Alex1978 Posted April 9, 2019 Share Posted April 9, 2019 As a TriStar admirer,I was very excited when Eastern Express finally came up with an injection molded kit of the -500 and I bought it right away. At first sight it looks like a cut down version of their "standard" -1011 kit which was obviously ripped and slightly altered from the Otaki kit. But it really turned out to be a little more than that. The greater wingspan of the -500 was added and also the bigger front cargo door is included. The build itself has its ups and downs as its a common thing with short run kits. Most of the parts need a fair amound of filling and sanding but with careful preparation of the parts it goes together quite well. The S-duct of the No.2 engine is also included but its a bit tricky to fit it into the fuselage halves. I built it mostly OOB,I just repaced the landing gear with an Airfix leftover,because the original parts had some serious molding issues and were beyond use.Some adjustments had to be done on them to fit into the EE kit. Painted entirely with Revell and Testors enamels and sligtly weathered with Humbrol graphite powder. Eastern Express offers this kit in different airline liveries,I chose the Air Transat version as this airline is a frequent visitor at our airport during summer. When they started their weekly service back in 1992 from Montreal to Basel (Switzerland),the TriStar was used,later added by a second weekly service done with Boeing 757-200s. So as a reminder of those good old days I wanted a TriStar in Air Transat livery for quite some time. Cheers 22 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael301757 Posted April 9, 2019 Share Posted April 9, 2019 Hi Alex,Really nice job you have done there, super build. Cheers Michael. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sky Keg Posted April 9, 2019 Share Posted April 9, 2019 Bravo Alex!!!!!!!! Mike 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stringbag Posted April 9, 2019 Share Posted April 9, 2019 That looks very nice indeed Alex. Chris. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbofan Posted April 10, 2019 Share Posted April 10, 2019 Yes I'm a TriStar admirer too Alex and you've made a great job of this one! Nice subtle wing weathering. Those decals look good too, especially for EE oob ones, maybe they've improved their decals too. Cheers, Ian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delticfan Posted April 10, 2019 Share Posted April 10, 2019 Wow brilliant, I flew on one of these in 1997 from Newcastle to Toronto via Prestwick and back. Always thought it was an attractive livery. Well done stunning finish. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha Delta 210 Posted April 10, 2019 Share Posted April 10, 2019 Lovely model of the most handsome trijet! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skodadriver Posted April 10, 2019 Share Posted April 10, 2019 As I said in reply to another of your builds (you have been busy recently!) I salute anyone who can make a good model from an Eastern Express kit and that really is excellent. I love your subtle, understated weathering. I share your nostalgia for the Air Transat Tristars. They occasionally turned up at Glasgow in the 1990s although they were later replaced by A310s. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Challenger350Pilot Posted April 10, 2019 Share Posted April 10, 2019 Beautiful as usual, Alex! Love the old L-1011, and this one is especially welcomed. Thanks, too, for the tips and observations from the EE kit...wondering if I should acquire one or two. Nice job! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gimme Shelter Posted April 10, 2019 Share Posted April 10, 2019 She's gorgeous - I love the TriStar and the -500 best of all. My mate bought the EE RAF variant at a recent show, he needed the just the decals and the RAF re-fuelling sprue and flogged the left-overs to me for £30 which was a good deal as I intend to make me a BA Negus or BWIA steelpan version when I decide I can next face building an EE kit. My Canadian Uncle was head of engineering for Air Transat in Toronto for many years and loved the L1011 - I have a load of his old engineering files for the Air Transat -500 in my loft along with a number of bits including a L1011 Yoke which they replaced - I used it on an adapted flight sim yoke for a while but its now boxed up. You have a very good habit of turning out superb civil kits and this Tristar certainly looks brilliant. Looking forward to seeing the completed Lufthansa kit that's on your bench John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex1978 Posted April 10, 2019 Author Share Posted April 10, 2019 17 hours ago, Turbofan said: Yes I'm a TriStar admirer too Alex and you've made a great job of this one! Nice subtle wing weathering. Those decals look good too, especially for EE oob ones, maybe they've improved their decals too. Cheers, Ian Thank you very much Ian. The decals on the new EE kits are very well done.They actually come from PAS decals.Just the fact that they printed the cabin windows together with the billboard titles is a bit disappointing.Application of aftermarket windows will probably a bit tricky as I am not sure if the spacing is identical.I actually planned to use AA windows but decided to go with the kit one first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex1978 Posted April 10, 2019 Author Share Posted April 10, 2019 1 hour ago, Gimme Shelter said: She's gorgeous - I love the TriStar and the -500 best of all. My mate bought the EE RAF variant at a recent show, he needed the just the decals and the RAF re-fuelling sprue and flogged the left-overs to me for £30 which was a good deal as I intend to make me a BA Negus or BWIA steelpan version when I decide I can next face building an EE kit. My Canadian Uncle was head of engineering for Air Transat in Toronto for many years and loved the L1011 - I have a load of his old engineering files for the Air Transat -500 in my loft along with a number of bits including a L1011 Yoke which they replaced - I used it on an adapted flight sim yoke for a while but its now boxed up. You have a very good habit of turning out superb civil kits and this Tristar certainly looks brilliant. Looking forward to seeing the completed Lufthansa kit that's on your bench John Thank you very much John. I hope to see your TriStar on FB soon too. Great background story with the Air Transat L-1011s.I would love to have some original parts myself.Sadly I was never lucky enough to fly in one but my grand parents flew with a BWIA TriStar back in 1991 and they were very satisfied with the ride. That Lufthansa kit is an ancient Airfix A300 that I am currently redo.I built this kit around 1993 and it was quite worn out by now. Paintjob is under way and it should turn up here in the next couple weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex1978 Posted April 10, 2019 Author Share Posted April 10, 2019 3 hours ago, Challenger350Pilot said: Beautiful as usual, Alex! Love the old L-1011, and this one is especially welcomed. Thanks, too, for the tips and observations from the EE kit...wondering if I should acquire one or two. Nice job! Thank you very much. I would go for it and get some.They may be a bit harder to build than the Otaki kits but they are available and probably a lot cheaper to purchase 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMCS Posted April 10, 2019 Share Posted April 10, 2019 Love the tri star 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FortyEighter Posted April 12, 2019 Share Posted April 12, 2019 Wow, beautifully finished Alex! As I'm just about to build one in the Lockheed GB, I hope I can get close to your standard. Interesting that your kit includes the No2 S-duct - I'm still thinking about what to do on mine. Mike 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viking Posted April 12, 2019 Share Posted April 12, 2019 Nicely done Tristar Alex, maybe I'll need to get a -500 now! Cheers John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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