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The Sopranos 727 + FINISHED+


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I discovered The Sopranos just a few years ago and got hooked on the box set.

One of the iconic features of the series is its opening title sequence, which shows Tony Soprano driving home through the suburbs of New York.

 

 

At about 40 seconds in, there's a fleeting glimpse of an Amercian Airlines Boeing 727-200 climbing out of Newark Airport.  Every time I see this (and it's been dozens of times), I think 'how cool' :coolio:.

 

So I've decided to make this aircraft the subject of my GB entry - built 'wheels up' of course!

 

I'll be using a 1/200 scale Hasegawa kit.  I've got several boxings in my stash, but not their American Airlines version.  Separately though, I managed to get a set of AA decals and instructions via eBay.

 

P1100866.jpg

 

I'm really looking forward to this build, but it unfortunately it will be November before I can make a start.  I'll see you then!

 

Cheers

Cliff

 

 

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Gosh that Ansett scheme one will be very rare now!!!! I can imagine there are a lot of collectors down under who'd love to have that one.......and be horrified at what will be happening to her!

 

I've flown in them!

 

When they collapsed I had 250,000+ frequent flyer points with them!!!! :weep:

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10 hours ago, Valkyrie said:

What a great idea, great series too. 

Thanks Valkyrie.  I'm glad you approve :)

 

5 hours ago, whitestar12chris said:

Welcome aboard Cliff, 

 

Thanks Chris, it looks like it's going to be a very varied GB (which is good!).

 

4 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

You guys know about the movie coming right ? Its a prequel which goes back to Tony’s father and Uncle Jun’s younger days circa mid 60’s. Supposed to be out by next summer. 

Thanks Dennis. I didn't know that.  I'm not sure that it's a good idea though (I still haven't forgiven Netflix for Better Call Saul!) 

 

4 hours ago, trickyrich said:

Gosh that Ansett scheme one will be very rare now!!!! I can imagine there are a lot of collectors down under who'd love to have that one.......and be horrified at what will be happening to her!

 

Don't worry Rich, it was the first box that came to hand - for illustration purposes only!

I've got a couple of unboxed examples (without decals), so I'll actually be building one of those :winkgrin:

 

Cheers

Cliff

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  • 2 months later...
13 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Hello Cliff simple reminder that we’ve hit mid point in the build. 

Thanks for the reminder Dennis.  It'll be next up, after my Float Plane Walrus.  Not long now :)

Cheers

Cliff

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I'm waiting for some paint to dry on my Walrus, so I thought I'd break open the 727.

I made one of these a couple of years ago, so know things should be hassle free (the the possible exception of the polished aluminium finish ;)).

 

P1110068.jpg

 

Everything's nicely moulded and goes together well.  A screw is provided as a nose weight and there's a slightly flimsy looking stand.

Notwithstanding the latter, I'd forgotten that the kit makes no provision for you to build 'wheels up'.  For example, the nose wheel doors are moulded open, as part of the fuselage halves.  Not a big problem to sort out though.

 

The cabin windows are provided as decals in this version and so the first job is to fill the holes provided in the fuselage halves.  I use a method recommended by someone on BritModeller (sorry, I've forgotten who...).

Basically, you roll epoxy putty into thin sausages and then lay these inside the fuselage, behind the window openings.  From inside you then push the putty out through the holes (see top fuselage in the photo below).

 

P1110070.jpg

 

Then gently rub over the bobbles with a wet finger, to form 'rivet heads' (bottom fuselage).  Once the putty has cured , it will sand back beautifully :thumbsup2:

 

Cheers

Cliff

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

I'm now on to the 727 full time :).

 

The first job was to black out the cockpit and add some nose weight.  The bolt provided in the kit was over-kill, so I replaced it with a smaller weight to reduce the load on the stand.

 

P1110088.jpg

 

Having joined the fuselage halves I filled in the wheel wells using epoxy putty.  Here it is before sanding.

 

P1110092.jpg

 

And this is the current state of play.  I shall be leaving the wings and engines loose until all the painting and decalling is finished.

 

P1110090.jpg

 

Cheers

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've started to get some paint on now, although first I had to mask the cockpit windows.

 

P1110093.jpg

 

It's a bit of a pain in this scale and I'm pretty sure that a decal would give a better result than Hasegawa's clear part.  Most modern 1/200 aftermarket decal sets include cockpit glazing, but unfortunately I've no such luck with the kit decals :(.

 

Another problem with the decals is that bits that should be white or pale grey, are actually printed as a creamy colour -  a common problem with Hasegawa decals of a certain vintage!  Where I can,  I'll therefore be painting the white and pale grey areas, rather than using the decals.

