1/144 Zvezda Qantas 747-8 to 747-400 Conversion

[Turbofan]

With all the 747-400 retirements at the moment I felt inspired to build my own tribute to the 'Queen of the Skies'. I had intended to build a BA example but as there are a couple in progress over in the WIP forum I decided to build another recently retired -400, Qantas.

This is one of the few models I have built exclusively from beginning to end. I normally work on lots at the same time so the progress on this has been quite rapid for me! As the title says it is a conversion from the excellent Zvezda 747-8 to a -400. I think it's a fairly simple conversion and the best way to go if you want a -400. The work involves shortening the fuselage, removing the wingtips and replacing with winglets (I had some spare from a Revell kit), replacing the engines (again I had some spare RB211s from a Revell kit) and reshaping the flapjack fairings slightly. I thickened the intake trunking on the Revell engines as I felt they were too thin otherwise I think the engines are the best part of the Revell kit!

Painting was fairly straightforward with the fuselage Halfords Appliance White, wings are Halfords Racking Grey with a custom mix of Humbrol Metalcote Aluminium and Gun Metal for the Coroguard and Metalcote Aluminium leading edges. The tail and rear fuselage is Humbrol 19 and engines are, again, Halfords Racking Grey.

Decals are predominantly Draw Decal 44-747-74 which is for a P&W engined 747-400ER so there were a few little changes I had to make for the RR engined aircraft I was modelling. I designed and printed my own engine logos, registrations and aircraft name 'Fraser Island'. The Draw Decals performed superbly as expected as did the AA windows and windscreen decals I always use.

I have weathered this one fairly heavily, you can see the marks from the jetways and dirt streaks below each window but most of the weathering isn't very obvious in the pics.

Speaking of pics here they are.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for looking, hope you like it and, as always, any comments or criticisms gratefully received.

 

Cheers,

Ian

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Absolutely beautiful model!

Inspiring craftsmanship!

[PhantomBigStu]

Wow, having just unboxed my A380, I really don’t know how you civy guys can pull of such classy builds 

[Graeme H]

A really outstanding effort, and having flown on just about all the F 747's over the years, just love it

[SAT69]

A very impressive conversion and the end result is fabulous!

[Romeo Alpha Yankee]

Awesome job Ian, I'll be building OJA (City of Canberra, of course!) eventually which is now displayed at HARS, a couple of hours drive from me.

[Abandoned Project]

Looks fantastic. Superb weathering.

[stevehnz]

A wonderful job on that Ian, rather sad to think of the skies empty of these big birds now. I flew in one of these Chc- Syd in 1994, they were good to fly in. You've got me riding a wave of nostalgia now but I'll have to be content with this beauty.

Steve.

[Team Aer Lingus]

Simply stunning outstanding job Ian that's a real beauty 

 

thanks for sharing 

 

regards

 

Eamonn

[Skodadriver]

That's really magnificent Ian. Thanks for sharing such an outstanding piece of modelling art. It must look pretty impressive alongside your Air India 743 from a year or two ago! As Steve says, it's sad to think most 747s have been retired and such an iconic aircraft is now largely history.

 

I may have asked this before (apologies if I have - blame my ageing memory) but how much do you remove from the fuselage and where? 

 

Dave G

[Viking]

Another great conversion Ian, I've got one planned for my Zvezda 747 following your example. I just need to finish some ongoing projects before starting another one.

I love the weathering, it is there if you look for it, but not so obvious or 'in your face'. Just the way it should be.

 

Cheers

 

John

[Stephen]

Good enough to be real.

[swralph]

Excellent looking model.😀

[michael301757]

Absolutely agree with all the above comments,marvellous build.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Cheers Michael.

[Terry1954]

I knew it was going to be good before I clicked on the thread, then when I clicked on the thread it was better than that!

 

Another brilliant one Ian.

 

Terry

[Sky Keg]

Outstanding attention to detail with superb results!!!!!! 

 

Mike

[mitchem]

Masterpiece !   

[Vesa Jussila]

Beautiful! Sad these planes are vanishing from the sky. Flying those was nice experience.

