737-300 in WestPac Simpsons livery

[Spad]

Allow me to present one of a pair of 737-300 models in 1/144 scale, built for the recent 737 Single Type Group Build on here. The other one in WestPac Colorado Springs livery is elsewhere in RFI. 

I normally build military aircraft or race cars but I do find the schemes on airliners interesting and this one was a long term ambition of mine after seeing the kit/decal sheet combo built somewhere. I tried for many years to get a copy of the decal sheet and finally I saw it re-printed and I caught the release before it sold out.
For those unfamiliar with it, Daco is a brand owned and run by Danny Coreman of Belgium, maybe best known for F-16 and F-104 decals, upgrades and reference materials. He does however have a pretty sharp line in 737 kits and it is one of these I have built here. The kit is very detailed, seems pretty accurate and is offered with a generic decal sheet absolutely ram-packed full of stencils, windows and doors, and wing Coroguard and NMF leading edges etc. You need to source your own livery decals and here again Daco steps forward with an extensive range of sheets. 
Western Pacific (now sadly defunct) operated out of Colorado for barely 3 years but in that time brought some serious colour to the skies by turning their aircraft into flying bill-boards; with this one they were sponsored by Fox who lent the Simpsons characters to the livery. The decals were designed for Daco's own kit and I have to say these were probably the best fitting decal sheets I have ever used. The kit went together a treat though some fun was had with the wing/fuselage joint - easily solved with a bit of careful sanding and scraping. The Simpson's sheet also came with a small etched fret for the various aerials and sensor heads that adorn a 737. The kit includes a separate clear cockpit area which requires a bit of cutting but this is simplified by thinned areas on the inside surface. I took the opportunity to use this and scratch-build some cockpit detail - seeing the end result I am not so sure it was a smart move as nothing can be seen of the interior! Oh well, live and learn!
Sorry if I got carried away here but, as you can probably tell, I was pretty impressed with this litte kit. Since my last experience of a 1/144 airliner was from the 70s with one of Airfix's Skyking range I was amazed by the detail and refinement - airliner kits have come a long way since then!
For painting I used Daco's own Simpson's Yellow and WestPac Blue (produced by Xtracolor) and for the wings/tailplanes I took the advice of the regulars in the STGB and used Halfords Racking Grey as a good match for Boeing Grey
Anyway, enough waffle, here are the pics - hope you enjoy looking as much as I enjoyed building.
Comment and criticism welcome as always.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for looking
ATB
Rick

Edited July 1, 2018 by Spad

[Crossiant Oliver]

And of course Marge is on the tail.

[Head in the clouds.]

Very nice indeed.

[Viking]

It's certainly a colourful addition to any shelf of finished models! Lovely job.

 

Cheers

 

John

[MartinSK]

Very nice&colourful 737.

[kapam]

Brilliant!

I have yet to build a 1/144 jet but the many liveries and the improved kits are very tempting.

Well done, a beautiful 737.

[Skodadriver]

That’s certainly turned out well Rick. Hope you’ve caught the bug and we can include you among the regular airliner builders from now on!

 

Just one small correction. The original issue of the kit didn’t include livery decals but they are now included - WP Simpsons in the -300, Brussels Airlines in the -400 and Air Baltic in the -500.

[Orion]

Hello Spad,

What a splendid accomplishment.

Regards, Orion.

[Alex1978]

A cracking build on that 737.

The livery is great