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Boeing's Mid Range Maestro


XV571

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Hello Everyone!

When I found out that a new Airliner Group build had been organised and was about to start, I started thinking about what to build. The last GB project involved a major cut and shut to bash a Beluga and A340 into an A300-600 which was moderately successful, despite a very stubborn seam at the wing fairing joint Although it didn't make it to the finish line, it's still inching toward completion. Every now and then I work on it, the decals are on but no engines or landing gear are installed. Anyway that's history; shifting through the stash looking for inspiration and something different I came across this:

DSCF1273_zpsycbhfpt4.jpg

On opening the box revealed the fuselage and bulkheads had been cut from the backing sheet but no other work. I should think this counts as less than 25% started :) :

DSCF1274_zpspond6nyz.jpg

Sorting everything out confirmed it was all present and correct:

DSCF1275_zpszcmvzrff.jpg

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The kit was actually bought (along with the Welsh Models A321) about 1996! At that time British Midland was looking to expand the fleet and the competition was between the Boeing 757 and the Airbus A321. My plan at the time was to do both types in the Diamond Service BMA livery as tasters. As it happens not only did we buy the Airbus we changed the livery to the dark blue and grey version around that time, so they would have been a double 'What If'! About 10 years later a 757 did operate for bmi when we wet-leased one from Icelandair to supplant the A330 across the Atlantic.

http://cdn-www.airliners.net/photos/airliners/6/6/1/0838166.jpg?v=v20

The kit is, as you would expect, very basic but looks to be a better starting point for a decent 757 than the Minicraft effort. One day I may get the superb Authentic Airliners version, for now this will give my rusty vacform building skills a workout.

One thing will definitely have to be changed - the engines. These are pretty awful, the white metal fans are somewhat indistinct and the exhaust is just a blank wall at the back of the nacelle.

DSCF1278_zpskzagsh9q.jpg

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Most likely I'll replace them with a set of Bra.Z RB211-535Es.

I don't know what the livery will be, I might go with the USAir one if the decals have survived after 20 years and feel up to doing a natural metal finish. Maybe if I can find the marked up Icelandair jet it'll be that. Since WhIfs are allowed it could even be the original plan of a full British Midland jet!

Now, where's the wet and dry paper...

Jonathan

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Amazing to think that kit was state of the art when it appeared - things have certainly moved on!

I built it about 20 years ago and can still remember the trouble I had trying to get rid of the join on the wing upper surface. Respect from me for tackling it and I'll follow the build with interest.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks everyone for the comments and encouragement. I was sad to leave BMA, I have a lot of great memories and worked with a fantastic bunch of people. I believe we maintained the aircraft to a really high standard, something I don't think the beancounters appreciated.

Here's the latest on the build:

Well, as Jesse from the Fast Show would have said: "this week I have mostly been sanding".

The fuselage halves have had the excess plastic removed from the edges. For those not familiar with vacforms, how much material needs to be sanded away can be determined by first running a pencil or fine tipped pen around the periphery then a scalpel or craft knife is used to score the plastic until nearly through the plastic. The part can then be carefully snapped from the carrier plastic.

The excess plastic is then sanded away either by using a sheet of wet and dry paper with lots of water or carefully locally sanded. The previously marked line is your guide to know when to stop, In addition enough material has been removed when a thin strip of plastic peels off. Sometimes you can overdo it (I did just forward of the fin on the upper fuselage).

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The wings have also been thinned down at both edges. Since the gear bays are simply blanked off they were opened out. The platform for the gear leg was also cut away on both the wing and metal leg to give a more representative look.

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The bulkheads have been superglued in and strips applied around the edge. A couple of horizontal stiffeners have also been glued in although the 1,5mm thick plastic used seems to be more than adequate.

DSCF1289_zpsrxhhqddu.jpg

The kit has no provision for a nosewheel well, the aft doors are moulded closed with the intention that the leg simply attaches to the fuselage then you stick the white metal doors either side. To give the area depth the doors were cut out. A thick square of plastic was glued as a mount for the leg and the well boxed in before the fuselage was closed up.

