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Hapag-Lloyd Express 737-400 - Big Yellow Taxi *FINISHED*


Skodadriver

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It's looking very, very neat Dave,  although those checks might have been fiddly to do they have come out very well.

I agree with what you say about door outlines, it's odd how they vary so much between manufacturers, . Good catch on finding the Brasil decals sheet.

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11 hours ago, Skodadriver said:

Probably not the very near future but at some point. The decals only arrived yesterday as part of an order from Nick Webb. The order also included the Seaboard and Western/Aer Lingus L1049 which will be started first.

They're really nice decals.

Sorry for the topic drift

 

Chris.

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D-AHLL is now done and dusted (well, wiped down with a damp Kleenex!) and I’ve slightly surprised myself by finishing it in plenty of time.  My builds usually take a lot longer than two months.

 

The final stages were pretty straightforward.  I filled round the fronts of the pylons with a smear of superfine Milliput then touched up with Xtracolor X150 Canadian Voodoo Gray which for small brushwork is a good match to Halfords Racking Grey.  Before fitting the tailplanes I removed the interlocking tabs which previous experience taught me were more trouble than they were worth.  I find it’s necessary to remove the rear hinges from the nosewheel doors before attaching them otherwise they foul the leg.

 

The detail decals went on reasonably well although the Corogard section on the right wing broke in two rather annoyingly.  Fortunately it was behind the pylon and in the immortal words of Eric Morecambe “you can’t see the join”, at least not from a normal viewing distance. I applied a representative selection of stencils - life is too short to do the lot and I’ve never really believed in spending time on stuff that won’t be visible on the finished model.  After seeing the wing escape decals in place I decided to re-work some of the checks above the wings and I was thankful I’d used black decal rather than paint.  The finished result isn’t perfect but it’s as good as I could have hoped for.  I replaced the DACO landing light decals with Authentic Airliners items

 

Trying to attach the plastic pitots is a recipe for insanity and these were replaced with Danny’s own photo etched parts which not only look better but are far easier to handle. They are more-or-less a push fit into the holes and being flat are much less likely to ping out of the tweezers into oblivion although that does still happen.  The aerials and other sticky-out bits are a mixture of photo etch and kit parts.

 

So there we have it.  The Big Yellow Taxi is ready for another take-off from Hannover.  I’ve enjoyed the build and appreciated everyone’s interest and encouragement.

 

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More pictures in the gallery

 

 

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That looks excellent! Complex scheme to manage and it's turned out beautifully. Points about etched bits noted! I was undecided until I read that - thx

ATB

Rick

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Great job Dave, it's a very nice build. Really nice work on the decals, particularly on the checkerboard lines, fixing those in place without them ending up distorted must have been a challenge. Thanks also for your useful advice re marking the door positions.

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