Review of FCM 1/72ND Scale
Gloster Meteor F.8/TF-7
Decal Set no, 72047
By Ray Mehlberger
Available at Sprue Bros. for $16.99 marked down from $19.00.
Available at Sprue Bros. for $16.99 marked down from $19.00.
HISTORY:
The Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies' only jet aircraft to achieve combat operations during the Second World War. The Meteor's development was heavily reliant on its groundbreaking turbojet engines, pioneered by Frank Whittle and his company, Power Jets Ltd. Development of the aircraft began in 1940, although work on the engines had been underway since 1936.
The Meteor first flew in 1943 and commenced operations on 27 July 1944 with No. 616 Squadron RAF. The Meteor was not a sophisticated aircraft in its aerodynamics, but proved to be a successful combat fighter. Gloster's 1946 civil Meteor F.4 demonstrator G-AIDC was the first civilian-registered jet aircraft in the world.
Several major variants of the Meteor incorporated technological advances during the 1940s and 1950s. Thousands of Meteors were built to fly with the RAF and other air forces and remained in use for several decades.
The Meteor saw limited action in the Second World War. Meteors of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) fought in the Korean War. Several other operators such as Argentina, Egypt and Israel flew Meteors in later regional conflicts.
Specialized variants of the Meteor were developed for use in photographic aerial reconnaissance and as night fighters.
The Meteor was also used for research and development purposes and to break several aviation records. On 7 November 1945, the first official airspeed record by a jet aircraft was set by a Meteor F.3 at 606 miles per hour (975 km/h).
In 1946, this record was broken when a Meteor F.4 reached a speed of 616 miles per hour (991 km/h). Other performance-related records were broken in categories including flight time endurance, rate of climb, and speed. On 20 September 1945, a heavily modified Meteor I, powered by two Rolls-Royce Trent turbine engines driving propellers, became the first turboprop aircraft to fly.
On 10 February 1954, a specially adapted Meteor F.8, the "Meteor Prone Pilot", which placed the pilot into a prone position to counteract inertial forces, took its first flight.
In the 1950s, the Meteor became increasingly obsolete as more nations introduced jet fighters, many of these newcomers having adopted a swept wing instead of the Meteor's conventional straight wing; in RAF service, the Meteor was replaced by newer types such as the Hawker Hunter and Gloster Javelin. As of 2018, two Meteors, G-JSMA and G-JWMA, remain in active service with the Martin-Baker company as ejection seat test-beds.
One further aircraft in the UK remains airworthy, as does another in Australia.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Role: Fighter aircraft
National origin: United Kingdom
Manufacturer: Gloster Aircraft Company
First flight: 5 March 1943
Introduction to service: 27 July 1944
Retired: 1980s (RAF target tugs)
Status: Two in use as testbed aircraft
Primary users: Royal Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force, Belgian Air Force, Argentine Air Force , Brazilian Air Force.
Produced: 1943–1955
Number built: 3,947
Unit cost: £27,800 (1946)
The Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies' only jet aircraft to achieve combat operations during the Second World War. The Meteor's development was heavily reliant on its groundbreaking turbojet engines, pioneered by Frank Whittle and his company, Power Jets Ltd. Development of the aircraft began in 1940, although work on the engines had been underway since 1936.
The Meteor first flew in 1943 and commenced operations on 27 July 1944 with No. 616 Squadron RAF. The Meteor was not a sophisticated aircraft in its aerodynamics, but proved to be a successful combat fighter. Gloster's 1946 civil Meteor F.4 demonstrator G-AIDC was the first civilian-registered jet aircraft in the world.
Several major variants of the Meteor incorporated technological advances during the 1940s and 1950s. Thousands of Meteors were built to fly with the RAF and other air forces and remained in use for several decades.
The Meteor saw limited action in the Second World War. Meteors of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) fought in the Korean War. Several other operators such as Argentina, Egypt and Israel flew Meteors in later regional conflicts.
Specialized variants of the Meteor were developed for use in photographic aerial reconnaissance and as night fighters.
The Meteor was also used for research and development purposes and to break several aviation records. On 7 November 1945, the first official airspeed record by a jet aircraft was set by a Meteor F.3 at 606 miles per hour (975 km/h).
In 1946, this record was broken when a Meteor F.4 reached a speed of 616 miles per hour (991 km/h). Other performance-related records were broken in categories including flight time endurance, rate of climb, and speed. On 20 September 1945, a heavily modified Meteor I, powered by two Rolls-Royce Trent turbine engines driving propellers, became the first turboprop aircraft to fly.
