Condor Boeing 707 in 1/144 - Minicraft modified

[Skodadriver]

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

 

 

 

 

[Frank083]

Beautiful nmf on this Aircraft, congrats!

 

Frank

[bearmatt]

Splendid!

(I must have missed it, but what scale is it?)

 

Cheers

 

b.

[Skodadriver]

1 hour ago, bearmatt said:

Splendid!

(I must have missed it, but what scale is it?)

 

Cheers

 

b.

 

Sorry, it's 1/144.  I'm so used to living in the little civil airliners bubble that I've subconsciously assumed everybody else knows the scale of the Minicraft kit!  

 

I've amended the topic.

[Vince1159]

That's in my top 5 of liveries,she's a beauty Sd...

[PLC1966]

That is nice.

[John Laidlaw]

That is lovely!

[Viking]

Really? That's the Minicraft kit?

Superb job Dave, I really like the Condor livery.

 

Cheers

 

John

[JWM]

In youth I was doing all kind of kits and in these days I was dreming on 707, but never done it. Now I restricted field to only military airplanes from 1935-45 but still 707 is something I love to look at... Your build is perfect!

Cheers

J-W

 

[Dave N]

She's a beauty!... excellent work.

[Turbofan]

Wow Dave, who'd have guessed this is a Minicraft kit! That resin nose makes such a difference.

It's a nice livery too, there are so many great liveries for the 707 aren't there?

Super nmf, no sign of your touch-up, by the way, nicely rescued. Have you ever tried AA high shine silver metallic decal sheet? It's perfect for touching up damaged panels and for providing some variation on the nmf.

https://www.authentic-airliner-decals.de/epages/17895661.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/17895661/Products/D144-03

 

I recently threw together and primed a Minicraft 707 which I had in the stash for a friend who was doing a lesson at her school about flight and needed a model to help explain things. As I was building it I came to realise that apart from the nose issues it wasn't as bad as I had thought. I'm thinking about tidying it up, adding one of these noses and finishing it in one of my favourite 707 liveries. Thanks for the inspiration!I

 

Keep 'em coming!

Cheers,

Ian

[MartinSK]

Great and realistic looking retro airliner ( as always from your production). I prefer to airbrush the engines separetely (even with poor fit...I an trying the best dry fit before) as when the engines are connected to the wings the paint during airbrush is doing "dust" in this areas which needs to be polished. But maybe this "colour dust" is just my not good technique of airbrushing

[Epeeman]

Now that is a stunning model of a 707 - really like it!

 

Regards

 

Dave

[stringbag]

Well Dave, what can I say that apart from WOW!!!

I will now re-visit my 707 kits, still in their boxes I might add, and view them in a completely different light.  That's a fabulous result you have achieved and given the lack of completed 707's  appearing in the pages of the forum, a really welcome change.

Thanks for sharing and congratulations on such a fine result.

 

Chris.

[Chanex]

Absolutely no criticisms from me Dave-that is one gorgeous 707. They certainly don’t make ‘em like that anymore - more’s the pity!

 

Your paint job looks flawless btw😉

 

Nick.

 

 

[Britman]

Fantastic build, thank you for sharing it with us. Just an aside , if I may, Ray at 26 has some great deals on Roden 720 plus decals. 

[Skodadriver]

Thanks for your comments everybody - much appreciated. 

 

14 hours ago, Turbofan said:

Have you ever tried AA high shine silver metallic decal sheet? It's perfect for touching up damaged panels and for providing some variation on the nmf.

 

There is actually some on the model - the darker areas on the pylons and nacelles.  I agree it's wonderful stuff.

 

14 hours ago, MartinSK said:

Great and realistic looking retro airliner ( as always from your production). I prefer to airbrush the engines separetely (even with poor fit...I an trying the best dry fit before) as when the engines are connected to the wings the paint during airbrush is doing "dust" in this areas which needs to be polished. But maybe this "colour dust" is just my not good technique of airbrushing

 

I had done a couple of test fits along the way but believe me joining natural metal nacelles to natural metal pylons is pretty unforgiving and it was only after finishing I realised just how awful the joints were!

 

50 minutes ago, Britman said:

Fantastic build, thank you for sharing it with us. Just an aside , if I may, Ray at 26 has some great deals on Roden 720 plus decals. 

 

Olympic is already in the stash!  No idea when I'll get round to building it but it was too good a bargain to resist.

[F-32]

Gorgeous, I love the window blinds, adds that extra realism

[Terry1954]

Really nice looking 707 Dave. I have one of these part built in a box somewhere, and seeing this I am inspired to dig it out and get it finished. The finish is superb and you really have managed to make the Minicraft kit look like a 707!

 

Well done!

 

Terry

[FAAMAN]

Beautiful Boeing, nothing else to say 😍

[David H]

My Word, Dave- You were NOT kidding. That nose transforms the look of the whole model!

 

I'm currently wrestling with the AMT KC-135 kit which has its own set of challenges but i'll deffo keep this in mind if i drag out my old Minicraft kit. I was planning to rob the JT-3Ds from the Roden 720B anyway, which BTW are quite nice.

 

Thanks for this extremely useful data point.

[Butterfingers]

That is very nice.

Always have to admire a lovely built airliner,.

[Bengalensis]

That's a fantastic looking model, what a lovely result. Very well done. I really like the detail of the different curtain positions in the windows; it adds a lot and makes it look very realistic.

[RMCS]

Outstanding 

[Skodadriver]

4 hours ago, David H said:

 

 

 I was planning to rob the JT-3Ds from the Roden 720B anyway, which BTW are quite nice.

 

 

Thanks David and others. I was surprised to see the thread coming back to life!

 

I agree about the Roden engines. I'm hoping that my next RFI will be a Roden 720B which is currently in the paint shop. The engines are really nice but the fit of the pylons to the wings is awful.