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A Canadian-Scottish Boeing - Westjet "Tartan" 737-700 in 1/144


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Canada and Scotland have strong historic connections and air links between the two countries have existed for almost as long as transatlantic flying itself. In May 2015 Westjet began seasonal flights between Halifax and Glasgow which was their first UK destination. The inaugural flight was by C-GQWJ, an ETOPS 737-7CT, which acquired a unique tartan fin for the occasion. She carried the tartan for about six months before reverting to the standard livery.

 

The Zvezda kit was a straightforward and enjoyable build and I was aware of its few minor issues from my previous build of the 738. The only points worth mentioning are some sink marks mainly on the rudder and stabs and the rather indifferent fit of the engines to the wings. I added an adapted BraZ satcom fairing and a few small details from plastic sheet. Pitots, aerials and a couple of other small items came from a Daco PE set.

 

Paint is Halfords Appliance White and Racking Grey with Revell and Tamiya metallics.

 

One of the drawbacks of a large stash, whether kits, decals, paints or anything else, is that you are liable to buy something without realising you already have it. I’m not sure how i did it but when I started the model I discovered I had both the V1 and 8ADecs decals for this livery. As it turned out that was a good thing because I was able to pick and choose the best bits from both sheets. The fin decal, Canadian flags and registrations are V1 and the rest is 8A. Detail decals came from the spares box. It also yielded replacement “ship numbers” for the nosewheel doors which are oversized on both sheets and the small “700” on the underside of the nose just aft of the radome which both decal makers have missed. Windows are by Authentic Airliners.

 

Thanks for looking and as always constructive criticism is welcome.

 

Dave G

 

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I really like that Dave, it looks as near perfect a model as it is possible to get, That tartan fin really sets it off beautifully. All the little stencil details really add a lot to it as well.

I know what you mean about buying decals, I have a few that I have no idea when or where I bought them!

 

Cheers

 

John

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This is the second absolutely stunning 737 build I've seen here this morning! Love it and that Tartan tail is very close to my own family tartan.

 

Beautiful build 

 

Eng

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Great job, not seen this livery before, marvellous.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Cheers Michael.  

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She's absolutely beautiful, Dave. The livery you chose really highlights the 737-700; even though the paint is all-over white, the beautiful tartan tail breaks up the "white whale" look. Very classy. Do I remember correctly, that you don't usually use PE parts because they are so small? Like all of us that do use them, they are prone to fly off on their own never to be seen again...but yours look outstanding! And all accounted for! Well done! Really love the tartan livery, too. Just so eye catching. I, too, have a box full of decals that get picked over from time to time to scavenge for an idea to become reality; and always having two sheets for the livery is the rule around my workbench...for disaster relief. Only thing I would question would be the anti glare below the cockpit windows. Do the 737s at West Jet carry those? Seems like they are so unnecessary, and their elimination would just make the (airplane) model look "sleeker." Nice nice work, indeed. As always. :clap:

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Thanks for the supportive and encouraging comments. Much appreciated :D

 

3 hours ago, Challenger350Pilot said:

She's absolutely beautiful, Dave. The livery you chose really highlights the 737-700; even though the paint is all-over white, the beautiful tartan tail breaks up the "white whale" look. Very classy. Do I remember correctly, that you don't usually use PE parts because they are so small? Like all of us that do use them, they are prone to fly off on their own never to be seen again...but yours look outstanding! And all accounted for! Well done! Really love the tartan livery, too. Just so eye catching. I, too, have a box full of decals that get picked over from time to time to scavenge for an idea to become reality; and always having two sheets for the livery is the rule around my workbench...for disaster relief. Only thing I would question would be the anti glare below the cockpit windows. Do the 737s at West Jet carry those? Seems like they are so unnecessary, and their elimination would just make the (airplane) model look "sleeker." Nice nice work, indeed. As always. :clap:

 

Thanks Paul. I must have looked at every photo of C-GQWJ on the internet :hypnotised: and I can absolutely assure you the "anti-glare" is correct! As far as I can see all Westjet's 737s had it although it seems to have gone from the lovely new "maple leaf" livery applied to the Max.

