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1:72 Boeing 747-100 SCA with Columbia


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Hi fellow modelers,

 

As I get lots of positive reactions on my 'big builds' (the 1:72 C-5 and the 1:72 Ed Force One), I thought you might like to see another big build-project, which is on hold for unknown time.. You will understand why.

I hope you don't get bored with my big projects; I'm quite a 'thinker' and 'dreamer' before I finally start something.

I've got a big stash of unbuilt 1:72 kits and upcoming 1:72 makeovers:

-The Amodel Spruce Goose

-The Anigrand C-141B Starlifter

-The Monogram B-52 with X-15

-The Monogram Space Shuttle with Rocket Boosters

-2(!) more Skyland B747-300's (1 for sale, and a future B-747-400 'Demonstrator' makeover)

-2 Skyland DC-10's (1 for sale, and a possible KC-10 makeover..?)

-2 Skyland Airbus A-310's (1 for sale, and a possible Aeroflot A-310 makeover...?)

-and a lot more 'normal' sized kits.. all 1:72

 

I think very recognisable for a lot of modelers here:  waaaay too much kits to ever start or even finish in your life. But just the comforting feeling of having the kits in your collection ;) 

But back to topic.

 

I would like to present you a big build-project which is currently on hold.. too much setbacks during the build, so I let this rest for a while.

Again it's a makeover, this time partially as there is also a 'real' kit involved and some scratchbuilding.

May I present to you: a 1:72 Boeing 747-100 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft with Space Shuttle Columbia on top!

 

 

The idea for this project started long ago, when I was a kid.. I saw the Boeing 747 with Shuttle on it's back making a flyby over the Dutch coast and heading it's way to Heathrow, during a visit to Europe trip in the eighties.

I was immediately impressed, what a beautiful piece of engineering.. I wanted a model of it.

A year later my grandma bought a little metal model of it during her visit to my aunt in the States, and she gave it to me for my birthday.

I still have it, it was my nicest model between all the other plane models and kits I had then. 

My parents gave me this poster which I still have:

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So the idea of having a (big) model of this was always in my head... until 2017. 

Just as the damaged Skyland 1:72 KLM 747, I found a seller of an old 1:72 Skyland Qantas Boeing 747-100, also damaged. So for 40€ it was mine, and I immediately thought of making my wish come true: I'm going to do a makeover and turn this old queen into a big beautiful B747 SCA with Space Shuttle on top!

At home I immediately took my Revell 1:72 Space Shuttle kit, taped it roughly together to see what the final construction would look like. Here's my girlfriend holding the Shuttle in place so I could take a picture of it:

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And here's the queen next to her restored sister:

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That was the enthusiastic beginning of a long, long project..

 

First I started an inspection of the model:

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Another 1m x 1m project :):

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But scratched on several places..

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...severe scratches...

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...and heavy damage to the underbelly! 

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First I repaired that nasty damage by gluing the cracks together, little by little and with a clamp:

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Several drops of superglue, and let dry, then repeat for the next part. So I could 'guide' the repair:

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After the repair I started sanding. Lots of sanding..

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...until it was ready for a primer coat later.

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In the meantime I searched the Internet for the Transport Wings AIM72 conversion set no. TWC72001 ; that's a conversion set for making the carrying construction for the Space Shuttle on a Boeing 747:

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Contents: white metal carrying construction..

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..and vacform endplate fins...

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..and a decal sheet for a NASA 747.

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Somewhere I knew I couldn't find this set anymore, as AIM72 is out of business.. and that's right, nowhere available anymore.

First setback :(.

 

What next? I was thinking of scratchbuilding the carrying construction myself, I could always give it a try!

So back to some evenings Internet surfing. I found several highly detailed pictures and drawings of the construction, like:

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Source: Wikimedia

 

All very nice and detailed, but look at the amount of detail.. How could I ever reproduce something like that from scratch?

And, from what material does it have to be to support a 1:72 Revell Space Shuttle?

Questions questions.. Headache and I saw my wish slowly melt away.. This project is way too difficult for me. 

 

One thing I can scratchbuild myself: the endplate fins. I had some measurements and enough sample pictures to make those from Plasticard, so I did:

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As you can see, first I made them with rounded edges.. I don't remember why i did that, but it sure is incorrect:

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So I corrected them again, you will see in later pictures.

 

Meanwhile I kept searching the Internet for all kind of info, pictures and details of the Boeing 747 SCA. 

I came to the site of DrawDecal who makes excellent decal sets in almost all available sizes, and I found a 1:72 decal set for the NASA Boeing 747-100 'N905NA' SCA :)!!

So I ordered this set, again a step forward in my long lasting project.

This is the set:

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Looks promising! Even the barely visible 'American' decal is present. (The N905NA is an ex- American Airlines 747, transformed into a SCA. In the hurry from the Space Shuttle project they removed the American logo but it kept visible..).

So on with the project!

 

Meanwhile I had a Space Shuttle to build. A 1:72 scale Space Shuttle, quite big.

