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EGNT Newcastle Airport Main Terminal Pier 1/144


phil1

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EGNT Newcastle Airport Main Terminal Pier 1/144

 

Firstly I must say I'm not sure if this project belongs in the diorama or civil aviation thread but I'd thought I'd appeal to the small number of airliner fans as I'm going to need some expertise on the way. Some of the aircraft I'm going to make are going to be conversions and from some dodgy kits (minicraft). 

 

Newcastle Airport is a very small airport and it's only terminal is served by a pier surrounded by a handful of aircraft. Despite the expansion of the airport itself the pier has looked the same for the last 30 or so years which has hosted a few eras of civil aviation and numerous different types of aircraft. 

This give me an idea of building the whole pier which would give me a choice of what era I want to exhibit. Some include:-

 

late 1980s - Wardair 747-100/200s, Britannia & BA 737-200s

early 1990s - Britannia 767/757s, Caledonian L1011s or DC10s, BA 757 & a320s (landor)

early 2000s - Flying Colours & JMC 757s, Monarch a330s, Air2000 a320s

2010 to now - this is the era I'm going with, there will be a few discrepancies for sure but this diorama is going to coincide with the outgoing Thomas Cook 757s in the old livery and when easyjet introduced the bandana livery and I'm toying with the idea of at least one easyjet in the old livery. This may be too early to introduce the easyjet a320neo but I've got the kit so what the hell. 

 

here's a rough look at the set up....

 

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Stand 3 - this is always reserved for BA and is only 1 of 3 air bridges. This stand can accommodate the whole a320 family but I'm going for a bog standard a321 by Zvezda

Stand 4 - This side of the pier is mainly for domestic routes but can change depending on availability. Stand 4 will accommodate a Easyjet a319 in the old or new livery. I haven't been able to get a Revell A319 kit yet so I'm going to take apart an old a320 kit.

Stand 5 - Easyjet a320neo by Zvezda

Stand 6 - Easyjet a319 (need to find a cheap Revell) 

Stand 7- The airport is now dominated by Jet2 the 737-800 is now the most common jet. The zvezda 737-800 is the obvious choice. (red and silver livery not that jet2holidays horror show)

Stand 8 - Another 737-800. With the sight of old TCX 757s it will be Thomson and not TUI. 

Stand 9 - also stand 30 depending on the size of the aircraft. This is always the Emirates 777 spot and the A330 before that. However its also common to find the TUI dreamliner here or before that First choice or Thomson 767. I've got an old zvezda 767 I'm busy tearing apart so I thought I'd go for the latter. Also for the sake of a balanced diorama I thought the Emirates would be too big! This will have an airbridge.

Stand 10/11 - Stand 10 and 11 are primarily for slightly larger narrow body sized aircraft so the 757 is a good fit. I haven't decided if these are going to be TCX or Jet2 or a combination of both. 

The kits I have bought is the well criticized Minicraft C32 kit of hell (I'm going to need some advice with these). If I go with Jet2 I'm going for scratch built winglets and the red and silver livery. The TCX will be the sunny heart blue livery. Stand 10 has an air bridge.

Stand 12 - KLM 737-900 or AF a318. To be honest I fancy making both but I'm leaning more toward the 737-900 as I may be sick of airbus by the time I've done BA and 3 EZYs. I believe no kit exists for the 737-900 apart from Authentic Airliners which is not available but I'm up for doing a conversion. I've also been given some advice to avoid the Eastern Express A318 kit and do a A319 conversion instead.

Although this stand is often reserved for KLM/AF, I'm going to have to check that this stand can accommodate and aircraft the size of the 737-900. Most often you'll see the 737-700 or the Cityjet RJ85 parked up. 

 

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in this example the furthest Easyjet on the left is in the wrong place. This is where the BA A321 shuttle will be

 

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Stands 1 and 2 exist but will likely be out the picture unless I decide to make the whole terminal!

 

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more content to follow...........

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Hi Phil,

Wow, this is an ambitious project and one which really excites me!

What size is your baseboard? I've just measured the apron area on Google Earth and it is 1.7m by 1m.

 

Do you have scale plans of the buildings? Looks like the images you have are good enough to draw up your own and in conjunction with Google Earth you should be able to get some accurate plan dimensions.

Have you thought about how you will construct the buildings?

