Meteors Over Africa

[Wardukw]

You can notice the quality with some decals..ive got some Tamiya decals which are around 10yrs old and they've had it..falling apart as the water releases them and others which are cheap and nasty which are older but work fine.

And some of them were DIABOLICAL even when they were new! 

Oh yeah..been there too.
Ones I'll never forget are the early ones from Monogram..when I had my F4 Phantom the decals where super glossy and thick as carpet ...and what the hell was it with that white flim which you always had to clean off..hated that stuff.

[Old Wombat]

Most modern decals/transfers still have the white background, as the colours aren't opaque enough to stop the underlying paint scheme from showing through; the white fixes that issue ... Mostly.

It's just that modern techniques mean that the placement of the colour over the white is much more accurate ... Again, mostly.

[NARSES2]

25 years old ? Nothing mate. I've some generic national insignia ones which I got at BMW's in Wimbledon back in the late 60's and they still work fine.

Wasn't that a mecca for us back in the day?

Yup used to get the train from West Croydon to Wimbledon and then walk to Haydons Rd. Spent many a happy hour on a Saturday browsing through those big books of aftermarket transfers they had.

[NARSES2]

Finally got there. So that's the second finished build in this GB, I don't know what's the World coming to ? 

Gloster Meteor FR.9 of the Royal Rhodesian AF Salisbury 1959

The Royal Rhodesian AF was formed in 1935 under the name of Southern Rhodesia Staff Corps Air Unit as a territorial unit, becoming the Southern Rhodesian AF on 3d September 1939 with the UK's declaration of war. The SRAF was absorbed into the RAF becoming 237 (Rhodesia) Squadron and participated in the East African Campaign. In 1947 it reverted to it's title of the Southern Rhodesian AF and then in 1954 became the Royal Rhodesian AF. During this period it served as the Air Force of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland also known as the Central African Federation (CAF) comprising Southern Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland. This lasted until 1963 when the CAF was dissolved and the rest as they say is a sorry history and lies beyond the scope of this piece.

It had various aircraft types including a squadron of Spitfire 22's, receiving its first jets, DH Vampire FB 9's in the mid-fifties. From 1939 until 1954 it used the standard RAF roundel with green and yellow bars (green-yellow-green) to either side as its national marking but this was replaced in 1954 by the use of the RAF roundel with three assegais superimposed on the red centre circle. These represented the three countries in the Federation.

So there we have the history, thank you Wikipedia, and now we have the Whiffery.

In 1958 the RRAF received three Gloster Meteor FR.9's which as well as being used to keep an eye on it's increasingly belligerent neighbours were used to help survey and map the Federation, as well as helping out with wildlife protection programmes.

So here we have aircraft "C" of 1 Reconnaissance Flight RRAF based at Salisbury Air Base in the summer of 1959. Although originally delivered in RAF camouflage colours of Dark Green/Dark Sea Grey/PR Blue the DSG was soon replaced with Dark Earth as this was thought to be far more suitable for the region. As an aside some of the Rhodesian AF Hunters used in the "Bush War" of the 1970's did have a wraparound scheme of Dark Earth/Dark Green.

This particular aircraft, RRAF 121, is the one that whilst mapping the capital of Salisbury took the now infamous photo of the Governor General's daughter sunbathing in the grounds of Government House which subsequently appeared on page 3 of the newly launched "Salisbury Sun".

The kit itself is fantastic. Superb detail and fit, although some of the parts are tiny. Any defects you can see, especially around the canopy/cockpit area are purely down to my own cack handedness, some of which I can't even blame on my medical conditions. Miss-align a part and it will come back to haunt you latter, ask me how I know. She's finished with Xtracolour paints for the main scheme and a mix of others for smaller parts. The markings come from various sources. The serials are from an Xtradecal sheet which has a couple of Rhodesian Hunters on it, the stencils etc are from the kit and most importantly the national markings were produced for me by our very own PR19Kit, thank you Kit, and they behaved extremely well. I couldn't use the Xtradecal roundels as these only have the single assegai used before the break up of the Federation and Kit bailed me out.

I enjoyed this kit, although I didn't do it justice, and thoroughly recommend it to all.

  The pitot lasted until the last few seconds before photo call and then I caught it.....ping 



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[Old Wombat]

I think you've done it justice, especially as a hairy-stick painter!  

[zenrat]

  

Good job Chris.

[loupgarou]

Nice job, Chris! And I see you appreciate camembert! 
Or it's a coulommiers box?

[Rheged]

That is a very good piece of work!     I wonder if the photo-interpreter  who noted the Governor General's daughter got a reasonable back-hand payment from the   "Salisbury Sun"  ??

[PR19_Kit]

I love seeing a completed model using one of my decal sheets, makes it all worth while.

And your FR9 is a blinder Chris, really looks the part. 

As luck would have it, I'd got the artwork for a 'triple assegai' RRAF roundel already on file as I'd drawn one up in 1/48 for my late mate Ian's RRAF Spitfire 22 that he'd built a few years ago. It was a mater of moments to re-scale it down to 1/72 and print off a sheet for Chris.

[Wardukw]

Lovely Lovely stuff Chris   
For a stick job that paint looks great 👍

[AeroplaneDriver]

Beauty!   So envious of people who can paint with a hairy stick and get results like this.

[DogfighterZen]

That looks very good indeed!   

[NARSES2]

Thank you gents.

That is a very good piece of work!     I wonder if the photo-interpreter  who noted the Governor General's daughter got a reasonable back-hand payment from the   "Salisbury Sun"  ??

Shhhhhhhhhhhhh, who suggested that. The "Boys" may need to pay a visit 

Nice job, Chris! And I see you appreciate camembert! 
Or it's a coulommiers box?

I do indeed, along with most cheese's  but this was a Coulommiers de Brie, and gorgeous, especially on some fresh baked Ciabatta    The box is a useful stand as well.

[Vulcan7]

Great looking Meteor, beautifully painted by the human hand         

[Pellson]