2008 Airliner Group Build

Just thought I would check in.. Havn't touched a model in a few weeks now. Been busy with work and other things, and have kinda lost a little interest in building.. Doesn't mean I have given up, as I am sure once the warmer weather sets in and I am back on holidays, I will start building again..  Everyone seems to be getting work done, which is great to see..

Chris

Frank thanks for the tutorial. Do you have any pictures showing that technique? I normally paint the leading edge with alclad metalizers so not sure how incorporating that with the  scotch tape would look.  I'm trying to find some decals to make them instead.

Max;  I've built that Hobbycraft Dash 8 kit and it does have some major fit issues plus the windscreen not fitting very well. I also broke the horizontal stabilzers too and had to carefully glue it onto the tail. Here's a link to the one I built.. /forums/546224/ShowPost.aspx

Chris; I know how that goes. I've been in a slump lately too. I'm working on three projects, an Armor vehicle for our model club contest, the B727 and the ever so sowly going Caribou. My 15 year old got suspended from school so I'm quite upset about that.

Wow. I got suspended once, and my dad gave me not only the belt, but the buckle as well...

I won't ask what he did, but I guess its disapointing to know that our children at times make us realize that we are all human.. Oh, and they aren't always the angels we always thought they were..  Hope he isn't in too much trouble, and you sort it all out.. Send him over here with us, I will send him to a Japanese public school, and he will soon get sorted out... :)

The Japanese don't fool around with the kids..

Chris 

Neil,

  As a matter of fact, I am going to be doing the landing lights for my Airfix 727 project tomorrow or the next day, and I'll document the process and publish it.      I hope all works out with your son!    (and I continue to thank God my kids are through the turbulent years!)

  Chris, glad you're doing ok!      I'm just coming out of my slump, mainly because my hard work is finished for the year and now I can devote some time to building!      Before that, October '07 was the first model I had touched in over two years.      Slumps come and go, and for some reason whenever I come back into it, it's always something different than what I was doing when I quit!?     Marine helicopters... then to 1/24 race cars... then to Army helicopters... then to Air Force trainers.... then to Airliners.....

  Besides the DC-9, I also finished the Continental B-738 late last night, and will make some pictures when the sun comes back out.

Take care,

Frank

Chris;  I too didn't have a choice. I went to school oveseas and we simply did not have a choice, we had to go. He's now considered truant here in NE and now he's going to be seeing a county judge and probably be put on some kind of accountability program. He's a good kid. Not into stealing or drugs( so far whew) he for some reason doesn't like school. He spends more time trying to get out than staying in. Sorry for the long wind...sort of venting due to frustration  Modeling helps calm me so that's a positive.

Frank;  I'm looking forward to the drawings. The DC9 looks great. I built that kit with those same decals back years ago.  The 727 interior is a gem. Hats off to you for tackling that.  You ever heard of an old comedian Shelly Berman? He did a sketch about being on an airplane with a stewardess and ordering "coffee, tea or milk" ? Are you doing the Continental bird in the old gold scheme? Looking forward to pics of that one.

Neil,

That almost sounds like somebody at your son's school is intimidating him, causing him to just out of the blue, avoid being there as much as possible?    I feel for you man!

Here's the illustration of the general landing light assembly process....

http://gunsagogo.org/landinglights.jpg

**

Here's the ones I done tonight;

 I hadn't put clay on the inside of the wing because plans were different when I put it together, so I pumped some putty in the hole http://gunsagogo.org/ll3.jpg ,

then pressed my finger into the opening and rubbed it sideways to get a smooth surface http://gunsagogo.org/ll5.jpg .    

I want the putty to set-up a little bit, creating a firm anchor for the pins, so it is allowed to dry in front of the fan for 30 minutes, then painted flat black http://gunsagogo.org/ll6.jpg (see the cut pins in the background) 

I sanded an adge on the cut pins for penetration purposes, and carefully inserted them into clay like putty http://gunsagogo.org/ll7.jpg ,

and this is what it looked like... http://gunsagogo.org/ll8.jpg .     

I then cut a small square of clear tape, affixed it to the top (or bottom) of the opening, then laid it over the hole using a straight edge so as not to depress the tape http://gunsagogo.org/ll11.jpg .    

Now I trimmed a "mounting frame" around the opening and removed the excess tape http://gunsagogo.org/ll12.jpg .      

It is now ready for the final paint trimming.  http://gunsagogo.org/ll13.jpg .   (if the cut's too big, fix it with the trim work)

Now, you can go ahead and paint the wing however you want, then remove the tape "lens"..... now you have clean plastic to affix a new lens to, which has this time been carefully measured & cut.      Brush an aluminum frame around the lens and you're good to go.