 

You're going to need plenty of GSE not sure if you've come across these

https://www.rocastmodels.com/store/index.php

 

Really looking forward to watching this come together!

Cheers,

Ian

 

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1 hour ago, Turbofan said:

Hi Phil,

Wow, this is an ambitious project and one which really excites me!

What size is your baseboard? I've just measured the apron area on Google Earth and it is 1.7m by 1m.

 

Do you have scale plans of the buildings? Looks like the images you have are good enough to draw up your own and in conjunction with Google Earth you should be able to get some accurate plan dimensions.

Have you thought about how you will construct the buildings?

 

You're going to need plenty of GSE not sure if you've come across these

https://www.rocastmodels.com/store/index.php

 

Really looking forward to watching this come together!

Cheers,

Ian

 

Hi Ian

 

yes hopefully I'll actually complete this one! The baseboard is about 1m by 2m so its only really the width I'm worried about but it should be ok but again it's probably a good idea I'm not planning to fit an emirates 777 on it. 

 

I've got some good references for the actual buildings, I reckon once I sketch the outline it should be just a matter of putting down the foundations then building from there using maybe model railway stuff. I'm busy clearing out my garage at the moment to make room for it. 

 

The rocast model site is a great recommendation mate, much appreciated. I'm going to need at least 3 air bridges + and a few swissport stairs... amongst a ton of other stuff

 

Phil

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This is the A320 I'm stripping down. It is unloved and looking a bit tired now. it will soon be an easyjet a319

 

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an easy chop job, 3 frames from the front and 4 from the back. I'll lose cargo doors but I can scribe or rely on discreet decals

 

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I was tempted to convert this originally to a A318 but there isn't many cheap A319 kits on the market at the minute so I thought what the hell. 

 

 

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My 2 minicraft 757s arrived yesterday, heres a quick comparison to my future BA A321. what struck me straight away is although the a321 has its rudder missing is how BIG the 757's tail is!!! I have checked this out and believe it or not the minicraft tail actually needs to be about 2mm higher on one side as it wrongly slopes down a bit. 

 

I was expecting a horror show from minicraft but I don't think its that bad. As expected the tail is bent, the wings are too thick and its a little bit too long (about 4mm). The fuselage actually fitted together better than the Zvezda! probably sheer luck. I won't be buying the Braz 757 replacement parts, I've actually heard they make little difference. I just hope the C-32 has the right RR engines.

 

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another model I am re-using is the 767. This was originally Aerosvit, then I made a hash of it when trying to do Austrian Airlines (hence the red winglets) so like my A320 its stripped and ready for another life

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What a great project Phil! :thumbsup:

 

You have me thinking about something similar now, I have a 4' x4' board I have done up as a 1/72 tarmac and have been wondering what to do with the other side in 1/144.

 

If the postal service between here and the UK was not non existent I could help you out with a couple of bits, like a spare Revell A319.

 

Unfortunately the Minicraft C-32 has P&W engines, the cowl and burner shape of totally different to the RRs (I have a spare set of Rollers as well!). As far as the build, with a few little tweaks like the tail and the wing alignment (Minicraft moulded on side to high, or atleast the locating tabs) it turns out OK, I have built 2 and have another requiring attention to finish it off (with another 2 in the stash).

 

I believe Braz does airbridge sets now, not sure of the current availability, I also have somewhere an article in an old Finescale Modeller of a airbridge build from scratch. I can dig it out and scan it if you want.

 

:popcorn:

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14 hours ago, Romeo Alpha Yankee said:

What a great project Phil! :thumbsup:

 

You have me thinking about something similar now, I have a 4' x4' board I have done up as a 1/72 tarmac and have been wondering what to do with the other side in 1/144.

 

If the postal service between here and the UK was not non existent I could help you out with a couple of bits, like a spare Revell A319.

 

Unfortunately the Minicraft C-32 has P&W engines, the cowl and burner shape of totally different to the RRs (I have a spare set of Rollers as well!). As far as the build, with a few little tweaks like the tail and the wing alignment (Minicraft moulded on side to high, or atleast the locating tabs) it turns out OK, I have built 2 and have another requiring attention to finish it off (with another 2 in the stash).

 

I believe Braz does airbridge sets now, not sure of the current availability, I also have somewhere an article in an old Finescale Modeller of a airbridge build from scratch. I can dig it out and scan it if you want.