[Eric B.]

Absolutely stunning,

 

and Man this one has the look, nose, stance of a real B747-400 - much more so than a direct built Revell -400.

Great conversion and a well deserved result. 

 

Eric B.

[tomprobert]

Absolutely gorgeous. 
 

I’m on the final straight of a BA -400 using the Revell kit. Seeing yours and the correct sit of the engines really highlights the problem with the Revell wing. 
 

I have decals for VH-OJB when in the Wunula Dreaming scheme as I flew on it from Heathrow to Sydney back in 1998 - rather than using another Revell kit I think I’m going to convert a Zvezda -8 so I too am keen to see how the cut and shut works. 

[RMCS]

Stunning 

[Challenger350Pilot]

Hi Ian; 

 

As usual...just FANTASTIC work. A beautiful build of a beautiful bird. Love the detail, too. The weathering is really really good, too. I’m not huge on weathering because it’s so often applied way too heavily. Not here. She looks almost real! As always, love the presentation, too. The runway/taxiway base you use for the pics are just right. Thanks so much for sharing this. Really inspiring. 
 

Like Dave, I’d like to know where to cut and how much, to transform that beautiful kit into a -400. 

[stringbag]

Another superb model Ian.  The conversion really makes a huge difference.

Hope all is well.

 

Chris.

[Turbofan]

Thanks for all the comments I'm glad everyone likes it as much as me, I am pretty pleased with it.

On 26/11/2020 at 23:05, Moa said:

Absolutely beautiful model!

Inspiring craftsmanship!

Wow Moa that's awesome, thank you!

On 26/11/2020 at 23:14, PhantomBigStu said:

Wow, having just unboxed my A380, I really don’t know how you civy guys can pull of such classy builds 

Hey Stu, just take it one step at a time and don't rush. It's more about using the right technique than anything. Looking forward to your A380, which livery are you planning?

23 hours ago, Graeme H said:

A really outstanding effort

Thanks Graham!

22 hours ago, SAT69 said:

A very impressive conversion and the end result is fabulous!

Cheers, it's not a very difficult conversion to do I think the work involved is easier than trying to correct the Revell -400 kit.

20 hours ago, Romeo Alpha Yankee said:

Awesome job Ian, I'll be building OJA (City of Canberra, of course!) eventually which is now displayed at HARS, a couple of hours drive from me.

Thanks Ray looking forward to your build are you going to convert a Zvezda kit?

17 hours ago, Abandoned Project said:

Looks fantastic. Superb weathering.

Thanks Alan. The weathering on the wings doesn't show up very well in the pics but I'm really pleased with the stains under the windows and the marks left but the jetways. They're easy to do with graphite from a very soft pencil and a Q-tip.

 

15 hours ago, stevehnz said:

A wonderful job on that Ian, rather sad to think of the skies empty of these big birds now. I flew in one of these Chc- Syd in 1994, they were good to fly in. You've got me riding a wave of nostalgia now but I'll have to be content with this beauty.

Steve.

I know what you mean Steve but there are still quite a few cargo haulers around though.

 

15 hours ago, Team Aer Lingus said:

Simply stunning outstanding job Ian that's a real beauty 

 

thanks for sharing 

 

regards

 

Eamonn

Thank you Eamonn glad you like it!

14 hours ago, Skodadriver said:

That's really magnificent Ian. Thanks for sharing such an outstanding piece of modelling art. It must look pretty impressive alongside your Air India 743 from a year or two ago! As Steve says, it's sad to think most 747s have been retired and such an iconic aircraft is now largely history.

 

I may have asked this before (apologies if I have - blame my ageing memory) but how much do you remove from the fuselage and where? 

 

Dave G

 

2 hours ago, tomprobert said:

Absolutely gorgeous. 
 

I’m on the final straight of a BA -400 using the Revell kit. Seeing yours and the correct sit of the engines really highlights the problem with the Revell wing. 
 

