Boeing 747SP Eastern Express 1/144

[Alex1978]

Today I received the brand new Eastern Express Kit of the Boeing 747SP

Taking a look at the sprues,all looks very nice and neat with fine engraved panellines.

Detail is also quite high,it even features a full cockpit,although not much will be seen through the small windows.

The windos are designed as section with part of the roof,so if the fit is well,I might consider not glueing that part on to offer a better look inside the cockpit.

We will see if thats going to work.

 

As it is the case with the new Eastern Express kits of late,detail,accuracy is very good and fit of the parts is also quite nice,just make sure all parts are carefully cleaned and sanded before assembly,these are still short run productions.

So dont expect Tamyia or Revell airliner quality,study and follow the instructions well and the build should be a smooth one.

I built some of the new Eastern Express kits,such as the Boeing 717 (MD-95) for example and it was a nice and fun build wich resulted in a very nice model.

The decalset,here Korean Airlines,is a laserprint,so every subject has to be cut out individually.The printing quality is good with everything in register and all parts look sharp.

 

I am undecided if I will use this set or buy aftermarket decals for this build,I had the "SOFIA" version in mind actually but also the Korean Air is nice.

I actually planned to buy at least 4 747SP kits but given the high price of one (roughly 90 USD),I probably have to cut it down to just another example )-:

 

Before I start the build,here are some pictures of the box and content.

Stay tuned...

 

 

 

 

(Note...the cat is NOT included in the kit... )

 

 

 

 

Wheels and wheel bays,unfortunately EE still divides the wheels in 2 pieces...

 

 

engine mountings

 

 

engine parts and more wheels...

 

 

tail cone

 

 

 

 

 

example of the instructions...

 

 

 

paint and decal guide and decal sets

 

 

 

 

Edited December 13, 2020 by Alex1978

[halcyonjet]

Looks like a very nice kit, I will be watching this with interest.

 

Dave

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Nice project

 

 

[tomprobert]

It does indeed look like a lovely kit - I too built the EE MD-11 and thoroughly enjoyed it. 
 

I was really looking forward to this release but having seen the price I think it somewhat optimistic for a 1/144 scale airliner. I’ve built one and have another Welsh Models -SP so will stick with that for the time being - hopefully one day these will come down in price and the odd one may appear on an auction site...

 

In the meantime I’ll enjoy watching this come together. 
 

Tom

[AV O]

Some are not is so enthusiastic about it :

https://www.airlinercafe.com/forums.php?m=posts&q=11585&n=last#bottom

[Alex1978]

51 minutes ago, AV O said:

Some are not is so enthusiastic about it :

https://www.airlinercafe.com/forums.php?m=posts&q=11585&n=last#bottom

Sounds not very reassuring.

But as some stated;without pictures its difficult to judge.

The 3D renders that I saw on the EE website looked very good.

I will see how it looks like and will keep posting the pros and cons during the process.

Thank you for the link

[Vesa Jussila]

Looks nice project. I will be following this.

[71chally]

Great to see this build as I intend to build a couple of SPs, I must admit I hadn't realised it was on the shop shelves already.

 

@tomprobert I don't know if you saw the post but 26Decals are planning to sell these kits for just below £60.

[Alex1978]

After AV Os mentioning of the discussion about some shape issues over at airliner cafe,I compared the nose section of the EE SP kit with the Revell 747-8F,as Revell got the shape right.

I outlined the shape of the SP on a paper and layed over then the -8.

I could not make out much difference.

I taped the fuselage halves together and inserted the canopy piece and compared it again with the -8.

The overall shape of the nose together with the canopy piece matches the shape with the -8 pretty well.

I will try to post some pics of my test later and put the two fuselages in comparison.

From my point of view so far,it looks pretty good to me.

When the building is making process,I might be able to see more.

[Alex1978]

Here are my comparisons.

I hope the drawing on the paper can be made out.

Red line marks the SP shape,fainted line is the -8F

 

 

Left side -8F / right side EE 747SP

Note,the canopy piece sits not perfectly flush yet.

[Skodadriver]

I wouldn't worry too much about what is said on Airliner Cafe. I left it about a year ago because I couldn't stand the attitude of some of the members who try to give the impression of knowing a lot more than they really do. There is also a lot of "Oooh isn't it lovely" every time a new kit appears but unlike Britmodeller there are very few actual build articles.

 

The comparison with the 8F is very interesting. I'm not a fan of Eastern Express but the SP certainly looks good in profile and I'm following this with interest.

 

Dave G

[Alex1978]

8 minutes ago, Skodadriver said:

I wouldn't worry too much about what is said on Airliner Cafe. I left it about a year ago because I couldn't stand the attitude of some of the members who try to give the impression of knowing a lot more than they really do. There is also a lot of "Oooh isn't it lovely" every time a new kit appears but unlike Britmodeller there are very few actual build articles.

 

The comparison with the 8F is very interesting. I'm not a fan of Eastern Express but the SP certainly looks good in profile and I'm following this with interest.

 

Dave G

Thank you for your insight on that matter.

I am usually not on Airliner Cafe,but reading the comments there,I was surprised and also a bit irritated,as I couldnt really make out the flaws depicted there.

But I thought I compare the kits anyway just to be sure and also as a little help for others who might be planning on buying the EE kit.

