Ansett Boeing 737 +++FINISHED+++

[Ray S]

Hello all.

 

This will be my first subject for this Group Build. It is the Airfix Boeing 737, and I have decided to do the Australian airline Ansett's 1982 scheme as supplied in the kit. I got this cheap from Hobbycraft a few years ago. I had intended to do it in the NZ scheme, but the all-white version has won out, especially due to the colourful tail.

 

Here are the obligatory pre-build piccies:

 

 

 

 

 

My choice may change, it has been known to in the past!

 

The kit itself looks fairly okay, there is not a lot of flash on this issue. The cabin glazing is non-existant so Kristal Klear should come to the rescue. I do not intend modifying the kit, nor do I know if things like the engines are right or not. Having just built a Trumpeter Lightning and not modified that, I think I can survive!

 

I am looking forward to the start of this!

 

All the best,

 

Ray

Edited March 7, 2021 by Ray S
Tidy the post

[CliffB]

Another nice choice Ray, particularly as you'll be covering both nations with your airliner builds.

[Rob S]

On 1/9/2021 at 11:44 PM, Ray S said:

I do not intend modifying the kit, nor do I know if things like the engines are right or not. Having just built a Trumpeter Lightning and not modified that, I think I can survive!

 

Hello Ray : 

 

Nice to see an Airliner being built. 

 

Yes the old Airfix kit does have it’s issues (Fuselage too skinny, Nose profile a bit off, Engines too short and too skinny for the version represented, lack of detail on tail cone and some other areas to name a few from memory) but having said that out of the box it looks like a 732 and only looks inaccurate when placed along side a corrected one.  

 

There have been some amazing builds of the Airfix kit here on BM and also on ACAM (the subject of a GB over there) both OoTB and heavily modified. I fell for the trap of fixing it up and needless to say haven’t finished it yet but moving house and life in general getting in the way didn’t help my cause. 

 

Anyway hope to see this one especially as an Ansett 732 and not an ANZ one!  

 

Regards 

 

Rob 

 

[Rob S]

Don’t know if this will show just the particular post but this was my attempt at fixing up the nose on a part built kit : 

 

(Didn’t work so I’ll try again!). 

 

[Rob S]

 

 

 

Edited January 13, 2021 by Rob S

[Ray S]

3 hours ago, Rob S said:

 

 

 

 

That was quite an ingenious way of solving that issue @Rob S, I may consider doing something along those lines if I can find accurate plans, and figure out how to do the glazing (there are no cockpit transfers with this option.

 

Thanks for showing how you did it!

 

All the best,

 

Ray

[busnproplinerfan]

I read someplace that the engines need some help. They still look good from the box, still looks like a 200. I thought there was a windshield in this kit.

[Rob S]

2 hours ago, Ray S said:

 

That was quite an ingenious way of solving that issue @Rob S, I may consider doing something along those lines if I can find accurate plans

 

Thanks for the kind words Ray much appreciated. 

 

I still have the image of those frame plans by the way and can send them to you if you want. They should straight out print in 1:144 but if not can be rescaled if your printer can be percentage incremented up or down. 

 

One thing I forgot to mention is there is a bloke in Mexico who does resin bits for the Airfix and Minicraft 737s. His main and nose wheel wells are just amazing and I’m pretty sure he does a replacement nose and cockpit as well which should solve the windscreen problem. I’ll try and find his contact details again if you are interested. It might even be in the Thread on ACAM. 

 

[Rob S]

2 hours ago, busnproplinerfan said:

I read someplace that the engines need some help. They still look good from the box, still looks like a 200. I thought there was a windshield in this kit.

 

Maybe OK for early -200s but need lengthening and fattening for Advanced -200s which is what Ansett had. 

 

I just tried to copy (badly as it turned out) what I think it was Turbofan(? Have to check who it was) did here on BM for my engines. 

 

Edited January 13, 2021 by Rob S

[Rob S]

Just had a brief scan over my build Thread on ACAM

 

http://www.airliner-civil-aircraft-modeller.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2511

 

but can’t see who I tried to copy off. 

 

The most amazing 732 build over there was by “Uros”. Flaps and Thrust Reversers fully deployed. Amazing. 

 

[Ray S]

5 hours ago, busnproplinerfan said:

I read someplace that the engines need some help. They still look good from the box, still looks like a 200. I thought there was a windshield in this kit.