On 10 February 1954, a specially adapted Meteor F.8, the "Meteor Prone Pilot", which placed the pilot into a prone position to counteract inertial forces, took its first flight.
In the 1950s, the Meteor became increasingly obsolete as more nations introduced jet fighters, many of these newcomers having adopted a swept wing instead of the Meteor's conventional straight wing; in RAF service, the Meteor was replaced by newer types such as the Hawker Hunter and Gloster Javelin. As of 2018, two Meteors, G-JSMA and G-JWMA, remain in active service with the Martin-Baker company as ejection seat test-beds.
One further aircraft in the UK remains airworthy, as does another in Australia.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Role: Fighter aircraft
National origin: United Kingdom
Manufacturer: Gloster Aircraft Company
First flight: 5 March 1943
Introduction to service: 27 July 1944
Retired: 1980s (RAF target tugs)
Status: Two in use as testbed aircraft
Primary users: Royal Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force, Belgian Air Force, Argentine Air Force , Brazilian Air Force.
Produced: 1943–1955
Number built: 3,947
Unit cost: £27,800 (1946)
THE DECAL SET:
FCM is based in Rio de Janeiro, Brail
This decal set comes in a self-locking clear cello bag.
FCM is based in Rio de Janeiro, Brail
This decal set comes in a self-locking clear cello bag.
The set consists of one decal sheet, a silver die-cut sheet of masks and the instruction slip for the masks and the instructions.
The instructions is a single-sheet, printed on glossy paper on both sides in color. It is 16 ½” x 8” format, folded twice to fit the cello bag
The face side begins with a 3 view line drawing to use for stencil placements. Below this is the suggested paint color listing that includes FS numbers for the colors (Federal Standard). However, it says these numbers are conjectural.
A color illustration of the cover art of a book on the Meteor is shown and suggested to buy for reference.
The face side begins with a 3 view line drawing to use for stencil placements. Below this is the suggested paint color listing that includes FS numbers for the colors (Federal Standard). However, it says these numbers are conjectural.
A color illustration of the cover art of a book on the Meteor is shown and suggested to buy for reference.
The right side of the sheet has 8 color side view profiles on it.
1. A Brazilian Air Force Gloster Meteor Mk.8, with 1°/1° G.AvC. – Jambock 4452, Santa Cruz Air Base – 1965 – Brazil. It is overall grey aluminum, with a dark blue (FS 15052) scalloping on the fuselage nose and the nose of the engine intakes. It has a dark blue rudder leading edge that extends down and around the fuselage. The rudder has a yellow and green vertical fin flash on it, over a black serial no. F-8 over 4452. The nose wheel door is dark blue with a white 52 on it. Underneath the cockpit there is a logo of a circle that is outlined in yellow, with a ostrich standing on a white cloud with a blunder-bus gun in one hand and a shield in the other, against a red background.
2. A Brazilian Air Force Gloster Meteor Mk.8, with 2°/1° G.AvC, Pif-Paf 4422, Santa Cruz Air Base – 1965 – Brazil. It is overall grey aluminum, with red scalloping on the fuselage nose and engine air intake. It has a red rudder leading edge that extends down and around the fuselage. It has a yellow and green vertical fin flash on the rudder, over black serial no. F-8 over 4422 and a red nose wheel door with white 22 on it. I has a logo of a circle outlined in yellow and red that has a parrot on it riding an airplane above a white cloud that has “ROMPE NATO” on it.
3. A Brazilian Air Force Gloster Meteor Mk.8, with 1°/14° G.Av -
Pampa 4448, Canoas Air Base – 1966 –Brazil. Is overall grey aluminum, with a white, red and green fuselage nose. Red engine air intake nose and yellow and red engine exhaust. It has a red rudder leading edge that extends down around the fuselage. It has a yellow and green vertical fin flash on the rudder, over black serial no. F-8 over 4448 and a black 48 on the nose gear door. There is a circle outlined in red on its side under the cockpit that has a parrot in a pilot’s suit smoking a cigar, he is lying on top of a black bomb on a white cloud, against a blue background. The cloud says “JA TE ATENDO TCHE” on it which means WE WILL GET YOU.