 

:popcorn:

Ray I'm so glad you pointed this out, I was blissfully unaware - just found the RRs online, one is the Boeing 757-200 Rolls-Royce RB211-535E engines and the other RB211-535C engines, I haven't got a clue what the difference is?

 

Phil

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Phil, canny idea. interesting you’ve gone for a year or two back. Checking today’s reduced Covid era schedule showed flights from seven different airlines (all single aisle twin jet I’d assume without checking in detail). I’ll tag along because its local.  

 

Chris 

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On 9/29/2020 at 6:08 AM, Romeo Alpha Yankee said:

What a great project Phil! :thumbsup:

 

You have me thinking about something similar now, I have a 4' x4' board I have done up as a 1/72 tarmac and have been wondering what to do with the other side in 1/144.

 

If the postal service between here and the UK was not non existent I could help you out with a couple of bits, like a spare Revell A319.

 

Unfortunately the Minicraft C-32 has P&W engines, the cowl and burner shape of totally different to the RRs (I have a spare set of Rollers as well!). As far as the build, with a few little tweaks like the tail and the wing alignment (Minicraft moulded on side to high, or atleast the locating tabs) it turns out OK, I have built 2 and have another requiring attention to finish it off (with another 2 in the stash).

 

I believe Braz does airbridge sets now, not sure of the current availability, I also have somewhere an article in an old Finescale Modeller of a airbridge build from scratch. I can dig it out and scan it if you want.

 

:popcorn:

Hi Ray, good news, this is the C-32B kit not the air force 2 (or whatever its called) C-32A kit so I have RR engines

 

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I also have spare a340 RR engines that look almost identical

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On 9/29/2020 at 9:51 PM, Turbofan said:

Hi Phil,

Here's an image of a DHL 757 with -535E's

https://images.app.goo.gl/WyjW12Ze8vFzHSwbA

And here's a DHL 757 with -535C's

https://images.app.goo.gl/iLQirVWfvVQdN4hs7

I have a pair of Minicraft -535E's I can send you if you want them.

Cheers,

Ian

thanks for the offer mate but it turns out I have RRs. If I make a mess of them I might come begging

 

Phil

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I finally turned my attention back to designing the pier. This is what I intend to use 

 

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I'm a bit concerned about the width as the apron extends back further than I thought. Time to do some measurements.....

 

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On my print out the emirates wingspan is 6.35com

The a321s wingspan is 3.65cm

 

The 777-300ER wingspan is 64.8m and the a321s with sharklets is 35.8m (I think)

 

I'm no mathematician but it would seem both are nearly divisible by 10. By playing around with the figures its about divisible by 10.2 

 

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The pier is 17.25 cm on my print out. 

 

17.25 x 10.2 = 175.95. 

 

If I haven't made a massive error the pier is approximately 176 metres long. Width is 31.62 metres 

 

So now I think I know the real length and width I can divide by 144 to get 1/144 scale to match all the aircraft. So....

 

1/144 Pier needs to be 1.20m or 120cm (and wider to include stand 8). Width of the Pier isn't a problem, its about as wide as a a319 at 21.9cm. Obviously I want to encompass the whole apron (or should I say ramp) around the pier. I can see by the drawing the width is going to be about the same size as the Pier which means I need a new base! not to worry. 

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The easyjet a319 conversion is continuing. still needs plenty of work and a good clean up. You can't really see but the wings are a mess, i've got a few cracks underneath where I originally removed the a321 flap track fairings that Revell put on their a320 kits, I'm using a new technique of melting plastic sprue with polystyrene cement and filling cracks, the reason for this is because I've had some issues in the past (especially with conversions) where gaps have either reopened or shown through layers of paint when I've used milliput. I've used this technique to plug the 1mm gap between the fuselage pieces, this way I've got a seamless finish.

 

This hasn't went without the odd mishap however, I went a bit overboard with the polystyrene cement and nearly melted part of the fuselage, but I redeemed myself. 