DSCF1293_zpsheahhik2.jpg

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A spar was made using a lollipop stick cut to length and a slot cut in the recess for the wing. A quick assembly of the parts with some nose weight added showed there shouldn't be any major fit issues.

DSCF1295_zpsshlnrvy2.jpg

The wings have been glued together which has inevitably resulted in a large gap at the upper trailing edge needing filler - time to break out the Milliput...

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The noseweight has been attached with epoxy and once set the fuselage halves were joined and the lollipop spar glued in, also with epoxy .

After the fuselage seams were dealt with, the panel lines were restored as needed and the initial coat of grey primer sprayed on. This highlighted more work was needed on the filled windows and some wonky scribing. These were filled using the ever reliable superglue and talc mix, re-sanded and rescribed as needed. A coat of white primer was sprayed and any areas needing further sanding have been addressed.

The wings have now been attached using a combination of epoxy and superglue to align then secure each side at the same angle

DSCF1302_zpsyyp2ou1l.jpg

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Finally, an update on the planned livery. Looking through the AJ Aviation website I found that S&M Decals have a sheet for Icelandair's TF-FII when wet-leased for the Manchester-Washington IAD route in place of the A330 moved to LHR for the India routes. I've also ordered the full Icelandair sheet from Draw Decals so I can combine them to use the relevant markings from both.

http://www.airliners.net/photo/BMI-British-Midland-%28Icelandair%29/Boeing-757-208/846900/L

However I'm still undecided as to whether to do it in the 1996 livery and save these markings for an Authentic Airliners kit :hmmm: . I'll prime it in white then decide. Next on the shopping list is a pair of Bra.Z RB211-535Es.

Thanks for looking.

Jonathan

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Hi Jonathan,

This seems to be coming along nicely. You mentioned a superglue and talc mix. Do you mix it together then spread it on the model, put talc where you want to fill then add superglue or do you apply superglue then sprinkle with talc? Sounds like a good quick way of filling. Also do you use an activator for the superglue?

Cheers,

Ian

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You are powering through this one Johnathan, you build vac kits faster than I can get through an injected kit! I am loving your progress so far.

Hi Jonathan,
This seems to be coming along nicely. You mentioned a superglue and talc mix. Do you mix it together then spread it on the model, put talc where you want to fill then add superglue or do you apply superglue then sprinkle with talc? Sounds like a good quick way of filling. Also do you use an activator for the superglue?
Cheers,
Ian

Ian,

I believe the talc is sprinkled on after you apply the superglue as it reacts like an activator/accelerant. I have never tried it bu a couple of guys from my model club use this method very effectively.

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Ok, thanks Ray, I'll give it a go. Saves waiting 24 hours for Milliput to cure!

Cheers,

Ian

You can also use baking powder instead of talc. It's a small point but I find taking a pinch out of a standard drum of baking powder easier than sprinkling talc everywhere! I probably don't need to say it but it's a very good idea to experiment on something that doesn't matter before trying this for real.

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  • 1 month later...

Hello everyone,

Apologies for having this thread go dark for so long. I have been working on the 757 since the last post - has it really been over a month! :o Ray, I'm not so sure about powering through the build though, it's more like doing a marathon in 50m sprints with a long lie-down in between each interval. Still, it's steadily making progress.

I've finally decided to go with the hybrid bmi/Icelandair livery. So, on to progress so far:

Since the last post the wings have been painted BAC707 grey (actually I used Xtracolor's X150 Voodoo Grey just to eke out the limited supply I have of their X301/X359 versions) and masked.

DSCF1320_zpsskaev0zc.jpg

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After decanting a couple of bottles of Halfords Appliance White from the can, several coats were airbrushed This was repeated a couple of times since the white highlighted a couple of seams and some dodgy re-scribing requiring remedial action.

