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Another Airfix 707,and I wont probably be doing another one... The changes/corrections,I tried to make are explained in the VARIG RFI. This is the Airfix re-issue with very nice BOAC / Air India decals. To make sure,the blue front would not wrinkle,I cut those sections off the decals and airbrushed this area by using Humbrol Royal blue.It matches perfectly with the decals. The BOAC logos for the engines are quite iffy to place over the pylons but the rest of the decals work fine. Here I chose to make an inflight model and used an original Airfix stand for it. Cheers Alex

The very old Airfix 707... Gives a lot of headache with its ill-fitting parts and somhow complicated parts layout. I tried my best to enhance the look by using a cockpit canopy from a Zvezda 737 to somehow correct the shape and modified the engines by creating seamless intakes,using plasticcard. Its better but not perfect. The painting was another marathon of masking,painting,demasking,masking... The Varig decals come from LPS and were good to use and fitted quite well. The windows are from Authentic Airliners. Cheers, Alex

My last Revell Boeing 707 kit from my stash. As stated in my previous post on the Atlantis Models demonstrator version,Revell's offering represents,if at all,more of a 707-120. So any livery applied to this kit is of course not really representing the real thing. But nonetheless,I like the kit and I have built quite a number of them in the past years. This one is one of Revell's later releases that came out in 1982 with Lufthansa markings. I found the Sudan Airways decals on ebay and liked the livery. The set is pretty old,slightly yellowd but otherwise usable.Most important of all,it is designed for the Revell kit. Unfortunately,the decals are designed for the Revell kit with the shorter tail,so I had to paint the top of the fin yellow and extend the stripe accordingly. This kit has the cockpit window as a clear part,so there was no need for a replacement canopy. Glueing in the window,some putty over it and sanding/blending it in,did the trick. The decals were still in usable condition and the application went quite smooth. The cockpit window decal is again from AA,the cabin windows and other detsils are from a 707 detail set. The painting was a bit tricky,getting the demarcation between the white and silver correct. I used copies from the decal as templates and it came out well. The wing colour pattern is somewhat complicated as it differs a lot on the 707 and finding reference photos is not so easy.Here I opted for a pattern to hide those hideous seams on the wings. Revell's solution of designing the wing halves is still a mystery to me... Cheers Alex

Revell first introduced this kit as KC-135 Tanker/Transport in USAF markings in 1959. It was re-released in many forms and variations over many decades.Its even due for re-release later this year again by Revell as AWACS. This kit came out in 2021 from Atlantis Models,who used Revell's older molds.Meaning that this kit features open cockpit windows and no clear part and the early small PW engines.Revell USA even released it once as a Boeing 720 !. Anyone who has researched the Boeing 707 knows of its countles variants/subvariants and changes of wing layouts and other things,even within the same model versions. Revell's 707 is more or less a 707-120 version,Atlantis cleverly states this too on the box and presents us this kit with demonstrator markings. A beautifully done decal set imho. As I have a thing for demonstrator/prototype markings,this was a must have kit. The moulds showed its age with quite a lot of excess plastic but overall nice looking parts. I built it mostly oob,with the exception of replacing the canopy with a Zvezda 737 part,as the front of the kit is more Caravelle-like. The version with the clear part is actually better. So replacing the canopy was a must here to get a more realistic look. The engines got newly created inlets,done with sheet plastic,cut and sanded to shape to get a round and seamless intake. As the left side passenger door was a separate piece,I added a wall behind the cockpit and in front of the cabin and a piece of floor,to build it with the door opened. The door is only taped to the fuselage,so I have the option to close it and mout the model on a display stand when display space is getting rare. Paints are entirely from Gunze,The cockpit window decal is from an Authentic Airliners set. Even with its faults and somewhat odd scale (1/139) ,for its age it still builds up to a nice looking kinda 707... Cheers Alex

This might have been discussed on here before but I couldn't find much on the topic. If it was well discussed, send me there and I'll delete this. What are the differences with the Ertl 707 kits and the Heller ones? Not counting the tanker option. I just know the Heller is a 300 series with the larger wing. I'd like to make a 720 or a very production airliner from whichever is closest. I can get JT3C-6 engines for the 720. Were these kit parts on one of them? What are the key visable differences for each version?

