Scale: 1/48
Manufacturer: Aeroclub Models, 5 Silverwood Ave., Ravenshead, Nottingham NG15 9BU, England. Available from Precision Enterprises Unlimited, P.O. Box 97, Springfield, VT 05156.
Price: $50.75 plus $5 shipping
Comments: Mixed media, 87 parts (12 injection molded, 17 vacuum formed, 2 resin, 56 cast white metal), decals.
The Meteor F.8 was the final day-fighter variant of the Royal Air Force’s first jet fighter. The Meteor saw minimal combat in the closing stages of World War II chasing V-1 buzz bombs, and saw combat in the Korean War flying under Australian colors. The F.8 served the RAF into the mid-1950s.
The large parts of Aeroclub’s kit are cleanly vacuum formed in .040″ white sheet styrene. Cockpit, engine, and landing-gear details are a combination of white metal and tan resin. Decals provide markings for two RAF Meteors and one F.8 flown by the Australians in Korea.
Carefully review the instructions before building. Pay attention to cutting and sanding instructions for the vacuum-formed pieces as oversanding will cause fit problems. I overdid it on the nose and in mid-fuselage, which produced wing/fuselage misalignment.
I encountered few other fit difficulties. The edges of the resin cockpit parts have to be sanded to fit. Follow the instructions about the accurate internal nose-gear bracing as you may not be able to fit it later. Aeroclub offers a choice between molded gun tubes or white-metal ones; I chose the latter.
Sanding the wings properly is important due to the molded-in dihedral of the outboard surfaces. Also, cutting away excess plastic at the ends of the engine nacelles is critical for the fit of the resin intakes and metal exhausts. If you mix up the port and starboard intakes they won’t fit.
After sanding off air-evacuation bumps and filling imperfections, some rescribing was required. I used little filler overall. The crystal-clear canopy was easy to trim and fit, but I gave up trying to fit the internal brace.
I settled on the markings for No. 1 Squadron, an aluminum painted finish. I primed the model, then applied Model Master Metalizer non-buffing aluminum.
The decals went on easily and responded slowly to Solvaset. I recommend trimming all the excess carrier film from the walkway lines.
The finished Meteor looks right, and is only seven scale inches too long in span. My references were Gloster Meteor by Chaz Bowyer and Meteor, Gloster’s First Jet Fighter by Steven J. Bond.
After 25 hours, I have an attractive addition to my 1/48 scale British collection. Consider this one for your next venture into multimedia kits.
Ross Whitaker