Xtrakit 1/72 Gloster Meteor F. Mk. 8By Chris Banyai-Riepl |
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Overview
The Gloster Meteor, along with the de Havilland Vampire, marked the entry into the Jet Age for the RAF. With several actually seeing combat before the end of the Second World War, the Meteor went on to serve in a wide range of roles, including target tug and night fighter. The definitive day fighter variant, the F. Mk. 8, was one of the most colorful of Meteor variants, coming at the height of bright squadron markings on both overall silver and camouflaged examples. The F. Mk. 8 also saw combat with the RAF in Korea, and with both Israeli and Arab nations during the Suez Crisis in 1956.
The Kit
Considering
its long life, it is surprising that it took until now for a good 1/72
Meteor F. Mk. 8 to show up. Working with MPM, Hannant’s first kit
in their Xtrakit series brings us a new-tool Meteor kit that is quite
good indeed. Molded in the typical MPM medium gray plastic, this kit has
quite a bit of detail to it, with recessed panel lines, two clear canopies,
and a good-sized decal sheet.
Starting with the interior, this is fairly basic, but should still look decent enough. There are separate sidewalls, a one-piece floor, a three-piece seat, control stick, rudder pedals, and rear bulkhead assembly. A two-piece instrument panel assembly and a pair of canopy rails complete the interior, all of which is trapped within the two fuselage halves. The instructions note that three grams of weight should be placed in the nose. Definitely do not skip this step, as this will be a tailsitter for sure without it.
The
wings are split into upper and lower pieces, covering the entire span.
These pieces also include the engine nacelles, so there are no worries
about alignment here. While on the subject of the engines, there are separate
intake faces and exhausts that fit into the wing, as well as separate
wheel well inserts. These are nicely detailed and should just pop with
a good painting. There are also two sets of intakes included in the kit,
although the larger sized ones are marked as not for use. If you have
a specific Meteor that requires the larger intakes, though, everything
is here to build one of those.
The landing gear is nicely detailed and suitably complex. Separate mudguards and multi-part struts will make assembly a bit more challenging than normal, but the results will be well worth the effort. For external stores, there is the conformal belly fuel tank and two wing fuel tanks. The kit includes both types of canopies in beautifully thin injection plastic.
The
decal options provide markings for three aircraft: one camouflaged and
two overall silver. The camouflaged example is from No. 501 Squadron,
RAuxAF in 1957. It has yellow and black triangles on either side of the
fuselage roundel. The next choice is from No. 600 Squadron, RAuxAF, and
is overall silver, with red and white triangles on either side of the
roundel. The individual aircraft letter “W” is on the tail
and nose gear door in red. The final choice is the most colorful, an overall
silver Meteor from No. 222 Squadron, RAF. This plane, coded K-ZD, has
black and red checkers on the tail. The decals are nicely printed and
include a set of stenciling.
Conclusion
This is a kit that I have been waiting for quite some time, as the Meteor has always been one of my favorite aircraft. Given the great number of colorful Meteors out there, I’m sure that this will not be my last Meteor built. My thanks to Hannant’s for the review sample.
