Coming together
You can see that the belly tank has fitted well to the underside of the fuselage. There was a thin gap and this has already been filled with a sliver of PVA (white) glue. The main wing to fuselage join is also good so no need for filling, having been glued with Mr Hobby, Mr Cement S. You can add the separate tailplane after the main wing assembly goes on and this is helpful as it helps you line everything up by sight. It was then that I spotted that the rear fuselage had a very slight twist to it noticeable by the fin leaning very slightly to the left when viewed from the rear. This isn’t as big a problem as it sounds because with some gentle persuasion in my warm hands it moved back into the vertical plane – lucky me!
Ready for paint? I am
There was never any doubt in my mind that I was going to use Alclad2 lacquer for my Meteor – well, it just has to be Alclad2 doesn’t it. I have yet to find another paint that will give the variety of tones and handling or masking ability of this stuff after application.
Painting…
However, before the two main colours go on – Airframe Aluminium and Polished Aluminium, the model needs a base coat of primer and Alclad2 Grey Primer is ideal. It sprays beautifully (if you can get the stuff out of the tin without causing serious personal harm trying to remove that annoying metal plug – Grrrrr – come on alclad2 let’s have this primer in bottles – it’ll be safer and easier for us to use). And rest…
Once dry (I leave mine for about an hour) the primer can be buffed using Micromesh sanding cloths (see Techniques Bank).
You can now apply your first colour and in this case it’s Airframe Aluminium. I just ‘ghost’ the paint on – it needs to be airbrushed and I apply it at about 12psi. ‘Ghosting’ here means that I apply very thin coats continuously until I have built up the depth and tone to a level I’m pleased with. You’ll use plenty of paint – about a third of a bottle in this case, but it’s worth it.
The next step is to lightly buff the finish using a soft cloth and I use an old antiques duster for this. In the next image you can see that I’ve sprayed the Polished Aluminium onto the model (above) and it’s only when this second colour is buffed that the superb qualities of the Alclad2 lacquer come through – a nice polished surface that’s going to take quite a bit of weathering.
