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BOEING 777-300 1/144 by Eastern Express in Transaero livery


Jon_Airbus

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Guys I need your suggestion. I just won from the bidding in ebay for this Easter Express Boeing 777-300.

Do you think its worth buying?

I am just one step away and click and pay.... but there's something holding me back.

Presumably, if you won the bid you entered a binding contact to buy...?

Andrew

Edit: sorry if that's a bit grumpy.... new baby = no sleep.

Edited by Caution Wake Turbulence
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Presumably, if you won the bid you entered a binding contact to buy...?

Andrew

Edit: sorry if that's a bit grumpy.... new baby = no sleep.

No, I agree actually. If you bid on an auction and win it, you are obliged to pay up - morally at the very least, even if not perhaps legally. Non-paying bidders are a sore point with every seller. If you don't intend to pay, don't bid!

Kev

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Having built many of the kits in question, with a couple on the go at the moment and about twenty more still residing in the stash I still feel that they do not represent good vaue for money. I base this statement on experiences with said kits over the last twenty-five years of modelling not model constructing. (Thank you Tom.)

Chris.

Sorry if you took offense to that Chris, it was not meant as a deliberate comment aimed to wards you. I was trying to point out that different builders have very different opinions on what constitutes 'value for money'.

Whilst I take your very valid point of some manufacturerers charging 'more for less', I personally feel that this is what 'my' hobby is all about to me - having to constantly push oneself to tackle new skills and learn lots along the way. Buying 'basic' kits does this, and with the time and energy spent getting a semi-decent result, to me, they are excellent value for money. However, as you pointed out, others have a very different opinion and feel that spending larger sums of money on 'lesser quality' kits is simply not worth it - perhaps taking the view that the more you pay the better the kit shoud be... I can see both sides of the argument. I think both are valid and we could debate it until the cows come home so I think it's probably best to agree to disagree... :rolleyes:

Now back to the topic - the EE 777-300...

From the sprue shots it looks like a vast improvement over their earlier 777-200 offering, and seems to be based upon the Minicraft 777 if the pictures are anything to go by.

Will it be worth the money? It's not cheap afterall... well that depends on yur view-point of course, as I said above.

If you want a 777-300 that is going to fall togather with the minimum of effort then my gut feeling (having built other EE kits) is avoid it like the plague, and no it won't provide particularly good value.

However, if you want a bit of a challenge and are prepared for this and willing to put in a good few hours then it's likely you're going to get your money's worth. Broken down to a hour by hour rate, it'll probably work out at mere pennies per hour by the time you've battled with it.

Either way, it'll probably be a cheaper way of getting a 773 than having to go down the Welsh or Braz conversion route. I've got a few sets of 773/ER decals in the stash as well as some Contrails' GE115B engines and wing-tips so I may well take the plunge and 'treat' myself.

Jon_Airbus... if I were you I'd buy it and enjoy the journey...

Tom

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Sorry if you took offense to that Chris,

Now back to the topic - the EE 777-300...

Tom

No problem at all Tom, and thanks.

As you say, we can discuss these kits until the cows come home and still not agree in the end.

You do realise however that I'm now going to finish the F-27 just to prove you wrong.:tease:

Chris.

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You do realise however that I'm now going to finish the F-27 just to prove you wrong. :tease:

Chris.

Well in that case I look forward to seeing it... :bleh: right back at 'ya! :D

Tom

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Pin, do you have any more pictures of the kit? Especially the forward section, because if I remember rightly, that's one place where the Minicraft 777 goes a bit wrong (something about the size, shape and positioning of the wind-shield sticks in my head here and the kink where the top of the fuselage slopes down to the wind-shield...). I binned several Minicraft 777s because they just seemed so wrong; I even bought the "newly accurized" Singapore boxing and struggled to see where the "accurization" was!! I kept the box but chucked the plastic out.

Jeff

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Pin, do you have any more pictures of the kit? Especially the forward section, because if I remember rightly, that's one place where the Minicraft 777 goes a bit wrong (something about the size, shape and positioning of the wind-shield sticks in my head here and the kink where the top of the fuselage slopes down to the wind-shield...). I binned several Minicraft 777s because they just seemed so wrong; I even bought the "newly accurized" Singapore boxing and struggled to see where the "accurization" was!! I kept the box but chucked the plastic out.

