I
am a dedicated builder of 1/48 scale models from the Second World War.
OK, ok, so I recently built a Classic Airframes Hornet, an Airfix
Seafire 47 & Hobbycraft Sea Fury, which are definitely post-war,
but they were all 1/48 & had props at the front.
Here I am now with a post WW2 “blow-torch”….why?
Well I like CA kits, I was attracted by the wealth of colourful
marking options, I was getting in a bit of a rut & a change is as good as a
rest…There!
After
marks 1 & 3, the Mk 4 introduced extended engine nacelles & wings of
greatly reduced span. Both of these
mods resulted in a marked improvement in speed with the cropped wings also
increasing roll rate at the expense of the rate of climb.
The Mk 8 was the first operational mark to introduce any major fuselage
modifications with an extended nose & redesigned tail unit. It was also the
first to incorporate an ejector seat (long time since I built a model with one
of THOSE!).
Following
the instructions, basic assembly was quite simple.
Plastic is the usual CA type, i.e., quite soft.
The resin parts are a very similar colour.
The
resin components include a nose wheel mounting frame that attaches to the front
of the cockpit assembly. It is a
miracle how CA managed to cast this in a single piece & probably more
so that it reaches the modeller in the same state!
It needs a bit of cleaning up & rather than risk breakage & loss
of any of the members, I removed the two diagonal struts, re-applying them after
clean up. No guidance as to where
to mount the assembled cockpit in the opening but logic prevailed.
Without
a considerable amount of weight forward of the main undercarriage, there
is no way of avoiding a tail sitter with this model.
Mine was provided by the metal weight that Tamiya thoughtfully
provide in their Meteors, my example of which took a final flight during a
recent “rationalisation” of my model collection!
I simply superglued it in position behind the cockpit.
Even this is barely sufficient to do the job!
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images below to see larger images
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Other
reviews have commented on poorly fitting intake mouths; mine went on fine
requiring a little filler & sanding to hide the joints. However, there are massive
internal seams that require some awkward filling & sanding. Resin engine fronts are positioned just behind the
“splitters” & jet pipes are installed with a couple of mm exposed at the
rear; I used sprue “props” to install them straight & level.
The
worst fitting aspects of the kit are the outer wings.
Put simply, they are appalling! I
wedged more scrap sprue into their open ends (where they join the nacelles) but
was still left with major gaps that required much in the way of filling &
sanding. With hindsight, I may see on a future build whether it is possible to
attach the top & bottom components to the respective inner components before
cementing them together.
As
the undercarriage, wheel bays & doors are the same colour as the rest of the
undersides, I attached them prior to painting, reinforcing the joints with a bit
of brass wire on each leg. I did
not attach the nose gear as I was worried about breaking either the leg itself
or it’s delicate mounting frame up in the nose gear bay.
Arriving too late for inclusion in this build was a pair of Airwaves
white metal main wheels. These
demonstrate a different hub design to those supplied by CA.
I’m not sure which are correct but as you can see so little of the
undercarriage due to the Meteor’s low slung “sit” & the blanking
effect of the doors it’s probably no big deal which you use.
The
Meteor is often seen with external tanks, the centre line tank more so (at least
in my references) than the wing tanks so I used this tank only.
The
undersides were then sprayed with Xtracolour X142 FS17178 “Aluminium”
which seems a reasonable match for “High Speed Silver” on the real thing.
Uppers received a dark green & dark sea grey disruptive pattern – Xtracolour
again. All decals are from the
kit & went on very well. Options
are two RAuxAF machines (501 &
609 squadrons), plus a single Israeli example (more choices are provided on the
Xtradecal sheet which was unavailable at the time of this build). I then sprayed the entire model with Humbrol gloss
varnish – another refreshing change from matt WW2 finishes! Maybe a bit too “factory fresh” to some eyes but these
RAuxAF machines were well maintained.
Pitot
tube is fine brass tube & rod with rod used again for the rear fuselage
aerial & stretched sprue for the forward aerial.
The
only real additions I made were the prominent canopy rails either side of the
cockpit. These are easily fabricated from a bit of card &
stretched sprue. Unlike their
recent Hornet, the canopies in this kit are injected.
They are quite thick & looked a little cloudy out of the box but a
quick polish & a dip in Future resulted in a decent finish.
Apart
from the nightmare of the wing joints, I genuinely enjoyed this model & am
very pleased with the result. I
have a couple more Mk 8’s along with a couple of Mk 4’s in the “to do”
pile. The sheer number of units that operated these machines &
resultant choice of markings is to me sufficient justification.
This
kit is one of a very welcome series that Classic Airframes are releasing
over a period with the FMk4 already available.
The FR9 (basically the same as the FMk8 but with a camera nose) is due
for release in February & the TMk7 is I believe due for release fairly
shortly but I really await the NF11/NF13 Nightfighter although an NF14 with
it’s “blown” hood would be the icing on the cake for me.
Now,
onto my 1/32 Hunter!!! (Anyone want to but a closet full of 1/48 WW2 models?)
Graham
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