Turbofan Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 (edited) I have always wanted an Air India 747 it was one of the aircraft I remember from Heathrow in the late 70s and early 80s. Originally I was going to build a -200 but when I found the F-DCAL 747 sheet on ebay and started to research the subject I realised a 747-300 or -400 would be much easier to convert from the Zvezda 747-8 I had in the stash. I decided against a -400 because I wanted the distinctive black anti glare panel in front of the windscreen. Air India's two 747-300Ms were late model airframes which made it even easier as they were basically 747-400s without winglets. To do this requires the 747-8 fuselage to be shortened and the wingtips modified. The engines are different too and I used a spare set of GE CF6's I had from the Revell 747-400 kit. I wanted to use Authentic Airliners windows so needed to redesign and print my own decals so the AA windows fitted the Air India cheatline. I felt this was easier than applying each window individually! Because the M model is a combi it featured a rear main cabin cargo door and so some of the windows are moved to accommodate this. AA 3D decals were also used for the raised strengthening frames for the cargo door. Paint is Halfords Appliance White and Racking grey and the natural metal belly is AA High Shine Metallic Decal applied panel by panel. All in all I'm quite pleased with this model. The conversion is straight forward and the livery is eye catching with the cheatline made up of individual 'temples' for each window. Here are some pics I took yesterday in the glorious summer weather we've recently experienced here. Thanks for looking, comments and criticisms welcome! Cheers, Ian Edited February 28, 2019 by Turbofan 49 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldy Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 I am not normally an airliner modeller but this looks superb. I honestly thought that the first picture was a real 747 until I started to scroll down! Beautiful build and finish quality, and beautiful presentation. Cheers Malcolm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinky coffeeboat Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 Well done Ian! Great conversion of the Zvezda -8 wearing a wonderful colour scheme too. I really must have a go at the AA high shine decals, they look good. Thanks for sharing, Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pin Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 Stunning, I like it a lot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janneman36 Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 That looks great!! You are a brave man by backdating the 800... cheers, Jan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha Delta 210 Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 Absolutely sensational. You made the conversion sound so easy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMCS Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 Oh yes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viking Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 Wow, even by your standards that is something special Ian. Any chance you could summarise what you needed to do to make it into a 300, in terms of fuselage sections removed, and mods to the wing box fairing etc? Cheers John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbofan Posted February 28, 2019 Author Share Posted February 28, 2019 (edited) 7 hours ago, Baldy said: I am not normally an airliner modeller but this looks superb. I honestly thought that the first picture was a real 747 until I started to scroll down! Beautiful build and finish quality, and beautiful presentation. Cheers Malcolm Thanks Malcolm! I'm trying to build as realistic a model as possible so if you thought the first pic was a real 747 then it looks like I've got it right! 7 hours ago, pinky coffeeboat said: I really must have a go at the AA high shine decals, they look good. Thanks Jeff, yes you have to try them. I learned a lesson on this build though, they really have to be applied on a smooth gloss surface as the decal is so thin it picks up all the surface textures. This time I applied the metallic decal onto a slightly satin finish and they dried slightly duller than on my recent Qantas 747 which was onto a more glossy base. 6 hours ago, Pin said: Stunning, I like it a lot! Thanks Pin! 6 hours ago, janneman36 said: That looks great!! You are a brave man by backdating the 800... cheers, Jan 6 hours ago, Alpha Delta 210 said: Absolutely sensational. You made the conversion sound so easy! 4 hours ago, Viking said: Wow, even by your standards that is something special Ian. Any chance you could summarise what you needed to do to make it into a 300, in terms of fuselage sections removed, and mods to the wing box fairing etc? Cheers John Thanks everyone, this conversion really is easy, it's simply a cut and shut on the fuselage, cutting off the 747-8 wingtips and reshaping the wingtips square. As I said the engines are CF6s from an abandoned Revell 747-400. I cut 28.28mm from in front of the wing and 10.68mm behind. Because Air India's 747-300s were very late model airframes they had the -400 style wing leading edge fillet so there wasn't any more work needed in this area. The -8 and -400 share the same wing roots. If I had wanted to model a -400 all I would have needed would be to add winglets. For an earlier -300 which had the -200 wing root there is a little more work involved. The -400 style fillet needs to be filed off as the wing -fuselage joint is more of a 'butt' joint. Cheers, Ian Edited February 28, 2019 by Turbofan 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stringbag Posted March 1, 2019 Share Posted March 1, 2019 A real beauty Ian. That's some tricky decal work you've perfected on the cheat line too. Love it. Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hasegawa Geek Posted March 1, 2019 Share Posted March 1, 2019 Stunning 743 Ian. A very unique choice to model one of the late -300's. I always thought the Air India and THAI 743's were very cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gimme Shelter Posted March 1, 2019 Share Posted March 1, 2019 A real beaut of a 747 - makes me miserable knowing I cannot produce such great work in 1/144 civils. I am building the Revell 747-4 slowly on the side with my TU144 - seeing your beautiful wing root joints, I can see I have a lot of work to do to produce such quality workmanship like yours. Decals and panels look as good as the real thing superb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skodadriver Posted March 1, 2019 Share Posted March 1, 2019 Gosh Ian even by your standards that's impressive, particularly coming hard on the heels of your Negus Tristar! I'm pretty sure it's the first 1/144 743 I've ever seen and you've certainly done it justice. Everything is just perfect - build, finish, decals. Really inspirational. Thanks for sharing Dave G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abandoned Project Posted March 1, 2019 Share Posted March 1, 2019 Absolutely amazing work! Your decals are truly inspirational! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbofan Posted March 1, 2019 Author Share Posted March 1, 2019 (edited) 21 hours ago, stringbag said: A real beauty Ian. That's some tricky decal work you've perfected on the cheat line too. Love it. Chris. Thanks Chris! I'm quite pleased with the cheatline on this one as it's quite a unique design. The hardest part was getting the curve behind the rear door to match with the line of the natural metal because being a laser decal if it overlapped the red would show much darker. The rest was easy as there was a convenient panel line to use. 14 hours ago, Hasegawa Geek said: Stunning 743 Ian. I always thought the Air India and THAI 743's were very cool Thanks HG! We're the Thai ones early or late? I love the Thai livery too. 11 hours ago, Gimme Shelter said: A real beaut of a 747 - makes me miserable knowing I cannot produce such great work in 1/144 civils. I am building the Revell 747-4 slowly on the side with my TU144 - seeing your beautiful wing root joints, I can see I have a lot of work to do to produce such quality workmanship like yours. Decals and panels look as good as the real thing superb John! Oh no! I don't want you to be miserable! For me the secret is to work slowly, it took over two weeks of decalling to get this finished. Also many of my models are of the likes of Zvezda and Authentic Airliners and when you're already starting with that quality you're already half way there. 11 hours ago, Skodadriver said: Gosh Ian even by your standards that's impressive, particularly coming hard on the heels of your Negus Tristar! I'm pretty sure it's the first 1/144 743 I've ever seen and you've certainly done it justice. Everything is just perfect - build, finish, decals. Really inspirational. Thanks for sharing Dave G Cheers Dave! You're right there aren't many 743 models around although I think of this as a 744 without winglets! Might be another Negus next but a little smaller this time! 2 hours ago, dadofthree said: Absolutely amazing work! Your decals are truly inspirational! Thank you! I must admit I really enjoy designing the decals almost as much as the modelling. Hopefully it'll inspire some more airliner models here on RFI! Cheers, Ian Edited March 1, 2019 by Turbofan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomthounaojam Posted March 2, 2019 Share Posted March 2, 2019 There is not enough words to say how awesome this is, a masterpiece, thank you for sharing 10/10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chanex Posted March 2, 2019 Share Posted March 2, 2019 Another absolute stunner Ian, your modelling skills and attention to detail are truly superb! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Law Posted March 2, 2019 Share Posted March 2, 2019 (edited) Like others I'm not normally an airline person. But like your other models I have seen, this one deserves attention. I really like the professional finish you achieve. Edited March 2, 2019 by Greg Law Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry1954 Posted March 2, 2019 Share Posted March 2, 2019 Amazing result Ian. I'm especially impressed with the decal work. Fantastic. Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fjaweijfopi4j48 Posted March 2, 2019 Share Posted March 2, 2019 Looks very good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PranayKumar99 Posted March 2, 2019 Share Posted March 2, 2019 This one of the best models I've seen in my life. I remember seeing the Air India 747-200s and 300s at VABB, truly an exceptional piece of art. Take a bow sir. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mig88 Posted March 3, 2019 Share Posted March 3, 2019 I too am not an airliner builder but can appreciate the fantastic job you've done. The first photos look almost real! Well done. Miguel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Challenger350Pilot Posted March 3, 2019 Share Posted March 3, 2019 Absolutely stunning! This is a beautiful model, well done! And you converted a -8 to a 300? Very brave...and the dividends have paid off. It really looks very nice. You've sold me on the livery, too...isn't it rewarding to build a model of some favorites from way back when? Really like the engine work...wish you had taken a few pics up close of them. And...you have made me a believer and a fan of the high shine metallic decals from 26. I ordered a sheet and have been using them sparingly on my current project. Curious...did you use the landing gear from the -8 kit? looks like -8 wheels, that I thought were a bit beefier than the old -300 ones. At any rate...they look great....the whole thing is award winning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graeme H Posted March 3, 2019 Share Posted March 3, 2019 Wow gobsmacking stunner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FortyEighter Posted March 4, 2019 Share Posted March 4, 2019 Superb work Ian! Out of curiosity, did you have much of the AA High Shine sheet left (just wondering how far one sheet goes when used on a model of this size)? Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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