Leigh Edmonds little box of stuff

I didn’t get much worthwhile modelling done this past month which has personally been terrible. My computer hard disk crashed, I contracted covid and my partner of more than fifty years died unexpectedly. It’s not that I didn’t spend time at the bench, it’s just that nothing much worthwhile resulted.

Gloster Meteor F.8 in 1/72 by Airfix
This model is a contribution to The Model Geeks ‘MiG Killer’ build. I plan to make more models of RAAF aircraft this year and the only Australian aircraft I could think of that had been involved in shooting down a MiG was this Meteor F.8 Flown by Sergeant Hale of 77 Squadron, RAAF, during the Korean War. I was also curious to see what the new Airfix Meteor was like and it is very good. I had plenty of problems in getting this model completed but they were mainly due to ‘operator error’. The only Aussie Decals I used were those specific for this aircraft, the rest came from the kit decals. I was not looking forward to having to apply all the stenciling on the decal sheet but I could not see much stenciling on the real aircraft so happily ignored almost all the stenciling drudgery.

THE GLOSTER METEOR GALLERY

I’m not a great fan of the Gloster Meteor but I discovered that I’ve made another three Meteor models over the years. My fevered covid brain decided that I may as well show them to you too.

Gloster Meteor F.1 in 1/72 by Dragon
I made this model in 2016. This was at the beginning of my dalliance with acrylic paint, which did not last very long. I could have tried out these paints on something more common like a Spitfire or Hurricane but the shape of the first Meteor is interesting and I wanted to see what it looked like in three dimensional space.

Gloster Meteor F.4 in 1/72 by Frog
I made this model in 1998. It was given to me by a friend as a bag full of plastic pieces and it took an evening or two to put it together. I’m pretty sure that this was painted in Humbrol 11 which has stood up fairly well.

Armstrong Whitworth Meteor NF.14
I made this model in 2014. You’d think that, since I’d been making models for decades by then, that I’d have made a better fist of this model. I have no idea what went wrong with that cockpit canopy. However, since I’m not likely to see another Matchbox kit of this aircraft at a reasonable price I’ll keep this one.

OUT OF THE PAST

BAC Lightning F.1 in 1/72 by Trumpeter
It is not difficult to convert the Trumpeter Lightning F.1A into the earlier F.1. Add some after-market decals and the result if a nice looking representation of a very early 74 Squadron Lightning.

Boeing PB-1W in 1/72 converted from the Hasegawa kit
What’s not to like about a big Dark Sea Blue US Navy Flying Fortress?

Boeing 737-100 in 1/144 by Airfix and Revell
This model was made using the flying surfaces and engines of an Airfix kit and a modified fuselage from a Revell kit. Add in some Hawkeye decals and you get a model of the airliner that Ansett used to break into the New Zealand market.

Lockheed F-117A in 1/72 by Academy/Minicraft
This model represents one of the most uninteresting looking aircraft ever made. The kit itself is simplicity, as is the colour scheme, but making this model shows that the F-117 is not a small aircraft.

Republic F-84F in 1/72 by Italeri
This kit is now fifty years old and suffers from many of the problems that old kits have, such as raised panel lines and poor cockpit. Nevertheless, the Carpena decals of this French aircraft make it look very attractive.

IN TIME TO COME
There’s not much going on at the moment. The VS-44 requires a lot of masking, which is taking time and driving me nuts. I started the F-104 to give me something simple to work on but progress has still been slow there too. I’m thinking of painting it in the South East Asia camouflage scheme just to give me a break from all the silver aircraft.