It's an easy fix that lets the landing lights stand out... (especially when light reflects on them!!)

 *

Coffee, Tea, or Milk aye?   LOL  No, haven't heard of that one.     

No, the Continiental bird is in the current livery, made after N26215, Flt# 1726 from Newark to San Diego; the airplane my wife and I made our first non-stop coast to coast flight 'together' in Sep '07. 

Take care,

Frank

And speaking of the B-738....  I had originally planned to cut up two kits to make a -900 series, but after the first one got destroyed, I just went ahead and done this one as the -800.

*No aftermarket parts were harmed in the construction of this model*

http://gunsagogo.org/bCO7382.jpg

http://gunsagogo.org/bCO7383.jpg

http://gunsagogo.org/bCO7384.jpg

http://gunsagogo.org/bCO7385.jpg

http://gunsagogo.org/bCO7386.jpg

http://gunsagogo.org/bCO7387.jpg

The kit supplied winglets and engines were cut, filed, filled, and sanded.    Aluminum Foil was used to replicate Natural Metal areas.

Two GB kits done, and working on number three; the 727 cutaway.    However, as soon as the materials get here for the MI display, I will concentrate all my efforts getting it done before proceeding.    

Enjoy,

Take care,

Frank

Well, I ripped a bunch of tape off the CV-118 this morning with masking tape, so I'm going to strip and start over. This one's going to be a firebird, sans tank for now but perfect for dropping a few smoke jumpers out the aft hatch. Of course, that means it doesn't quite fit this build anymore, but I'll share the pics, and I'll be doing my Braniff 707 next anyway.

Ah well, one must suffer for good art.

Hello all, could I could join this group ? Airliners were always my #1 subject in modelling and I am currently building an Airfix's 1/144 A300B2 with VASP Decals (made by FCM Decals, here in Brazil).

I still do not have any pictures of the A300B2 model yet, but the plane I want to model is this one:

http://www.airliners.net/photo/VASP/Airbus-A300B2-203/0194501/L/

or yet on this later C/S:

http://www.airliners.net/photo/VASP/Airbus-A300B2-203/0327161/L/

Since I am still on the building/filling phase, I still have some time to decide which C/S I will use, but since I am a nostalgic guy, I will probably go for the first option.

Ricardo
Brazil

Hello Ricardo,

     ... and welcome to the GB!        CDLuckey is the moderator, but I'm sure I speak for everyone in saying welcome, and we're looking forward to whatever version you choose!    Have a great day!!

     Update on some of my progress.... I recieved the 120 N-scale passengers for the B-727 cutaway, but had to put them up or I'd NEVER get finished with the little 1/200 Hasegawa B-732... much too tempting to leave them out in sight!        I've never foiled or flapped such a small model before, or wore my glasses quite so much as I have to with this little guy, but it's doing very well.

putty applied for the ADV fairing...

It's going to be posed as if it's taking off...

     Take care,

     Frank

acmodeler01 wrote:

I don't have any pictures to update with, but I have the fuselage paint on my Minicraft B-777. I will get to the wings next weekend I hope and the decals the weekend after that. In the meantime, I found a 1/200 Revell Germany B-737 and started working on it. Like Frank said, it is a tiny thing, but that should make for a quick build. I already have the fuselage filled and sanded, now I just have to get to the wings. It will be out of the box in British Airways colors, a nice colorful tail on it. If I get around to buying batteries for the camera, I can post some pics instead of blabbering on like this.

Don't worry mate... cdclukey has blabbered on since he started this group build. And we are yet to see pics from him!

I am joking, you do know that...... 

Don't worry mate... cdclukey has blabbered on since he started this group build. And we are yet to see pics from him!

Fill your hands, you son of a biscuit! 

I've been nursing an injured wrist the last few days, gentlemen, which is why I haven't been by. Typing is not fun! Will be back soon to do some housekeeping traffic.

Looks like everyone is still crusing along nicely. I just finished up competing in the Region V IPMS contest in Omaha NE and I won 1st Place with my Air India B777. That was a total suprise.

My 727 is doing well. I had to go back and rework the fueselage seams and I'm still working on the wings.

Ricardo; Welcome to the GB and am looking forward to see your builds. The A300 is a very nice airliner.

CD:  Too bad about your wrist. I hope it heals ok and you can get back to modeling.

Also looks like others are progressing nicely with their builds too.

Later

Neil

Neil, great news on the comp mate. Excellent stuff.....