I have decals for VH-OJB when in the Wunula Dreaming scheme as I flew on it from Heathrow to Sydney back in 1998 - rather than using another Revell kit I think I’m going to convert a Zvezda -8 so I too am keen to see how the cut and shut works. 

 

35 minutes ago, Challenger350Pilot said:

Hi Ian; 

 

As usual...just FANTASTIC work. A beautiful build of a beautiful bird. Love the detail, too. The weathering is really really good, too. I’m not huge on weathering because it’s so often applied way too heavily. Not here. She looks almost real! As always, love the presentation, too. The runway/taxiway base you use for the pics are just right. Thanks so much for sharing this. Really inspiring. 
 

Like Dave, I’d like to know where to cut and how much, to transform that beautiful kit into a -400. 

Cheers guys! To answer all those who would like to do this conversion it's best if I refer you to a thread on airlinercafe where I originally found all the info 

https://www.airlinercafe.com/forums.php?m=posts&p=41941#41941

The fuselage was shortened by 28mm in front of the wing and 10.5mm aft of the wing. The windows need to be filled as the -8 uses different shaped windows and the trailing edge of the main wing needs the curve taking out too. I keep forgetting to mention that!

 

Dave, I'll have to photograph my Qantas 747-200 side by side with this one as a 'then and now'! I've got 5 747s now and am running out of space!

Tom, I know what you mean about the sit of the engines on the Revell kit unfortunately I think the only way is to cut off the wings and remount them with the trailing edge a few mm lower!

I agree with you on the weathering Paul less is, so very often, more! But sometimes it just doesn't show up on the photographs.

14 hours ago, Viking said:

Another great conversion Ian, I've got one planned for my Zvezda 747 following your example. I just need to finish some ongoing projects before starting another one.

I love the weathering, it is there if you look for it, but not so obvious or 'in your face'. Just the way it should be.

 

Cheers

 

John

Thanks John, which livery are you planning for your -400? I've got another Zvezda 747-8 in the stash which will be converted but I don't know if it will be a -200 or another -400 there are so many I'd love to model!

13 hours ago, Stephen said:

Good enough to be real.

Thank you Stephen, real's what I aim for!

13 hours ago, swralph said:

Excellent looking model.😀

Thank you!

12 hours ago, michael301757 said:

Absolutely agree with all the above comments,marvellous build.                         

 Cheers Michael.

Thanks Michael!

11 hours ago, Terry1954 said:

I knew it was going to be good before I clicked on the thread, then when I clicked on the thread it was better than that!

 

Another brilliant one Ian.

 

Terry

Cheers Terry glad to exceed your expectations!

10 hours ago, Sky Keg said:

Outstanding attention to detail with superb results!!!!!! 

 

Mike

Thank you Mike. I love adding all the little details, pitots, antennae, weathering etc. it really brings a model to life!

7 hours ago, mitchem said:

Masterpiece !   

Wow, thank you! How are you doing with your BPK 737 Mike?

7 hours ago, Vesa Jussila said:

Beautiful! Sad these planes are vanishing from the sky. Flying those was nice experience.

Thank you Vesa! There are still quite a few freighters knocking about though.

5 hours ago, Eric B. said:

Absolutely stunning,

 

and Man this one has the look, nose, stance of a real B747-400 - much more so than a direct built Revell -400.

Great conversion and a well deserved result. 

 

Eric B.

Cheers Eric. I agree the Revell -400 isn't the best OOB and the work needed to correct it is far more than this conversion. No brainer really if you want a -400!

1 hour ago, RMCS said:

Stunning 

Thank you!

3 minutes ago, stringbag said:

Another superb model Ian.  The conversion really makes a huge difference.

Hope all is well.

 

Chris.

Thanks Chris, it's a really enjoyable conversion much like the Zvezda 777-300 to -200.

Cheers,

Ian

[Romeo Alpha Yankee]

I have a few Revell Kits Ian, So I will put up with their issues, QPA will be one of those though I am thinking about correct some shape issues.

 

I do have a spare Zvezda 747-8 but will build as is I think ( as well as 3 Revell 747-8fs )