I didn't spent much effort to the flightdeck, as you can barely see any detail through the little thick transparent windows:

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Much darkness in there..

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As it rides piggyback on the 747, it's very 'static': no flaps,gear or protruding elements or whatsoever. Easy for buiding this kit, just gluing it closed and filling and sanding the seems and gaps.

But 1 little (ehm...BIG) problem: the SCA Shuttles always carry a streamlined cone on the tail to avoid air resistance around the Shuttle exhaust.

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Source: NASA

 

Ehm...

 

Setback no. 2 :(..

 

I know this cone is provided with the 1:144 Revell Boeing 747 SCA kit:

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...but I need that part twice as big! 

That is available..

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...for a little $160! No way.

So, back to the pc and the Internet, searching for info, pictures and plans if possible. It will be a new project scratchbuilding I think..

 

After a long search collecting data, i found a detailed drawing of the cone :)!

I enlarged the drawing until it fitted the size of the 1:72 Space Shuttle fuselage half so I knew it was the right size.

Then I started making ribs for the structure from plasticard.

I miss some photo's during this process, but here you see what I fabricated:

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After the rib structure was completed, i started cutting polystyrene strips and gluing them to the ribs so I got a rough covered structure:

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When that looked good enough I started adding lots of putty on the coverage. LOTS of putty..

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Ok, so A LOT of sanding later...

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...it's starting...

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..to look like something :)..

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..and it saves me $160! But as you can see, there is still extra filling and sanding to do to get the surface of the cone smoother. But it's a start!

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During the build of my Space Shuttle I was still searching the Internet for a solution for a carrying construction.

And after intensive searching I found a site called Shapeways, a forum for 3D printed things. From jewelry to modelling, a lot of stuff to explore there!

And behold, there was someone offering a 1:72 Shuttle carrier set, consisting of these parts:

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As you see, I ordered it immediately! It was about 50€, but I needed it so I gave it a try.

It is a strange kind of plastic; transparent, very hard but also very brittle.. So I have to handle it carefully:

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And it's very detailed!

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So time to calculate the exact position of the construction on the 747 fuselage.. Not an easy job, as the fuselage has no reference points at all:

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Drawed the drilling points for the holes on the fuselage, and positioned the front strut after that:

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The aft struts on the fuselage had to wait for a while, because I didn't know the exact position of the Shuttle. So back to project Shuttle.

 

Meanwhile I found a detailed decal set of Shuttle tiles on eBay, made by Warbird decals. I ordered that set, and man, what a lot of decals!

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Wow.. another new project in this huge project...

Well, first I sanded the shuttle as smooth as possible, so I could give it a primer coat.

I used the Tamiya primer spray can, as this Shuttle is quite a beast:

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After that, a white spray because most of the shuttle is white. I sprayed it outside in a box:

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And this is the result.

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So it began...

"The great decalling project 2018", or better: "The great setback no. 3". You will see why...

 

So I started applying decals.

First the underside:

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Preparing the next tile decal, huge:

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Looks nice..

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And surprise!

Almost all those tiles need these little decals, yes you heard me, almost all those tiles... It's white text that NASA numbers its tiles with:

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To be placed on these tiles:

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Like this..

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Can you imagine that it took me DAYS to accomplish only half of it? I only applied on places where you see the tiles best, the rest is useless. I was done with it.

 

I started to notice with the other decals that they didn't fit the model well.. like the tail:

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...and the nose section..

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The engine section cost me half a bottle of decal setting solution, the decals just won't fit very well and cracked at edges etc.

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I was not satisfied. Something was wrong..

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Ok, back to the carrying construction, let the decals be for now.

I calculated and drilled holes for the aft struts on the fuselage, and it was time for the first 'real' fit of the Shuttle onto the 747!

I added some Tamiya tape to the struts as they're not glued or something.

It looks very impressive:

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A 1:72 Tiger Moth for scale comparison:

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Well, that's a positive thing, the fit of the fragile 3D printed struts looks good. 

Back to the decal project.

 

 

I started doing research of these decals. And what do you think..

-My wrong; they're made for the Monogram space shuttle, not the Revell.

-The tiles are too big in scale for a 1/72 Shuttle..

-My (BIG) wrong 2: I forgot to FIRST paint the wings and body leading edges grey and black!! O noooo...

-And.. the decals become very fragile after a while. If you don't seal them quickly with varnish after drying, they start to come loose...

Like this:

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I continued very carefully with the nose, because I wanted to apply a first layer of varnish for protection.

But the nose became a mess.. Decals are not meant for this model, so I started applying extra pieces of tile decal. Bad result:

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Look, no leading edge decals on the wings available.. How I'm going to paint that..

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And the most ugly part of this decal adventure are the black text decals for the white tiles... REALLY out of proportion, and not real:

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So I carefully started scratching some text of the white decals, to make the text 'thinner':

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Everything went worse.. now I see dust from sanding inside the cockpit windows!!

This was just a setback.

