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Air France Concorde, Heller 1:72


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1 hour ago, Nocoolname said:

That's an absolute beauty! I've got one of these in the stash that I was going to built lighted and this has helped to spur me into action. My main conundrum is whether to build as a BA Negus and Negus or Landor and whether to build wheels up or wheels down or try and find a way of having removable gear so I can alternate. Choices choices... 

And my vote is for Landor wheels up!

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1 minute ago, Buzby061 said:

Lovely work, the finish is impeccable. 

 

I've got the Airfix version in the stash. I made a start on it but chickened out!

 

Pete

How far did you get with it?

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That's a fantastic model!

 

Concorde is on my list of models to do, and I will at some point but I've probably got 18 months of work with my two Airbus birds and the QM2.

 

The landing gear up looks just right...  I probably would have done it down but I'll refer to your build when I come to do it.

 

I'm going on a viewing of Concorde at Manchester Aiport in a few weeks.Good time to get lots of photos of one of the most beautiful planes ever to take to the skies.  You've done it great justice!

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3 minutes ago, neilg said:

How far did you get with it?

Not very. :facepalm: Engines & part of the cockpit.

 

Just read your WIP, good tip to join the fuselage halves together. Mine will be in flight with visor up - eventually.

 

Pete

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9 minutes ago, Buzby061 said:

Not very. :facepalm: Engines & part of the cockpit.

 

Just read your WIP, good tip to join the fuselage halves together. Mine will be in flight with visor up - eventually.

 

Pete

Oula!

 

It goes together quite quickly to be honest, most of the time I spent was on filling, sanding, filling, sanding, filling, sanding, cementing parts I knocked off, filling sanding, painting, painting, painting, cementing parts I knocked off...

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5 hours ago, neilg said:

I'm not good with choices, that's why I built two versions!

 

I have seen a few lighted kits, and they look beautiful!

 

I said at the start of the build that I wasn't that bothered about fixing the inaccuracies of the kit, but the one thing I did "fix" was the cabin windows.  They are grossly oversized on these kits, and I filled them, replacing them with Draw Decal windows.

 

For your lighted version, you will have to keep the windows open, but they will still appear too large.  Would you make them smaller somehow?

i did not know about the windows.

I think a version with wheels up and wheels down compliment each other; they are each interesting in their own way and explain to the layperson why the nose is designed the way it is.

 

And yes, in 1/72nd scale most airliners start becoming a bit too large and cumbersome to handle.

 

But they still look awesome. Can't take away that.....

 

-d-

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I want to do one in Landor colours, but the last one that I made had a decal sheet that was very old.

 

The decals disintegrated into millions of pieces as soon as they came off the backing paper.

 

Is this likely to be a problem on all of those old Airfix versions?

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13 hours ago, Viking said:

They look beautiful, especially the in flight one.

 

Cheers

 

John

Thanks, I think I've settled on a final display pose:

 

FullSizeRender 2 copy

 

I usually use Trumpeter stands (as you can see on the left), but it was too short to give the in-flght model a good look.

 

The supplied stand is a decent size, but it requires a permanent hole to be made between the main gear bays, which I really didn't want to do.  I've modified it so the model just sits on top (with a big enough plate to stop it wobbling and sliding).

 

With the weight of the model, it sits up there with a lot of stability, but I would be worried if I had cats or kids.  It doesn't even wobble when I open and close the drawers.

 

Perhaps it would look more striking if I didn't have white walls all over.

 

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On 16/08/2017 at 13:28, Buzby061 said:

Not very. :facepalm: Engines & part of the cockpit.

 

Just read your WIP, good tip to join the fuselage halves together. Mine will be in flight with visor up - eventually.

 

Pete

 

I had to use a minimal amount of filler between the three sections using this technique, however, you are then left with a very awkwardly-sized fuselage to work with, and a very long seam along the spine to fill and sand.  It got bashed around a fair bit as I was manipulating it into different positions as I was filling.  

 

I must move my table away from the wall!  

 

I was particularly worried as it was always the nose that got bashed, and the mechanisms in the nose are fragile and brittle, so I was sure they were going to get snapped.  

 

But if you're going to build yours with the visor up, you could probably omit those fragile parts, but then I don't know how the visor will sit on the nose.  The visor is somewhat smaller than the opening in the nose, and when I was test-fitting, it didn't look like it would sit on top by itself, without the links propping it up.

