Spad Posted November 29, 2022 Share Posted November 29, 2022 (edited) Hello Bit late to the party here but here goes! My entry will be the Airfix F.8 in 1/48 finished as WL135 when used by the OC 245Sqn when based at RAF Horsham St Faith (now Norwich Airport) using Xtradecal X48-043. I shall also (probably) use a Neomega resin seat - it looks gorgeous tbh! F.8 Boxes by Rick Smith, on Flickr City of Norwich Aviation Museum is my local museum and displays a Mk.8 (WK654) painted in those colours and served as my inspiration for the build - here she is: WP_20160409_15_26_16_Pro by Rick Smith, on Flickr Let the games begin so, fingers crossed! Thanks for looking Rick Edited January 10, 2023 by Spad correction 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted November 30, 2022 Share Posted November 30, 2022 Welcome along Rick that is a good looking choice for a Meteor. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franky boy Posted November 30, 2022 Share Posted November 30, 2022 Welcome along Rick Nice choice of markings. Thats the same kit and decal sheet that I’m using for my build of 74 squadron meteor from Horsham. James 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Bob Posted December 2, 2022 Share Posted December 2, 2022 Good to see you in the GB Rick, I finally got my finger out, or is it.... put my knitting down and made a start on my Meatbox. The problem with these F.8s is there are so many nice sqn markings to choose from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spad Posted December 4, 2022 Author Share Posted December 4, 2022 On 12/2/2022 at 6:18 PM, Retired Bob said: Good to see you in the GB Rick, I finally got my finger out, or is it.... put my knitting down and made a start on my Meatbox. The problem with these F.8s is there are so many nice sqn markings to choose from. Absolutely are Bob and thanks - good to see you getting the mojo back! Most of what I have been up to recently is concentrated on the wings as I am making up the wings for the T.7 build so figured it would be sensible to do both at the same time - Henry Ford eat your heart out! As with the other, not much to really see so no pics yet. I am. however, debating underwing tanks or not - I think the F.8 tended more towards having them - what does everybody think? While I had the Tamiya NATO Black out for the T.7 I also set about the cockpit area for this one. That Neomega seat is gorgeous - just hope my painting can do it justice - I know the pic doesn't! IMG_0135 by Rick Smith, on Flickr Anyway, onwards and (hopefully) upwards! Thanks for looking in! 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Bob Posted December 4, 2022 Share Posted December 4, 2022 6 hours ago, Spad said: I am. however, debating underwing tanks or not - I think the F.8 tended more towards having them - what does everybody think? Looking at F.8 photos, the earlier all silver painted aircraft are not seen with the underwing tanks, but they are often carried later in their service life when they were camouflaged. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back in the Saddle Posted December 10, 2022 Share Posted December 10, 2022 Great to see another F.8! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerbob Posted December 10, 2022 Share Posted December 10, 2022 On 12/4/2022 at 9:22 AM, Spad said: I am. however, debating underwing tanks or not - I think the F.8 tended more towards having them - what does everybody think? I can't speak with confidence specifically about Meteor 8s (without checking my notes), but in my recent trundling through Vampire, Meteor, Sabre, etc ORBs I get the definite impression that the general trend was to only put wing drop tanks on when really needed. There are lots of comments such as "We put drop tanks on all the aircraft in preparation for the move to Sylt (Armament Practice Camp)." And then once they get there, they drop them again (on the ground, that is!) Belly tanks, on the other hand, might be more commonly carried, though that's more speculation than anything else. I think that they added some weight and drag, and also tended to have a negative effect on handling. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spad Posted December 14, 2022 Author Share Posted December 14, 2022 Thanks Bob (Retired), Bob (Ginger) and Back in the Saddle!😉😃 Re the tanks, I like them so as there doesn't seem to be a definitive yes/no I reckon I am going to go with tanks and imagine it's on deployment. Been a bit quiet on the update front and a blow by blow account of building the wings would be pretty tedious, I just wanted to show that there has been progress (of sorts!) Wings are built up. The sharper eyed amongst you (or those still awake) will notice the serial number and mark written in the centre section. This is just to keep me straight as I have drilled the holes for the underwing tanks - I'm not using them on the T.7 and they are pretty small tbh! Many people have reported a faultless build but I have had issues with closing the leading edges on both sets of wings. maybe it's me, maybe it's the kit, I don't know but both took a bit of clamping and tape with a progressive closing of the seams around the wing. IMG_0166 by Rick Smith, on Flickr I have also decalled the instrument panel. I have used the kit panel decals from both kits on the T.7 (so they match) so used individual decals from Airscale on this one (maybe hadn't thought that one through properly - it was fiddly!). Looks ok, probably not the right instruments but should look reasonably convincing in the depths of the cockpit. IMG_0165 by Rick Smith, on Flickr That's all for tonight - thanks for dropping in! Rick 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franky boy Posted December 15, 2022 Share Posted December 15, 2022 Nice work Rick I like the instrument panel decals. I found on my build that the wings/ engines took a lot longer to build up than the fuselage. James 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Bob Posted December 17, 2022 Share Posted December 17, 2022 Good job with the cockpit parts Rick, I too found that the wing edges would not join together without a fight, I just put down to typical Airfix. