The Gloster Meteor was one of the first jets to fly operational and is one of my favorites. I was very pleased to receive this kit by Cyber Models to review and was not disappointed in it at all.

Upon opening the box I was very impressed with the fine molding and details. The panel lines seemed to be truly in scale. Having built the Meteor F.3 in the white scheme, I chose to do the standard RAF scheme of light grey underneath and dark grey and green on the top surfaces.

Assembly was pretty straightforward. The cockpit is a real work of art and I painted it semi-gloss black as per my reference. To add some color, I did add seatbelts from tape.

The current rise of Chinese naval power stands in stark contrast to the period from 1900 – 1940 when China had no real Navy and lay prostrate before powerful nations which had unfettered access to its ports and inland waterways. A weak and fading dynasty and competing warlords (including the Communists) did nothing to reassure foreign interests, which led to additional intervention. Like other places in the world, the waterways of China were the highways on which goods moved in and out of the interior of the country. One river stood out in its size and importance – the Yangtze (a western interpretation of the river’s many names). Western business interests and missionaries took advantage of the Yangtze to penetrate far into the interior and the river was the principal line of communication back out to rest of the world.

Afterburner decal sheets are jammed, literally, with detail. In these sheets are all the schemes you could imagine for this jet. Also, proper, well-researched stenciling is provided for both high- and low-visibility jets. They even have the sled that was operational at my favorite perch, RAF Mildenhall, in the 1984-86 timeframe! Ah, the days of standing in the mist just after sunrise, watching and feeling the dual afterburners blasting everyone out of the rack early in the morning as the bird departed and climbed out at a ridiculous angle!

Sheet 48-078 has markings for 11 jets from the mid-1990’s to retirement. Included are NASA and operational combat birds with mission markings/tail art.
Sheet 48-079 covers 14 jets, including the YF-12 in 2 schemes and an SR-71B with the high-visibility markings for the early years. Also included on this sheet are Vietnam, record holder, and test jets.