1/32 Lindberg Laird-Turner Meteor
Thought I would try something a little different as well as to try some kit bashing with this build. The Meteor was designed by Roscoe Turner, a very flamboyant pilot, and was build by Matty Laird. During the planes career it would have several different sponsors but Champion Spark Plugs would be it's most famous. Turner would win the 1938 and 1939 Thompson Trophy with this plane.
You can pick up this kit for ten dollars or even less at shows and it's pretty basic to say the least. The cockpit has a seat , a decal for the instruments, a stick and a pilot that certainly isn't 1/32 in scale. Checking my stash and seeing I had a 1/32 F4F Wildcat missing lots of parts why not bring it along for the ride. The Wildcat seat was cut down and some belts were added using wine bottle foil, I believe it was a Pinot Noir as they make the best seat belts. I cut up and used parts of the F4F instruments and added them then I used evergreen styrene strips to give the sides some detail.
The Double Wasp Wildcat firewall was reshaped and I dropped the engine into the cowl. I then made the exhaust pipes from stryene tube, as the kit has none. I used Tamiya gloss aluminum and silver leaf from rattle cans for the paint. The decals went down fairly well, the exception was the Champion logo on the ribbed sides. A little Future helped in getting them to lay down. The clear parts do not fit well at all, as I had to add some stryene to the canopy frame to get a decent fit.
All things considered this was a fun as well as a quick build, and represents a classic plane from the golden age of aviation. And from three feet it looks rather well.
Nicely done, Tom...another "rare bird" showcased on iModeler. It turned out really well - I like it a lot.
Interesting subject,
Turned out very well
Really clean plane in silver. I do like the little splash of colour the Champion logo gives. Must have been a scary experience having allmost no forward visibility in flight.
Tom she looks AWESOME. I like the modifications that you made to this kit. Great attention to detail, nice NMF and an awesome looking airplane makes this a winner! Well done!
A classic, looks great.
I always like a racer, and this one looks just great.
Really like it Tom, nice work !
Sleek and shiny - really looks the part.
Stunning little kit, nice !
Very cool! I enjoy taking a basic or bare-bones kit and adding some of the nice detail - especially when it can be done from spare parts and styrene vs. aftermarket purchases! Great job on this one!
Great! I like it, as everything form the golden age 🙂 Turned out nice!
Having seen the late Bill Turner's replica up close, you're pretty darn close to fully accurate with that cockpit. You've managed to do a damn good job with that collection of scrap plastic. It's amazing how small the real thing is. Tony LeVier's "Firecracker" that came in second behind the Meteor in 1939 can be mistaken for an R/C model.
Thats impressive. Great build with this flawless NMF paint job.
Very nice model! Well done.