As for me, I havn't touched a model for over a month I would say until yesterday where by I started to strip the paint off my Russian SU-27UB...

With all of the talk of the new Australian Government deciding on a "white paper"  regarding the future defence force, and the debate surrounding the purchase of the Super Hornet F's to replace the F-111. I saw a site on ARC regarding what if builds, and someone did a graphic of an SU-27UB in low viz Jolly Rogers scheme, and it got me thinking about doing an SU-27UB in No 1 & No 6 Squadren Amberley Airforce Base markings. And because I grew up on that base with the pigs, I thought it would be fun!

So that is what I have started on of late..

As for this build, I have a pile I have started, so I will keep in regular contact with everyone. But for now, to cure my builders block, I am going what I might enjoy most for now, and this "what if" has me really thinking..

I particularly wnt to give a shout out to Frank, he has been a source of insperation, and I enjoy our small, but interesting correspondance mate..

Chris. 

Top of the evening all....  

    Thanks Chris!          Something I've noticed about "slumps"; when you start back, the build quality seems to be much better than before!     My grandfather called it growing pains.

    Neil; CONGRADULATIONS on taking First Place with the Air India B-777!     That certainly is a beautiful build, and the unique windows really set it iff!

    CD; Sorry to hear about your wrist!    That's an aggravating place to get an injury because it's used so much and there's so many bones/ligaments affected.     Take care of yourself real good and hope it gets to feeling better!

  Frank

Hi everyone, I'm a newbie here, but I'm hoping to join the GB. I just cracked open a 1/144 Minicraft 707-320B recently, the one in the old Braniff Int'l "jellybean" livery. I see someone is already doing this kit, but if you let me know what color you're doing I promise to do a different one!

Cheers,

Kev

Welcome MIflyer glad you're here. Looking forward to seeing some of your work. I'd like to do one of the Minicraft 707's. They look pretty nice.

Neil

Kev

Glad to have you!     just join right in and make yourself ay home!     Looking forward to your Jellybean!

Take care,

Frank

 Hi fellows...

   I had to lay aside the B-722 project for the time being to get started on the B-744/St. Maarten dio, as I have been asked to give a presentation of the design, and I'd like to be able to have it there too!      (Will post the details when they come available) (please say a prayer for me?)

 Anyway, I decided to begin the process by working-up the wing.    Since it will be displayed as if it's about to land, everything will be hanging out, so I dissected the flap & spoiler sections...

I used sanded spru rods to reinforce the Flap Guides....

The rods were heated and bent to the correct angle and glued into the groves, then before it set, the final positioning was done....

Puddied the seams and it is now before the fan getting dry....

Still haven't got all the materials for the dio construction, but I figured I might as well get the plane done while waiting.

Take care,

Frank

bablenw wrote:

Welcome MIflyer glad you're here. Looking forward to seeing some of your work. I'd like to do one of the Minicraft 707's. They look pretty nice. Neil

Thanks for the welcome Neil and Frank! Neil, if you've ever wanted a Minicraft 1/144 kit now is the time, Squadron has been practically giving them away lately: $3-4 apiece. Twenty bucks will buy you a half-dozen kits... can't beat that!

As for my build, fuselage is together, wings and stabilizers are on, engines assembled and mounted to their pylons. I'm just doing this one OOB so it should build up quickly. Pictures to follow!

Kev 

Alright Kev....

  Looking for them pictures!     How is that kit?

  Update on the B-744 build; I boxed in & braced the areas inside the Slat openings and between the upper & lower trailing edge wing surfaces (flap opening), scratched landing lights, then assembled the wing halves and flexed it....

  I also sanded, shaped, and trimmed out the Slats and Kruger Flap, so they'll be ready and waiting when I get to that step!     Going to build the Flaps tomorrow, and depending how that goes, I may paint the wing as well.

Take care,

Frank

Sorry to keep you waiting Frank! Your 747 is looking absolutely awesome! That is going to be impressive when you get the slats and flaps installed.

Here's my progress so far:

The 707-320B was a large-capacity version that stretched the original 707 design by 100 inches and upped the gross weight by 80,000 lbs with the inclusion of uprated engines. The stretch is evident in the size of this kit: even in 1/144 it's over a foot long. The fuselage halves went together great, no filler required anywhere. The wings and horizontal stabilizers didn't fit quite as well, although acheiving the correct dihedral was no problem. I'm currently working on filling and sanding in these areas. There was a slight warp in the vertical stabilizer that I fixed by running it under hot water and (carefully) bending it to shape.

