Putting the Fop in Foppolo

[Fatcawthorne]

Back in 1980, FatCawthone was an ExtremelySkinnyCawthorne and having just entered his teenage years was heading away for a school skiing trip to Foppolo in Northern Italy.

 

Ah the panache of speeding across the slopes, the apres ski (or going on the piste as even then was how I'd prefer to see the piste!) and obviously being 13 and all that goes with it, copping off with as many 13 year old lasses as possible, taking advantage of the romance of the foreign field!!!

 

But first was the flight.  Master ESC had one flight under his belt at this time, a trip to Malta and back on a Boeing 720B, but this flight was special; there were no parents!

 

A shortish coach trip from Chingford in East London to Luton Airport (cue the many many attempts to reproduce that classic Campari advert featuring the delectable Lorraine Chase - "Did you truly waft here from paradise?" - "Nah, Luton Airport!"), where having been checked in we were led off to a Britannia Airways Boeing 737-200 that would fly us to Milan from where we would be coached up into the Dolomite mountains.  Now using my Kodak 110 camera I would have used up my entire film for the week's trip on a Walkaround Shoot before I even knew what one of those was (and didn't they know how to charge for stuff in skiing villages when I wanted to buy a new film!), but like all grown up men all their photos are in their Mum's loft.  I might see her over this Easter break so I might see if she could dig them out so I can 100% model the actual plane I flew on.

 

Now having picked up the Airfix rendition (I think rendition in this case probably refers to the Guantanamo definition of the word as this kit is soooooooooo old and poorly detailed that it must be up there with waterboarding on the list of top torture methods!) during one of their Last Chance to Black Friday sales for a fiver or something, a small germ of an idea to build one of these had formed.  I later saw that 26 Decals did a Screen Printed sheet for Britannia schemes of this era so added that to the stash.  As I'd heard from here that the engine pylons represented an even earlier version of 737 I also added the Braz engines to the cocktail.  I did also purchase the Bren Gun wheels for the -300 but may save them for a second build in this GB if I get that far. 

 

Then along came this GB and a chance to push myself gently out of my comfort zone (1/48 RAF WW2 to date) was presented and duly grasped with both mitts (but not with skiing gloves on - though what the excuse for some of my work is I'll never know!).

 

This is what we started with:

 

Now being used to having "construction began with the cockpit" as a stock opening line, not having a cockpit was a bit of a culture shock.  Construction began by filling the over square open windows so kindly provided by Airfix (along with a tool to push through any cheat line decals to give a professional finish) as the 26 decals have a far more realistic representation compared to the kit offerings.  The cargo and cabin doors were also added and as they fit like a glove (an oven glove that is) plenty of filler went on those too.  

This was done with my homemade sprue and cement gloop concoction.

 

 

As you can see the sanding, filling, sanding, filling, repeat repeat repeat had already started and will be going on for quite a bit longer too!

 

Next up the fuselage and the wings were cemented together.

 

 

Once at this stage I decided that I couldn't live with the lack of wheelwells, despite originally planning this as a very quick build to see if my sausage-like fingers could indeed cope with this scale.  I therefore created rough representations of the wheelwells from evergreen sheet and then spent a few hours researching what would actually be seen in those wells.  Now there is no way on god's earth that I could miniaturise what actually lives there and stay sane so I took a pragmatic view to create something that looks busy enough but realistic  without testing my sanity.  Yes I know everything is fictional and overscale but it's my model so ner ner ne ner ner (yes I have regressed to the spotty ESC for the duration of this build).

 

 

These were cleaned up and after priming were given a coat of very very light grey mixed from Tamiya white and Sky Grey.

 

 

Next the engines were cleaned up from their casting blocks and Araldited to the wings.  Now having just removed only the scrap resin from the engine I could not get the engines to fit the wings unless they pointed outwards at 20 degrees or so, which if it was the prototype might have perturbed the passengers in the rear rows!

 

I worked out the datum for the centreline of the engines and pencilled a line across the top wing to help line things up.  Then I chipped, scalpelled and sanded away at the top of the engines to try and get a better and straighter fit.  Now the port wing engine might have received a bit too much of this, so needed a bit of filler once attached, however am happy with how the starboard one finshed up.

 

 

The last things that I've done are the rescribing of the tailplanes (the top surface of the wing and the fin had already been rescribed), and a good sanding and polishing of all the fuselage's filler, ready for a priming once the wings and tailplanes are on.

 

 

 

 

Anyways that's where we are, am pleased I've finally got a chance to upload some pictures and get something written down as it seems to be my habit of getting quite a way into a build before starting my WIPs.  The intentions are good but the application rarely matches them!

 

Until next time, thanks for tuning in.

