Classic Airframes 1/48 scale Gloster Meteor F.8

Kit: No. 466
Scale: 1/48
Manufacturer: Classic Airframes, P.O. Box 577580, Chicago, IL 60657-7580, 773-665-7817 www.classicairframes.com
Price: $49.95
Comments: Injection-molded, 100 parts (13 resin), decals
Pros: Good detail overall, excellent resin cockpit details, good decals
Cons: Resin cockpit doesn't fit well in plastic fuselage, fit problems around wing/nacelle joints, needs lots of additional weight to sit on nose gear

The rapid advancement of jet fighters in the late 1940s left many end-of-war designs in the dust. Most became obsolete quickly when swept-wing Sabres and MiG-15s appeared, but the World War II-vintage Gloster Meteor evolved much like the Lockheed F-80/T-33/F-94 series of fighters. It was used as a fighter, bomber, trainer, and radar-guided interceptor. By the Korean War, Meteor F.8s were the prime equipment of the Royal Australian Air Force, and at least one North Korean MiG-15 fell to an RAAF Meteor's guns.

A few years ago, Tamiya brought out the WWII Meteor Mk.1/3, but its series never progressed to the later versions. Thanks to Classic Airframes, we now have the F.8. This kit is the "early version," with the smaller intakes and "unblown" canopy. The major components are molded in dark gray styrene with recessed panel lines, but the cockpit details and engine fronts are beautifully cast in resin. The decal sheet includes markings for an Australian MiG killer, an RAF Meteor, and a Royal Netherlands Air Force jet. The 10-page instructions have a brief history, clear diagrams, parts maps, and painting and markings guides.

Building the cockpit went fine, but each piece needed a little sanding. The problem was how the cockpit fit in the fuselage. The tub has the nose gear bay molded to its bottom. If you align the rear deck of the cockpit with the opening, the nose gear bay ends up too far to the rear. I elected to align the nose gear bay with its opening and filled behind the cockpit rear deck.

Some of the panel lines don't line up across the the fuselage-half seams. The worst offenders are on the bottom.

Both small- and large-mouth intakes are provided in the kit, and the instructions call for the large ones for this model. However, my photos show Meteor F.8s at Kimpo during the Korean war with the smaller intakes, so I used them instead.

It seemed that the engine nacelles were a bit flat, so I inserted a piece of sprue inside to plump them up a bit. I made two stacks of sheet styrene to serve as jigs to set the dihedral of the outer wing panels. Small gaps between the intakes and wings were filled with gap-filling super glue and sanded smooth.

Raised ejector-pin marks in the ribbing of the main gear wells were difficult to correct. Also, I figured the main gear struts might not hold up under the two oz. of additional weight needed to keep the model on all three wheels. I ended up drilling out the struts and inserting short pieces of piano wire to reinforce them.

I painted my Meteor with SnJ Spray Metal and polished with SnJ aluminum powder. I accented individual panels with Metalizer aluminum and stainless steel. I couldn't resist the Australian MiG-killer "Halestorm" flown by Sergeant George Hale. The decals were well printed and went down fine with a little Solvaset.

The finished model scales well to the measurements in Glen Ashley's Meteor in Action (Squadron/Signal), my main reference. I spent 25 hours completing this model, about a third of that time dry-fitting the cockpit pieces and wing assemblies. The result is a nice addition to my 1/48 scale Korean War collection.

- Tom Foti