2008 Airliner Group Build

United was more seriously interested in the Concorde, it appears to me. They'd been a Douglas company for a while, so that might have been a factor. But the main reason they did not invest in SST programs beyond study was the impossible economics, which Concordes later inability to generate sales proved. Also, they had no foreign routes in the 1960's so supersonic flight was not a viable option, and the Air Force was getting enough criticism  already to convince airlines that sonic booms were not going to be acceptable over land.

The American SST designs which narrowed down to Lockheed and Boeing, and finally Boeing, were bigger, faster and more complicated than Concorde in terms of systems required for a normally trained crew to fly at Mach 3. And even more expensive.

I don't think the cause of the XB-70 crash in 1966 was more than bad luck, and it certainly didn't kill anyone on the ground, but my understanding is that United understood what a long and costly development program would be required to safely move 250-300 people at Mach 2 plus. And Sen. Proxmire certainly led the charge to throttle federal funding for the a/cs development.

Just my

The economics from an airline point of view were pretty clear - transatlantic crossings make money. From BAe/Aerospatiale, it was a no-brainer. There were never going to recoup their development costs.

Good day fellow airliner builders. I've begun my kit, the Minicraft 777.  Here are some in progress pictures. I've got the seam lines filled w super glue and sanded and I've hand painted them to find the flaws.  I'll go back an fix them. Then it's off to the paint booth.  I've also painted the wheels. They need some touch up work around the rims.  I'm going to do this one in the new Air India colors. Very pretty.

Neil

Great start Neil..

I really should pull my finger out and see about fixing up the kits that I have entered.. Just getting window decals is the problem..

Chris

Off to a great start, Neil;

The 777 has some pretty lines! Looking forward to seeing it come together, thanks!

Like Chris, I need to get started on my GB stack also, but promised myself I'd finish the B732 project first.... probably a good idea because if I don't, it'll be laying out there a year from now under a blanket of dust, ALMOST done!         Too many like that already... anyway, the 732 should be ready by this weekend so it won't be that long.

 Chris; When I have found myself 'wanting', when it comes to decals, Greg Joy (joydecals.com) has always been able to come through for me.     His prices are reasonable and he ships fast.

 Take care all,

Frank

Thanks guys. I'm looking forward to this completion. I'm a bit concerned as to how the tail decals will go on. There are lots of contours back there. I may have to do some cutting to get them to fit correctly.  I've had great service from Airline Hobby Supplies. Russ owns the company and he has an extensive assortment of decals. http://www.airline-hobby.com/ Try him out. I ordered from him during the recent Christmas season and I got the models and other products in a week.  Search for the Scaleliner stuff. They have windows and correguard decals for most airliner scales.

I have a question on the designations of the different aircraft. For instance I've seen a B737 mentioned as a 732 and I've seen in other airliner areas call a B747 a 744 I think. I was curious as to why they are called this? How do you know which is which? 

Neil 

Neil,

It's an abreviation used by ATC personnel and Crews that tells what version, or SERIES the particular aircraft is, for example: A B732 is a Boeing 737-200..... B744 is a 747-400, and so on.

Hope this clears the smoke away a little.

Russ may do alright with the merchandise he sells, but he sure left a bad taste in my mouth when I tried to participate in the forum he has on his site!

2 cents worth, sorry, but he does have some nice supplies.. 

Take care,
Frank

Frank, thanks you "oldchooker"!

I had a look at that site and he did indeed have a few things there that I would be interested in getting, but I am restricted to paying with paypal, and was hoping some one out there had some decals lying around that I could purchase off them.. The wife and I are in a process of deciding if we are to leave Japan this year and head back to Australia, so I am trying my hardest to keep the credit card in the wallet and to use up my paypal instead..

Cheers, Chris

Thanks...

Chris,

Right now all I've got are for a 737 and DC-9.... I wish I could help you.      On the project you're referring to, will the windows have silver frames?   

That's quite a move for sure, so yes, I'd be holding on to the plastic too!    

Take care,

Frank

Frank;

Thank you for clearing up an educating me. That clears up my question. Sorry to hear about your issues with his forums. I've not used it since I only stick with this one.

Chris;

I'll take a look in my airliner stash of decals. I think I may have the Virgin 747-400 decals and I believe it has the window decals included.  I was going to build that Revell kit but I completely messed up the paint and it sat for six months, I then tried resurrecting it but it was too far gone so I trashed it.  I'd be glad to mail them to you. I think you can use the "pm" feature to get your email address and then your regular mailing address so I can send them out to you. I think these are what you need. Let me know and I'll hook you up.

Neil

Frank, as always a great help.. No problem on the decals, I guess I am a ways off from starting them, but I do like to have things sorted for when I do start..

Neil, thank you sir.. Going to pm you right now..

Chris

Welcome aboard, Ken!

