Viking Posted August 19, 2018 Share Posted August 19, 2018 Fokker F-27, Air UK. 1/144 26 Models. This is the Eastern Express kit reboxed by Ray at 26 Decals, and offered at a considerably more reasonable price (£21 vs EE's retail price of £49.99), including a set of Rays' own Laser decals. It has the look of short run injection kit and definitely needs 'building', by which I mean parts need to be checked & fettled to get the best fit. And it needs filling and sanding along the way. That said, it does build into a nice little replica of the Friendship. The decals were laser printed on constant film, so needed individually cutting out, but they performed very well, and I really like this livery. 'With something else' A shortened Revell RJ70, also with 26 Decals on it A few words on construction. The kit actually comes with complete solid fuselage halves, a cockpit interior, and an optional clear part for the cockpit area. There won't be much point building the cockpit interior if you are going to put it inside the solid fuselage, as it will never be seen! Therfore I decided to use the clear section. Unfortunately there are no markings inside or the fuselage halves as to where you should cut, so I did it gradually, test fitting the clear part and cutting back until I had a suitable opening. It is not a brilliant fit, being too wide at the front end, but there is just enough material on it to sand it back and blend it in after gluing. This is the amount of solid area that needs removing from the fuselage halves. The next challenge was that the clear part is completely smooth and has no indication of the glazing panels. I put a sheet of clear plastic over the cockpit window on the decal sheet and a strip of Tamiya masking tape on it. I then made a set of masks matching the decals, and applied them to the clear part. Of course all this extra work can be avoided by not using the clear part and building it with the solid fuselage halves. Main airframe, filler was used! Not shown here are the props. They are fiddly to do as the spinners are in 2 parts with a back plate and forward spinner. You do get a choice of 2 different types of props though. I also replaced the 'towel rail' aerials on the fuselage underside with fine copper wire, and the above photos show I bent one during the photo session! I've straightened it out since. It is a nice little kit, but perhaps not one for the beginner. Thanks for looking, John 31 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mitchem Posted August 19, 2018 Share Posted August 19, 2018 Excellent job on a tough kit, as I really struggled with mine. Reading your construction notes brought the memories flooding back. 👍👍 While Eastern Express should be applauded for their growing range of 1/144 civvie stuff, their prices are absolutely 🍌🍌🍌🍌......IMHO mike 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT Modeller Posted August 19, 2018 Share Posted August 19, 2018 That's come out very well. I built one of these a few months ago using Ray's Aer Lingus decals but chickened out of using the transparent cockpit windows. I agree with all you said about construction - but I'm intrigued as to how you got to fit the undercarriage. I seem to remember having to trap the main legs in between the nacelle halves. The wheels are too big as well, but I used them anyway as you have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ c Posted August 19, 2018 Share Posted August 19, 2018 Beautiful Fokker there John, looked like you had a bit of battle on your hands, great result Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stringbag Posted August 19, 2018 Share Posted August 19, 2018 Stroll on John !!! Do you ever sleep? Lovely build though Sir, and I particularly like the F-27/146 combo. Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skodadriver Posted August 20, 2018 Share Posted August 20, 2018 Very nice indeed John, thanks for sharing. Your hard work has certainly paid off but I'm glad I still have several Doyusha kits in my stash. I know it has its issues but at least the parts fit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kapam Posted August 21, 2018 Share Posted August 21, 2018 That is superb! I'm a huge fan of the F-27, since it was very much a part of my younger years, living in regional Queensland, Australia. Your replica is definitely one of the best I've seen - the stance (slightly nose down) is spot-on to my eye. I must also agree, the Air UK livery really looks excellent. So glad I finally noticed this posting while browsing the forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dnl42 Posted August 21, 2018 Share Posted August 21, 2018 Nice build! I haven't built any Eastern Express kits, but I am a sucker for Amodel, which are of the same ilk--lots of modeling skills development! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajmm Posted August 21, 2018 Share Posted August 21, 2018 Lovely stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Team Aer Lingus Posted August 22, 2018 Share Posted August 22, 2018 John you've done a cracking job really turned out well thanks for the kit build advice too. I've two of these on my to do list kindly supplied by Ray at his great price thanks for sharing regards Eamonn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Jumbo Posted August 22, 2018 Share Posted August 22, 2018 (edited) Lovely work and well done at getting such a good result on what looks to have been a tricky build. I remember Air UK quite fondly and flew with them a good few times before they were subsumed into KLM. All the best, GJ Edited August 22, 2018 by General Jumbo sp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Mc Posted August 22, 2018 Share Posted August 22, 2018 Smashing result. I've wanted to do an Aer Lingus F-27 for ages (I have a Max Decals set put aside). I have had the Doyusha F-27 in my stash but I think it's the wrong version. for an Aer Lingus aircraft. Could anyone confirm if this is a correct asssumption? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonny Posted August 24, 2018 Share Posted August 24, 2018 Oh very nice, Your F.27 modeltook me back to the 1970s when I worked for a multi-national IT Corporation. I was sent on a 2 year project in Norwich and had to visit our Amsterdam office. I can’ remember how many trips I made between Norwich and A’dam but always courtesy of dear old AirUK,and always in a F.27 Friendship. I seem to remember there were currency restrictions at the time, and I had to make special arrangements / authorisations to take currency with me - stamps in the passport and so on. Happy days, I’m sure I’ve an Airfix 1/72 F.27 and a set of AirUK decals in the stash. Seeing your model makes me think it’s time to extricate my kit ... . Thanks for sharing this with us, Viking. Jonny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex1978 Posted September 11, 2018 Share Posted September 11, 2018 Very nice Friendship. Great work. I have one on my bench currently,the Balair version,it really is a fiddly kit. If I can get a half as nice result,I will be happy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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