Hapag-Lloyd Boeing 727-89 in 1/144 - updating the Revell kit

[Skodadriver]

Here is the Revell Boeing 727-100 in the classic orange and blue of Hapag-Lloyd circa 1984. The inspiration was this, one of my all time favourite airliner photos, although my model depicts an earlier version of the livery.

 

The kit first appeared in 1964 and has been reissued on and off since, most recently in the colours of Germania whose 727s were actually leased from Hapag-Lloyd. Although it’s probably the most accurate injection-moulded 1/144 727, the Revell kit suffers from sunken windows, raised detail and rashes of rivets. However with a bit of t.l.c. it scrubs up quite nicely and my aim was to create a reasonable likeness rather than absolute accuracy. Anyone who wants the perfect 727 will need to look to Authentic Airliners.

 

The outline shape is pretty good but to my eyes the windscreen is slightly too upright and the tip of the nose cone is too blunt. I replaced the cockpit with the spare clear section from a Zvezda 738 which was an amazingly good fit. Using the Zvezda model as a pattern I added a little Milliput to the tip of the nose then sanded until everything looked OK. I don’t claim 100% accuracy but I think it’s a bit better then the original.

 

Revell have rather overdone the slope on the top of the number two intake which makes the opening too small. Thin plastic, superglue, Milliput and a few minutes of carving and sanding quickly put things right remembering that on the 727-100 the intake was slightly oval.

 

Still with the fuselage, there should be a faint hint of “lobe crease” level with the bottom of the main door which I represented by light scribing with a P-cutter followed by a few strokes from a triangular needle file. I’m not sure I got this quite right and I will probably rethink it if I build another Revell 727.

 

Otherwise it was a case of getting rid of the rivets, smoothing out the lunar landscape of sink marks on the wings and re-scribing the raised lines where appropriate. I replaced the kit wheels with a resin set from Brengun intended for the Airfix -200 but easily adapted for the Revell kit.

 

Paint is Halfords Appliance White and Racking Grey with Revell Aqua 30 Orange on the fin. Natural metal is by Tamiya and Revell

 

Decals are by Flightpath with Authentic Airliners windows, Scaleliners coroguard and some odds and ends from the spares box. Flightpath confused themselves with the door outlines and gave us 737-style outlines with white lower sections instead of the 727s’ characteristic dark blue ones. Luckily I was able to source some thin dark blue decal stripes and curves then do a sort of decal jigsaw puzzle, mildly annoying at the time but worth the effort.

 

Replacement nose wheel doors, pitots, aerials and other sticky-out bits are from a Daco P/E set intended for the 737.

 

The is the third “classic” airliner kit I’ve built recently (the others were the Airfix Caravelle and DC-9) and it certainly won’t be the last. I’m already eyeing up the Airfix Comets and Tridents in my stash.

 

Thanks for looking and as always constructive criticism is welcome.

 

Dave G

 

 

 

 

[SAT69]

Wonderfully done. Your correction to the nose looks perfect!

[Abandoned Project]

Another beauty from your good self.

[Challenger350Pilot]

Quite a nice build, as usual, Dave. I really love the old 727-100, and you've brought her to life here. Really classy and classic livery you chose for her, too. always questioned (without really studying closely) the Revell kit's "fat" fuselage. Seems its just a bit over fat, if I may say so..but not enough to really make an eye-popping difference. And the Brengun gear really make a difference in the realism, too. I have a couple questions, resulting from a wish that you would do a WIP thread, so I could follow what you do...learning from a master...school never stops (got that phrase from my good friend to the north)!! I am about to begin a 727-100 build of my own soon, and haven't yet decided on the Airfix or Revell kit. I know that I'll use some aftermarket stuff, like gear, struts, PE parts, AA windows....

 

1. Will you go into a short instruction detail of using Milliput? I have not used it before, but suspect I will soon; I've seen some modelers use it to fill windows, as they like the "non-sinking" result as opposed to the Tamiya or solvent based putties. 

 

2. Can and did you secure the wheels/landing gear through the Brengun web site? No one else seems to have them available. Wondering about ordering from them and shipment to the USA. 

 

3. Having NOT built either the Airfix or the Revell kits, do you prefer one over the other? Why? 

 

Very, very nice build, as always. Look forward to seeing whatever you post here. 

 

Paul

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Dashing!

Really nice model!

[Turbofan]

Hi Dave,

This is a fabulous build! Classic aircraft in a colourful livery.

The tweaks you've done have made quite a difference especially around the nose area. I have to agree with Paul about the apparent 'fatness' of the fuselage on the Revell kit, I feel the Airfix kit is better in this respect but this livery hides it well, perhaps it's the grey lower belly.

Quite a weekend for the old kits I think John (Viking) has started something with his classic kit improvement mods!I

Looking forward to your Tridents and Comets!

Cheers,

Ian

[Viking]

Lovely improvements Dave and well worth the effort. What a good idea to use a Zvezda 738 cockpit section, I'll have to try that.  I really like that scheme, orange and blue go together well, and it is s cheatline! Cant beat a good cheatlined scheme. It's years since I built the old Revell kit, I may pick one up if I see one one if we ever get to go to Model shops and shows again.

Good to see you are hooked on improving the old classic airliner kits, it's what modelling is all about. 😀

 

What's the next scheduled departure from your workbench?

 

Cheers

 

John

[RMCS]

Fantastic 

[TheyJammedKenny!]

