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Rafi Ben-Shahar
450 articles

Tamiya 1/48 Meteor F.1

February 21, 2025 · in Aviation · · 16 · 246

Two hurdles of the nice mold prevent me from defining it a gem kit. One is the notorious inclusion of the F.3 airbrakes. Second, the stiff and silvering decals. I puttied the air brakes area. I also detailed and lowered flaps to take off position.

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10 additional images. Click to enlarge.


16 responses

  1. Congratulations, Rafi! A winner!
    Apart from puttying the air brakes, is the model accurate?

  2. Still looks like a gem to me, Rafi @blackmopane
    A wonderful Meteor.

  3. A sharp-looking Meteor - well done!

  4. Very nicely done, Rafi @blackmopane! 👏 My kit came with both the original release's incorrect wing and a replacement sprue with the correct wing. I built mine as Prototype Number 1 but haven't taken any proper pics yet. 🙂

  5. Looks spiffy enough to me, Rafi. The depth of your finish is most admirable. Did you use a gentle wash in the panel lines, or is that photo lighting? Congratulations on making such an attractive - and improved - build of this mature kit!

  6. I want to be a Rafi when I grow up...

  7. More recent releases of this kit provide Mk. I wings without air brakes. They did the original release wrong for the same reason they did the Fw-190D-9 wrong with only one ammo chute in the wing. The Meteor they measured at Cosford had a mismatched F3 wing, and the Fw-190D-9 they measured at the Air Force museum had the mistakenly swapped Fw-190D-13 wing. This is why "buildability" is not a synonym for "accuracy." In fact, there is not one Tamiya release from their 90s "war" with Hasegawa that is accurate. But they build nicely.

    • If I recall correctly Tamiya's models with glaring mistakes include only the Fw series, Meteor F.1, Beaufighter and He 162. Yet, their non Japanese Warbird model line is not long, so from that perspective, you are correct.

      • The Spitfire I and V have both misshapen fuselages and incorrect-shape wings. The Mustangs have incorrect wheel wells and the P-51B has a completely incorrect cockpit. The F4F Wildcat is completely misshapen in the fuselage, also doesn't have the correct oil filter for the engine, and the canopy is way too wide. When they came to Planes of Fame and measured the Me-262, several of us tried to point out some restoration mistakes (since corrected when the airframe was restored to flight status), but since We Are Tamiya And You Are Not is their operating strategy, they used the work to join the other incorrect models. They did a good job on the Swordfish because it was Tamiya-San's favorite airplane. They improved (mostly) with the P-47s and seem to have adopted a better procedure with their P-38s (mostly), but they're not the Model Gods so many proclaim they are.

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