Challenger350Pilot

Very nice indeed! Job well done! Always nice to see the Concorde.

Wow...this looks great! Your bravery is going to pay well! Keep working! Looking forward to seeing the progress....

Thought I'd share a work in progress...this is the Heller 1/72 scale Super Constellation; planning to finish this one as a blue window striped KLM "The Flying Dutchman," scheme flown circa 1958, though I have not decided on a specific aircraft reproduction. The project is coming along, and beginning to look like a Connie...but lots more to do. I am using quite a bit of detailing parts not included in the kit: Fisher engines and props, Scale Aircraft Conversions metal landing gear, and Plus Model wheel bays. Enjoy...... Had to do quite a bit of puttying and closing of seams, with tons of sanding. I closed the windows, because I'll use 3D window decals in the final version. Here you can see the pre-prime "chop-job" of the outboard engine nacelle, so that the Fisher engines fit properly to the model. I'm pretty new at sawing and hacking major parts off the original model, and in this process, managed to damage the nacelle...but nothing that more putty and more sanding couldn't solve..... Here's an underbelly pic of the main landing gear bays prior to detail installation. This is the left main landing gear wheel bay, with details installed, prior to priming and painting. Hydraulic and electrical lines added using small gauge wire. Main landing gear detailed and primed..... Nose gear detail.... Main gear detail... Engines, props, and gear all primed.... Prep for Alclad airframe aluminum.... Engines almost completed...need to attach cowl flaps, which I mount slightly open... Fuselage and wings primed, gray wing panels and radome painted....

Yes, I remember the odd scale of 1/122 from Revell..... Since you're new to the commercial airliners genre, you may want to consider the 1/72 scale models as well. They are larger, obviously, and easy to detail, but tedious to prepare, mask, and paint such large surfaces. Plenty of decals of liveries to choose from too. I am currently working on a Heller 1/72 scale Super Constellation, which I'll post here when its completed. Heller does a fine job, with minimal corrections on the classics, such as the DC-6, the Boeing 707, and the Lockheed Constellation. Academy did a wonderful job on the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser, and Revell Germany did a fantastic job of rendering a DC-4. You should be able to find lots of options for purchase at reasonable prices on eBay. Welcome to Airliners! Happy modeling!

Hi Rob; Best of luck as you "chop it up" to make this kit into something presentable, more like a DC-7 than a DC-6! You've got your work "cut out" for you for sure. I had one of these kits many years ago, remembering that the box art looked so beautiful and tempting, but upon opening, discovered the let down that the model didn't resemble the artwork in the least...except that it was obviously a Douglas. Have you examined the Roden DC-7C? I am a large fan of that particular kit. It even comes with two sets of prop blades, rounded, and squared...all of which must be mounted individually to the hubs, and includes the old blue striped nose Pan Am decals for the Clipper Defender. Its nicely detailed for such a small scale, with pretty good reviews. I admit I have not built it yet, but it is stored away in my unbuilt stash, waiting to become something beautiful. I'll anxiously await your progress!

What a beautiful model! You have captured a beautiful queen. Absolutely stunning. I really love the descriptions of your journey to complete the model just as you wanted it, even up to and including removing paint and starting over. Thanks for sharing. really inspiring. The Braz engines are spot on! I have an old Revell Boeing 747-100 in my unbuilt stash, wanting to eventually finish it in Delta Air Lines livery, and this may move that project up a bit...with Braz engines. Most excellent work!!

What a great idea to post some history...here's mine...I have been partial to modeling airliners since being very young. I couldn't have been more than 5 or 6 when a cousin helped me put together a Convair 880 or Boeing 707 in old TWA livery....I can't remember which. But that moment began a lifetime of a fascination with all things miniature, especially model airliners. I built all through my teen years, sometimes turning out three or four models a month, spending all of my small allowance and wages earned at the local ice cream store dipping cones, and mowing yards. I had all the old classics from Aurora, Airfix, and Revell...cramming them together for display on shelves made of wood planks and bricks. Painting was always done with a brush too thick and heavy laden with way too much paint, and I never had enough patience to allow anything to "cure" or dry properly. Gave it all up for many years, until I returned to modeling in my late 30s during flight school. Below is one of the results of a "return" to modeling airliners...a Braniff International Boeing 707, built from the Heller 1/72 kit I had stashed years before. I still have this old bird, but without landing gear...sitting atop a huge stash of unbuilt airliners in boxes in the workshop. This picture was taken on 35mm film upon completion, in October of 1998........