 

I'm not generally a fan of PE because I frequently find it's more bother than it's worth. Like the rest of me my eyes aren't getting any younger and I cannot be bothered assembling nine microscopic parts to make one undercarriage door. I know that other modellers (including you) make good use of PE but it's not really my thing. Having said that, brass pitots, drain masts, aerials, fences etc are more robust than their plastic equivalents and if reasonably priced PE is available I'll use it. Unfortunately Danny Coremans sold out of his excellent 737NG PE some time ago and he doesn't seem to have plans to produce any more, a great pity.

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Hi Dave,

You've done it again, another superb one to add to your collection! Where do you put them all?

I really like Westjet liveries I think the two blues they use seem to compliment each other so well and this tartan scheme just looks so good. I wonder if the tartan was specially commissioned or is it a real one? I'm not up on my tartans although I should be as I lived in Scotland long enough!

I'm glad I'm not the only one who uses multiple sheets to finish a model where would we be without the spares box. I've bought duplicate sheets without realising too so you're not alone.

Anyway, I should have something you'll like on the way soon with the decent weather recently I've been able to catch up a little.

Looking forward to more from your work bench soon.

Cheers,

Ian

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17 hours ago, Skodadriver said:

One of the drawbacks of a large stash, whether kits, decals, paints or anything else, is that you are liable to buy something without realising you already have it.

Yep, found a heap of doubles when I got an app to keep track of my kits. Now, every time I think, "Ooh, that will be good on..." I look at the app (and my Scalemates projects) first to make sure I don't already have it in the box!

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Outstanding work!!!!! That's a very fetching scheme.

 

17 hours ago, Skodadriver said:

One of the drawbacks of a large stash, whether kits, decals, paints or anything else, is that you are liable to buy something without realising you already have it. I’m not sure how i did it but when I started the model I discovered I had both the V1 and 8ADecs decals for this livery. As it turned out that was a good thing because I was able to pick and choose the best bits from both sheets.

Accident or inspired planning? I have both BOA and Nazca-decals versions of LOT's Lady with an Ermine scheme for the same reasons.

 

I put my entire inventory of kits, AM, paint, and books into a Google spreadsheet few years ago. I can maintain the spreadsheet at home as well as on my various mobile devices when at the LHS, an IPMS meeting, and elsewhere.

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12 hours ago, Turbofan said:

.....

I really like Westjet liveries I think the two blues they use seem to compliment each other so well and this tartan scheme just looks so good. I wonder if the tartan was specially commissioned or is it a real one? I'm not up on my tartans although I should be as I lived in Scotland long enough!

I'm glad I'm not the only one who uses multiple sheets to finish a model where would we be without the spares box. I've bought duplicate sheets without realising too so you're not alone.

Anyway, I should have something you'll like on the way soon with the decent weather recently I've been able to catch up a little.

....

Thanks Ian. With my anorak firmly zipped up I went on line to try to identify the tartan. Not surprisingly it's very close to the Nova Scotia tartan although there should be a thin red line running down the centre of the yellow stripe. This is missing on the real aircraft and would probably not reproduce well on a laser printed decal. I look forward to seeing your forthcoming model.

 

4 hours ago, dnl42 said:

.....

 

Accident or inspired planning? I have both BOA and Nazca-decals versions of LOT's Lady with an Ermine scheme for the same reasons.

 

......

I see we discussed that a few months ago! The Nazca E-170 tail decal is much better than the BOA one but some of their lettering is over-scale. On the 737, 8A's fin decal was significantly incorrect but the V1 one was spot on.

 

3 hours ago, busnproplinerfan said:

I think WJ has two in this scheme. I know I rode on one of them before it had the tartan. Have to look at my pictures. This model sure looks good.

You might be right but I did extensive research on Airliners.net and other similar sites and I only found photos of Whisky Juliet wearing the tartan. if there was a second aircraft it seems to have been quite elusive. If you find a picture I'd be very interested to see it.

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