Malev Boeing 737-800 in 1/144

[Skodadriver]

I present the Zvezda Boeing 737-800 in Malev livery circa 2006.

 

The model is OOB apart from some Daco PE and one or two small details.  It was straightforward although there were a few minor annoyances such as finding one of the side struts for the main undercarriage broken when I opened the box. I somehow missed a couple of nasty sink marks on the rudder until the dark blue showed them up, a mistake I won’t make twice.

 

That said, the positives hugely outweigh any negatives. It has the correct window line, accurate engines and accurate winglets with the options of plain wingtips and split scimitars. The Zvezda undercarriage is exquisite if a little fiddly and gives the correct stance - no more cutting down the Revell main gear!  You even get a choice of cockpit clear sections with and without eyebrows and the spare could probably be donated to an Airfix 727 or 737 as an alternative to the Daco part.

 

As usual paint was Halfords Appliance White and Racking Grey. The blue is Mr Color 35 Cobalt Blue. It has a slight purple cast (which doesn’t show up well in the photos) and it was the best off the shelf match I could find for the elusive Malev blue. Metallics are by Revell and Tamiya.

 

The titles, fin logos and registrations are by Drawdecal. Detail decals, including replacement door outlines, are from the spares box. They are mainly Revell and Daco in origin.

 

To my surprise and disappointment I had problems with the Authentic Airliners windows due to a significant mismatch between the window spacing on the kit and on the sheet. As usual I had made tiny pin marks on the front and rear windows of each cabin and the emergency exits to guide decal placement and I had also masked the blue paint by reference to the rear cabin windows but when I came to apply the window decals I found it impossible to get them to fit properly. I tried a bit of bodgery but the result just looked wrong. I checked an unbuilt kit and found that the decals were significantly short, for example 24 windows from the aft emergency exit to the rear window measured 85mm on the kit but only 82mm on the decals. The original Drawdecal windows and several other 738 decals in my stash agreed with the kit and it was pretty clear that either I had got a rogue set of window decals or AA had got it wrong. Off came the AA windows and on went a Daco set which fitted perfectly. The Daco windows were then carefully overlaid with the non-framed windows left over from the AA sheet which had to be applied individually, all 84 of them, a lengthy and tedious job which taxed my limited patience (non-existent according to my wife) and my ageing eyesight. I‘m not convinced that the result really justifies the effort, certainly not close up, and my next 738 will probably have PAS or 8aDecs windows.

 

The decal issue had nothing to do with the kit and I thoroughly enjoyed the Zveda 738. I’m already planning another one, probably Luxair with scimitars. I’ve also just received a Zvezda 737-700 and it will hopefully appear as Westjet’s tartan-tailed C-GQWJ which was a regular visitor to Glasgow a couple of years ago.

 

Thanks for looking and as always constructive criticism is welcome.

 

Dave G

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Andy J]

Great work again more please !

[Scotsman07]

Another cracking model Dave, that blue is perfect. Will definitely be taking up the suggestion of the ‘Racking Grey’ for my future 737 builds 👍🏻. Shame about the AA decals but you have an excellent finish on the model. Look forward to seeing more great models in the future. Great work 😃!!!

 

Alistair

[Scotsman07]

Another cracking model Dave, that blue is perfect. Will definitely be taking up the suggestion of the ‘Racking Grey’ for my future 737 builds 👍🏻. Shame about the AA decals but you have an excellent finish on the model. Look forward to seeing more great models in the future. Great work 😃!!!

 

Alistair

[Turbofan]

Hi Dave,

Looks like it's Zvezda 737 week on RFI! 

Great job on this one too, I love it! I do like this livery it's a pity they're no longer in business.

There's no evidence of anything wrong with the windows but I can imagine it would be tedious to apply each one individually!

Unusual to have problems with the AA windows perhaps an email to Werner will sort it out, I've only used one set on my Revell Norwegian 738 and I don't remember any problems. Could it be that they're designed for the Revell kit maybe?

Very impressed with your masking of the blue, especially on the nosecone that is particularly difficult to do!

I must ask, did you attach the engines before or after painting? I attached mine after painting and wasn't 100% happy with the joint on the pylon where it meets the wing so will assemble everything in future before painting.

Looking forward to your Luxair 738 it's on my to do list as well as a 737-200 in the earlier 70's/80's livery. I love the current Luxair livery.

Cheers,

Ian

 

 

Edited August 1, 2019 by Turbofan

[Skodadriver]

On 8/1/2019 at 11:18 AM, Turbofan said:

Hi Dave,

Looks like it's Zvezda 737 week on RFI! 

Great job on this one too, I love it! I do like this livery it's a pity they're no longer in business.

There's no evidence of anything wrong with the windows but I can imagine it would be tedious to apply each one individually!

Unusual to have problems with the AA windows perhaps an email to Werner will sort it out, I've only used one set on my Revell Norwegian 738 and I don't remember any problems. Could it be that they're designed for the Revell kit maybe?

Very impressed with your masking of the blue, especially on the nosecone that is particularly difficult to do!

I must ask, did you attach the engines before or after painting? I attached mine after painting and wasn't 100% happy with the joint on the pylon where it meets the wing so will assemble everything in future before painting.