Boeing 707 D-ABOC “Berlin” was operated by Lufthansa from 1960 until 1976 and in 1974-75 it was used by charter subsidiary Condor. Since the classic Lufthansa blue stripe livery was already represented in my collection I thought D-ABOC in Condor colours would be an interesting addition. If it’s of any interest the aircraft which masqueraded as “D-ABOC” outside Berlin Tegel airport for many years was an impostor - an ex-El Al machine which never flew for a German airline. The real D-ABOC was broken up for spares at Tripoli in 1979. The Minicraft Boeing 707 has a few known accuracy issues, mainly the shape of the cockpit and the excessive nose-up sit of the engines on the 707-320B, but otherwise the kit isn’t too bad. If you want a totally accurate 707 you’re looking at Authentic Airliners or Welsh Models’ badly under-rated -336 but the engines on the Minicraft -420 don’t suffer from the sit problem so if you fix the cockpit and sort a few more minor things like the undersized ventral fin you end up with a decent, if not perfect, Conway-powered 707. The simplest way to deal with the cockpit is the Contrails Models insert, a straight replacement for the Minicraft clear section. However for this model I decided to try the complete replacement nose from Phase Hangar Resin Accessories which I think is a re-issue of the former Two Mikes part. It turned out to be beautifully cast and a good fit provided the fuselage is cut accurately. The weight of the resin also means you don’t have to worry about tail sitting. Apart from a replacement ventral fin the model is otherwise pretty much out of the box. Paint is Halfords Appliance White and Racking Grey with Tamiya yellow on the fin. Natural metal is mainly AK Interactive Xtreme Metal with some Rub ’n’ Buff. Decals are a mixture. Most came from a Two Six Lufthansa sheet with titles and logos of unknown origin found in the spares box and registrations from a sheet of RAF lettering because the Two Six registrations were far too big. Detail decals including corrogard are from the excellent Flying Colors sheet and windows are by Authentic Airliners. If anyone has clear information whether Lufthansa/Condor 707s of this period had overwing exit markings please let me know. As far as I can see they weren’t carried so I’ve left them off but they can easily be added. It’s disgraceful that photographers in the mid-1970s failed to consider the needs of modellers 40-odd years later! It’s years since I last built the Minicraft 707 and I had forgotten how badly the engines fitted. When I attached the nicely AK’d nacelles to the pylons on the fully decalled model the result was, putting it politely, sub-optimal. That led to some interesting (and not entirely successful) filling and re-finishing in the course of which I managed to damage the natural metal on the left front fuselage (don’t ask) which led to some even more interesting re-finishing. The camera doesn’t lie but this time it has been persuaded not to look too closely! I still have a couple of Minicraft 707s in the stash and the next time I build one I will stick absolutely everything in place, including the engines, before painting. Thanks for looking and as always constructive criticism is welcome. Dave G

Probably my favourite airliner, to me the Pan Am 707s represent a cool Americana image, and the American dream. Station wagons on the drive of 50s dream homes, neat gardens and pastel yellow cardigans, glamorous stewardesses and all the retro cool of that era. For this model I used the Airfix British Airways 707, pretty much out of the box but with the superb 26 Decals so kindly donated by @stringbag.

Hello, Building my BOAC 707 I noticed that the BOAC decals for the engine pylons didn't fit wery well. I had to cut the white away from the Engines and use the supplied trimfilm on the decal sheet to fix the gaps on top of the pylons. Now I wonder if I have to expect the same thing with the long four-parts BOAC dark blue fuselage decals as well? What can be done to avoid any problems during decalling? Build thread at IPMS Stockholm... https://www.ipmsstockholm.se/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=10504&start=50 Cheers / André

This seems to be a very ancient kit of the Boeing 707. I even had it as a kid back in the early 90s as a USSR boxing.I guess it was something like "Donnetsk model factory",not sure. Many years later I saw this model in the window of my local hobby shop.It was labeled "ARK models" and when I had a quick look inside,I realized that it was the very same model I built as a kid. I knew about the "quality" but I had to have it for memories sake. The parts are very basic,esp. the landing gear,so I decided to build it wheels up. As far as I could find out,the first issue was from NOVO or FROG and it represents a 707-121 with a short tailfin. I found some pictures of PAN AM 707s from around 1958 that had the short fin,so I decided to leave it like that The overall fit is bad and every part needs filling and sanding sessions. The decals provided are of good quality,I only took the windows from a 707 detail set as well as the wing details to give some life to the blank wings. Painted with Revell and Testors enamels and slighly weathered with Humbrol graphite powder. Overall it looks not so bad and has a certain 707 look but I would not want to make another one Cheers