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spad Posted December 27, 2022 Author Share Posted December 27, 2022 (edited) Right, now Christmas is out of the way and the house is returning to normality, let's get back to the Meatboxes. I trust everybody had a good Crimbo!?! Been pushing along with the wings since my last update but tbh it's mainly seam tidying and edge thinning etc so not much to show. However, getting the fuselage closed up is a priority and to do that the cockpit has to be built and, therefor, painted. In my excitement, I got the walls and floor together before I remembered to pics of the painting etc. Here goes nothing with a couple of shots of the assembled cockpit tub - hope you can see some stuff in there! Stbd wall IMG_0169 by Rick Smith, on Flickr Port wall IMG_0168 by Rick Smith, on Flickr Did some work on the Neomega seat. First it was adapt it by removing a lot of hidden detail from the rear face in order to fit the kit's, what shall we call it(?), mounting armature(?), along with the integral plate behind the headrest (armour plating?). The kit part itself also needed to be shortened slightly to fit the seat. When it came to painting the seat I was at a slight loss as, being colour blind, the average reference shot wasn't too much use. I read somewhere that the seat covers were khaki so out with the bottle marked "Khaki" and off we went. I can see blue so no probs there, the rest I made up. A coat of gloss, a Warhammer Black Ink pin wash then a coat of matt saw me complete on the seat. IMG_0172 by Rick Smith, on Flickr Seat and tub brought together - just need to get the cannons fitted along with their spent cartridge chutes. IMG_0172 by Rick Smith, on Flickr Finished the instrument panel as well with a few extra bits of white paint, a coat of matt and some drops of gloss in the dial faces. IMG_0173 by Rick Smith, on Flickr That's it for tonight - thought I had better show my face again! Night all! Rick Edited December 27, 2022 by Spad 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spad Posted January 10, 2023 Author Share Posted January 10, 2023 So, happy new year to everybody! It's been a bit busy of late so I have been concentrating on getting stuff done as the finish date is looming ever closer - I may have bitten off more than I can chew coming late to this! Anyway, the F.8 is coming together and this is how it looked some time around new Year. managed to get around 30 gms of lead flashing in behind and under the cockpit so shouldn't be a tail-sitter! As you can see, I have made an attempt at the oil pump cooling hole in the L/E of the spar in the intake. I am planning to have the port engine cover loose but the starboard buttoned up. As the F.8 will be fitted with the deep breather intakes it will need a bit of engine detail so I will be fitting the kit motors into both nacelles - be different for the T.7 though. IMG_0185 by Rick Smith, on Flickr That's all for this instalment - next time (tomorrow maybe?) I will be able to show quite a bit more progress. All the best everyone Rick 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
81-er Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 It's coming together well, Rick James 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spad Posted January 11, 2023 Author Share Posted January 11, 2023 On 1/10/2023 at 7:50 AM, 81-er said: It's coming together well, Rick Thanks James! Since that last pic I have come along in leaps and bounds (well, by my standards anyway!) As you can see, I have the deep breather intakes on and because they are so much bigger and details can be seen inside, there is an engine in the nacelle. I had to get it painted and fitted at this stage as I wanted the cover on the starboard side. Port side and the port gun cover will be off so the engine this side can be left a little longer. I also took the tip/suggestion from Retired Bob and used the spare starboard tailplane from the T.7 build to avoid the much discussed short-shot trailing edge on the port side. To do this the square panel was filled and 4 small access panels scribed to replicate the original topsides. Started to get some yellow onto the fin but I think it needs a further coat yet. I have also removed the little fairing under the rear fuselage (no TT capability on the CO's aircraft!) and filled and rescribed the odd depression under the cockpit section. Needn't have worried too much as most of it is covered by the ventral tank - oh well! IMG_0205 by Rick Smith, on Flickr That's largely it for the moment - more paint next! Maybe I'm going to make it!?! ATB Rick 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spad Posted January 30, 2023 Author Share Posted January 30, 2023 Well, I am going to have to admit defeat on this one as well. The issues I mention in the T.7 build took most of my attention over the last couple of weeks. This one also got stalled by me being stupidly flumoxxed by the seemingly endless range of camo schemes worn by the Meteor F.8 - no 2 seemed the same! I managed to get the fin masked and a coat of Dark Sea Grey Xtracolor onto it.T The question of camo pattern then ran straight into my OCD which effectively stopped me progressing while I chased around in circles trying to decide! Being unable to locate any period pics of the genuine aircraft I eventually (late!) decided to replicate the scheme on the preserved example at City of Norwich Museum reasoning that the museum must have had some references on which to base their spray job. I am not sure but it looks as if that aircraft may have had a respray! I think I'm seeing 2 camo patterns on it in different pics.... Oh well, I have now settled on the kit camo scheme as at least that is consistent across the 3-views. I did manage to get the gunsight/windscreen sorted out and fitted plus masking onto the canopy - you ca see most of this in this pic. IMG_0238 by Rick Smith, on Flickr You can see I also got some HSS on the underwing tanks and elevators; the latter will be installed slightly drooped as they seem to appear in that state in most pics. Sad to report that's as far as I got with this one - bit of an over-reach on my part doing 2. Note to self, be realistic and be on time for the start! As with the T.7, I will still continue to post progress either here (if it stays open to do so) or in a WIP thread. So until next time, it's been fun, has driven a form of discipline in my building and has been good to see other's builds and to learn much about the Meatbox Thanks to the hosts! Bye for now ATB Rick 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 Thank you for joining us in the build. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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