That sure is a great livery; I especially like the Cubs out on the winglets looking back at the passengers!

Looking forward to seeing that one!

Take care,
Frank

Hey, jeaton, I found out some interesting history about your Junkers. It seems that they were regarded as a miracle plane by the US Postal service when they were introduced here in 1919, because they had better performance that the twin and single engine biplanes the service was using. Their career was short, however. There were mid-air explosions and fires that were later traced to a steel fuel line that would fatigue from vibration, leaking fuel vapor right near the exhaust flame. Even after they fixed that, they lost one in a mid-air fire because fuel was leaking and pooling in the back of the engine compartment. This had been a problem previously seen, idenitified and supposedly dealt with by modifications, but once it cropped up again the public had no interest in any further F-13 flights for the USPS. This tale was in the old Time-Life Epic of Flight book "Flying the Mail."

Sure seems like it was very successful elsewhere, however, and certainly a milestone from a construction standpoint.

I have got to give a big public thank you to Neil for comming through with the 747-400 decals I was after.. But I guess I may have to bite the bullet and fork out for the A380 decals that I need.. I basically need just the windows and basic markings, and will re-paint the livery. But if I can get a set of the new Qantas livery if it is actually available, that would be better.. Anyway, what are some trusty online stores I can have a look at?.. I tried the one that Frank suggested, but didn't have what I was after. SO any links would be greatly appreciated..

Chris

Chris;

Thank you kindly for the salutation. Again I'm glad to help. As far as the other decals are concerned one area you may try are two online forums similar to this one. One is airlinercafe and the other one is Airliner Modelers Group(this one is accessed via Yahoo Groups).  These both are forums dedicated to anything airliners models. The folks on those sites are as helpful as the ones here on FSM. There are a couple of other sites I can direct you to.  I'll give you and the others here on the GB some of the airliner links I use quite extensively. 

http://www.airliners.net/

http://www.jetphotos.net/

www.airlinercafe.com (check out the links page for additional airliner decals locations)

http://www.drawdecal.com/home.htm

http://www.f-dcal.net/

http://www.jbot.ca/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/airlinermodelling/ 

Some of these sites will custom make decals for you too so check that option out too.

I hope this helps folks out.

Neil 

Again, thank you Neil..

I will have to sit down and go through all of them..

Cheers,Chris 

I did a little more to my Ju 86 this afternoon. I decided to paint the interior RLM 02 rather than FS34227 (Hu120) because that shade of green is a bit too garish for my taste.

Anyway, that's all done now, and the pilot and navigator's seats are painted in acrylic burnt sienna. I'll attend to the instrument panel and then close it up.

urich wrote:

Can any one help with the colors for United airlines (current) the gray and the blue if I can find the colors I might have a 777 to add to the build.

Urich;

I too am working on a B777. Not in UA livery however. That scheme is beautiful but I'm not quite up to that challenge yet. I found this link on the internet on a UA B777 kit review. It has color options. Also try a search in the airlinercafe.com forum for more information.

I hope this helps.

Neil

http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/Gal4/3701-3800/gal3729_777_Shapiro/gal3729.htm

Hi all...

   Group Builds like this one are fun because of the active exchange going on, along with the building.

    I'm committed to finishing the B732 project before starting the GB kits, and that day seems fast approaching, so I wanted to show the "Piedmont Pacemaker" out on her final shakedown flight before being mounted in/on the display base.

So, the next time you see her, she'll finally be done... ... and I can get started on the -900.     .... speaking of the -900, I've also decided instead of making it 'down & dirty', to pose it pulled up to a concourse with the Jetway attached, with figures & appropriate vehicles surrounding it.    

"Upon initial contact, you have recieved Information Bravo"

 Take care,

Frank

Frank;

Looking excellent. The photos look like the real plane. Especially the one with flaps and gear down. Looking forward to seeing your diorama build. Should be great.

Neil

Great stuff Frank, I really had to look at both of those pictures hard in all honesty.. 

As for me, well I have begun.. I have decided to go with the 747-400 mainly because Neil was so generous in donating the decals for me, so today I removed a few of the decals and had a look at the tail fin and what will need to be done in order to fix it.. I am guessing alot of putty and then re-scribed panel lines will have to be done all over this model.. At 1/144, I am always amazed at the size of these models, and at this scale, any imperfections will be noticable..

Anyways, I always like to see how everyone works on their models so I decided to take a pic of my new desk set up.. Forgive the half painted door. (Renovators will understand)

And the mess that is my 747-400 project.. It will be totally stripped, reputtied and have the wings assembled to it in the next day or so (hopefully) And then primered..

Chris 

This is my first airliner! After flying on these a bunch I thought I'd build one. I got her out of the box and began by gluing in some plast strips behind the windows and then filling them in. Here's a picture of progress so far:

More to come!