I want another solution, this is becoming more and more a disaster.

so I searched further on the Internet, and I found another Shuttle tile manufacturer: Steven Jochums from LakeCountrySpacePort.

Brilliant!! A very dedicated man to everything that has to do with space, NASA, Shuttle etc. Very kind and helpful, and, my saviour for this project..

As he prints real decals photo-like, so the real deal! Example:

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Those tiles are much better, with a very clear manual and Steven is very helpful in everything. From ordering questions to advice.

So I ordered his decals.

And now comes an 'Ouch!'-moment..

Take a last look at my old Space Shuttle...

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...because this is the last time you see it with these wrong decals!

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A last photo session, and after that I scratched all the decals off the Shuttle...

And now it's white again:

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The other Shuttle in the background is from my Monogram Shuttle with Booster rockets and Fuel Tank set, which I bought from Steven.

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Clean again for the next decal job, and now FIRST spraying a grey leading edge to the wings and black edges on nose and tail ;) 

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But back to the 747. 

I sanded and filled seems of the 747, until it was smooth as peach skin... at least, I thought. Prepare for setback no. 4..

 

As the NASA 747 N905NA is a kind of bare metal-like (not as shiny as real bare metal), it is a kind of project to get that American Airlines look. The fuselage is different colours metal, from aluminium to chrome like plating. 

To get that look i decided to buy 3 cans of Tamiya gloss black spray, that's the best primer for metal surfaces. 

So on a calm day I sprayed the behemoth outside gloss black (Tamiya spray is good quality but smells heavily);

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After drying, it was ready for an inspection inside:

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But, the horror... I sanded way to heavily!!

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So.. back to sanding. Again. Setback no... I don't know.

This project is getting frustrating... 

So I waited a week or 2, and sanded the 747 3 more times. 

And sprayed it gloss black again.

Not every scratch disappeared, but it's almost smooth now. I'm done with sanding this plane.

 

After a week or 2 later, I found new energy to give this project a fresh try.

Time for metal-looks :)!

I bought several different colors of metal spray: Tamiya silver leaf, Tamiya gloss aluminium, Tamiya polished steel and a big spray can gloss aluminium from an unknown brand, but for plastics.

 

I first tested on several pieces of plastic all kind of layers, and finally I found a nice base American Airlines like coat for the 747.

First gloss black, then gloss aluminium...

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..and finally silver leaf. When it's dry, it looks great:

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The yellow Tamiya tape is for scribing the panel lines, which are visible on the N905NA:

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Scribing a lot of long panel lines:

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 Meanwhile I copied the DrawDecal AA striping and carrying construction plates decals on paper, so I can calculate:

-if the decals come in line with my drilled holes for the aft struts

-where some panel lines end according to the blue-white-red striping

-where I can put little marks on the semi gloss metal fuselage, almost no reference points..

 

I applied the paper-decals to the fuselage:

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Ok, and now setback 'I-don't-know-anymore'....

 

I wanted to do a test fit with the Shuttle on the 747.

I noticed that the rear struts became 'wobbly', it was not a nice fit in the pre-drilled holes.

Meanwhile, the front strut broke... I forced it a little to hard in the pre-drilled holes. 

I decided to strengthen the fragile plastic strut with iron rod, this way it also helps to have better grip on the Shuttle.

Here you see the repaired and strengthened strut:

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Also for the back struts, strengthened them:

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And what do you think.. the horror..

I placed the Shuttle on the 747. It held quite good. I wanted to check the wobbliness, I reached out to move the Shuttle a little..

And I bumped the Shuttle with my hand. The front strut broke again. on 2 places, i could just catch the Shuttle, but now the struts are a mess.

 

 

I don't know why, but I'm done with this project.

It's been 3 months now that I started the 2 Antonov's, which I will finish first. 

This  project is on hold now, before I make more mistakes and ruin the Shuttle or plane. 

 

So... I can only say: to be continued... But when..? 

We will see.

 

Thanks for the interest in this project so far, and please give me feedback / tips/ or information about a stronger carrying construction for example.

Who knows I will get new energy and finally finish this mega project :) !

 

Greetz Dick

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A lot of dedication there, just the idea of all that sanding would put me off, more like 1:1 automotive.

Good catch on the decals,, sounds like an expensive exercise, but the end product will be worth it.

 

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Thanks again for a great build thread Dick, you mentioned this early in the thread about AIM...

 



Somewhere I knew I couldn't find this set anymore, as AIM72 is out of business.. and that's right, nowhere available anymore.

First setback .

 

Well they are still in business, there website is here. They no longer list the Shuttle conversion for the 747, but do have a few other conversions for release one day.  All AIM kits and conversions are now solely sold through Hannants.

 

Fantastic work

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What a story Dick, great modelling skills.

 

A suggestion about the structs to connect the shuttle to the jumbo - How about starting out with brass rod, say 2 mm diameter, to make the load bearing structure?. Then build up the external shape of the supports from plastic card and rod?
 

regards Toby

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That is one amazing project - a true labour of love...

