George

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1 hour ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Might I suggest asking the RAF. Maybe they can get a hold of his records and tell you the units he served/flew with ? It might not work but could be worth a try. 

 

George,

 

It will help if you can get Frank's service number, ask him, it'll be so ingrained that it will trip off of his tongue, its something you never forget.

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Got some weight in the nose, hopefully its enough. Also, if you look carefully, you will see the lack of locating pins, which is going to make getting the fuselage together a challenge.

 

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Forgot to show the monstrous ejector pin marks on the engines. Not a major problem, as they cleaned up ok ish.

 

op8uPuk.jpg

 

George

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