Looking forward to your Luxair 738 it's on my to do list as well as a 737-200 in the earlier 70's/80's livery. I love the current Luxair livery.

Cheers,

Ian

 

 

 

Thanks Ian.  Yes, I love the Malev livery too. This model is part of my ongoing "European flag carriers" project but I would have built a Malev model sooner or later anyway. Nothing to do with the model but the only time I've actually seen a high speed rejected takeoff was a Malev 735 at Hamburg.  It was the full works including the airport fire service having to cool the brakes before the aircraft could return to the terminal. I was glad I was spotting and not on board!

 

I haven't checked the AA windows against the Revell kit but the Daco windows were designed when it was the only show in town and they fitted the Zvezda model perfectly. Decals from 26 and F-DCAL, which were also designed for the Revell kit, match the Zvezda kit too. 

 

I fitted the engines after painting, in fact after I'd applied the decals to the upper wings and the engines themselves. The fit isn't great but it's no worse than the Revell kit. I filled the gaps with superfine Milliput, let that dry, sanded it very carefully then applied Mr Surfacer 500. Once that was dry it was also sanded very carefully (1200 wet and dry used wet) and then touched up with brush-applied Xtracolor X150 which is a very good match to Racking Grey. Finally I used 6000 grade Micromesh to blend everything together. From a normal viewing distance I think it looks OK. The next time I build the kit I'll still leave the engines off until after painting but I won't apply the upper wing decals. I masked the leading edges while I was working on the engines and the tape accidentally lifted part of the thicker black line on the left wing.

 

Dave G

[Vince1159]

Great job Sd,she's a beauty...What make/shade of grey did you use for the wings,i've got some Starjets 1:200 and some of the have badly faded wings....

Edited August 1, 2019 by Vince1159

[Skodadriver]

1 hour ago, Vince1159 said:

Great job Sd,she's a beauty...What make/shade of grey did you use for the wings,i've got some Starjets 1:200 and some of the have badly faded wings....

Thanks Vince. The grey is Halfords Racking Grey which is one of their workshop paints rather than a car colour. It's very close to FS16515 so if you don't have access to Halfords, Xtracolor X150 Canadian Voodoo Grey or anything else matching FS16515 is virtually the same colour.

[RMCS]

Superb 

[stringbag]

WOW!!.  That's yet another superb model Dave.  Like Ian, I'm impressed with the masking as much as the overall finish. Considering the fact that it doesn't have a cheatline, that's a lovely livery.

I hadn't thought about the spare cockpit glazing as a substitute for the Daco item. Good idea.

 

Chris.

[RCI]

really like that, the whole composition absolutely matches! allthough i prefer all clear windows...haha i think hat would have looked even better, but still a very nice model very well built!

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Unusual and beautiful scheme!

[Challenger350Pilot]

WOW Dave!!! What a beeeeautiful livery on an outstanding build! I love that its 737 week on Britmodeler. Inspiring to me to soon start one or two. You guys across the Atlantic have ALL the gorgeous airplanes. We've gotten pretty dull here in the US. The 737 is very nice...job well done. Window drama...amazing. And I for one really appreciate your detailing the journey "through the window." I always appreciate someone else's experience that is gladly shared and enthusiastically received for future reference when choosing models and windows to fit. I would agree that an email to Werner might solve your windows questions regarding Authentic Airliners windows. If you had not described the journey of the windows, I don't think anyone would have noticed at all. The detail work on the model is superior. These kinds of things always catch my eye! 

[phildagreek]

Very nice!

[Viking]

I'm playing catch-up on RFI as I've had a busy week, so I'm really glad I didn't miss this one Dave.

It looks right on the money, a big improvement on the Revell kit. Interesting about the AA windows, also Ian comments about the engines and your method of dealing with them I haven't built a Zvezda 737 yet so this is all valuable info.

 

Cheers

 

John

[Gimme Shelter]

Very nice work - unfaultable modelling

[keefr22]

Gorgeous model Dave, beautiful paintjob and 10/10 for perserverance with the window decals!

 

Keith

[Eric B.]

Hi,

 

Very nice job here, looking real.

I flew dozens of flights from Paris - CDG to Budapest Ferihegy between 1997 and 2001, Air France or MALEV. I believe MALEV Boeings still were B737-300 back then. 

 

I still have something for the MALEV livery... Beautiful model really and sharp job.. 

 

Eric B. 

[Mountain goat]

Beautiful, very realistic!

 

Jay

[Alex1978]

Wonderful job on the 737.

The paintjob is immaculate and the Malev livery adorns the Boeing perfectly.

I also used the extra cockpit windows provided in the Zvezda kit on my ongoing Airfix 707 builds.

They fit rather nicely and only require a little bit trimming at the sides.I will be applying windowdecals after finishing but it already looks a great deal better in shape than OOB.

[Adam Poultney]

I really need to build one of these but in a silver scheme. White just drains the motivation, except on V Bombers for some reason. Love your model.

Edited August 31, 2019 by Adam Poultney

[Skodadriver]

3 hours ago, Adam Poultney said:

I really need to build one of these but in a silver scheme. White just drains the motivation, except on V Bombers for some reason. Love your model.

You might want to think about one of the Skyteam logojets - silver(y) fuselage and dark blue tail. Drawdecal have Korean and Air Europa in their range.