Also, you can see the spreader bar I installed behind the windscreen. The part fit without it, but I wanted it to be juuuuust right! I probably should've painted it black before installing the windscreen. Oh well, it's in there now.....

I also have all four engines assembled and mounted to their pylons. This part of the build was a little repetitive... but only a little! Compared to the rest of the plane, the engines are tiny... only an inch and a half long. This is probably the biggest visual contrast between the 707 and more modern designs. The pylons are not going to fit well on the wings, you can see that I had to shave off the alignment pins. I also drilled a tiny hole in the front of three of the pylons to represent the inlets for the turbocompressors that drove the air conditioning and pressurization systems. The -320B uses P&W engines, but the kit also includes the Rolls Royce engines, so you can make a -420 if you like.

This is shaping up pretty well so far. The only headache I foresee will be attaching the engine pylons to the wings... alignment should be easy enough, but the fit is not great and filling and sanding around the pylons may be difficult. Other than that, no complaints about this kit. I'm having fun just building it OOB.

Kevin

Hi Doog,

You didn't keep me waiting...   I was being lazy today anyhow,  

There's nothing quite so nostalgic to an Airliner modeler as the 707, and it looks like you're well on your way to doing this one justice!   Thank you for the progress shots; will be looking forward to seeing this come together!

 I had the Lufthansa "420" once upon a time, but before I could even sand down the seams, my daughters Whippet managed to get hold of it and all that was salvageable from the entire kit was the nose section from the windshield fwd, 3 Conway engines (never found the fourth, I reckon it went the way of his digestive track), and the two horizontal stabilizers which were still in the box.     Infact, I'm using them to make the inboard center flap section on the 744 build, so it wasn't a total loss... I guess.

Thanks for joining this GB!

Frank

oldhooker wrote:

Hi Doog, You didn't keep me waiting...   I was being lazy today anyhow,   There's nothing quite so nostalgic to an Airliner modeler as the 707, and it looks like you're well on your way to doing this one justice!   Thank you for the progress shots; will be looking forward to seeing this come together!  I had the Lufthansa "420" once upon a time, but before I could even sand down the seams, my daughters Whippet managed to get hold of it and all that was salvageable from the entire kit was the nose section from the windshield fwd, 3 Conway engines (never found the fourth, I reckon it went the way of his digestive track), and the two horizontal stabilizers which were still in the box.     Infact, I'm using them to make the inboard center flap section on the 744 build, so it wasn't a total loss... I guess. Thanks for joining this GB! Frank

Mixing me up with Doog? I'm flattered!

I had a lazy start today as well, but that's because I didn't get to bed until 5am... unexpectedly, I spent my night skirting thunderstorms between Lansing and Columbus, OH. One of my students got stranded and I had to go rescue him. Thanks goodness for caffeine and friendly controllers, it wasn't the best night to be out and about in a Cherokee.

I love the lines of the old 707 as well, and I want to do some more after this one. Eventually I want to do a big 1/72 KC-135A. I have another student who used to do sheet metal work on them up at K.I. Sawyer AFB back when it was a thriving SAC base. I found some markings for old Sawyer aircraft and they have a really great tail flash.

Kevin 

Oooops.... sorry Kevin      I'd just finished a message to him and I guess that name was still in my head.

    I take it you're an Instructor?     Very good, glad to have one in the ranks, as sometimes questions come up that you could answer easily, thanks again for joining in! :)

   I held an FAA Private Certificate for many years, but was in a crash in 1988 that pretty much stopped all of that.   Have only flown 6 times since then; now all my aerial maneuvers happen at arms length at the modeling desk!

   I wish Hasegawa would make a B-707 series in 200th scale to go along with their other airliner kits, which I have come to love since doing the 737.     I also got a 200th 727 from them and it is really nice (everything shaped like it's suppose to be).

  I should remember your name... as my son~n~law is Kevin too!   :D

Rake care,

Frank

Guilty as charged, I am indeed a flight instructor! There are easier ways to make a living, but for right now as a brand-new college grad, I can't imagine anything more fun... unless I was teaching aerobatics in a Pitts? That might do it!

So you like those 1/200 Hasegawa airliners? You work wonders with them, that's for sure. I really enjoyed going back and reading about your mirror-mounted half-hull project. That kind of originality is what keeps modeling fresh for all of us.

Honestly, I've never built a single Hasegawa kit - usually I get sticker shock - but I do happen to have three of their 1/48 Learjet 35s in my stash. Have I ever mentioned that I love Learjets?

Kevin

Thank you for your kind words, Kevin!

Frank

I saw this announcement on the aircraft page. Congrats!