During the initial painting steps the decals arrived for both the full Icelandair fleet and the bmi leased aircraft. Many thanks to Charlie of AJ Aviation for taking the time to find the non-creased sheet hiding in the box.

DSCF1325_zpssehflhog.jpg

The Draw Decals sheet suggests using BA World Blue X322 as a close match. Since I'll be using the S&M tail I decided to match that instead. In the end after looking at various pictures and comparing the decal to various blues I went for X163 1999 Blue Angels Blue: So this was sprayed on. It's had about a week to harden so another coat will go on soon:

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Looks to be pretty close to the decal, no?

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The replacement Bra.Z RB211s have also arrived, together with the Flying Colors 757 Detail sheet. I was going to get just their Corroguard sheet but Hannants ran out of stock the day I went to order. Still, the extra details will come in useful.

DSCF1328_zpsthltrf1u.jpg

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The engines have now been built up and are ready for the first primer coat to check the joins:

DSCF1333a_zpstde3al8x.jpg

The main work is over the hump now, with most of the major painting done. At some point I'll have to tackle painting the wheels (one of my least favourite jobs). This one might actually get finished!

Hi Jonathan,
This seems to be coming along nicely. You mentioned a superglue and talc mix. Do you mix it together then spread it on the model, put talc where you want to fill then add superglue or do you apply superglue then sprinkle with talc? Sounds like a good quick way of filling. Also do you use an activator for the superglue?
Cheers,
Ian

Ian, here's my method for making the superglue/talc filler:

One talcum powder bottle with all but one hole taped over to control the amount

DSCF1312_zpsjdouhkmp.jpg

One bottle top (or in this case, paste jar top)

DSCF1311_zpstbrxxruv.jpg

Pour talc into top and add superglue

DSCF1316_zps7aiayelh.jpg

Mix to suit

DSCF1317_zpsq0cjc7dq.jpg

Apply to gap, wait to cure for a while, then sand - sorted :lol:

HTH,

Jonathan

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  • 2 months later...

After several false starts, an epic cock-up and the distraction of Scale Model World last weekend, I'm calling this finally done.

 

This is where it was a couple of weeks ago:

 

DSCF1354_zpssrpsalfo.jpg

 

First the cock-up. You can see I'd painted the tail blue with a white box for the 'bmi'. This was a big mistake as I'd forgotten to account for the more transparent qualities of the laser decal. As a result the blue stripes all but disappeared into the background.:wall:

 

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To overcome this I looked for a match for the stripes, came up with Xtracolor's Thrifty Blue and sprayed some scrap decal sheet. After this had fully dried 2mm strips were cut to size and laid over the originals. I'm quite pleased with the results.

 

Another issue was the blue paint, this chipped off in several areas and had to be touched up at the end.

 

Before decalling:

 

DSCF1355_zpsabvpyxzr.jpg

 

During, which is when the paint started chipping:

 

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Fortunately most of it was on the underside so isn't too visible.

 

The Bra.Z RB211s were painted with X554 British Caledonian Yellow, which I think closely matches the original, BAC707 grey for the pylons  and a combination of various Alclads for the metallic areas.

 

So here it is, Icelandair's TF-FII 'Fandis' as leased to British Midland in 2005:

 

DSCF1364_zpsq35axokb.jpg

 

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Not the greatest of results compared to others in this Group Build, but after languishing in the stash for 20 years, it's nice to see it finally done and in the display cabinet.

 

Here's to GB Number IV in a couple of years.

 

All the best,

 

Jonathan

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Very nice... well done.

 

You chose a good colour scheme. Nice to see something a bit out of the ordinary - had me stop and think "when did they have 757s", followed quickly by "BMI with yellow engines???"! 

 

It's a shame BMI is no more. Flew with them a few times - A330 from Manchester to Chicago stands out, as well as a F100 (or might have been F70) from LHR to MAN one clear 5 November night - could see fireworks below us all the way!

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