RODEN 1/144th scale 720B

[David H]

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen. Submitted for your approval tonite are pics of the Roden Boeing 720B, built by my friend Steve Bakke. Besides other things, Steve used to fly on Western between San Francisco and Seattle in the late 1960s while attending college.

Aside from the aftermarket decals and decal windows, the model is largely out of the box. Photo etched pitot probes, comm antenna and drain masts were robbed from a photo-etched fret for the 737. Steve filled in the cabin windows with ApoxieSculpt (similar to Milliput). The red anticollision beacons came from ELF models in Ukraine.

The fuselage solar cap was done by decanting Krylon Dover White and spraying it thru an airbrush after thinning. The bare metal areas were done mostly with Alclad. Steve says he used about 4 different shades on the engine nacelles. Steve filed off the embossed "pads" on the wing undersides, based on the tips learned from the recent Ethiopean Air Lines 720B build i've alluded to earlier.

Steve mounted the engine pods to the wing, filled and sanded the seams and painted them on the wings. They were masked off before the wings were attached to the fuselage or painted. Boeing 707 gray was done with Model Master Enamel, thinned with Mr Color leveling thinner. The attachment for the horizontal stabilizer as it came in the kit was tenuous at best, so Steve re-engineered it by running a piece of metal tubing thru the stabilizer hinge point and making longer locating pins with brass rod. The HF antenna on the vertical fin was removed and beefed up with a metal pin to make it more Bonk-Resistant. I think maybe a market exists for a lost-wax cast brass integral fin cap/ HF antenna installation.

The undercarriage has a few idiosyncrasies. The torque links on the nose gear strut are oversized and get in the way of mounting the nosewheel tyres, and on the main gear side brace/ actuator, the way its attached to the sprue makes things hard to tell where the part ends and the sprue begins. I think Roden did a good job capturing the "Clown Car" sized 720 main wheels.

The photos were taken at the IPMS Seattle contest/exhibition held over the weekend, where it won a First in Civilian aircraft, despite some formidable propeller-driven competition from Pan American and TWA.

The engine nacelles that you see here are the ones which come with the model. Roden seems to have learned from their gaffe with the oversized engine pods on the straight 720 and did not repeat it here. Both Steve and I agree it really "Looks" like a 720 and aside from some pretty minor faults, is miles better than any injection molded 707 that came before it in 1/144th scale. You would never mistake it for a McDonnell 220, that's for sure.

Now..... I wonder if Roden would consider some Convairs??

Steve has been nagging me to build one in Northwest Orient markings but first i must molest fondle examine the VC-10 that just arrived in the post.

It's the Ooooooooonlyy Way to Fly!!

david

Edited April 26, 2016 by David H

[MikeW]

Now that is nice - a beauty to behold. I've built this kit about six times, and never come close to this standard. I really enjoy the wings - mine always tend to be corroguard and silver, and I'm always trying to figure some extra 'wing drama' - pardon the technical term, to look more like this.

Just gorgeous, and well deserving of the win.

Cheers,

MIke

[David H]

And this is Steve's first airliner, too. You ought to see his Constellation.....

-d-

[MCD081]

Ooooo that's a real stunner! 👍👌

[Eric Mc]

A very pretty build.

[keefr22]

Stunning 720, really lovely! Just saw (& 'liked' it) on the Facebook airliner modelling group page, but it's nice to see it in much larger pictures here too.

Gorgeous build!

Keith

[stringbag]

Very well done indeed

Love the crisp finish and the colour scheme

Chris.

[Housesparrow]

Nice to see a new painting/decal scheme (something I haven't seen before that is).

[F-32]

She's a beauty, really nicely done.

[mitchem]

Absolutely stunning.

Congratulations on the win. Well-deserved.

:thumbsup2:

[Mark]

Thanks for sharing that one, she's lovely! I was going to ask if the model was placed in th show, until I read the whole post, so congratulations on getting first prize!

[bzn20]

Beautiful,its really nice. Well done

[Viking]

It just shows what a nice kit that is. Shame it got such criticism on its initial release.

And even better, this one has a cheatline!

Cheers

John

[Skodadriver]

Beautiful model which fills me with envy of the builder's skill.

On the subject of Convairs, why not use the F-RSIN kits? Both 880 and 990 are available.

[moaning dolphin]

That is a stunning rendition, these civvy types are starting to look like a really attractive alternative to the military stuff.

Great work

Bob

[Team Aer Lingus]

Beautifully finished model no chance of that one ending up in a bin as one critic suggested. lol excelent work

thanks for sharing

regards

Eamonn

[bzn20]

Beautifully finished model no chance of that one ending up in a bin as one critic suggested. lol excelent work

thanks for sharing

regards

Eamonn

Remember that thread well. Hilarious.

So here is the model fit for the bin ? Showing this Western 720B off and whats been achieved is the best answer . Bar none.

[David H]

Beautiful model which fills me with envy of the builder's skill.

On the subject of Convairs, why not use the F-RSIN kits? Both 880 and 990 are available.

Well, i will say i took a very close look at those F-RSIN 880s and 990s built up on the interwebs, and to my eye the 990 looked like it needs a lot of work in the shape of the nose and the engine nacelles. However, in the interest of fairness, i should buy one and at least piece it together and not pronounce judgement until i've put it together.

It might sound ironic, but once you look past the oddball scale, the original (and very hard to find) Revell Convair 990 had a very good outline. However, it did represent the prototype before the aerodynamic mods were made to reduce drag. The Hawk 880 kit is also remarkably good, again, if you look past its odd, 1/126th scale.

david

[Marv]

Beautiful build of a great aircraft. Congratulations, Steve!

IIRC, in 1965 or so, Steve was building a Vickers Viscount (Glencoe?). Obviously, he has improved a lot since then, but he has been doing airliners for some time now.

Great job reporting, David.

Edited April 27, 2016 by Marv

[JosephLalor]

That's a fine result. I have that kit and it would encourage me to have at it. It also reminds me that the picture of a B720 in the 1962 Hippo Book of World Airliners was of a Western machine in that livery. Wonder if it's the same airframe.

[Dave N]

Beautiful!