Brilliantly executed!

[kapam]

Superb!

Looks beautiful.  Well done.

[Skodadriver]

Thanks for the comments and likes which, as always, are much appreciated. 

18 hours ago, Challenger350Pilot said:

Quite a nice build, as usual, Dave. I really love the old 727-100, and you've brought her to life here. Really classy and classic livery you chose for her, too. always questioned (without really studying closely) the Revell kit's "fat" fuselage. Seems its just a bit over fat, if I may say so..but not enough to really make an eye-popping difference. And the Brengun gear really make a difference in the realism, too. I have a couple questions, resulting from a wish that you would do a WIP thread, so I could follow what you do...learning from a master...school never stops (got that phrase from my good friend to the north)!! I am about to begin a 727-100 build of my own soon, and haven't yet decided on the Airfix or Revell kit. I know that I'll use some aftermarket stuff, like gear, struts, PE parts, AA windows....

 

1. Will you go into a short instruction detail of using Milliput? I have not used it before, but suspect I will soon; I've seen some modelers use it to fill windows, as they like the "non-sinking" result as opposed to the Tamiya or solvent based putties. 

 

2. Can and did you secure the wheels/landing gear through the Brengun web site? No one else seems to have them available. Wondering about ordering from them and shipment to the USA. 

 

3. Having NOT built either the Airfix or the Revell kits, do you prefer one over the other? Why? 

 

Very, very nice build, as always. Look forward to seeing whatever you post here. 

 

Paul

Thanks Paul. I don't do WIPs because most of my models take a long time and, more importantly, because I don't really do anything usual or special. Given the quality of your own building, it's me that should be learning from you and not vice versa!

 

The "plumpness" of the Revell fuselage is a bit of an issue but not enough to put me off. It's about 1.25mm greater in diameter than a Zvezda 738 and because Revell didn't make any attempt to replicate the "lobe crease" the lower fuselage is too fat. The lobe crease on the 707/727/737 is very subtle, so much so you that you really only notice when it's not there. i tried the old trick of scribing and filing but as I said in my introduction it really didn't have any effect and I'll need to be a bit more radical if/when I build another one. Sometimes there are inaccuracies you just have to accept and as long as I don't display the model alongside a Zvezda or Daco 737 it looks OK.

 

I'll pm you a response to the other points you raise rather than take up the thread.

 

17 hours ago, Turbofan said:

Hi Dave,

This is a fabulous build! Classic aircraft in a colourful livery.

The tweaks you've done have made quite a difference especially around the nose area. I have to agree with Paul about the apparent 'fatness' of the fuselage on the Revell kit, I feel the Airfix kit is better in this respect but this livery hides it well, perhaps it's the grey lower belly.

Quite a weekend for the old kits I think John (Viking) has started something with his classic kit improvement mods!I

Looking forward to your Tridents and Comets!

Cheers,

Ian

Thanks Ian. As I said to Paul, the "plumpness" is something I'm willing to live with although I have to watch which models I park alongside the 727. I should have described the Revell kit as "probably the least inaccurate injection-moulded 1/144 727" rather than "probably the most accurate...."! Tridents and Comets are a while off yet although I did find a partly-built Trident I'd forgotten about which gives me a start.

 

15 hours ago, Viking said:

Lovely improvements Dave and well worth the effort. What a good idea to use a Zvezda 738 cockpit section, I'll have to try that.  I really like that scheme, orange and blue go together well, and it is s cheatline! Cant beat a good cheatlined scheme. It's years since I built the old Revell kit, I may pick one up if I see one one if we ever get to go to Model shops and shows again.

Good to see you are hooked on improving the old classic airliner kits, it's what modelling is all about. 😀

 

What's the next scheduled departure from your workbench?

 

Cheers

 

John

Thanks John. There is a DC-8-63 in the offing. It should have been finished before the 727 but I have had problems with the decals (entirely my own fault, no reflection on F-DCAL) and I need to decide whether to try to retrieve the situation or strip the decals and start again.

[stevehnz]

Nice build Dave, not a scheme I know of but very striking. Thanks too for some good tips on this kit, useful for when I get around to doing a RNZAF one.

Steve.

Edited May 18, 2020 by stevehnz

[David H]

Very nice job, Dave. It inspires me to begin a thread about my Revell 727-100 Shelf of Doom rescue.

 

-d-

[David H]

Dave, do you think you could accomplish the re profiling of the nose, by some lateral saw cuts, inserting a piece or two  of. 020 sheet, gluing it back together and re profiling it that way? I agree the radome needs to be de-bluntified.....

 

-d-

[Skodadriver]

Thanks @David H It was a nice surprise to see this old thread coming back to life!

 

It's a long time since I built the model but as far as I remember I just stuck a blob of Milliput on the radome, let it dry then got going with the files and sandpaper trying to make it as like the Zvezda model as I could. There is no right or wrong way to do such a job and what you suggest sounds perfectly feasible although personally I try to keep things simple and do as little "damage" to the original model as possible on the basis that if it goes wrong it's easier to start again. At the back of my mind I remember another modeller, I forget who, re-profiling the nose of an Airfix BAC 1-11 by making two saw cuts, one vertical and one horizontal, into the radome and inserting strips of plastic card which he trimmed roughly to profile before building up the final shape with Milliput.

 

Hope that's some help.

 

Dave G

[Vesa Jussila]

I have missed this when built. I have same kit waiting also. I think I will build it Pan-Am.