Help for a "I know nothing about airliners" kinda guy

Revell makes a good 1/144 -800 that you can cut down into a -700 and Hasegawa makes a good -700 in 1/200 scale.  Just remember to get the winglets since all of Southwest's next gens have 'em.

Draw Decals is one company that makes aftermarket decals and caters to the airliner modelers.  

Hanging out at a commercial airport can give you a lot of info on the appearance of commercial planes, though picture taking depends a lot on the setup and security procedures at individual airports.  At least you can generally see a wider assortment of planes at most commercial airports than visiting an AFB.

Thanks for the responses guys.  

Is the -800 cut down a better kit that the -700?

I think Welsh models has a Vac formed -700 in a few scales

wing_nut,   I believe you were on "Colorado One"  http://www.swamedia.com/releases/7f0ce64e-0b6c-4ba6-b640-5d8eb9942a61?search=colorado+one which is latest of several state flagged ships in the fleet.

It is unique in its own right -should you decide on doing a "two-fer"

reguardless have fun!  I will be glad to watch

Hi Steve.  hey thanks for that.  Looking at the position of the blue/red transition just about centered on the top of the hatch I think you are correct.  Since I can't find decals for the blue top schemes.. unless I am not looking in the right places... this may be the way to go.

check www.airline-hobby.com/.../index.cfm  

They also have the correct color paint for the Southwest jets. There is also a Contrails -700 fuselodge available over at airline-hobby and winglets

oh and www.airliners.net is nothing but a photo database of airliner pics. You can serach for aircraft type (even sub types like 737-700, or 737-800), airline or tail number

Thanks for the add'l info b17.