Jeff

binned them?

sacrilege!!....you heathen!!....ok the minicrap 777 is not a pretty sight but if one is prepared to do the work needed (as with most - not all, just most) minicrap airliner kits you *can* make look like a 777....I would happily have taken the kits off your hands if you felt that strongly.

er...anybody who has any and doesn't want them let me know they will go to a good home :)

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Sad but true - well not the whole truth as I had another house move and was moving to somewhere considerably smaller, didn't have much room for anything and had very little time to plan and pack. I shudder when I think what I binned (models and personal items too).

I'd love a few decent models of the trip' 7, that's why I'm interested in this kit. There's a website with about a dozen pictures of the KLM boxing and some "googlely" translated Russian comments. For the life of me, I still can't make my mind up after looking at the pictures and reading the comments.

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  • 8 months later...

Hi,

I've been reading different opinions/reviews from this kit and I'm still not sure of a couple of things. I'm about to purchase it, and i would appreciate if anyone could clarify a couple of things:

- What engines does it come with? I've read RR but also GE (the big ones, GE90-115b?).

- Does it come with raked wingtips?

Just to clarify, the model I'm talking about is the Eastern Express B777-300, ref. number 14477

Thank you!

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The Eastern Express Transaero kit is an early 777-300 (not a 300ER).

- Engines: it has the smaller RR Trent 892 / GE90 sized engines as per the 777-200ER.

- Raked Wingtips: the kit does include raked wingtips, but they are the wrong size / shape.

Creating a 777-300ER using this kit needs GE115 engines and correct wingtips. Welsh Models do a conversion kit which also includes a replacement undercarriage and correctly shaped flap-track fairings. I used the Welsh set for my recent build of a BA 777-300ER (see pic below - BA decals are from 2-6).

The Eastern Express kit is not a good fit and needs loads of sanding, filler and patience to knock it into shape. It also has accuracy issues, including some of the passenger doors being in the wrong place. But it eventually turns out OK in my view.

Hope this helps and best of luck with your build.

Tim

B77WBA_S.jpg

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  • 3 months later...

Does anyone have the exact 1/144 dimensions for the 777-300ER for length and width? I have the EE 773 and the Braz plugs/Nose/Winglets for the Minicraft kit, and I believe the EE 773 is a bit too short. When you compare the two, the Minicraft with plugs is about 1/3 of inch longer mainly in the nose and the tail. I was thinking of bashing a Minicraft tail to make them match in length by chopping off the EE 773 tail and adding the Minicraft tail instead with some reworking of the leading edge of the horizontal stabilizer to be rounded. Thanks for any insight.

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I have the Eastern 777-300, the kit itself seems poorly cast. The fuselage being in 3 main segments means there is a good chance not all 3 diameters are the same, true for me at least, the main landing gear is flimsy, so i replaced it with a rather welsh alternative. the inner bit of the engines (the silver bit) is slightly oval shaped, but look enginely enough for me, i am happy to see the distinctive kink in the cockpit section has made an appearance, overall i would say it has potential, but only with alot of hard work.

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I don't find it that much better than the others, the cockpit section is too fat, the front upper fuselage kink is too gentle, the wing airfoil section is flawed and the -200LR/-300ER engines are poor.

There are areas of the Eastern Express -300 kit I prefer, the nose section for instance, it's still not as good as the Hasegawa masterpiece but I think it looks better than the Minicraft and Welsh's front.

Regards, Steven

Probably the most accurate 777 kit is the welsh vac.

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I don't find it that much better than the others, the cockpit section is too fat, the front upper fuselage kink is too gentle, the wing airfoil section is flawed and the -200LR/-300ER engines are poor.

There are areas of the Eastern Express -300 kit I prefer, the nose section for instance, it's still not as good as the Hasegawa masterpiece but I think it looks better than the Minicraft and Welsh's front.

Regards, Steven

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