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Flying Art - LOT "Krakow" Embraer 170 in 1/144


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I present the Hasegawa Embraer 170 in the well-known “Krakow and Malopolska invite” livery carried by SP-LDC between 2009 and 2012. The tail features Leonardo da Vinci’s painting “Lady with an Ermine” which is one of Poland’s national treasures.

 

Although the kit has been around for many years this is the first time I’ve built it. It was seriously overpriced on UK release but several years ago I managed to get a couple at a sensible price via HobbyLink Japan and they’ve been in my stash ever since.  It seems that currently the kit is only available in Japan and various Japanese sellers have it listed on eBay at prices ranging from £26.52 to an utterly ridiculous £108.01.

 

The kit fits well and the scribed detail is generally good. However some areas are basic, notably the undercarriage. There is a PE set available from Extra Tech but I’ve never really liked PE and my eyesight is no longer up to assembling nine microscopic parts to make one undercarriage door for a small aircraft like the Embraer 170 so I contented myself with thinning the kit doors and adding a little detail. I did use the PE to improve the undercarriage bays and also to add pitots. Apologies for a bit of a rant but it’s beyond me why most PE makers can produce scale sized hinges for undercarriage doors but then give you pitots resembling part of the radar array from a WW2 Luftwaffe nightfighter. The Extra Tech set was no different and much fiddling and cursing was needed to get things looking reasonably presentable.

 

Paint is Halfords Appliance White and Racking Grey with Tamiya and Revell metallics. I was going to use a set of Nazca decals which I’d bought at the same time as the kit but I discovered that some of the lettering was over-scale to the point that you couldn’t make an accurate model with it. Fortunately BOA have covered the same scheme so the tail decal is Nazca and everything else is BOA. Detail decals are from the kit sheet and windows are by Authentic Airliners.

 

Thanks for looking and as always constructive criticism is welcome.

 

Dave G

 

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What a stunning build! Especially the Cockpit Looks very realistic. I encountered the same difficulties with the decals from Nazca once, so I guess finding the correct decals remains a very important part of our Hobby. I got one of Hasegawa's 170 in my stash but they are hard to find nowadays. Thank you for sharing this Beauty!

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Bravo, Dave! Jam up build! Looks really really nice. I really like the livery too...proves that art on an airplane can be eye catching, and not comply with the modern day "white whale" schemes we see all to often. Always enjoy your attention to detail; I amazed that your eyesight is good enough for the details, but is lacking in PE parts?? Completely understand...the PE parts are definitely hard sometimes because of size. But you do such a great job with so many other things, no one notices PE parts that may or may not be there. Not so sure that they would add anything to this outstanding build anyway......very very nice build, indeed. Aren't those life like windows beautiful? The cockpit looks absolutely real......:clap:

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What an excellent 170 Dave, I like the scheme very much. It looks a lot like they are photos of the real thing. I must say I love the AA decals, they really add to the overall finish of the model. Great work as usual Dave 😃.

 

Alistair

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Wow another of Dave's beauties.  It is packed with detail and looks very realistic on your base board. I know what you mean about PE sets, especially for 1/144 airliners, It has its uses, but for things like thinned doors, I'd do what you did, or use plasticard.

Love those AA windows (again!). I've got some Trident & 707 sets and  I really must get around to building something to put them on. I keep hearing that BKS Trident calling me to start it 😃.

 

Cheers

 

John

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Thanks for your generous comments everybody - makes it all worthwhile :D

 

7 hours ago, Viking said:

 

 

I've got some Trident & 707 sets and  I really must get around to building something to put them on. I keep hearing that BKS Trident calling me to start it 😃.

 

Cheers

 

John

 

That's something to look forward to John. What scheme are you planning - red stripe or yellow/grey?

 

1 hour ago, stringbag said:

That's stunning Dave.  I can't get over the realism portrayed by those window decals,  it seems to improve with each model you display for us.

Thanks for posting Sir.

 

Chris.

 

Cheers Chris. The Embraer cockpit is probably the most effective of Werner's decals that I've used to date and I hope to use it again on a 190.  You get three different designs on the sheet so you can vary the models. If things go to plan I hope shortly to post a model with Jon Ochoa's take on photo real windows which should be an interesting comparison. I'm glad the idea is catching on with other decal makers.

 

1 hour ago, dnl42 said:

Outstanding work! Bravo! :thumbsup:

 

I'm go glad you've posted this. I have that very kit and Nazca decals. At least I know what this should look like.

 

Thanks dnl42. Just to alert you, as I said at the start of the thread I found issues with the size of some of the lettering on the Nazca sheet. The worst were the "Krakow Airport" titles aft of the rear doors which were way too big and, for me, unusable. BOA's decals are the right size but their printing of the picture on the tail is very poor whereas Nazca's is absolutely beautiful. If you can track down the BOA sheet I would recommend combining the two.

 

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19 hours ago, Skodadriver said:

That's something to look forward to John. What scheme are you planning - red stripe or yellow/grey?

Dave, a non too brilliant picture, but this is what keeps luring me in, daring me to start the build. It's your super builds with the AA windows that caused that nice Mr Chris Stringbag to order some sets from Kurt, and kindly allowed me to add a few sheets to his order.

I'm aware of the corrections needed to the wing box, tailfin etc, and am itching to start. But I really must reduce all the WIP's on the workbench, So many models so little time!