 

I noticed the 747 doesn't have the flap-track fairings - are you planning on adding them? I think there are some 3D-printed ones available somewhere for the AIM 747 kits.

 

Tom

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1 hour ago, tomprobert said:

That is one amazing project - a true labour of love...

 

I noticed the 747 doesn't have the flap-track fairings - are you planning on adding them? I think there are some 3D-printed ones available somewhere for the AIM 747 kits.

 

Tom

Hi Tom! Yes, I’ve noticed that too.. 
Thanks for that info :)!

Do you know where I could get those fairings..?

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5 hours ago, Planebuilder62 said:

What a story Dick, great modelling skills.

 

A suggestion about the structs to connect the shuttle to the jumbo - How about starting out with brass rod, say 2 mm diameter, to make the load bearing structure?. Then build up the external shape of the supports from plastic card and rod?
 

regards Toby

Thanks Toby :)!

I thought of that too.. 

The rear supports are thick and sturdy enough, the problem is the front support.


I will try something like brass rod, and what’s important is that it’s a strong construction.

So maybe a triangle-shape; that the lower ends of the support are connected through the fuselage. 
Thanks for the tip :)👍🏻!
 

 

 

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Thanks for sharing this fantastic build, triumphs and tragedies included.  I hope you're able to regain your mojo for this project, it would be a shame to have come so far and be stymied by something comparatively small but crucial such as the mounting hardware.

 

I don't know if you're active on any other modeling forums, but this build and your An-225 would both be of great interest to the Real Space sections at ARC (public to view) and Starship Modeler (registration required). All due respect to the Britmodeller citizery, both of those sites seem to have a more active participation from the "Space Force" 😆 and I feel sure they would be both encouraging and helpful for your ongoing builds.

 

ARC Forums - Real Space Discussion

 

Starship Modeler - Real Space Discussions

 

Hope to see more of your progress on this and other projects soon!

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What a project! You kept me glued to my chair from the start to the end. At the moment, I do not have suggestions, but I will look into my picture files because I remember having original NASA pictures showing the operations of loading the Shuttle on top of the 747.

Waiting for seeing more,

Regards,

Daniele

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5 hours ago, Dstream said:

What a project! You kept me glued to my chair from the start to the end. At the moment, I do not have suggestions, but I will look into my picture files because I remember having original NASA pictures showing the operations of loading the Shuttle on top of the 747.

Waiting for seeing more,

Regards,

Daniele

Thanks Daniele!

I’ve got lots of detailed pictures of every part from the 747 SCA and from the Shuttle. I wish those fragile supports were made of steel instead of brittle plastic..
 

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6 hours ago, CT7567 said:

Thanks for sharing this fantastic build, triumphs and tragedies included.  I hope you're able to regain your mojo for this project, it would be a shame to have come so far and be stymied by something comparatively small but crucial such as the mounting hardware.

 

I don't know if you're active on any other modeling forums, but this build and your An-225 would both be of great interest to the Real Space sections at ARC (public to view) and Starship Modeler (registration required). All due respect to the Britmodeller citizery, both of those sites seem to have a more active participation from the "Space Force" 😆 and I feel sure they would be both encouraging and helpful for your ongoing builds.

 

ARC Forums - Real Space Discussion

 

Starship Modeler - Real Space Discussions

 

Hope to see more of your progress on this and other projects soon!

Hi CT7567,

 

Thank you for your kind compliments and useful tips :) .

At this moment I’m active on 3 different modeling forums, but I will visit the ARC Forums and Starship Modeler for sure, it sounds interesting!

One thing for sure: I will finish the 747SCA project, it’s just that at this moment I ‘lost my mojo’ for it just as you say ;) . But it will come back!

 

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Wow! It’s a very impressive project, the attention to detail is what will make it into a showstopper, the info about the “American” logo being visible is a nice touch.

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18 hours ago, Planebuilder62 said:

Hi there

The AIM white metal parts needed to connect the Shuttle to the back of the 747 are back in stock at the big H.

 

regards Toby

Hi Toby!

Correct, I just received a message from the big H.. it was on my wishlist, so they sent me an e-mail.

Thank you :) !

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  • 3 years later...

Wow!  I'm a little late to the party but just read your posting and amazed at how far you got.  Really is an ambitious and beautiful build.  I have the same concept in mind using a Tamiya Shuttle and Hobbycraft 747; both in 1/100.  The details such as the Shuttle mounts and cone made me pause until I get it figured out.  Still on my short list of projects though!  🙂    Any chance you'll take another stab at your project?  Again, great build!  

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Only just come across this. Hope you get back into it, it will be a stunning piece when completed.

When I was young we watched the combo arrive at Stansted, presumably the same tour that you saw it on.

 

Matt

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I think I saw this thread sometime ago since I had the black line showing I saw this. Anyway, so far it looks really good even though it's fighting you. Here's another option for the parts https://www.click2detail.net/store/c2/1%3A72.html    They can rescale the parts if you ask. I have a 1/100 747 which will be getting the wheels and engines from them once I start rebuilding it since mine is missing a lot. That will be a pass. version.

