Gloster What-If, Baby!

[The Rat]

Bitch bitch bitch, that's all I hear, I could have stayed married to my ex and got bitched at!

Quit griping and get on with it...  

 

[John Howling Mouse]

Bitch bitch bitch, that's all I hear, I could have stayed married to my ex and got bitched at!

Quit griping and get on with it...  

Oh yeah, I forgot about that part:
Putty-sand-repeat (groan, bitch and whine)
Putty-sand-repeat (groan, bitch and whine)
Putty-sand-repeat (groan, bitch and whine)
Putty-sand-repeat (groan, bitch and whine)

Okay, back down to the dungeon for another round of the sanding part.

:zzz:  :zzz:  :zzz:  

[wolfik]

:zzz:  :zzz:  :zzz:  :zzz:  :zzz: ...champagne and ....roses in the morning
wake up!  
sanding is the day´s schedule!....
(champagne and roses?.... )

[John Howling Mouse]

:zzz:  :zzz:  :zzz:  :zzz:  :zzz: ...champagne and ....roses in the morning
wake up!  
sanding is the day´s schedule!....
(champagne and roses?.... )

Yeah, one more cycle of sanding to go, tonight.  Maybe THIS time there will be no more tiny pock-marks or other imperfections.

To think: up until a few years ago, I never botherd to putty or sand anything!

Man, you can build models fast when you don't worry about such stuff.

 

[John Howling Mouse]

I must admit, this baby is coming along nicely.  At this stage, I can't show pics since I want to surprise you all (I've even done a faux newspaper article for the subject) but it's definitely looking better than I thought it would so far.

And I've certainly gained a lot of new respect for the Meteor.

 

[K5054NZ]

Newspaper article, eh? Sounds like my kinda backstory! ^_^ Can't wait to read it.

[K5054NZ]

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand is there progress? Not to pressure you or anything - I know you're not here for my entertainment   .

[John Howling Mouse]

Has it REALLY been this long since I last posted about this project?  Wow, Zac was still a "guest" at this point!  So, I'm very nearly ready for paint but everytime I look up a "typical" British aircraft subject's paint scheme in the late 1940's, I get different color names and/or FS numbers.  So, I'm going to wing it with my own personal versions of RAF Dark Green and RAF Dark Sea Grey for the upper camo over a PRU Blue for the lower surfaces.  Or, I might go with Britain's fantastic "RAF Sky" for the undersides (probably incorrect for the time period but that's why I'm a Whiffing Fool, baby).

Question: There will be (cough!) an STS-amount of underwing ordnance on this beastie.  I will paint the pylons (which I truly screwed up) to match the undersides of the wings and bombs will be bomb-olive-drab; but should rocket pods and fueltanks exactly match the undersides of the wings or be slightly different?

Oh, did I mention I blew it with the pylons?  ALL of them!  I checked and double-checked before attaching them and I do recall having second thoughts.  But, like the pinhead I am, I went ahead with them, anyhow.  Now that they're very permanently affixed, anything that hangs from them will sort of point upwards at a slight incline versus the flightline of the aircraft itself.     Looks like flying dung.

I'll have to play with the pylon mounts or something to accommodate my error unless one of you has a more intelligent solution (and don't just say "bin it" either!).

[kitnut617]

If you have seen photos of the specific ground attack version of the Meteor called a Reaper I think, you'll see that it had a sh*t load of stuff hanging of it and the ones under the wings didn't hang perpendicular to the ground.

I'm amazed at your detail Barry (like always) but one thing I'd like you to clarify -- erm -- the pilot, he, um, it, err --- it looks like a she

[John Howling Mouse]

If you have seen photos of the specific ground attack version of the Meteor called a Reaper I think, you'll see that it had a sh*t load of stuff hanging of it and the ones under the wings didn't hang perpendicular to the ground.

I'm amazed at your detail Barry (like always) but one thing I'd like you to clarify -- erm -- the pilot, he, um, it, err --- it looks like a she

Could not find a single image of the Reaper variant online.  Lots of text but no pics.  Blah.  As for the pilot, he's British.  Maybe it's Benny Hill in drag?

So, I attached the modified canopy last night.  One of those "Yeah, seems to fit okay, let's glue it on" moments when, as soon as the glued parts are together, you look closer and realize that there is a telltale gap all the way around.  You know the kind of gap that is j-u-s-t wide enough to let airbrushed paint into the cockpit?  So, I had the clever idea to tape off the canopy near the joint and use some Microscale "Micro Kristal Klear" in the gap to produce a seal.  Now, this stuff can get messy (I think it's merely white glue thinned with water then mixed with magic nose goblins) so "genius" here figures he'll use a moistened finger to smooth the goop into the seam.  And, boy, did that ever work well!  I figured I better remove the protective tape before the goop starts to dry and the tape removal just peels all the goop off.  Well, I learned something.  Smoothing the goop with a wet finger apparently makes it dry a LOT faster than normal.  Maybe it evaporates the moisture out quicker, making it cure faster.  I don't know but it turned out to peel worse than I would have imagined.

Learning the hard way, I used a scalpel to cut a separation line.  Hmmmm, not so good-looking, now.  This might be the kind of model one photographs only from a distance, pretending it is in flight far overhead...

[John Howling Mouse]

Main tires.  Or tyres, since this is a British subject.  I enjoy painting tyres, I don't know why.  Very relaxing. To avoid looking like they were simply painted black and to ensure they look like worn rubber, I use my own mix of gunship gray, a little bit of brown and maybe 10 % flat black.  I always go over the tread part in a lighter grayish tan to replicate road-wear.  The hubs are painted with Polly-Scale's very realistic "Flat Aluminum" and some highlights are touched up with their "Stainless Steel" (which is better than any "metallic" paint I've ever seen, enamel, acrylic, or otherwise).

[NARSES2]

Could not find a single image of the Reaper variant online.  Lots of text but no pics.  Blah.  As for the pilot, he's British.  Maybe it's Benny Hill in drag?

8th photo from the top Mr Mouse

Chris

http://www.aviastar.org/gallery/foto.php?dir=012

[PR19_Kit]

Ah, the Reaper.

I saw Jan Zurakowski do his famous 'Zura Cartwheel' in that aircraft at Farnborough in 1951, complete with all its rockets and both tip tanks on board! Amazing stuff.

To take this thread waaaaaay off track (Sorry JHM...) Zura also flew the CF-105 Arrow, and the Martin MB-5 during his astonishing career.

[And to go even FUTHER off track, how come they don't have the PR19 in that Meteor photo gallery Chris?  ]

[John Howling Mouse]

Could not find a single image of the Reaper variant online.  Lots of text but no pics.  Blah.  As for the pilot, he's British.  Maybe it's Benny Hill in drag?

8th photo from the top Mr Mouse

Chris

http://www.aviastar.org/gallery/foto.php?dir=012

Thanks, Chris.  Darn, I really screwed up my pylons!  Mine are all pointing a couple of degrees upwards toward the front.  You wouldn't think it would make much of a difference but when I hang ordnance from any of the pylons, they are clearly pointing upwards.  I'm going to put small blocks toward the front of the pylons where the anti-sway braces will go but it is going to look very amateurish.  Darn!  (again)   

[NARSES2]

[And to go even FUTHER off track, how come they don't have the PR19 in that Meteor photo gallery Chris?  ]

Apparently some men in dark glasses had a quite word with the sites owner 

Having worked next door to MI5's HQ in London for a good few years that's all I'm saying