 

Hi, there is a windshield supplied, but I was not sure if it would fit after the reprofiling that Rob S had shown. My skills would need improving to possibly correct that, but that is why we model, right?

 

I will not go down the replacement engine route, I want to stay on a budget, so I will probably just content myself with rescribing panel lines and possibly the reprofile work.

 

3 hours ago, Rob S said:

 

Thanks for the kind words Ray much appreciated. 

 

I still have the image of those frame plans by the way and can send them to you if you want. They should straight out print in 1:144 but if not can be rescaled if your printer can be percentage incremented up or down. 

 

One thing I forgot to mention is there is a bloke in Mexico who does resin bits for the Airfix and Minicraft 737s. His main and nose wheel wells are just amazing and I’m pretty sure he does a replacement nose and cockpit as well which should solve the windscreen problem. I’ll try and find his contact details again if you are interested. It might even be in the Thread on ACAM. 

 

 

@Rob S, I will send you a PM. I am not sure if I will do this but it would be nice to be able to cut things out and have a dry fit and see how things go. Thanks for the offer .

 

All the best,

 

Ray

[Ray S]

Hello all.

 

Well, this has now been started. I was building the Airfix 1/48 Hawker Hunter, but the paint still need to dry, so I thought I would commence on this one.

 

The kit is quite an old one, to say the least. There are a few things that need attention. One thing I must say from the beginning is that this will be strictly out of the box, except for the usual paints, glues, filler and glazing medium, so no corrections, re-scribing etc. 

 

Having built a few Sword Lightnings, I am always on the lookout for pin marks and how they affect wing half fittings. These are small, but still enough to stop the wings closing:

 

 

They quickly scraped off mind, and presented no real problem that a sterling modeller like me could not deal with! Some liquid poly and a few bullets later I had:

 

 

The top right wing bullet is parallel despite how it looks in the picture, honest!

 

Next up was putting some bits into the door and cargo hatch openings. Oh dear!

 

 

 

With the doors, it looks like they have been moulded with a different curvature to the fuselage. I had to thin them down and they still did not sit properly. More modelling skills required later, methinks. Oh, by the way, the door latches have been sanded off now, I have no idea if I put them on upside down or not!

 

 

First fix filler added. I will be sanding down some of the raised panel lines with this kit, but now I am wondering about the 'no re-scribing' that I mentioned.

 

I have fitted a lump of aquatic plant lead weight to the fuselage half so it should not be a tail sitter.

 

More soon with luck,

 

Ray

Edited February 16, 2021 by Ray S
Tidy the post

[CliffB]

Good to see this one under way Ray.  Things will look much better when everything's nice and smooth 

 

Cheers

[Ray S]

Hello all!

 

Well, it does not take long to end up on page 4, does it? That is a grand sign by the way, it shows there is a lot of activity on this fabulous Group Build! I am in awe of the projects that are going on.

 

Anyway, here is a minor update from me! I am very thankful to @Rob S for sending me plans for the 737 nose area. See his solution to the problem in a link earlier in the thread. I have taken a slightly different tack. It looked like he cut out a profile and popped the entire profile, a little like a 'keel' and that allowed him to adjust the nose area while also adding a little extra width to the forward fuselage. That meant (presumably) re-profiling with putty the upper fuselage, and filling in the cockpit window area. I want to retain clear glazing for the cockpit, so, what I did was trace the profile and transfer it to some plastic card. This is a skill I have not really managed to perfect ever since I was at school, a very long time ago. I then trimmed off the outer edge of the profile and glued the outer edge to one half of the fuselage center line, taking into account things like the location pins and bulkhead which I had already fitted. I hope this will work to widen the fuselage, but not require putty and sanding!

 

 

The little bit over the cockpit opening has now been trimmed off, I will see later if I can still use the kit windscreen or if I need to look at something else.

 

The outside of the aircraft is also being dealt with. I decided to sand off most of the panel lines. I have wimped out at re-scribing. I have found a lovely picture of an Ansett 737 from this site:

 

https://www.airhistory.net/photo/6878/VH-CZM

 

...which does not show much in the way of panel lines. The aircraft also looks immaculate, which is great, as I do not like weathering my models!

 

I have refilled the doors and cargo hatches and sanded them down again, but I think I am going to have to wait until some primer is on to see how much more I need to do. This was the reason for the chickening out on re-profiling the fuselage roof.