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Hi fellow modelers, thanks for the reactions. 

 

Yes, I will get back into it and finish this project.

After 3 years with other big projects, like the An-225, I re-organized my workspace last december.

I didn't have enough shelf space to place the big planes, so I placed bigger shelves (please ignore the strange wide angle to get everything in 1 photo):

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Enough space. 

Except for the An-225, there are literally not shelves big enough to place that behemoth with its wings attached :fraidnot:..

But as you can see, there is hope for enough space for the 747 SCA!

 

But for the little progress in this project we need to go back 2 years or so.

I decided to continue with the 747. It still needed a couple of paintjobs, like light grey surfaces for upper-wings / tail / fuselage-reinforcement plates and nose cone.

So I started to mask the areas for the light grey paint job.

The Tamiya tape marks the edges for the plastic sheets that will cover the rest of the model:

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And after that covering the plane in protective plastic sheets.

I started with spraying the upper wings:

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The lower wing area is darker grey, so that's for later.

 

The tail section:

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And now a tricky part, the fuselage reinforcement plates.

The plates have lots of 90'angles, so a sharp knife blade did the job:

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The front reinforcement plates:

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And I sprayed these areas light grey:

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I'm happy with the result:

159b4f2348b275dbc4b95b017582d953.jpg

 

So far the little progress for this project.

 

 

The next thing I wanted to do is finding better and sturdier struts for the shuttle.

I contacted Click2Detail, which produced the original fragile broken struts, and asked for replacement struts. 

The owner mailed me, very kind, and said that in the meantime he's printing parts in much better quality.

And to compensate a little he offered me to order the new struts, with discount. Very kind :)!

 

He's the owner of Titan model kits, a producer of big 1:72 vacform airliners with 3Dprinted additional parts like cockpits, gears, engines and flaps:

b504130d111958663e3d54eb2aa668fe.jpg

So after searching the website, I decided to order a 1:72 B747-100 landing gear set + wheel bays, new struts, flap track fairings and B747-100 JT9D-3A engines.

Because this model will be much more impressive with gears down!

 

This is the set I ordered:

785f7ff5981f06183705acad6f1a1cd2.jpg

 

These are the new struts:

99cf8bd1d8c45e4f55442a620cf74b2e.jpg

 

Struts and flap fairings:

9ffdedb9d6d6c9f3ea98d0b6ab03a4f4.jpg

 

This is the gear set:

57b3459779cf230da7f711366704b5b9.jpg

 

60e2f51c76cf8c039b570d35a71c2999.jpg

 

The bays:

9f391247947943ca1af93159c41c430d.jpg

 

The gears in bays:

f3df31dc27813cbfb8760145be2fb12a.jpg

 

751ea81f2760717f7ce9599ac45e07e3.jpg

 

c4040cddc2a457f032561e01d7f2eba0.jpg

 

6de569be6e124bd649c253f0c7ae8359.jpg

 

The bay doors:

b66407a4e5a0f75cbe4b9833093a3628.jpg

Nice details and strong material, which is necessary for carrying the weight later.

 

These are the very detailed engines:

e7ede1bb4909685b7c44c9cd5a3ca727.jpg

 

22742c88dfba37c506b539c1b1900acf.jpg

 

9b6853e1abf538c89a700d921b95ef7b.jpg

 

0395a44add282562d6f45d16e154a032.jpg

 

And as extra bonus: a vacform windshield..

Unfortunately he hasn't designed and produced a 747 flightdeck yet, but this looks promising. Very detailed! 

Now it's tempting to make a cockpit too... 

 

 

I also bought a resin tow tug kit, used for B747's:

374cedeb5d3eaef0393cee8192f7a381.jpg

 

38b3fa1ed9dc9736d3dce6c6fcf5f3c3.jpg

 

 

And I managed to buy 2 photoetched sets with wipers and UHF / VHF Antennae:

add5aebb77622130b7b69e02965b2bb3.jpg

 

 

 

The landing gear.

 

I wanted to find out how to fit the gear parts in a hollow inflight desktop model which the 747SCA is; it's a Skyland desktop model for Flight Agencies, so this will be a challenge to give it a strong supported landing gear.

First impression how it roughly looks with a gear:

c6a7d6e1303e008bd94e1cb6ef827071.jpg

Nice, challenge accepted!

 

 

Before I start cutting and drilling in my fresh painted 747SCA model, I decided to test this first on a heavily wing-damaged 1:72 Skyland KLM 747-400 model which I want to repair some day:

e5b229dc5da573f82c3b1a9c8947ae5a.jpg

 

ab4ac6fe6418a93b82df161134159a4d.jpg

 

6bb8bbeb26e48166028e2faa89e9c09d.jpg

As you can see, extra damage from a tried out landing gear placement will do not much harm to this model...

