Gloster Meteor NF.11/12/13

Xtrakit, 1/72 scale
 

Reviewed by Brett Green

The night fighter variants have always been my favourite Meteors. With their conventional mid-mounted straight wings, WWII-style camouflage, chunky framed canopy and two jet engines, they seem to best typify the brief transitional phase between traditional fighter design and the new jet-powered generation.

The prototype Meteor NF.11 flew in May, 1950, and the night fighter variants remained in service until the early 1960s. Meteor night fighters were also exported to France, Belgium, Denmark, Egypt, Israel and Syria.
 

The Matchbox 1/72 scale Meteor Night Fighter kit dates from the mid 1980s. Mercifully, it was released after the retirement of the famous Matchbox "mad tencher", so surface detail was very fine and mostly raised with the exception of recessed control surface hinge lines and speed brakes.

Typical for a kit of its day, detail was relatively sparse, although the cockpit does feature seats, bulkheads, instrument panels and a control column, and the wheel bay is moulded with structural detail on the roof (not completely boxed in though).

Xtrakit has now re-released this kit in its own box and with three new, high quality marking options.

Xtrakit's Meteor night fighter comprises 66 pale in grey plastic parts, 4 clear parts and markings for 3 aircraft.

Click the thumbnails below to view larger images:

This is a new moulding by Revell of the older kit. I have read comments that the original release suffered from sink marks, but careful examination of the new moulding shows a major improvement in this respect. In fact, the only sink marks I could find were very shallow, located on the bottom of the wing between the trailing edge of the wing root and the nacelle.

There is a little flash on some of the parts, but the mouldings are generally very clean.

Many optional parts are supplied to permit the depiction of the NF.11, 12, 13 or 14. These options include three nose cones of different length, alternate engine intakes (full-length and cut back, giving the illusion of a larger opening), two styles of tail, plus alternate fuselage decking inserts and two canopies - framed and clear vision.

It should be noted that the longest nose option, parts 7 and 13, should not be used. If you are building the NF.14, use parts 9 and 12 instead. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the length of the NF.14 fuselage was identical to the NF.12 (confirmed by John Adams of Aeroclub during recent measurement of surviving examples).

Unlike limited run kits, this model includes locating pins and tabs to assist alignment, and to simplify assembly. Even so, the relatively large number of optional parts and, in particular, the upper deck insert will demand some close attention during assembly to avoid the need for putty.

The four clear parts are well moulded and free of distortion. They look good straight from the box, but will shine even brighter after a bath in Future.

Three new marking options are supplied:

• French Meteor NF.11 of ECN 1-30 "Loire"

• Meteor NF.12 of 64 Sqn. RAF in 1957

• Meteor NF.14 of 64 Sqn. RAF in 1958

A full set of stencils is also included.

These kit decals are produced to the usual high standards of Xtradecals, with very thin carrier film, excellent colour saturation and perfect registration.

The old 1/72 scale Matchbox Meteor night fighter was a good kit in its day, and it remains respectable in the 21st century. Indeed, the Xtrakit moulding quality seems to be an improvement compared to the original release.

The high quality decals are a welcome addition to this new package.

The price is very reasonable too, being around the same as a single after-market decal set.

Recommended

Thanks to Hannants for the sample

Xtrakits, Xtraparts and Xtradecals are all available online from Hannants' website

Text and Images Copyright © 2007 by Brett Green
This Page Created on 22 November, 2007
Last updated 24 December, 2007

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