Gloster Meteor Mk.4

MPM, 1/72 scale

Reviewed by Peter Mitchell

 MPM's 1/72 scale Meteor Mk.4 is available online from Squadron.com
 

The Gloster Meteor needs no introduction.

The Meteor Mk. IV on the other hand is perhaps not the best known version of this classic first generation British jet.

It was essentially the transitionary type between the late-war Mk.I and III’s and the high performance Mk.8’s. The Meteor Mk. IV was basically the combination of the Meteor Mk. III fuselage fitted to a new stronger clipped tip wing, housing the more powerful Derwent V engines. These modifications gave the Meteor Mk. IV a 50% increase in power, a greater rate of role and an 80mph advantage over the Meteor Mk. III, albeit at the expense of rate of climb and service ceiling.

The Meteor Mk. IV entered RAF service in December 1947 and stayed in service until 1952, eventually equipping twenty seven RAF squadrons. The type was also an export success with Argentina, Belgium, Denmark, Egypt, and Holland purchasing significant numbers.

MPM continues to contribute to the ever expanding array of Gloster Meteor types appearing as 1/72 injection moulded kits. The Meteor Mk. IV has appeared in kit form before, with FROG producing a decent (for the time) 1/72 version in the 1970’s(?).

The kit is packaged in a sturdy, top-opening box with attractive box art and the part sprues, transparencies and decals are all individually bagged; something I’m always glad to see!

The kit breakdown is conventional in all respects, 72 parts arranged on two sprues of grey styrene; 2 parts in clear styrene; decals for three subjects.

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Thumbnail panels:

The parts are cleanly moulded with minimal flash and crisp recessed panel lines. There are no ugly ejector towers to mar any of the detail and very few parts displayed any evidence of sink marks, these being found on some of the undercarriage parts.

The fuselage, fuselage undercarriage, tailplane and cockpit parts are confined to one sprue and it would be reasonable to expect a late war Mk I and/or Mk III using this sprue sometime in the future. The cockpit detail includes a seat, joystick, side console and instrument panel with raised instrument dials. No side wall detail is evident; however the above is more than adequate for displaying a model with the canopy closed. This sprue also provides the optional wing or belly auxiliary fuel tanks.

The second sprue concerns the wings, engines and main undercarriage. The detail here is just as good including wheel wells and multi-piece undercarriage. The wings are moulded in six parts with top and bottom halves for the central wing area and separate wing tips outboard of the engines. This is perhaps the only real criticism I have for this kit, since the wing ends are simply butt joined to the main wing. The modeller has to ensure the correct 6° of dihedral and would do well to place some tabs on this part of their model to ensure a secure join.
The kit canopy is clear, thin and free of distortion; it is moulded as a single piece, a vac-form replacement will need to be sought should you wish to make a model with the canopy open.

The decals are well printed by AVIPRINT for MPM. The detail is fine, the register is spot on, the colour tones are correct and the density good. A decent amount of stencils are provided.

The modeller is provided with the choice of three options, these all sport the same high speed silver finish:

1. Gloster Meteor IV, EF-22/GE-A. 349 Sqn. Royal Belgian Air Force, 1950.

2. Gloster Meteor IV, VT322/4D-J. 74 Sqn. Royal Air Force, 1949.

3. Gloster Meteor IV, VT286/DL-R. 92 Sqn. Royal Air Force, 1948.

This is a decent, well detailed “honest” kit.

I expect it to hold few surprises in its construction with perhaps the exception of joining and setting the dihedral of the outer wing panels. I would refer anyone contemplation making this kit to the construction article of the Meteor Mk 8 by Brett Greens here on Hyperscale.

With the release of this kit it may not be long before we see the production of a late war Mk I and/or Mk III version.

Thanks to MPM/Special Hobby for the review sample.

Review Text Copyright © 2009 by Peter Mitchell
Images Copyright © 2009 by Brett Green
Page Created 26 August, 2009
Last updated 26 August, 2009

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