1/144 Revell Boeing B777-300ER - Cathay Pacific (OOB, Custom decals)

[Columbia20713]

On 9/26/2017 at 8:14 AM, Romeo Alpha Yankee said:

Usually, a gloss coat will help blend the decals into the paintwork depending on how thick they are.

Yeah, that's what I planned to try doing - Also helps when sanding the decal, protects the paint.

 

After the rest of the decals - Doors, swire logo, registrations and stencils came on, I sprayed on a final coat of Alclad Aqua Gloss, and sanded some of the decals down - Although it worked well, it created some tears in the decal, notably around the dark green nose stripe. I then polished up the areas where the gloss was to be seen most (Mostly topside fuselage, etc.) with Novus #2 Polishing Compound. The engines were then cemented on. 

 

The wheels were then painstakingly added. Although the rear landing gear clicked without any fuss, the nose gear and their corresponding doors didn't fit all too well, but it did fit although not all too well.

 

 

Next on the agenda is the tiny parts, and the aircraft's display base (out of sintra board, most possibly). 

[Columbia20713]

Anyways, the base for the aircraft!

 

A friend of mine gave me a large sheet of sintra board believing it might be useful for a diorama base. It could be airbrushed, sanded and cut, but it's also somewhat bendy. I figured it was the only way out for a base of this size - Plywood would be too heavy and difficult to paint, and Plaster of Paris is too fragile to be casted over such a gigantic area - approx. 20 x 30 in. (Don't ask me how i know..)

 

 

Based on pictures I took from Hong Kong International, I settled for the base to be at Taxiway H9, South Apron near Terminal 1, next to gate E3 and S102. This was what i later observed to be around the point where Cathay aircraft would taxi to and from after landing, and where some of the gates for Cathay Pacific aircraft are situated, that I had reference photos of. I observed that Cathay Pacific aircraft passing through this taxiway were either being pushed back from their gates, or were taxiing to the nearby RWY 25 L, or taxiing to their gates post-landing. The latter was the only stage which I could represent the B777 in, as it had no doors open or flaps deployed, and it would have been a ridiculously expensive purchase to acquire a 1/144 pushback truck (which is unsurprisingly rare.) 

(taken from https://extranet.hongkongairport.com/aom/Part L/Plan 1 Aerodrome Layout Plan.pdf)

 

 

For the reference photos that I took, the tarmac seemed to be a dark grey-ish brown color that had blackened areas where the gates were, probably because of the aircraft. The center was dominated by the usual yellow-black stripe, and it was lined with taxiway indicators in yellow, which I later learned to be indicating the gates adjacent to the taxiway.

 

(One of the photos I took that showed the location; Note that just behind the landing gear are signs that say "E2" and "S103"; Gate designations. In the diagram in the image above, E2 and S103 are parallel.)

 

I'm yet to analyze what those yellow markings on the taxiway have, since they'll have to be part of the base as a whole. But that's for the next post.

 

The progress on the base with the information about it I have has been decent, although the brown may be oversaturated and the weathering overdone. I'm still planning to bring it together by overspraying it with grey before adding the markings. I don't know whether to use custom decals for it or to mark it on Tamiya tape and just mask it on, as the former would be tedious and require a whole new routine of resizing, printing and application, but the latter would look more sloppy.

 

 

 

Thanks for reading!

 

[Alpha Delta 210]

Looking good. Any more progress on the taxiway?