Kev1n Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 looks like an awesome conversion so far Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
living legend Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Wow looking very good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antony Robertson Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 Cracking work so far, can't wait to see more. Antony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cuprar Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 Looks good, well done and I'll look forward to more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XV571 Posted November 8, 2012 Author Share Posted November 8, 2012 Thanks for all the comments and encouragement everyone, it's much appreciated Not much of an update again this week. Been sorting out some of the more obstinate seams which is turning into a real chore, especially at the horizontal join. I've also started a rescribe to add the correct panel lines to the fuselage. After that I hope the next priming session will be the last Then it's onto the wing join-up. A couple of modifications have been done to the rear end to correct it to the A300-600 layout: The tip of the tail cone was cut off at the last panel line before the end. The Beluga tail cone was cut at the same line and the two joined, then faired in: At the base of the fin is a fairing for the rudder system. On the A300-600 this is much larger than the A340's so Milliput was used to increase the bulge to match the original shape. The final addition was the Auxiliary Power Unit intake plate on the lower rear fuselage. This was shaped from plasticard using the Beluga's as a template. That's it for now. Next update will be after Telford where I hope to decide on the final scheme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev1n Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 woooo.....this is awesome stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XV571 Posted December 1, 2012 Author Share Posted December 1, 2012 Well, it's been three weeks already since SMW , so it's about time I updated this thread . The build turned into a somewhat frustrating exercise as there's been a couple of annoying seams that refused to disappear, mainly along the lower fuselage. Once they'd finally gone the upper seam in front of the fin popped open followed by the lower one in the same place . I had to put it to one side for a week or so to calm down. Following the enforced interval, the two antennae on the upper aft fuselage and the bumpers on the lower tail were added, the wings went on without drama and a coat of Mr Surfacer 1000 sprayed on to give an even base. After sorting out some scribing slips, a couple of coats of good old Appliance White were sprayed on then allowed to harden. My preference is to decant the paint then use an airbrush. This normally gives a lovely smooth finish but for some reason it came out rather rough in places - more frustration. To attempt to rescue it, the paint was given a light buffing using a fine sanding sponge and a nail buffer. It'll need some more work but it's saveable. The wings have had the flap track fairings added and the winglets were thinned to give a more scale appearance. It's now masked ready for some BAC707 grey on the wings. I've also decided on the livery. I flipped between the very last A300-600 made for FedEx, the challenge of a natural metal American Airlines jet or the very smart Thai Airways current scheme with the metallic purple tail; finally settling on the Thai option. After buying the TwoSix decals for their A330/A340s, I succumbed to a set of Bra.Z PW4000s since Thai Airways use both these and the CF6-50. This was just as well as, by careful cutting, I can create the aircraft names in both English and Thai for HS-TAN: http://www.airliners.net/photo/Thai-Airways-International/Airbus-A300B4-622R/2014948/L/&sid=482834e3361cda60d60e96f58d5b3290 Next up will be the corroguard and to buy some Tamiya MS-6 paint for the tail area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev1n Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 I'm in awe of this.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viking Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 This is great, I admire your patience in overcoming all the glitches along the way! It will look lovely in the Thai Livery, good choice. Cheers John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike N Posted December 24, 2012 Share Posted December 24, 2012 Only just seen this build, and wow! Keep it up! Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XV571 Posted December 29, 2012 Author Share Posted December 29, 2012 Thanks for all the support everyone but, sadly, I'm going to have to call time on this as far as the Group Build is concerned. After losing a week due to a boiler breakdown, I was hoping to complete it over the Christmas break but, after spraying the purple, the masking tape proved too strong and managed to pull small chunks of filler out of the horizontal seam above the rear cargo door. On top of that, decanting the Appliance White continued to cause problems: it was drying too fast causing clogging, spiderwebs and too matt a finish. Not only that, but the troublesome lower seam popped open again! I did consider trying to camouflage the bottom using the characteristic brown streak seen on Thai A300s but now I'll probably strip back the fuselage, sort the seams properly and start a repaint (the wings are fine despite one or two patches where the Alclad used for the Corroguard pulled-off). Don't worry despite the setbacks this build isn't dead, merely resting . Once the paint is stripped back satisfactorily, I'll try a new can of white and hopefully achieve a half decent finish. I hope the thread has given enough guidance for someone else to have a go at this conversion. It hasn't put me off doing another - I might even try an American Airlines one! All the best, Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viking Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 Thats a shame Jonathan, but I understand what repeated setbacks can do to your enthusiasm. I was enjoying reading about how you designed and built this jigsaw puzzle. We want to see it finished, so don't let it slide off to the 'shelf of doom'! Cheers John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricP Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 That's too bad, Jonathan, I was quite keen to see this done, I've flown on HS-TAN several times as A300s were formerly heavily used on the SIN-BKK route which I flew a lot. I could not complete my build either, and will be asking the mods' for the go-ahead to move the build to KUTA where it could get done rather than go back on the shelf. Thanks for doing this build, you've provided the inspiration for others (including me) to tackle this ... I was going to go the easy route by marrying the Airfix A300B4 fuselage and Revell Beluga wings, and conveniently ignore the rear fuselage differences, but you've shown that it's not an impossible task ... just a bit more elbow grease and reinforcement needed! Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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