Soloturk Posted June 25, 2020 Share Posted June 25, 2020 Hello all, Just finished this latest build. the Minicraft MD-80 kit with Swiftair Real Madrid EC-JQV decals by TwoSix. EC-JQV was painted up in the Real Madrid livery in 2007 to carry the football team and VIP's around until 2009 when they stopped using the plane for political reasons. EC-JQV was scrapped in 2012 but it lives on in 1/144 scale! For a Minicraft build this wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, certainly better than the 737-400 kit, but that's not to say it's a doddle, still needed a fair bit of filler for the fuselage join, but the wings weren't actually too bad considering it's the fiddly interlocking system. I did a few 'dry' fits to find the 'spot' where it would lock in before putting glue on. The last few dry fits worked perfect so having nailed that, I put the glue on and then it didn't lock in as it just did the past few attempts 😆 but I got it in soon after. The stabilzers and engines went on very well, the wheel doors were the most fiddly things of all! Instructions could have been a little bit clearer but wasn't that bad. The decals are excellent and well recommended, they are designed for the Minicraft kit, the blue around the nose was a tad fiddly and required a little bit of blue paint to fill in a gap around the cockpit window as it doesn't quite fit, but that was no problem. I hope you like it and thanks for looking! James. 26 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
techniquest Posted June 25, 2020 Share Posted June 25, 2020 You've made a really good job of that, and an interesting decal choice too. Well done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wulfman Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 Lovely job on the MD-80 ! Wulfman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romeo Alpha Yankee Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 Nice job James, I didn't know this scheme existed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Challenger350Pilot Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 Very nice MD-80! Well done! Really like the livery, too. Have you actually painted the wing panels details? Looks really nice. There is a very good details decal sheet by Flying Colors that includes the panels and many other fine details for the-80 series. Hannants has it: https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/FC44038 Thanks for sharing, and for sharing your experiences with the Minicraft kit as well. I began one, and liked it very much. Found that it went together easily, except for that tricky clear cockpit cap! If it's not perfectly aligned, it shows clearly once the paint is applied! Yours looks quite fine! Nice build indeed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soloturk Posted June 26, 2020 Author Share Posted June 26, 2020 Thank you guys! I didn't know of the livery until I saw the decals, surprised there isn't a 'operated by Swift Air' logo on the real thing, maybe because it's a team plane. Didn't know of those wing decals! I did it by hand, no masking, just a thin brush for the thin lines with a magnifying glass, a lot of concentration! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbofan Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 Hi James, This is the second unusual livery I've seen on here today! I've never seen one of these before either. You've done a great job with it. I generally find Minicraft kits build well it's the accuracy of some which is the problem. The MD80 is quite accurate overall but the way you have the nose gear doors is incorrect. It is only the small doors directly above the wheels which are open all the time. The bigger doors close as soon as the gear is down. I can recommend the FC detail decal Paul mentioned above too. What's next off your bench? Cheers, Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesModeller Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 Lovely job James! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skodadriver Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 Very nice indeed James. Like Ray I have never seen this scheme and I didn't even know that TwoSix had produced it. Thanks for educating me! I have built the Minicraft MD-80 several times and I'm surprised to learn that you had fit trouble. As Ian says, Minicraft tend to have issues with accuracy rather than fit. It's a strange range which goes from outstanding (DC-4. DC-8) and very good (MD-80) through basic but accurate (DC-6, Connie, Stratocruiser) to utter rubbish (B757, Electra) with a few kits like the B707 falling into the "OK but ..." category. Another upvote from me for the Flying Colors detail sheet. I would also recommend Authentic Airliners cockpit and cabin window decals which really help to bring a model alive. Dave G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soloturk Posted June 27, 2020 Author Share Posted June 27, 2020 3 hours ago, Turbofan said: Hi James, This is the second unusual livery I've seen on here today! I've never seen one of these before either. You've done a great job with it. I generally find Minicraft kits build well it's the accuracy of some which is the problem. The MD80 is quite accurate overall but the way you have the nose gear doors is incorrect. It is only the small doors directly above the wheels which are open all the time. The bigger doors close as soon as the gear is down. I can recommend the FC detail decal Paul mentioned above too. What's next off your bench? Cheers, Ian Thank you Ian, That nose door was a pain to be honest, should have asked or even checked real photos, I checked for pictures of built MD-80s of this kit, some have the bigger door open, some don't. The manual isn't much use apart from telling you to have the bigger door upright and and arrow pointing down to the wheel well...there's no 'post fitting' diagram example which would have helped! I thought about putting them closed, but as they are two separate pieces I knew that putting them in separately would have been a nightmare, having already pictured in my mind that the second one would fall in the hole and be stuck there 😆 I too had the cockpit glass section not fit correctly, had to sand down the edges and put a bit of filler as there was a small gap in the corner, but worked out well. Got the Skyline models B737-300 out next, haven't tried any of these Skyline range ones yet, they look seriously detailed, and doing a Jet2 one seeing as I still have spray cans left over from my Jet2 scrapped wreck version, this next one will be in one piece though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skodadriver Posted June 27, 2020 Share Posted June 27, 2020 10 hours ago, Soloturk said: Got the Skyline models B737-300 out next, haven't tried any of these Skyline range ones yet, they look seriously detailed, and doing a Jet2 one seeing as I still have spray cans left over from my Jet2 scrapped wreck version, this next one will be in one piece though! If you haven't built the Skyline 737 before it's an excellent kit but it has one or two minor issues including the wing-fuselage joint. Back in 2018 there was a Boeing 737 STGB (single type group build) in which several of the contributors wrote up their experiences of building the Skyline kit. It's well worth a look. This is the link to my own thread on the -400 which might be of some help. The three Skyline 737 kits are identical apart from the fuselage length. Dave G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis_C Posted June 27, 2020 Share Posted June 27, 2020 (edited) ¡Hala Madrid y nada mas! Turned out very well, I really like this traditional cheatline livery. Congrats with a great work done! Dennis Edited June 27, 2020 by Dennis_C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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