Gloster Meteor F.8 / FR.9
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Hi-Decal, 1/48 & 1/72 scales

Hi-Decal has announced a timely new decal sheet is now available in 1/48 and 1/72 scale:

Gloster Meteor F.8 / FR.9  - HD48038 & HD72038  

(six options: four F.8 and two FR.9 ) 

• Meteor F.8, Royal Danish Air Force, 1952 - Dark Green / Dark Sea Grey / Medium Sea Grey camo with colorful "Lörn" ( half eagle/half lion) unit insignia;

• Meteor F.8, Royal Danish Air Force, 1954 - Dark Green / Dark Sea Grey / Medium Sea Grey camo with "Lörn" insignia ( a bit different from the first one) and some stencilling specific for RDAF Meteors ;

• Meteor F.8, Egyptian Air Force, 1956 - Aluminium scheme; ( armed with 8 Sakr rockets - the same as used a.o. on EAF MiG-17Fs, MiG-15bis, Vampires and Yak-11s - they flew combat missions against Israeli positions in the Sinai during the October 1956 war) 

• Meteor F.8, Syrian Air Force, 1956 - Dark Green / Mid Stone / PRU Blue camo ( two SyAF Meteors were credited with the downing of a RAF recce Canberra over Syria in October 1956)  

• Meteor FR.9, Syrian Air Force, 1956 - Dark Green / Mid Stone / PRU Blue camo; ( one of only two supplied to the SYAAF with overpainted camera windows, used as fighter-bombers ) 

• Meteor FR.9, Ecuadorian Air Force, 1975 - Aluminium scheme with red nose and intakes as well as a blue nose stripe with blue & red stars. ( with overpainted camera windows, used solely as fighter-bombers,  armed with HVAR rockets) - the very last Meteor in active operational service worldwide.

The sheet includes correct markings for the last delivered RDAF Meteor, including the danish language stencilling applied in the cockpit area additionally to the standard english markings  (standard stencils can be taken from the kit decals) as well as the danish walkway markings ( photos confirm that these weren't applied symmetrically - a fact that no one saw previously) and a unique form of the "Lion-eagle" squadron emblem including the squadron motto ribbon...

I also obtained original Gloster factory drawings showing the details of the Syrian AF scheme as well as each of the markings applied on these airframes, so the dimensions and forms are 100% exact.

I was also lucky enough to find a foto showing a row of Syrian Meteors in their base and was able to identify one of the only two FR.9 delivered to Syria...looking at the noses to find the characteristic inlet !

 As I had the individual serials of these birds, it was then a piece of cake to reproduce the bird correctly.

The Egyptian bird markings had also been exactly reproduced, as the shapes of the digits were the same (Gloster standard ) as on the Syrian birds. 

Re. Ecuadorian Meteor - Here I worked with the few photos available of the "real" operational birds, not the widely available shots of museum Meteors, as these have unfortunately poorly restored schemes...I also got a beautiful shot of an FAE Meteor done by René Francillon and used it to recreate the look of the last operational Meteor...as FF-119 crashed into a school building in Quito, the remaining Meteors were immediately and definitively grounded, bringing the Meteor "frontline" service to an abrupt end. In service, the Meteors hadn't squadron markings applied on the noses. Only the ones from the aerobatic team "Patrulla Aguilas" had special markings on both side of their noses...something that was later "recreated" on the museum birds.

Thanks to HiDecal for the information and images.

Text and Images Copyright © 2026 by Hi-Decal
Page Created 14 July, 2026
Last updated 14 July, 2026

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