Ever the provider of decals for interesting liveries, Model Art’s latest 1/72 sheet offers lovely colour schemes for French Meteor NF.11s and Vought Corsairs, along with Royal Navy Sea Balliols.
Lancashire-based Model Art Decal System, run by Frenchman Jean-Pierre Desprez, has long produced markings for French Air Force and Navy aircraft, but also types flown by the Royal Navy. This tradition carries on with sheet 72/081, which will be of interest if you’re planning to model any of the above-mentioned aircraft.
All six Meteors are night-fighters and include a test airframe, while as many AU-1 and F4U-7 Corsairs span the years 1955-63. There are four Sea Balliol trainers. The Corsairs wear standard Gloss Sea Blue, the Meteors Dark Green and Medium Sea Grey camouflage, and the Sea Balliol T.21s sprayed aluminium with Trainer Yellow wing and fuselage bands. The liveries are:
• NF11-26/30-FH, ECN 3030 ‘Lorraine’, Tours, circa 1955
• Meteor, NF11-19/30-OB, ECN 1/30 ‘Loire’, Tours, 1959
• Meteor, NF11-21/30-FD, ECN 3/30 ‘Lorraine, Bizerte, 1956
• Meteor, NF11-13/MN, EC 2/30 ‘Camargue’, Cazaux, 1959
• Meteor, NF11-16/346/QA, ECN 1/71, Bône, 1960
• Meteor, NF11-24, EPNER, Brétigny-sur-Orge, 1965
• F4U-7, No133722/12F.22, Flottille 12F, PA La Fayette, Indochina, 1955
• F4U-7, No133669/15F.17, Flottille 15F, PA Arromanches/Suez, 1956
• AU-1, No129352/17.F.1, Flottille 17F, Bizerte, Tunisia, 1962
• F4U-7, No133833, Flottille 12F, BAN Karouba, 1962
• F4U-7, No133716/14F.10, Flottille F14, BAN Karouba, Algeria, 1963
• T.21, WL715/752, 702 NAS (Junior Officer’s Air Course), NAS Ford, 1957
• T.21, WL721/928, 781 NAS, Lee-on-Solent, 1957
• T.21, WP325/971/AC, Station Flight Abbotsinch, 1961
• T.21, WL728/566/BY, 727 NAS, Brawdy, 1957
This is a splendid decal collection and will be highly useful if building on a theme, or if you want a non-US scheme for your Corsair or other than RAF garb for your Meteor. The sheet costs £10 inc P&P in the UK, and is available from: www.modartdec.com
If you don’t already have suitable 1/72 kits but this story has piqued your interest, Italeri has moulded the AU-1/F4U-7 (kit 048), while Special Hobby has produced the Meteor NF.11 (SH 72358) and Sea Balliol T.21 (SH 72236).
And if night-fighter Meteors in particular are your thing, why not visit the following items on Key Model World:
Special Hobby 1/72 AW Meteor NF Mk.14 review
Special Hobby 1/72 AW Meteor NF Mk.12 build