1. A Brazilian Air Force Gloster Meteor Mk.8, with 1°/1° G.AvC. – Jambock 4452, Santa Cruz Air Base – 1965 – Brazil. It is overall grey aluminum, with a dark blue (FS 15052) scalloping on the fuselage nose and the nose of the engine intakes. It has a dark blue rudder leading edge that extends down and around the fuselage. The rudder has a yellow and green vertical fin flash on it, over a black serial no. F-8 over 4452. The nose wheel door is dark blue with a white 52 on it. Underneath the cockpit there is a logo of a circle that is outlined in yellow, with a ostrich standing on a white cloud with a blunder-bus gun in one hand and a shield in the other, against a red background.
2. A Brazilian Air Force Gloster Meteor Mk.8, with 2°/1° G.AvC, Pif-Paf 4422, Santa Cruz Air Base – 1965 – Brazil. It is overall grey aluminum, with red scalloping on the fuselage nose and engine air intake. It has a red rudder leading edge that extends down and around the fuselage. It has a yellow and green vertical fin flash on the rudder, over black serial no. F-8 over 4422 and a red nose wheel door with white 22 on it. I has a logo of a circle outlined in yellow and red that has a parrot on it riding an airplane above a white cloud that has “ROMPE NATO” on it.
3. A Brazilian Air Force Gloster Meteor Mk.8, with 1°/14° G.Av -
Pampa 4448, Canoas Air Base – 1966 –Brazil. Is overall grey aluminum, with a white, red and green fuselage nose. Red engine air intake nose and yellow and red engine exhaust. It has a red rudder leading edge that extends down around the fuselage. It has a yellow and green vertical fin flash on the rudder, over black serial no. F-8 over 4448 and a black 48 on the nose gear door. There is a circle outlined in red on its side under the cockpit that has a parrot in a pilot’s suit smoking a cigar, he is lying on top of a black bomb on a white cloud, against a blue background. The cloud says “JA TE ATENDO TCHE” on it which means WE WILL GET YOU.
4. A Brazilian Air Force Gloster Meteor Mk.8, with 1°/1° G.AvC – Jamcock 4460, Santa Cruz Air Base -1973 –Brazil. It is in a wave pattern of tan and two shades of green and a light grey undercarriage. It has a yellow and green vertical fin flash in its rudder, over black serial no. F-8 over 4460 and a black 60 on the nose wheel door. It has logo under the cockpit of a penguin walking with a bomb on its back. Below it is another logo of the a small circle with a ostrich on a white cloud carrying a shield. Lettering on the cloud is too small to read.
5. A Brazilian Air Force Gloster Meteor Mk.8, with 1°/1° G.AvC –Jamcock 4406 Santa Cruz Air Base -1957 –Brazil. It is overall grey aluminum, with a green and yellow vertical fin flash, over black serial no. F-8 over 4406, black 06 on the nose wheel door. It has a black fuselage code AI that is followed by a diagonal pale blue stripe that has a row of yellow diamonds on it. It has the logo of the circle with the ostrich carrying a blunder-bus gun and a shield under the cockpit.
6. A Gloster Meteor Mk.8, with 2°/1° G.AvC – Pif-Paf 4423, Santa Cruz Air base -1957 – Brazil. It is overall grey aluminum, with a diagonal red and yellow fuselage band, green and yellow vertical rudder flash over black serial no. F-8 over 4423. Black 23 on the nose wheel door. It has the logo of the circle of the parrot riding the airplane on it under the cockpit.
7. A Gloster Meteor Mk.8, with 1°/14° G.Av –Pampa 4456, Canoas Air Base – 1957 – Brazil. It is overall grey aluminum, with a green fuselage nose tip and engine exhaust. It has the yellow and green vertical flash on the rudder, over black serial no. F-8 over 4456. Black 56 on the nose wheel door. It has the round logo of the parrot in the pilot’s suit lying on a bomb under the cockpit.
8. A Gloster Meteor Mk.8, with 1°/14° G.Av –Pampa 4449, Canoas Air Base -1963 –Brazil. It is overall grey aluminum with a yellow fuselage nose, red engine intake front rim, yellow and red around the engine exhaust. It has the yellow and green vertical fin flash over black serial no. F-8 over 4449 and black 49 on the nose wheel door. It has the logo of the circle with the parrot in the pilot’s suit lying on a bomb. On its right side it has a blue diamond under the cockpit.
6. A Gloster Meteor Mk.8, with 2°/1° G.AvC – Pif-Paf 4423, Santa Cruz Air base -1957 – Brazil. It is overall grey aluminum, with a diagonal red and yellow fuselage band, green and yellow vertical rudder flash over black serial no. F-8 over 4423. Black 23 on the nose wheel door. It has the logo of the circle of the parrot riding the airplane on it under the cockpit.