 

Edited April 1, 2018 by Fatcawthorne
Spelling and duplicate picture removal

[halcyonjet]

A very nice start Chris, especially the u/c bays. Really good choice of colour scheme -classic Britannia 

I'm staying tuned in!

 

Dave

[stringbag]

25 minutes ago, halcyonjet said:

 Really good choice of colour scheme -classic Britannia 

I'm staying tuned in!

 

Dave

Agree wholeheartedly with Dave here regarding the colour scheme.  One of the best worn by the 727-200 I feel.

I'll be tuned in as well.

 

Chris.

[stevehnz]

I'll be keen to watch this come together, I'm getting some good tips so far, I've one of these to do in a local livery sometime.

Steve.

[Fatcawthorne]

17 hours ago, halcyonjet said:

A very nice start Chris, especially the u/c bays. Really good choice of colour scheme -classic Britannia 

I'm staying tuned in!

 

Dave

Thanks Dave, now I’ve got to deliver!

17 hours ago, stringbag said:

Agree wholeheartedly with Dave here regarding the colour scheme.  One of the best worn by the 727-200 I feel.

I'll be tuned in as well.

 

Chris.

Totally agree, far prettier than the earlier Britannia scheme included on the kit decals.

11 hours ago, stevehnz said:

I'll be keen to watch this come together, I'm getting some good tips so far, I've one of these to do in a local livery sometime.

Steve.

Mate not sure how good the tips are, might end up as the “how not to” guide!

 

Kiwi liveries tend to be quite colourful too so will look out for this when it gets to the top of your pile Steve.

[Fatcawthorne]

Back again with some progress to report.

 

The belly part that covers the undercarriage bay was fitted and fettled in, do like the see-through effect this gives in the flesh (and now that I've mentioned it I'd better take some photos to show it later eh)!

 

 

 

Right, we have also glued some sticky-out bits on; Wings and tailplane fitted without any major dramas, although a layer of gloop helped hide any gaps caused by my over enthusiastic sanding earlier on.

 

 

 

The thrust reverser housings were added to the jetpipes and copious more sanding to the main airframe parts too and I think we're ready for some priming action.

 

 

 

My plan was to use Halfords white primer on the upper fuselage, mask that under the cheatline and apply Halfords grey to the rest of the airframe.  This would then get buffed and micro-meshed smooth for the top coats.  The only 100% surety is the top of the fuselage will be Halfords Appliance White, the rest, any ideas peeps?  I tend to use Tamiya, Gunze or Vallejo acrylics.  Do you good folk know of any good matches for Boeing Grey and Corroguard?  I also have quite a few Alclad NMFs that I've not tried before, so plan to spray Tamiya Gloss Black and then pick an appropriate shade.  Am I walking into a minefield?

 

Any advice well and truly appreciated. 'Til next time.......

 

Chris

[Viking]

Tamiya gloss black works well as a base for Alclad, just be sure to give the Tamiya 24 hours min to dry, and put the Alclad on in thin coats.

[Graeme H]

Well you might have started late, but really cracking on, love the multiple pegs holding down pegs on the wings, don't think I've ever seen that before, but then as you say these moulds are really really old

 

[Skodadriver]

For what it's worth, for several years my default "Boeing" grey has been Halfords Racking Grey.  You can see it on the wings of my HLX 737-400. Several other modellers in the GB are using it.  If you go looking for it in your local Halfords you'll find it with what they call Specialist and Decorative Paint and not the car colours.

 

I try to use decals for Corrogard wherever possible but if I have to paint I use Xtracolor X331. Some people say it's too silvery but Corrogard isn't a colour and how it looks is totally dependent on lighting, angle, cleanliness and a whole lot of other factors.  Be aware that in the past there was an issue with Xtracolor Corrogard exploding the first time the tinlet was opened.  That happened to me and it led to a wall of the dining room having to be re-papered and my wife's favourite lampshade re-covered. If I didn't wear glasses I'd have got it in my eyes.  It's the only time in 42 years of marriage that modelling has been a source of marital disharmony. The makers should have sorted the problem years ago but you've no idea how long a particular tinlet has been on the shelf so always, ALWAYS, cover the tinlet with a cloth the first time you open it.

 

Personally I'm not a fan of Alclad and much prefer AK Interactive Xtreme metal which I usually apply over Tamiya TS-17. However if you're committed to using Alclad you won't go wrong with a base of Tamiya gloss black.

 

HTH

 

Dave G

 

[Romeo Alpha Yankee]

Sorry to miss the start of your build Chris. I was away enjoying some wine and sun.

 

You have certainly done a nice job on the gear wells and rescribe. I am now wishing I did the wells on my Airfix build, but too late I am afraid.

 

I also like the Britania scheme, looking forward to more progress!