 

So here we have the fuselage painted pale grey and the upper wing surfaces a darker grey (Corrocoat?).  I've used Hasegawa's recommended Mr.Color gloss paint selection.  Both areas will be masked in due course and over-painted white or polished aluminium, as appropriate.

 

P1110095.jpg

 

As usual, I'll be using Alclad for the metallic finish.  I've done a quick trial with the engine pods (as in the photo above), and they've come out OK.  This came as a pleasant surprise, as I've had to use Chrome rather than Polished Aluminium (I've run out of the latter), and it was applied over the fuselage grey paint rather than the recommended gloss black!  Further vindication, if needed, that one should never read instructions ;).

 

I was concerned to note in @Grandboof's Blitzenbuild of a Hasegawa A320, that he had problems with disintegrating decals.  As a precaution therefore, I've tried one of the superfluous pale grey decals from my kit. All seems good :).

 

Cheers

 

 

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Hi Cliff 

The 320 was bought cheap 2nd hand . There was some glue in the box which was solid . I suspect the kit had been exposed to some heat at some time This could explain the decal problems . The decals that came from the Peach A320 ( Also Hasegawa) went on with out problems . Hope this helps your concerns . I have been watching  this unfold and as usual is looking great 

All the best for the New Year 

Martin H

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8 hours ago, Grandboof said:

Hi Cliff 

The 320 was bought cheap 2nd hand . There was some glue in the box which was solid . I suspect the kit had been exposed to some heat at some time This could explain the decal problems . The decals that came from the Peach A320 ( Also Hasegawa) went on with out problems .

Thanks Martin - that's reassuring :).  Happy new year to you too.

 

Bar a few final details, the painting is now finished

 

P1110096.jpg

 

If I don't mess up, this may well just sneak in as a 2019 build!

 

Cheers

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16 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Shes looking good cliff. 

 

1 hour ago, Grandboof said:

Beautiful shine 

Martin H

 Thanks guys :thumbsup2:

 

Unfortunately, I've had a bit of a disaster this morning.  

 

P1110097.jpg

 

The dreaded Hasegawa decals refused to conform to the contours of the nose and when I applied some Microsol, they simply disintegrated.  Worse still, the sol attacked my lovely shiny finish!

 

Before throwing in the towel, I had a go at repairing the chrome and also added the tail markings. Both were a success which has motivated me to carry on :).

 

P1110099.jpg

 

Normally, the easiest thing to do would be to mask off, and paint the stripes.  Unfortunately though, I find that the really shiny Alclad finishes tend to pull away under tape.  I had a quick test under the wing and sure enough the chrome just flaked off (now repaired too!).

 

So instead, I'm going to try reprinting the decal stripes.  I still have one complete decal, so can scan this and reprint as many times as I want.  Let's see what happens.....

 

Cheers

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Hi Cliff 

When I did the 320 the decals that I used Microsol on disintegrated . The ones of the original sheet that survived and the newer ones were applied using warm water and a drop dish washing liquid. This seemed to help the longer cabin window decals behave . Sorry I didn't mention this before but had put the problems down to the age of the decals . 

Martin H

 

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On 1/1/2020 at 9:10 AM, Grandboof said:

When I did the 320 the decals that I used Microsol on disintegrated . The ones of the original sheet that survived and the newer ones were applied using warm water and a drop dish washing liquid. This seemed to help the longer cabin window decals behave . Sorry I didn't mention this before but had put the problems down to the age of the decals . 

 

Hi Martin

To be honest, my decals were splitting before I went near them the Microsol - they were never going to work around the nose.

 

I've been battling on though and am currently here.

 

P1110100.jpg

 

For various reasons (partly down to my scanner and partly down to me :doh:), I've ended up with a red stripe that is far too dark.  Nevertheless, everything looks reasonably neat - so on balance I'm happy!

There'll be a short break now while I wait for some aftermarket cabin window decals to arrive.  The AA cabin windows had silver surrounds, that were quite noticeable against the dark blue cheat line.  Unfortunately, these silver surrounds are not provided in the kit.  Luckily, Kingkit have some suitable secondhand replacements so I should have these within a few days.

 

Cheers

 

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Thank you @Hockeyboy76 and @Grandboof 

 

I picked up the cabin window decals yesterday and they've made a big difference.  I'm now declaring this one finished!

 

P1110101.jpg

 

It's far from perfect, but looks nice enough in the display case ;).

 

As always, thanks to all of you who have supported this build and particularly to Dennis and Chris for hosting.

 

Cheers

 

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