Alex

[26Decals]

2 hours ago, 71chally said:

Great to see this build as I intend to build a couple of SPs, I must admit I hadn't realised it was on the shop shelves already.

 

@tomprobert I don't know if you saw the post but 26Decals are planning to sell these kits for just below £60.

Unfortunately I won't be able to sell them at that price, they will be closer to £70.00 as agreed with the manufacturer.

They have now been shipped to me so fingers crossed I will see them by the end of the month

Edited December 12, 2020 by 26Decals
addition.

[Team Aer Lingus]

looking forward to seeing you work your magic on this one Alex nice to see the parts at last & it looks very nice 

 

Ray your going to inundated with purchases for this kit including from me 😃

 

regards

 

Eamonn

[AV O]

2 hours ago, Alex1978 said:

Here are my comparisons.

I hope the drawing on the paper can be made out.

Red line marks the SP shape,fainted line is the -8F

 

Left side -8F / right side EE 747SP

Note,the canopy piece sits not perfectly flush yet.

 

Alex, 

Thank you very much for this clarification.

 

AV O

[David H]

I just read the posting over on Airliner Cafe.

 

I was blunt. I told the reviewer that he needs to show his work. I seek proof.

 

david

[Tim R-T-C]

Looking forward to seeing this one build up. Like the mini 737-500s, the SP has such a memorable look.

[Alex1978]

OK,here we are...

 

I officially started the build.

So far it is coming along well.

There are many sprue atachement points that need careful removing from each part.A light sanding of these areas to receive a sharp edge and flat mating surfaces,lead to a pretty good fit.

 

I cleaned and sanded all of the main components,such as wing parts,fuselage and tail and glued the tail to each half of the fuselage.

When the fuselage is glued together later,it should provide a straight and good fit.

The tailplanes and fin as well as the landing gear bays i glued together.The upper parts of the tailplanes needed some sanding on the inside,to fit on the lower part.Otherwise these would have created a gap.

The wings and tailplanes are designed with the upper halves having the undersinde of the flaps attached,that way it will provide a nice thin edge.

 

Next step will be the cockpit.Unfortunately I cracked the canopy apart while handling it.I glued it together again and after dry I soaked it in future.

If that worked and the cracking seam wont be too visible,the crack is very close to the front windowframe,I will leave the window clear and paint the cockpit.

If its not working,I will use a window decal later.But I will build the cockpit,for those who wish to have a clear window,to see how the cockpit looks like.

 

So far its a fun build,kit seems to be well designed,just careful reading and following of the instructions is a must.

 

Here some pics of the progress,not much but its ongoing...

Cheers

Alex

 

 

 

Nose gear box

 

Walls for the main gear

 

 

Centre main gear box

 

 

Tailplanes and fin

Edited December 13, 2020 by Alex1978

[Berko]

Looking forward to see this. I will be following as well.

[skystyle]

Please, tell your opinion about the instructions

[Alex1978]

1 hour ago, skystyle said:

Please, tell your opinion about the instructions

Well,they are certainly not Revell' s standard.

The instructions are not always very clear in the layout,where the assambled parts or single parts should go.The other thing is that the parts on the sprues have no numbers,you need the instructions to make out the parts you need,wich slightly complicates matters.The sprues are only labeled I,J,K for example.

Its time consuming that way,but it can be done.

Its not the usual standard,therefore its a MUST ,to study the instructions and the sprues well first and follow them through the build.After the parts are off the sprue and in its respective place on the model,mark them on the parts layout on the instructionsheet so you will not be confused in the ongoing montage.

Eastern Express should rethink their instructions layout.Its certainly not for beginners and some preparation is necessary 

[Alex1978]

Some progress has been made today.

The gear bays were done yesterday.Today they got some weathering and then I installed them into the wingbox and front respectively.

I had to outline the correct location of the gear bay,as there is no marking whatsoever in the wingbox to show were it should be glued in.

Same goes for the front gear bay.

 

I built the cockpit ,so those of you who want to have clear cockpit windows,will see how it looks like.Its sufficiently detailed and with paint on it should look good.

As I had cracked the windowpart due to some clumsy handling,I just glued in the cockpit without further work,as I will be using a 3D window decal.

 

Front gear leg is also done,I might add some more details like hydraulic cables to it at a later stage.

EE divided the leg into 6 pieces,some of them very small.Here I wished for a simpler design,as the gear needs to carry the weight later,wich is quite a lot.The finished model will be pretty heavy.I hope the landing gear can handle it...

 

I also decided to glue some pieces of evergreen plastic into one fuselage half,this should help to align and keep the two fuselage parts together.EE provides no locator pins.

 

So far,most of the parts fitted quite well,its very important to clean each piece from sprue residue and flash.A light sanding on the mating surfaces is also recommended as well as dryfitting the parts before glueing.

 

Here some pics from the progress

 

Cheers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Team Aer Lingus]

Looking good Alex just how bad are the instructions ?

 

regards

 

Eamonn

[skystyle]

Nice ! Whaiting for more photos. And my friend made pilots for 1/144. If that s interesting  i can show.

[Alex1978]

30 minutes ago, Team Aer Lingus said:

Looking good Alex just how bad are the instructions ?

 

regards

 

Eamonn

Thank you Eamonn.

They are not that bad,just a bit basic or not very specific in some places,but with thoughtful checking it should provide not much obstacles.

For some parts maybe pictures from the real thing might be helpful as well.