 

I didn't try, but maybe you can bend the nose in a bit to make the opening smaller.

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27 minutes ago, Head in the clouds. said:

Absolute stunners and well done for persevering, I think that Concorde will never age in the looks department, even now she looks like she just flew off the drawing board.

I will never tire of looking at this plane.

Thanks.

Thanks, I'm back and forth between ORY/CDG and LHR, and I see each version often - and each time, I have my face pressed to the window as we taxi past, I get exciting knowing I will see it again.

 

Actually seeing Concorde so often was my inspiration to build these kits, and as a Brit living and working in France, and struggling with the language, the differences in culture, attitudes, and work, I look at these planes and think to myself, this is the result of what can be achieved when other people faced the same issues, but were able to put all of those things aside.  

 

And no matter how difficult I find my job at times, Concorde was harder for sure, and people managed to work together to finish it, and create something as beautiful as this.

 

 

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On 16/08/2017 at 11:33, Nocoolname said:

That's an absolute beauty! I've got one of these in the stash that I was going to built lighted and this has helped to spur me into action. My main conundrum is whether to build as a BA Negus and Negus or Landor and whether to build wheels up or wheels down or try and find a way of having removable gear so I can alternate. Choices choices... 

I found this guy's video on YouTube of his lighted build, if you don't mind the poor focus and the corny music of Vangelis:

 

 

I didn't see how he built it, but it looks like he's used incandescent bulbs in those engines by the way the glow fades out when he turns them off.  I'm sure they can only be on for a matter of moments before they melt through the plastic.

 

It looks like he didn't put any lights inside the wing roots, but it's probably bright enough without them!

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2 hours ago, neilg said:

 

I had to use a minimal amount of filler between the three sections using this technique, however, you are then left with a very awkwardly-sized fuselage to work with, and a very long seam along the spine to fill and sand.  It got bashed around a fair bit as I was manipulating it into different positions as I was filling.  

 

I must move my table away from the wall!  

 

I was particularly worried as it was always the nose that got bashed, and the mechanisms in the nose are fragile and brittle, so I was sure they were going to get snapped.  

 

But if you're going to build yours with the visor up, you could probably omit those fragile parts, but then I don't know how the visor will sit on the nose.  The visor is somewhat smaller than the opening in the nose, and when I was test-fitting, it didn't look like it would sit on top by itself, without the links propping it up.

 

I didn't try, but maybe you can bend the nose in a bit to make the opening smaller.

Many thanks for the advice. I've actually dragged it from the shelf of doom & re-started it.

 

I think it might take a while!

 

Pete

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41 minutes ago, Buzby061 said:

Many thanks for the advice. I've actually dragged it from the shelf of doom & re-started it.

 

I think it might take a while!

 

Pete

Excellent!  Hope you'll keep us informed of the progress!

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On 15/08/2017 at 08:50, CedB said:

Another great finish Neil and kudos for getting the noses working - great stuff :) 

Thanks, I was convinced this one was broken after I gave it a big smack against the wall while I was applying filler.  I had that sinking feeling when I heard rattling inside, but I think it was some excess filler that's come away inside, where I've filled the cabin windows, as the nose and visor still works fine!

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Neil,

 

What wonderful work.

 

I have always been frightened off from the 1/72 kit with the fuselage horror stories but those photographs are inspiring.

 

It's all that white too. Perhaps I will dig out my second TSR 2 and practice on that (the first lost control over a wheelie bin).

 

Great builds: congratulations!

 

Michael

 

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9 hours ago, Michael Enright said:

Neil,

 

What wonderful work.

 

I have always been frightened off from the 1/72 kit with the fuselage horror stories but those photographs are inspiring.

 

It's all that white too. Perhaps I will dig out my second TSR 2 and practice on that (the first lost control over a wheelie bin).

 

Great builds: congratulations!

 

Michael

 

Thanks, I used the same technique as others have with the fuselage, and that really seems the best way to put it together.

 

Putting it together was fine, and it's quite encouraging to see it quickly coming together - what took the most time was filling and sanding, particularly the wing roots.  On both of my builds, the top wing/fuselage joint was quite small and didn't take much filler.

 

Painting on such a large surface was a challenge.  Because I used rattle-cans for the primer and gloss white, I had to paint it outside but I had to wait for completely still weather between coats!

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Hello Neilg,

My compliments on these beautiful constructed Concorde.

Regards, Orion / The Netherlands.

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