Czech Master Resin, Gloster Meteor F8/ FR9 (1/72nd)

The kit came through Roger Wallsgrove and I can honestly say that it is the best kit in any medium of a Meteor that I have ever seen. Comprising 60 resin parts - no etched brass or white metal in this kit with stunning mouldings and superb panel detail on all parts. Comparing the kit with the Aviation News plans (Vol 10 No 8, September 1981), which are supposedly the best available and most accurate, I cannot find any fault with the kit, even down to the smallest panel line.

The Kit

The kit provides all the necessary parts to build a Mk 8 in its early form, with small intakes and half-metal canopy , a late Mk 8 with larger intakes and full canopy, and an FR nose for the FR9. All the parts are packed in 2 A4-size plastic envelopes, which have been pocketed so that the parts are separate and don't knock together. A novel idea that works extremely well,and also means that you only have to open the pockets as and when the parts are needed. (Common to all Czech Master Resin kits). The instructions come on 2 sheets of double-sided A4, plus one A2 colour sheet although the building instructions are limited to an exploded view of all parts, with the rest of the A4 sheets taken up with 1/72nd 3-views of the different aircraft that can be modelled which are:

Construction

Construction begins by cleaning up the resin parts which have a little flash and molding gates. The cockpit interior comes in 5 parts, floor, seat, front coaming, control column and rudder pedals, which are fitted into the starboard fuselage half. The seat is perfectly adequate but not up to the standard of Aeroclub or Airwaves so it was replaced with an Aeroclub seat. Side consoles are molded into the fuselage sides, and the instrument panel has recesses for the instruments. I painted the whole cockpit matt black and picked out the instruments in white then joined the fuselage halves and filled any gaps filled with superglue. Deciding to build an F8, I filled the appropriate nose with lead shot and glued it into place, the fit was perfect.

Turning my attention to the wings, which unusually are molded in one piece with only the tops of the nacelles and the intakes as separate parts. Exhausts and rear engine blanking plates are supplied, as are engine fronts. Opting for the earlier small intakes, I found this was the only place where filler was needed with a slight gap at the leading edges of the wings and a slight mismatch of the intake and nacelle profiles. The completed wing fits well in the fuselage with just a little trimming needed, slight gaps were again filled with superglue and rubbed down when dry.

Finishing Off

The nose leg is a one-piece casting, but the main u/c units come in 5 pieces. Leg and half fork, wheel, half fork, mudguard and stay. The whole thing goes together very nicely, and the only problem I had was with the fine mudguard stays. These need careful trimming to match the mudguard profiles. Undercarriage doors are cast in one piece and only need careful cutting to separate. They are very thin and well profiled, and even have hinges to fit into slots in the u/c bays. Weapons supplied with the kit comprise the usual belly tank, 2 wing tanks, 2 bombs and 8 rockets. The bombs come with separate pylons which even have the shackles. The only part of this kit I am uneasy with concerns the rockets. Although well cast and with separate fins, I cannot find any references which show single rockets being carried. All my Meteor pictures show rocket rails with the 2-tier arrangement. I completed mine in a fighter configuration with just the belly tank.

To complete the kit are the canopies, early and late styles being supplied. These are very clear, and a little thicker than usual for vac-form canopies, making them easier to handle and trim. The fit is excellent. Very delicate pitot tube and blade aerial are also supplied.

Versions

Of the selection above it is possible to model 3 aircraft, except for the wingwalk/stencil detail, from the excellent decal sheet provided. However, the RAF/RAAF blue is too pale. I assume that to save printing costs only one shade of blue was used, which matches the Israeli colour. As noted on the instructions, there should be a yellow area below "Halestorm" on A77-851, where the decal has white. In use the decals are excellent, conforming very well with no silvering. The wingwalks in particular are very fine.

Conclusion

This is an exceptionally fine 1/72nd scale kit of the Meteor F8/FR9. The resin detail is pure joy to behold, the instructions and decals are good and the finished model looks crisp and precise. I will forgive the decals for not having quite the right colours, but I do feel a little more attention should have been given to the ejector seat, especially in a kit listed at £27 (UK price). Nonetheless, the quality of the mouldings alone makes the kit well worth the money. The only surviving FR9 is VZ608 at Newark in Nottingham, England. This aircraft was a trials aircraft throughout its life at Rolls Royce, on Reheat trials, and was last used as the test bed for the RB108 lift engine.

Review by Barry Francis, originally published nzebooks.com