 

 

 

I have a lovely old sanding stick which has three grades of abrasive on it, and it brings back the sheen of the plastic very nicely.

 

That is it for now, thanks for looking in , and thanks again Rob for the plans. Hopefully I can start getting some glue used soon

 

All the best, Ray

[Ray S]

Hello all!

 

This was on the back burner for a while. I was going to watch India v England cricket on free-to-air tv for the match, but only one and two third days, India are triumphant after a crazy day's play! That meant I could get back to work on this 737...

 

Today's jobs were to paint the cockpit interior a dark colour (black!) and stick the fuselage halves together, with the aid of some tape to hold things together:

 

 

It went all right, I did trim off the location lug at the nose, but kept the others. The expansion card forward stands just a touch proud of the fuselage, and it has also created a gap aft of the plastic card:

 

 

There is a card 'shelf' under this gap and above the one on the underside to act as a key for when the filler comes out when this has set properly. This has widened the nose a little as Rob had suggested earlier on.

 

I am hoping to add frames to the windscreen and then some clear card or such like for the windscreen, the kit one does not sit properly. Tomorrow will be filling and sanding these seams and also dealing with a few sink marks on the fuselage by the location lugs.

 

That is it for now, thanks for looking!

 

Ray

[Ray S]

Hello all.

 

Today has been an interesting day. My main problem was how to fill those long gaps caused by the card nose widening. I usually use Perfect Plastic Putty, but felt it would not give a secure enough result. My Squadron Green Stuff has dried up, I do not like using Miliput in situations like that. Then amazingly, I actually remembered a trick that has been mentioned here on Britmodeller a few times!

 

I made up some Gunk - I used Tamiya liquid cement and some shavings from the runner for the wings of this model and melted the plastic until I had something that looks rather suspicious:

 

 

This is not illegal, it is the cement/plastic mixture gently thickening. I then used a cocktail stick and administered the gunk to those long fissures:

 

 

I added three layers of the mixture to the joints (top and under-fuselage) after allowing the mix to dry off a bit. It did pull down into the gap on the first application, so the others built it back up until the mix stood above the surface. The hope was that this glue/plastic mix would then weld to both sides of the fuselage, and, being basically the same stuff as the model, provide a good, solid fix. A few hours later, a little bit of sanding produced a fairly reasonable result:

 

 

That is it for now, I will have a better look at this in daylight tomorrow.

 

Thanks for looking, all the best,

 

Ray

[Ray S]

Hello all!

 

This build has progressed a little today. The first thing that needed attention was the main undercarriage wheel bay:

 

 

I think it needed a bit of a clean up, don't you? Well, I did just that, but it still took some fitting to the fuselage. It was almost as if the curvature was not correct - fit one side and the other stood proud and vice versa. It eventually stuck after a bit more cleaning up (and remembering to clean up the fuselage joint there too). Oh, yes, those ejection pins marks were also visible on the outside of the part too!

 

Then it was time for the fun bit! I added the wings and tailplanes, and this 737 is now starting to look like an aircraft. The parts fitted quite well, but tomorrow I will have some seams to fill when these are dry, along the wing roots.

 

 

I have had a bit more of a go at the fuselage seams and the sink marks above the cockpit. It should not be long now before I can get some primer on and see how successful I have been with the seams.

 

That is it for now, more soon with luck. Thanks for dropping in, Ray

Edited February 27, 2021 by Ray S
Tidy the post

[abat]

Looking good Ray. And thanks for the "gunk" tip. I can see myself using that in future builds. 

[Ray S]

4 hours ago, abat said:

Looking good Ray. And thanks for the "gunk" tip. I can see myself using that in future builds. 

 

No problems, it is a tip I picked up from this fine forum in the first place! It is the first time I have used it, but I am happy I did. One other point is that the gunk is the same colour as the rest of the kit, so makes priming easier.

 

Talking of priming, this model has had three or four coats of Halfords white primer sprayed on from a rattlecan, coverage seems pretty good:

 

 

You will probably notice it works well on pegs, cocktail sticks and bits of paper too! I left the engines off as I do not think the aerosol would have got to the inner upper sections properly, and it will also allow me to mask the front rings and back metal sections more easily after the Appliance White has gone on tomorrow.