 

trident.jpg

 

Cheers

 

John

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1 hour ago, Viking said:

Dave, a non too brilliant picture, but this is what keeps luring me in, daring me to start the build. It's your super builds with the AA windows that caused that nice Mr Chris Stringbag to order some sets from Kurt, and kindly allowed me to add a few sheets to his order.

I'm aware of the corrections needed to the wing box, tailfin etc, and am itching to start. But I really must reduce all the WIP's on the workbench, So many models so little time!

 

...

 

Cheers

 

John

 

Definitely something to look forward to - I love that scheme.

 

I've sent you a pm.

 

Dave G

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23 hours ago, Skodadriver said:

Cheers Chris. The Embraer cockpit is probably the most effective of Werner's decals that I've used to date and I hope to use it again on a 190.  You get three different designs on the sheet so you can vary the models. If things go to plan I hope shortly to post a model with Jon Ochoa's take on photo real windows which should be an interesting comparison. I'm glad the idea is catching on with other decal makers.

 

Hi Dave.

I have a couple of Embraer kits in the stash, including the Authentic Airliners model so it looks as though there will be another item to add to the Telford shopping list.

I have to agree with you on the effectiveness of the decals but the one that really stood out for me was your recent Caravelle.  The windows on that one really added life to the model.

 

All the best.

Chris.

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Hi Dave,

Just noticed this, and coincidentally I also have one in progress which I've had in the stash for years too!

It is a lovely little model and very Hasegawa in it's level of crisp detail on the fuselage and wings but very underwhelming level of detail on the undercarriage. Weird.

Nice to see a work of art on the tail!

Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,

Ian

 

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On 23/10/2019 at 19:45, Viking said:

Dave, a non too brilliant picture, but this is what keeps luring me in, daring me to start the build. It's your super builds with the AA windows that caused that nice Mr Chris Stringbag to order some sets from Kurt, and kindly allowed me to add a few sheets to his order.

I'm aware of the corrections needed to the wing box, tailfin etc, and am itching to start. But I really must reduce all the WIP's on the workbench, So many models so little time!

 

trident.jpg

 

Cheers

 

John

Hi John,

Looking forward to this one but it'd look so much better on an AA Trident which is miles ahead in almost every way!

Cheers,

Ian

Sorry to hijack your thread Dave.

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12 hours ago, Turbofan said:

Hi John,

Looking forward to this one but it'd look so much better on an AA Trident which is miles ahead in almost every way!

Cheers,

Ian

Sorry to hijack your thread Dave.

 

No problem Ian. Whatever kit John uses we can be confident it will turn out beautifully. After updating the Airfix Caravelle I have a heavily modified Airfix DC-9 currently in the paint shop and I'm interested to see how the Trident scrubs up, not least because I've got half a dozen in my stash!

 

What scheme are you planning for your Embraer?

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13 hours ago, Skodadriver said:

No problem Ian. Whatever kit John uses we can be confident it will turn out beautifully. After updating the Airfix Caravelle I have a heavily modified Airfix DC-9 currently in the paint shop and I'm interested to see how the Trident scrubs up, not least because I've got half a dozen in my stash!

 

What scheme are you planning for your Embraer?

How heavily modified is your DC9 Dave? I always thought it was one of their better early airliners.

I normally pass my older kits on once something better comes along but John's improvement builds always make me regret this and now you've done it with the Caravelle and are going to do it with the DC9 too!

 

I'd like to do BA but I think the 26 sheet is OOP  so I might have to design and print my own. I also have the Revell 190 which may be finished in KLM colours. I decided to dig my Embraers out of the stash after seeing a few at LCY a few months ago. I had to hang around East London waiting for my daughter one Saturday afternoon and decided I to go and watch the planes. Unknown to me LCY shuts on Saturday afternoons!:doh:

Cheers,

Ian

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18 minutes ago, Turbofan said:

How heavily modified is your DC9 Dave? I always thought it was one of their better early airliners.

I normally pass my older kits on once something better comes along but John's improvement builds always make me regret this and now you've done it with the Caravelle and are going to do it with the DC9 too!

 

I'd like to do BA but I think the 26 sheet is OOP  so I might have to design and print my own. I also have the Revell 190 which may be finished in KLM colours. I decided to dig my Embraers out of the stash after seeing a few at LCY a few months ago. I had to hang around East London waiting for my daughter one Saturday afternoon and decided I to go and watch the planes. Unknown to me LCY shuts on Saturday afternoons!:doh:

Cheers,

Ian

 

I really enjoyed the Caravelle and the DC-9 has been fun. So far it has acquired a lobe crease, a new cockpit and some mods to the engines. I'm not giving an ETA beyond saying I hope to have it done before Christmas. John has started me thinking about Tridents with black stripes and red wings but I've got plenty of other stuff on the go just now.

 

8A Decs have a BA sheet for the Embraer 190 if that is of any interest. I haven't seen it but I got reasonable results with their Iberia A321 and Air Koryo Tu-204 sheets so it might be worth a punt.

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8 minutes ago, Skodadriver said:

lobe crease

Ah yes I forgot about the lobe crease!

Thanks for the heads up about the 8aDecs BA 190 sheet, I've not used any of Jon's decals but have heard, and seen, good things about them. I'll have to give them a go, plus you get photo real windows included too!

Cheers,

Ian

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