Revell's Boeing 707 kit has also many decades on its shoulders and had countless re-releases over the years. It represents more a 707-100 but Revell marketed it as AWACS,Air Tanker and in various Airline markings that are mostly 707-300 versions. They even released it as a United Boeing 720 ! Despite that,it is a nice little kit that can build up into a model that looks like a 707,although the fit is not the best. The worst part are the wing halves.For some unknown reason,Revell decided to split the wings right through the flaps which makes it very difficult to fill and sand the seam without erasing the engraved lines. For my build I used the AWACS kit,as I was unable to find the original Lufthansa boxing for a reasonable price. I wanted to build it in the Lufthansa scheme as a childhood reminder of mine. The Revell 707 was amongst my very first attempts as a kid in airliner modelling.The result was less than stellar but I had lots of joyful playtime with it back then. This time of course,I wanted to build it properly,so that the Revell Lufthansa 707 will finally find its deseved place in my collection. Its very difficult to find decal sets that actually match the Revell kit,and in my strive to rebuild it mostly out of the box,I had to find an original Revell Lufthansa decal set. Luckily I was able to track an almost pristine set down on ebay. The cabin windows are printed on the blu stripe but they are not very straight aligned.I used new windows from a 707 detail set that i had to apply individually to cover the kits ones. The cabin doors are taken from an Airfix 727 set and the rest comes from the detail set or spares. Painted entirely with Revell enamels, Enjoy

This is a year 2000 re-release from Revell USA of the ancient Boeing 707 kit. Originally boxed as United Boeing 720 by Revell USA,its still the same old Boeing 707-100 from many decades ago. There had been some changes in the molds over the years;There are the depicted one that has no cabin windows and the cockpit has holes instead of a clear part ,smaller tail fin without antenna and the very early Pratt & Whitney engines. Later it was released with a clear part cockpit and the taller tail fin with the antenna included and the Pratt & whitney engines that were common on most of the 707s. When I started this kit,I planned to build it OOB with the decals included.As being a relatively new kit (2000) the decals looked great. But when I came to the stage of decaling the model,I soon found out that the decals were not as good as they looked...they completely dissolved into thousands of small pieces floating in the water.... As I already had some troubles with the kits fit,I didnt want to look for a repalcement aftermarket decal set,so I decided to use the Northwest Orient decals from my Minicraft 707-320. This also then included the change of engines to the later ones.Luckily I had a complete set in my spares box. As the Revell 707 more resembles a 707-100 with a shorter fuselage,I had to cut down the decals to fit on the Revell kit. I know its not 100% accurate,but this was more of a salvation job rather than creating a replica of the real thing. The coroguard panels and other details on the wings come from the superb Flying Colors Boeing 707 detail set and these decals cover up some of the blemishes The kit has some serious fitting issues esp.the two wing halves,who are a nightmare to get together and also the engines that won't really fit into the slots. Also the wings were seriously warped,probably they had been in a hurry to get the parts out of the moulds and into the shelfs... I have one more Revell 707 and I think I have to forget about building and painting each components before assembling the whole thing. The finished product is not of my usual standard,there are some flaws,esp. around the engine-wing connections.I didnt bother to fill the small gaps there as I would have to repaint the whole area,but overall it looks quite nice,and when its behind glass the flaws wont stick out much. Hope you like her anyway. Cheers,

My first build finished in 2017 is the huge Boeing 707 kit from Heller in 1/72 scale. Its actually the AWACS kit issued by the manufacturer some many years ago.I bought this kit on a Swiss auction platform before Heller anounced the re-relase of their Boeing 707-320B kit in Air France and BOAC colors. Apart from some antennas and the huge radar as well as missing cabin windows,the AWACS kit is actually identical to the passenger version. Being so,it saved a lot of work filling and sanding all windows. Heller's 707 is very well moulded and accurate and an easy build.Parts fit quite well,the only major problem area is the wing to fuselage join.There I had to insert some sprues to slightly widen and strenghten the fuselage to avoid a huge gap between the wings and fuselage. Otherwise there where no other issues. The colorful Equatoriana decals are from 26 and worked very well. Paints used for this build are Tamyia Pure White from spray can,coroguard panels are my own mix of Revell grey 374,silver 90 and black 7.Metallic areas were done with humbrol aluminium,steel and silver.Dusted with Mr.Color copper. Equatoriana was the national airline of Equador established in 1957 and permanently ceased operations in 2006. Their fleet included Boeing 707-320s (in the depicetd color scheme) and cargo versions that were golden instead of white,a DC-10-30 and Boeing 727s as well as an Airbus A-310-300 among various other aircrafts during Equatoriana's life. On with the photos,enjoy