Also a dry fit here:

ddb5478b12cd889f0179a9f27e256914.jpg

Ok, let's start.

 

 

There is no reference at all on the smooth fuselage to start outlining gear bays or doors..

So I started with drawing the doors sections in scale 1:72 from drawings I found online, thereby using the 3D printed gear parts:

9380e1762db68a063d3fa32b200ff27c.jpg

 

aba290cdedd6f71a021c37db99a80683.jpg

 

9c325331309a0e887e5927a09f81ae85.jpg

 

A lot of test fitting:

a386b821408f32664f749c174e9fade5.jpg

 

3822575a87f7008581e2d3a7e9ba5c23.jpg

 

 

Now place these on the model and cut the outlines on the fuselage:

97d510eb12b5d6e001df3469f5153afb.jpg

 

dbf27d9e3afbf91cb621a88161dd0c9d.jpg

 

Ok, time to remove the doors.

I did this with cutting and drilling; the doors were not reusable after this but that doesn't matter as Click2Detail provides these doors with the set.

b9c00c11c4886dbf1ac80bac91de7824.jpg

 

d7ebf9d1c0fe59e22ef5c0fb8a1d2865.jpg

Surprise! As you can see, there's thick reinforcement plastic in the wing-fuselage section. 

Ok, this will take some time to remove..

 

Also removing the wing bay doors:

f5469786a756e18bffccb63471f42b94.jpg

 

It starts getting uglier.. this takes rough treatment! I'm a little worried to do this on the SCA 747 later..

3c3446692f3b20fc92e2a73e0ae88421.jpg

 

We need a bigger drill!

ac6aa2634064cafaacdd7f04d1958fe1.jpg

 

7ba18b85ce2fce9e17b95c74d6f39b21.jpg

 

We're getting somewhere. On with the other bay doors:

2dff59a9777831e360a4f8cf3ba6768a.jpg

 

 

Ok, time for the first test fit of the bays.

Note: this took a lot of fitting - sanding - fitting - cutting and sanding -fitting again etc:

93b9723c4de3207ae7bda2d379acd726.jpg

 

Second bay didn't fit.

It takes a special angled movement to get the bay under the wing door opening. With 1 bay no problem, enough space, but adding the second bay isn't so easy.

You can't make the movement because the first bay gets in the way.

So it looks like this:

682453e4cf2c10b11baafabf49caa75c.jpg

 

After some research I solved this problem by removing the curved lower bay doors.

Now it fits:

07e97dfb328f562f2a7ce1b37a7e4222.jpg

 

fdffb2f9f5766590ed618554edf40bd3.jpg

 

Test fit the gear in the bays:

c09f0b897defaa3461ae6419d6247d8d.jpg

Great! But what a mess, I hope my SCA 747 survives this treatment..

Should have been better to do this in first place, before painting etc.

But this gear wasn't available 5 years ago.

 

Ok, for the nose gear bay the same treatment.

Also reinforcement to be found here, this time for the fuselage strength:

42bd3339bf71004483f3d24bc11eb1cd.jpg

 

During all this I saw that the fuselage line wasn't exactly in the middle! So I stopped cutting and measured the exact middle of the fuselage first with a flexible steel wire:

fd32442e4b24e57593a1dc8739a9ee0c.jpg

 

After that continued drilling the outlines, and cutting the doors afterwards:

a091bd3fef65044b764364405bc2cf1d.jpg

 

 

Test fit of the nose wheel bay:

cc11aec19b05752e1315206ed0becbe9.jpg

 

With gear:

3b8866d61edbed273252d62539bb363c.jpg

 

83e71b5e2e9671baae5228d136b8c933.jpg

 

Mmm... Nose gear seems too big. But I have no other reference to measure this.. We will see.

Now test fit with all gears:

b7639924b04f6994acab1062b4359db1.jpg

 

Looks good. A 1:72 figure for scale:

08d912d00184aa68cc2c6b82d7e48e9b.jpg

 

..And the inevitable Piper Cub for scale:

62b17e29a425dbe67703bd70c5e8e7ea.jpg

 

What a massive gear this is in real life.

Last very careful test fit on it's wheels (nose gear wouldn't stay in place):

96f325e03e81ce2fd0abd14ebf91f822.jpg

 

Ok, I'm satisfied.

So I will give it a try on the 747 SCA.. later. 

 

 

Today, 2 years later, I will start working on this project again.

I first need to make sure where to start again; I ended this years ago while working on the shuttle, the 747 and the struts at the same time.

I will update this project as soon I've made progress again. Cheers!

 

 

 

 

 

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Those parts sure make the difference. Trying to fit the wells into an already build model is not the easiest thing to do. I hope the landing gear is strong enough. I don't know how heavy this 747 is.

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@busnproplinerfan: That's for sure!

And I think the landing gear will hold the weight.. The 747 is a hollow model, made of 1.5mm styrene, the wing reinforcement is a very light and hard foamlike material.

I left the complete interior out of the Shuttle to save weight.

My Antonov 225 weighs 4,6 Kg, and that gear was more fragile.

 

You say you have a 1:100 scale 747? Also a desktop model? 

Saw your Wrecker topic.. that's some serious scratch building, very nice:worthy:!

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@Back in the SaddleThanks!

I see you're restoring an AIM72 B747, very nice!

Been there, done that in 2002.. But I quit that project and sold the half built kit in 2012.

Here some pics of the kit:

39cb4587b924a321ef5440b50da3a415.jpg

 

I wanted to build the VC-25 Air Force One, hence the refueling receiver on the nose:

4addab4eff2a80e690350c0b4734e209.jpg

 

The APU exhaust and flare dispensers in the tail section:

4195e47ee85e6707cc876241cfc30954.jpg

 

The wheel bays:

593341cdf2cbeb4590c1e29bf5803801.jpg

 

I wanted to make the wings detachable, the holes in the belly are for screwing the wing section to the keel:

cf58570c59e67031e747554c141af3b1.jpg

 

The headache of this kit: the massive gap between the wing and fuselage..

d0ccfb7cf2ab346ccd35e285bf857272.jpg

 

Here some extra parts. New CFM-65 engines, and a scratch built main entrance for the lower fuselage.

bbf27397d1b9a457bedb1bcb30548ef3.jpg

 

 

After all I shouldn't have sold this kit, as I could use theses parts for my current 747 project ;) ...

 

Good luck with your AIM B747, keep up the good work!

 

 

 

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2 hours ago, Wolfhound32 said:

@busnproplinerfan: That's for sure!

And I think the landing gear will hold the weight.. The 747 is a hollow model, made of 1.5mm styrene, the wing reinforcement is a very light and hard foamlike material.

I left the complete interior out of the Shuttle to save weight.

My Antonov 225 weighs 4,6 Kg, and that gear was more fragile.

 

You say you have a 1:100 scale 747? Also a desktop model? 

Saw your Wrecker topic.. that's some serious scratch building, very nice:worthy:!

The 747 is an Entex I believe. I was going to use it as a parts model but once I saw how $$$ they are asking for these, I decided it's best to rebuild it. I got it at an estate sale for very little. Have the companion DC-10 also with the same story. Glad you like the rotator. It's holding me back from starting other projects right now. I love the 747 work your doing, making parts that aren't meant to fit in this, fit. I hear of so many projects like this that just go into the landfills, hate that.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Ok, back with an update.

About the Space Shuttle.. it has had some setbacks in this project, like bad decals, bad fitting parts, problems with the fit on the 747 etc.

A scratchbuilt tail cone, lot's of sanding etc.

So, time for the ultimate disaster... it 'crashed' from my workbench on the ground due to one moment of inattention, my fault. 

My desk chair turned as I stood up, and bumped the Columbia to the ground.

This is the damage:

spacer.png

Nose split open, flightdeck came loose, nose parts loose..

 

485605e382fb08eeba4619edb661e52e.jpg

..and the worst, my painstakingly fabricated tail cone shattered. 

 

51204cd661d5f1e19b56a6700a30d980.jpg

Also the cargo bay hatches came loose.

 

0ab047d899d963c7b2dd3f51cd719fb6.jpg

But the tail cone is beyond repair; it consisted of all the small pieces of sheet styrene, al lot of filler and about 5 layers of white lacquer. 

 

44bc131242ed9715ea25b31f8559766f.jpg

 

7771f55cdab4bc4d0394d38bbdea6bca.jpg

 

 

So...

After 5 minutes of silence, I decided to take a drastic step in this project: a complete replacement of this Shuttle.

Why? Several reasons:

-I have a new Monogram Shuttle kit, which is more realistic shaped. The Revell Shuttle is lesser quality, raised and too big shaped tiles, and heavy!

-The tail cone was not perfect, it had bumps and it was not smooth. And a little too big..

-The already drilled holes in the upper fuselage of the 747 (for the struts) didn't align straight with the Shuttle strut-holes. A big problem!

-The Monogram Shuttle is a new kit, so a fresh start is possible for paint job + decals, and the kit is light weight which is a big advantage! 

 

But the Monogram Shuttle has really ugly and out of shape cockpit windows:

6905e661774998e27d210bf63f92ed3d.jpg

 

So I must use the Accurate Model Parts flight deck windows, no problem

I also need a new tail cone... and no, I'm not going to scratch build a new cone.

This time I will buy it, from Click2Detail / Titan Model Kits. A correct sized, ready to use 3D printed tail cone.

 

I contacted Chris from Titan Model Kits and ordered the tail cone, and... 2 Boeing 747-100 flightdecks +2 APU exhausts.

One for the 747 SCA + one for the 1:72 B747SP Sofia project:

 

 

f27b496b738b20f65c47a7ba07622826.png

 

 

 

2 Weeks later the package arrived, with the tail cone:

 8ddce1693bcbf1a9e47dcd10f7042776.jpg

 

d71b385670e7c7385a1c0fba2407c566.jpg

 

d0e3d15b80b76d1f23507ce0c3299715.jpg

 

The flightdeck:

aaeb14b3f0fa490eb07b765fa3211e25.jpg

 

And the APU exhaust:

c4fd6483f71bfbfd93211e66a36eae7d.jpg

 

 

I first thought: why not scrap the old tail cone from the Revell shuttle, and see if the new cone fits smoothly? Just try, who knows.

First a dry fit, pushed it carefully over the damaged cone:

895ad393d0298ba50e950a111e4d59dd.jpg

Mm.. I will give it a try, but you can see quite different shapes so a smooth fit will be a challenge:hmmm:

I started removing the old cone:

35c96e15ba4c139be56ec298dea50314.jpg

 

8a969981806934a1f5294ec13bc59adb.jpg

Removing was quite easy, the small strips styrene splintered loose.

 

40eaee56a269faccf1d4d627171cad4f.jpg

 

8e30cf6b54195a62343e0759a13fd046.jpg

...and we're back where it once started. 

But when I tried to fit the parts, I noticed I've cut off an important part from the engine covers which is not easy to fix:

cf37a0b1990655ebde76358f8ed55f8c.jpg

 

As I don't want to start scratch building again, I went back to my initial plan of using the new Monogram Shuttle kit (which has new and correct engine covers).

Bye bye Revell Shuttle, you've done great but time for replacement.

 

Now all the kit parts are still fresh and easy to correct, I decided to start with the windows from the Monogram Shuttle.

I don't know if I already earlier showed the pictures of me preparing the new Accurate Window parts for the Revell Shuttle, as this topic is starting to get huge with everything I did until now.

So to be sure, this is the set:

7837a6bf4e866961a99c1405fd06bc71.jpg

I don't have a photo from the untouched new set, but it consists of thin sheet styrene pre-cut windows + frames:

20cb3e1e1659090087bf3c79523fb2bb.jpg

3 Right sides and 3 left sides, and the upper fuselage flight deck windows.

The idea is to pre-paint and cut the left and right frames, and glue these in layers so you get realistic thick Shuttle windows:

7a8d0b779593ad34870422799e297b49.jpg

 

03dcfdb3afb4d2f212fe05cff603604d.jpg

 

So it will look like this:

d09f8c325c4cce3527ad25d29d40caef.png

 

This time I will also use the new more realistic Shuttle tile decal sets, which has a correct sized and placed windows-frame decal.

So I'm going to use a copy of this decal as an example for the correct placement on the kit:

f00726ad8cfc052aed70d10a8fc957c0.jpg

 

93272d43324421a7a6b26387b1cf06f2.jpg

Very realistic!

I sprayed most of the frames black, with some grey and red parts.

As I'm making the first Columbia ferry flight, the windows then had grey and red parts in it.

After that I bended the parts in angles to match the shape of the nose:

578505b0c20de1952b334bab6c40c708.jpg

 

64c174925c76488136957617e2ee3aa7.jpg

 

Dry fit all the parts together (5 layers thick):

81f771fbaa2b9187f089012708b1a1ec.jpg

 

7e0baf1e091c0d53ccaba8a8c2373ec5.jpg

This will definitely add more realism to the Shuttle!

 

Back to the Monogram kit.

I first filled the ugly wrong shaped kit windows with a piece of sheet styrene, filled and sanded it smooth so the Shuttle-nose has a closed smooth surface to start with.

Then I used part of the stencil mask to trace the correct windshield outlines on the surface:

09d7d265f39877d603eea4a1100180a0.jpg

 

404c5a2d02e1219abfaf9d77f559353b.jpg

 

632c0b30b24580158a888141fe909f61.jpg

Look at the old window outlines... You did a terrible job with this part of the kit Monogram:o!

 

I used NASA-images which I found online, and tried to get the correct angle and place. Took me some time, but I think this comes really close to the original:

e196613c87edde2e45a80196ca4e98d6.jpg

Image: NASA

 

315d003cf3f9cb2a4080fd229c3af4b5.jpg

Image: NASA

 

Check:

58b929ac0f1d2ba2c0b51c7c572ae694.jpg

 

0bf41291a885aa2991182f10e676b4a3.jpg

 

 

After this, I marked the window frame outline with a pencil so I know exactly what part to remove:

70cb145cb973cd8464bd4eeb3295affe.jpg

 

 

I started drilling holes on the outlines:

7596f06fb0cdfb60181c5340179e3e95.jpg

 

After drilling 3 holes I needed to remove the molten plastic on the drill, so it took some time..

6fa0246ee7b551997f3137d8dadcb037.jpg

 

Both parts removed:

b22995c6bcc27d5bae72e1010482a3f2.jpg

 

Sanding the edges smooth..

9368b97088083e4f586469bf7a2bf6d6.jpg

 

..and test fitting.

30eb5490f854e304f4f4a81bc0689222.jpg

 

 

Well, it's starting to look like something. Still a long way to go. 

 

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