 

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I've started the a320neo. Whilst looking through the neo parts I noticed a distinct lack of them, there is no undercarriage in the Revell neo kit! amazing as the Zvezda a321 kit comes with about a million different parts for the same price (even alternative engines)

 

I must say I'm not a fan of the clear plastic cockpit, the 2 different plastics do not blend easily. Before I would just fill the windows and any blemish would be hidden by a decal. Don't understand why minicraft supply these without supplying an interior cockpit

 

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Just comparing the neo engine, the other one needs a good clean

 

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One thing that is obvious about the difference between Revell and Zvezda is that Revell fuselages are slightly too large in diameter. I found this out doing a a340 conversion as the braz pieces are more compatible with Zvezda. Sadly you lose a lot of fuselage detail on the Revell if you sand it down to size. 

 

The Zvezda a321 comes with all the flaps and slats separate, a bit overkill if you ask me for small model. 

 

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I've started both 757s, unbelievably the fueslage halves went together better than than Zvezda and Revell. That can't excuse it's errors however. Those tabs are coming off so I can align the wings better, however they'll help make some nice winglets for the Jet2 757

 

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It looks messy (and rather large!) but essentially extended the upper half of the wing, prior to that I bent the tabs to get the curve. I'm using the neo sharklet as a reference as its quite similar to 757 winglet.  A good bit of sanding and I'll get the shape out. I've noted that the 757 winglet is quite vertical.

 

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13 minutes ago, Turbofan said:

Hi Phil,

Looks like your maths is pretty good. According to Google Earth the pier is 179m long and 31m wide.

You're good to go!

Cheers,

Ian

I'll go with that! nice one Ian. I probably need to employ you if I want this finished in the next 12 months! 

 

Phil

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Hi Phil

 

If you really must use the Minicraft B757/C52 I think I might have some BraZ replacement bits lurking at the bottom of my resin stash. I'm never likely to need them and would be happy to see them put to good use. Drop me a pm if you want to discuss.

 

If you decide to go back in time don't forget Braathens SAFE who flew NCL-SVG-BGO. I flew with them a couple of times in the mid 1990s when they were using B735s. 

 

Dave G

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19 hours ago, phil1 said:

I finally turned my attention back to designing the pier. This is what I intend to use 

 

spacer.png

 

I'm a bit concerned about the width as the apron extends back further than I thought. Time to do some measurements.....

 

spacer.png

 

On my print out the emirates wingspan is 6.35com

The a321s wingspan is 3.65cm

 

The 777-300ER wingspan is 64.8m and the a321s with sharklets is 35.8m (I think)

 

I'm no mathematician but it would seem both are nearly divisible by 10. By playing around with the figures its about divisible by 10.2 

 

spacer.png

 

The pier is 17.25 cm on my print out. 

 

17.25 x 10.2 = 175.95. 

 

If I haven't made a massive error the pier is approximately 176 metres long. Width is 31.62 metres 

 

So now I think I know the real length and width I can divide by 144 to get 1/144 scale to match all the aircraft. So....

 

1/144 Pier needs to be 1.20m or 120cm (and wider to include stand 8). Width of the Pier isn't a problem, its about as wide as a a319 at 21.9cm. Obviously I want to encompass the whole apron (or should I say ramp) around the pier. I can see by the drawing the width is going to be about the same size as the Pier which means I need a new base! not to worry. 

 

 

Hi, 

 

 

Just a though to help you out on this impressive project. You can measures distances on Google Maps or in Google Earth. Have you tried that?

 

I’ve done a couple of quick measurements for you:

 

50427459741_35dfaa0a42_o.jpgScreenshot 2020-10-06 at 14.40.33 by Neal, on Flickr

 

50426767428_ec63f975c5_o.jpgScreenshot 2020-10-06 at 14.41.36 by Neal, on Flickr

 

I hope it helps out a bit and good luck for the build.

 

Neal

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7 hours ago, NealParkes said:

 

 

Hi, 

 

 

Just a though to help you out on this impressive project. You can measures distances on Google Maps or in Google Earth. Have you tried that?

 

I’ve done a couple of quick measurements for you:

 

50427459741_35dfaa0a42_o.jpgScreenshot 2020-10-06 at 14.40.33 by Neal, on Flickr

 

50426767428_ec63f975c5_o.jpgScreenshot 2020-10-06 at 14.41.36 by Neal, on Flickr

 

I hope it helps out a bit and good luck for the build.

 

Neal

cheers neal, I didn't know you could do this, posting this stuff is about as technological as I get. I'd assume its not possible to get the height of the pier? a 737 or an airbus tail tends to just clear it so its probably not that tall

 

Phil

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