WOW WOW WOW! Just an amazing build! Patience pays off when working towards a detailed and accurate finish! Thank you for sharing all the details of the paint work, too...very helpful as I am planning an MD-11 sometime later this year in Delta Air Lines livery. I really like the Alclad metals...they are working so very well for me, too, with proper surface prep. I really like the panel contrasts, and the attention to the detail in the engine inlets using the Alclad. The presentation in the pictures is also top rate...very realistic looking, and complimentary of the fine work you have accomplished. May I ask, how did you construct the ramp base? Did you buy that, or make it yourself...it is very nice and adds quite a bit to the presentation. Again...job very well done.

A beautiful F-27! WOW! Job well done! Thank for the good work....

A very good job on a very nice model. I really like the Zvezda 737, its a well thought out kit, and looks to be a pleasure to build...maybe someday. Thank you for such a great example.

A job well done! Really a nice livery choice too. Congratulations! Thank you for sharing!

Very very nice build! The 3D decals really make a difference. Congratulations! A job well done.

Very nice job, indeed, on this beautiful 777. Congratulations. Hope you'll be back in the swing of building before too long after your move.

What a beautiful model! Great work! This is quite inspiring, as I am looking forward to completing an MD-11 sometime later this year...but first, the other "thing" on the bench is calling for completion first. Very very good job! Thank you for such good work!

Really really a nice model! You've done very good work, in spite of all the mishaps...who could tell?? Congratulations, and welcome to the forum...its ALWAYS nice to see another airliner modeler share good work.

Very good job! Love the baby 73. She gets my vote....but the -800 is equally as nice...a different airplane with similar lines...the "grown up" version. Thanks for sharing.

Quite well done! Nice choice of livery, and the good ole' Revell 737...she's a great bird! 7 years??!! No worries...we've all begun something and waited for the right time to finish...the results are always well worth the wait. Very good job!

A job well done!

How about something off the beaten path? I have always gained insight and inspiration by watching other model masters at work, but even more so, from perusing their workbench. This may be a private and sacred place for some, but one can learn a great deal just by seeing another's place of work, where ideas come into reality, and seemingly insurmountable obstacles in model building are "scaled." So...let's start with my workplace...this is my model bench. Nothing too fancy, just a folding table with a large cut of hardwood to keep it steady and provide the room to work. On the bench right now is a Heller 1/72 scale Super Constellation, to be detailed and finished (someday) in KLM "The Flying Dutchman." While this topic is intended for civil airliner model enthusiasts, everybody is welcome...but...civil airliners pose their own cans of worms that are unique. Now...let's see yours!!

Very nice job! A beautiful tribute to a beautiful airplane! Well done!

Amazing. Looks like a museum piece. And I really am fond of the National Park Service livery. Job well done...

This is a fantastic chronicle of a beautiful build, that will most assuredly be highly rewarding. So glad you have shared this. But please...please...BORE US with the "ensuing decaling and adding of small parts!" That's what this forum is for! Seem that for us civil builders, what seems boring to many is exciting to us few! Bravo!

Agreed! Heller did a fine job on the 707 kit. I like it very much. The kit pictured here is an airliner kit, not an AWACS one. So I most certainly filled and sanded every window. This particular model was assembled, filled and sanded, then put aside for several years before being taken up again to be completed. When it was begun, 26 Decals didn't exist, nor did Nazca. I'm glad I waited, though without knowing why, so that it turned out as nicely as it did. Thank you for your kind comments.

Thank you EVERY ONE! For your kind comments. Does my heart good to do this sort of work and be appreciated for it. There are more, but all in boxed unbuilt form for now. My stash is quite large, and will keep me at the bench busy until well into old age. I build only one at a time, so work is tedious, meticulous, and slow. On the workbench now is a 1/72 scale Heller Lockheed L-1049G Super Constellation which will be finished in KLM "Flying Duthcman" livery, decals crafted and printed beautifully by Dutch Decal. Fuselage and tail are together and nearly completely sanded. You'll see it here when it is complete...no estimate as to finish time...but it will be quite a while.

Thank you for the welcome, everyone. I've posted some of my completed work in "Ready for Inspection;" B707, DC-9, B727, and B747. I hope you enjoy!