7. A Gloster Meteor Mk.8, with 1°/14° G.Av –Pampa 4456, Canoas Air Base – 1957 – Brazil. It is overall grey aluminum, with a green fuselage nose tip and engine exhaust. It has the yellow and green vertical flash on the rudder, over black serial no. F-8 over 4456. Black 56 on the nose wheel door. It has the round logo of the parrot in the pilot’s suit lying on a bomb under the cockpit.
8. A Gloster Meteor Mk.8, with 1°/14° G.Av –Pampa 4449, Canoas Air Base -1963 –Brazil. It is overall grey aluminum with a yellow fuselage nose, red engine intake front rim, yellow and red around the engine exhaust. It has the yellow and green vertical fin flash over black serial no. F-8 over 4449 and black 49 on the nose wheel door. It has the logo of the circle with the parrot in the pilot’s suit lying on a bomb. On its right side it has a blue diamond under the cockpit.
The reverse side of the instructions has 2 more color side views and a view of the other side of Meteor no. 4 (described on the face side already)
9. A Gloster Meteor TF-7, with 1/1 G.AvC – Jamcock 4309, Santa Cruz Air Base – 1960 –Brazil. It is overall grey aluminum, with a light blue diagonal fuselage band with a row of yellow diamonds on it. A yellow and green fin flash under the elevator, a black fuselage code C6 before the light blue band. It has the logo of a circle with the ostrich on a cloud carrying a shield and blunderbuss gun. It has a black serial no. TF7 above 4309 above the elevator and black 09 on the nose wheel door.
10. A Gloster Meteor TF-7, with 2/1 G.AvC – Pif-Paf 4361, Santa Cruz Air Base – 1963 –Brazil. It is overall grey aluminum, with red scalloping on the fuselage nose and engine air intake. It has a red and yellow diagonal fuselage band and a red rudder leading edge that extends down and around the fuselage. It has the green and yellow fin flash under the elevators and above the elevator is the serial no. TF7 over 4361. The nose wheel door is red with white 61 on it. It has the logo of the circle with the parrot riding an aircraft on it under the cockpit.
Next is an illustration of the other side of no. 4 Meteor (already described on the face side).
On the right side of the sheet there are top and bottom views of all the aircraft. The only new things shown are the Brazilian Air Force stars on the wings and black and white wing tips on no. 3 and 8 Meteors and just black wingtips on no.1, 2 & 7 on the face side of the sheet.
9. A Gloster Meteor TF-7, with 1/1 G.AvC – Jamcock 4309, Santa Cruz Air Base – 1960 –Brazil. It is overall grey aluminum, with a light blue diagonal fuselage band with a row of yellow diamonds on it. A yellow and green fin flash under the elevator, a black fuselage code C6 before the light blue band. It has the logo of a circle with the ostrich on a cloud carrying a shield and blunderbuss gun. It has a black serial no. TF7 above 4309 above the elevator and black 09 on the nose wheel door.
10. A Gloster Meteor TF-7, with 2/1 G.AvC – Pif-Paf 4361, Santa Cruz Air Base – 1963 –Brazil. It is overall grey aluminum, with red scalloping on the fuselage nose and engine air intake. It has a red and yellow diagonal fuselage band and a red rudder leading edge that extends down and around the fuselage. It has the green and yellow fin flash under the elevators and above the elevator is the serial no. TF7 over 4361. The nose wheel door is red with white 61 on it. It has the logo of the circle with the parrot riding an aircraft on it under the cockpit.
Next is an illustration of the other side of no. 4 Meteor (already described on the face side).
On the right side of the sheet there are top and bottom views of all the aircraft. The only new things shown are the Brazilian Air Force stars on the wings and black and white wing tips on no. 3 and 8 Meteors and just black wingtips on no.1, 2 & 7 on the face side of the sheet.
This is one neat decal sheet. The colors are very bright and vivid and in perfect register.
The sheet was manufactured in Brazil and printed by Micro Scale.
I want to thank Mr. Felipe C. Miranda, owner and designer of FCM decals for this review sample.
All FCM decals can be viewed on their website at:
The sheet was manufactured in Brazil and printed by Micro Scale.
I want to thank Mr. Felipe C. Miranda, owner and designer of FCM decals for this review sample.
All FCM decals can be viewed on their website at: