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Revell 1/139 Convair 990 Coronado Swissair 1964 vintage kit


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This is one of the most difficult to find Revell airliners and prices for this kit are usually astronomic.

I had the luck to achieve this one on Ebay for a surprisingly cheap price.

The box and all parts were in pristine condition,only the decals showed their age a bit.

 

The kit itself is very nicely molded and has engraved panel lines.

Fit is quite ok,the most difficult parts were the wing to fuselage fit which was very poor and required some serious correction work to get the wings in the right angle atached.

 

I decided to build this one as a desktop model.The landing gear is very basic and I didn't like the look of it.

As the kit included the classic Revell display stand which allows the model to be displayed in different "flight modes"  I decided to omit the landing gear.

The Convair 990 looks also very elegant in flight.

 

I decided to paint the whole Swissair livery by airbrush and only use decals for the logos,and other details.

Paints are Revell and Testors enamels.

 

For the decals I used a mixture of kits decals (the "Coronado" in the tail,and the "A" from the wing-registration and the registration in the red cheatline) , Swissair titles,logos and the white cross as well as the registration on the wings come from the Glencoe/Frog Convair 880,cabin windows and doors are from a Vintage Flyers decals set.

As I tried to build this kit mainly straight from the box I kept the "open cockpit windows" and just filled them with Krystal Klear"

 

The engines show the Coronado before the enhancements she received on behalf of Swissair.

Research showed although that the first examples Swissair received came in this configuration and were modified later on so I had not to make alterations on the kits engines.

 

After years of searching for this kit,I can finally add this classic airliner to my collection and it will get a special spot in my vitrine.

 

Cheers

 

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20170324_180614_zpsnowaygbc.jpg

 

 

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Well done. Always great to see a CV990 . I didn't know Revell even made this kit . Did they sell in the UK or just the States? Made my day and wasn't expecting one of these today ! You could normally see them coming from miles out.

The Smokey Joe really is a favourite of mine, they were rare birds in rows of Boeing 707,720s, Douglas DC-8s and VC10s. There were roughly  14-19 that used to frequent Heathrow for a relatively short time and 2 others on one or two trips  in the 60s. 8 Swissair plus 1 Air France,1 Iberia (both leased for about a year in 1967 ) Spantax with 2 or 3 until they were shifted to Gatwick and 2 SAS a couple of times before they were on permanent lease to Thai Int. Although MEA started 5 or 6 990s  to LHR towards the end of 1969 . Only 4 CV880s.2 Swissair and 2 JAL that I know of ! I only found out the JAL info in the last month or two.

 

Really great job and thanks for showing......

 

....It's Smoking!

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38 minutes ago, bzn20 said:

Well done. Always great to see a CV990 . I didn't know Revell even made this kit . Did they sell in the UK or just the States? Made my day and wasn't expecting one of these today ! You could normally see them coming from miles out.

The Smokey Joe really is a favourite of mine, they were rare birds in rows of Boeing 707,720s, Douglas DC-8s and VC10s. There were roughly  14-19 that used to frequent Heathrow for a relatively short time and 2 others on one or two trips  in the 60s. 8 Swissair plus 1 Air France,1 Iberia (both leased for about a year in 1967 ) Spantax with 2 or 3 until they were shifted to Gatwick and 2 SAS a couple of times before they were on permanent lease to Thai Int. Although MEA started 5 or 6 990s  to LHR towards the end of 1969 . Only 4 CV880s.2 Swissair and 2 JAL that I know of ! I only found out the JAL info in the last month or two.

 

Really great job and thanks for showing......

 

....It's Smoking!

Thank you very much.

The Revell kit came out around 1962 and was re-released afaik in 1964 and 1975.After then it seemed to have vanished.

I am not sure if I ever saw a real one in action as when I was a kid only Spantax used to operate this type and they were phased out in 1987 as the last Coronados in airline service.

But I really like the look of this aircraft.There is one CV-990 preserved in Switzerland.It is in Luzerne in the technic museum and can even be boarded.It has the full Swissair C/S as my model and is also still fully equiped with passenger seats.When I visited last time we could even sit in the plane.

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36 minutes ago, Turbofan said:

Another beauty Alex! Very classy.

Cheers,

Ian

PS where's the cat?

Thank you very much.

The cats were busy chasing each other during the shoot...:winkgrin:

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7 minutes ago, Alex1978 said:

The cats were busy chasing each other during the shoot...:winkgrin:

 

I thought they must have been off sleeping somewhere!

 

Another cracking build Alex, beautiful finish once again and the in flight display really shows off the lovely lines of the jet! I've got an Frsin Plastic one with Swissair decals in the stash, must dig it out & have a go at it!

 

Top job!

 

Keith

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37 minutes ago, Alex1978 said:

Thank you very much.

The Revell kit came out around 1962 and was re-released afaik in 1964 and 1975.After then it seemed to have vanished.

I am not sure if I ever saw a real one in action as when I was a kid only Spantax used to operate this type and they were phased out in 1987 as the last Coronados in airline service.

But I really like the look of this aircraft.There is one CV-990 preserved in Switzerland.It is in Luzerne in the technic museum and can even be boarded.It has the full Swissair C/S as my model and is also still fully equiped with passenger seats.When I visited last time we could even sit in the plane.

 

Well I've never been on one! My son went on the Elvis 880. The Swissair 990 used to park on the Europa Building (later Terminal 2) right in front of the Queen's B. off the top of my head EC-BJC was the Iberia leased from Spantax. Not long after in 68 Spantax started with 'BJD and 2 others. Then they went to LGW around 70/71 I think.

I saw a couple of Aerolineas Peruanas at LAX parked next to the BOAC VC10 I was in Aug 1970 . That made my day (s)

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Very nice model of almost forgotten subject. In August 1972, during my first visit to London (in age of 13, my Grandpa lived there) I noticed CV 990 in air few times over London. One day with Brother we spent some 6 hours at LHR and still I have some photos taken there with standard lenses camera (no tele unfortunately). On one I have CV 990, likely Mexican, but I am not sure. Below is photo a part of small (9x13 cm) print-out. The quality is poor but I have somwhere negative, so if I found it I can try to scan and I hope the quality can be much better. I think it shortly after take off rather than low fly-pass...You may see the reflection of light on tanks on wings (to prove that it is 990): 

cv%20990%20DSC04764_zpsp1lycj7j.jpg

 

Cheers

J-W

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That's really nice Alex, and I hope will get mine off the shelf of doom where it's languished for the last several years.

 

I'm going to do a Swissair machine as well, but will try the F-Rsin decals for their Swissair CV-990. Hopefully they'll fit without too much trouble. Really like the inclusion of the coats-of-arms for Swissair CV-990s and DC-8s.

So let's see if I can work up the motivation and finish it! Seeing what they can look like with your lovely build should do the trick.

 

Cheers,

 

Matt

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2 hours ago, JWM said:

tanks on wings (to prove that it is 990): 

 

 

They're not tanks. They are aerodynamic Whitcombe Bodies  or Kuchemann Carrots. Anti Shock (wave) Bodies for speeds up to Mach  1.0 and just below.

No idea where this spoiler thing came from so don't bother looking for things that 'aint there!!

Spoiler

 

 

Edited by bzn20
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Very nice - a beautiful finish! One of the fastest airliners ever, but I had forgotten how smoky they were.  Kuchemann carrots were a retrofit on the Victor.

Edited by bryanm
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1 hour ago, Meatbox8 said:

Wow!  That's a stunner.  A beautiful finish.  it reminds me of the display models you used to see in travel agents.

Thank you.

Yes thats true.Thats what I tried to achieve with this build

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6 hours ago, bzn20 said:

They're not tanks. They are aerodynamic Whitcombe Bodies  or Kuchemann Carrots. Anti Shock (wave) Bodies for speeds up to Mach  1.0 and just below.

No idea where this spoiler thing came from so don't bother looking for things that 'aint there!!

That is interesting! So next invention done by Richard Whitecomb, besides Area rule, Winglets and the supercritical airfoil. I am physicist, so I have to read more about it :)

Let say, that one should name them then "tank" instead of tank... ;)

Cheers

J-W

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Nice-looking build, Alex. Truly the Porn Star of first generation jet airliners.

IMHO, the Revell kit is a tough act to beat. They picked up on nuances in the shape, that i think the F-RSIN kit missed. Despite the oddball scale, it was a pretty good kit for its time.

I have heard conflicting stories as to what happened to the molds. One story is it fell off the cargo ship on the way back from Brazil. Another story is the molds had corroded badly and someone had the idea of pouring gasoline into the mold entry holes, and then lighting it off so it would "cook the mold halves apart...Genius. Not.

Either way, we are overdue for a new model kit of this beauty. RODEN are you listening??

 

david

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Great to see classic collectible plastic being built, and built so well too. Fie and humbug to those who'd lock old kits up, they should be built and enjoyed.

 

Nice work, and 1/139 is pretty darn close to 1/144, isn't it?

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51 minutes ago, JWM said:

That is interesting! So next invention done by Richard Whitecomb, besides Area rule, Winglets and the supercritical airfoil. I am physicist, so I have to read more about it :)

Let say, that one should name them then "tank" instead of tank... ;)

Cheers

J-W

 

Whitcomb of NACA/ NASA and Kuchemann of Farnborough seemed to run down the same road which isn't really a big surprise, both in the same field looking at the same problems to solve. Kuchemann designed Anti shock bodies, wing tips,2 for the VC10, Coke Bottle or Area Rule too. Delta wing designs.

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Lovely build of a vintage kit. I saw a couple Swissair ones oberflying my house in West Sussex many years ago outbound from LHR. But I also saw the Spantax ones at LGW  and then there was  this one:

 

20170318183816_07_zpsccbk91ey.jpg

Not sure of the year but was sometime for 1975 to 77.. It was impounded having built up a 'parking fine' so I understood back then. I have a couple more pics of it with snow ploughs and other heavy vehicles to stop it from being 'liberated'.

 

Its reg was N880JT as it was a CV-880 ex Cathay Pacific. This is reflected in the colour scheme but replacing the green and white of Cathay with dark blue and yellow.

 

And below, I think this is a Spantax one on approach. But it might be a 707 or DC-8????

20170219204308_05_zpsw0weupat.jpg

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2 hours ago, David H said:

Nice-looking build, Alex. Truly the Porn Star of first generation jet airliners.

IMHO, the Revell kit is a tough act to beat. They picked up on nuances in the shape, that i think the F-RSIN kit missed. Despite the oddball scale, it was a pretty good kit for its time.

I have heard conflicting stories as to what happened to the molds. One story is it fell off the cargo ship on the way back from Brazil. Another story is the molds had corroded badly and someone had the idea of pouring gasoline into the mold entry holes, and then lighting it off so it would "cook the mold halves apart...Genius. Not.

Either way, we are overdue for a new model kit of this beauty. RODEN are you listening??

 

david

Thank you very much David.

Thats right,the F-RSIN kit has some issues that are not present on the Revell kit.

I also do hope that Zvezda or Roden will do a new CV-88 and CV-990.There are a lot of nice schemes to build them in...

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1 hour ago, Paul J said:

Lovely build of a vintage kit. I saw a couple Swissair ones oberflying my house in West Sussex many years ago outbound from LHR. But I also saw the Spantax ones at LGW  and then there was  this one:

 

20170318183816_07_zpsccbk91ey.jpg

Not sure of the year but was sometime for 1975 to 77.. It was impounded having built up a 'parking fine' so I understood back then. I have a couple more pics of it with snow ploughs and other heavy vehicles to stop it from being 'liberated'.

 

Its reg was N880JT as it was a CV-880 ex Cathay Pacific. This is reflected in the colour scheme but replacing the green and white of Cathay with dark blue and yellow.

 

And below, I think this is a Spantax one on approach. But it might be a 707 or DC-8????

20170219204308_05_zpsw0weupat.jpg

Thank you very much.

Very nice pics as well.The good old times...

 

Interesting pic of the CV-880...almost looks a bit like the B.O.A.C scheme....:huh:

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And I found this one in my recent slide scans too. Taken at the Paris Air Show / Salon in 1977 showing a NASA Convair serialled/reggie N712NA:

20170318213008_05_zpsjbefipk8.jpg

 

9fe38d5f-cf70-464e-bf08-257939a0a929_zps

Though not the main feature in this second pic(being of the Boeing T-43A) it shows the tail of '712.

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2 hours ago, Paul J said:

And below, I think this is a Spantax one on approach. But it might be a 707 or DC-8????

At bottom of this photo you have DH Comet 4 (c?) and the same stand behind CV 880 on previous. Another rarity....

 

I was trying to scan negative of my photo of 990 from LHR (I am surprise how fast I found it! -despite that it is from 1972) but my home scaner produces even worse quality... 

BTW - now it I change my mind - this "mine" looks rather like the Swiss one, with red top of fin and something white there...Don't you think so?

J-W

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