 

Thanks for looking,

 

Ray

[JOCKNEY]

Great stuff Ray

The homemade seam filler looks terrific 

Cheers Pat 

[Adam Poultney]

nice choice of subject. I'm glad 13 year old me never did get any of these old Airfix airliners.... I can only image the results.... Might have a few pressurisation issues with the gaps that would have been left in the fuselage

 

[Ray S]

Hello all.

 

Yesterday I sprayed this 737 with Halfords' Appliance White straight from the rattlecan. It covered the white primer really well, and has produced a good glossy finish. I left it all to set overnight, and today I started some detail stuff. First up was the engines. I said from the outset that I was going to stay with the kit supplied engines, whether they were incorrect or not. It was now time to paint the silver sections. Looking at my reference photograph, I needed to do the intake rim silver, and the entire back end silver too. I masked it up with Tamiya tape for curves, burnished it down and added a backup of normal masking tape too. I then scrubbed on some Mr Metal Chrome over the Appliance White and the primer, let it sit for a couple of minutes, and then I buffed it all with a cotton bud.

 

 

As you can see, I left the raised detail on the engines (unlike the fuselage and wings), and regretted it! The tape for curves obviously did not settle over it, and the chrome paint seeped underneath. I tried scratching the silver off with a cocktail stick dry, wet, with a knife, but could not remove all the blemishes. I solved that by lightly painting over to the first panel line with thinned Colourcoats White, and it came up a treat! The white looks the same shade as the Appliance White (unlike Revell White would have done), and am happy. If anything is showing through, I will say that it took me hours of work to get it weathered like that! That masking too was the main reason I left the pods off when I painted them (and the fact I was worried the paint would not reach the inner/upper sections of the nacelles.

 

The engines were glued on (Naphtha-thinned Colourcoats dries really quickly even brush painted), and I started to get the undercarriage fitted. In the meantime, I also made a couple of replacement front wheel well doors.

 

 

 

I need to make the cockpit glazing. I am thinking of adding the frames with some .5mm (or .3mm) plastic rod, and then using Krystal Klear to produce the glass. If that fails, I will have to try and cut out the individual glass panels.

 

I hope to get the leading edges of the wings, tailplanes and fin painted silver tomorrow, and hope for better luck with the masking, at least there are very few blobs on those surfaces!

 

That is it for now, thanks for looking in.

 

Ray

[Ray S]

Hello all. Today, I tried to tackle the part of this build which has had me concerned ever since I widened the fuselage nose - the cockpit transparency. The kit part was not that good, it did not fit the opening by quite some margin, and widening the fuselage probably did not help. I wondered whether to cut some sections of clear plastic card or to fit the glazing frames and then infill with PVA of some sort. I decided on the latter:

 

 

I used the great box art (Adam Toobey) as my reference, and got the frames somewhere in the right ballpark, but it is no cigar. That is setting at the moment, but when it has set, I will paint it with Colourcoats White.

 

Then I started to wonder about the glazing. I have some Glue'N'Glaze which I have used for portholes/windows in the past, but those front windows are rather large. 7mm x 3.5mm in fact, and I thought that GNG would not form a film, especially as mine is now quite thin (it is a very old bottle, about 11 years old), so I decided to do an experiment with another glazing option.

 

 

I marked out a patch on some thin plastic card and cut out an 'ersatz window' of approximately the right dimensions, and filled it with 'Microsoft' Kristal Klear (please note - I really DID ask for that when I went into my local model shop a few years ago - doh!)

 

 

The KK did produce a nice smear across the 'window' without making a mess on either side of the sheet, and soon afterwards:

 

 

as the product suggested - nice and clear 'window'! Now, the question is - will it behave for me tomorrow? We will see...

 

Thanks for dropping in, take care!

 

Ray

 

PS - My bottle of Kristal Klear was very thick and gungy at the top of the bottle, but after scooping that lot out, it behaved very well indeed.

[Ray S]

Hello all again.

 

Today was the day of truth - would the Kristal Klear do the transparency job or not? The first thing I had to do was scoop out some more overly thick gunge from the bottle, but then I used a cocktail stick to add the KK to the frames:

 

 

All was looking good. To help with the KK to set hopefully in the right way, I chucked the model in the bin!

 

 

Not quite as drastic as it sounds mind! I put it in this sweet tin nose-down so gravity could do its work and hopefully get the front windows so they did not sag inwards! I left it like that for an hour or two, and then got on with the next exciting instalment - masking the leading edges:

 

 

The Airfix instruction guide showed no silver fin leading edge, but the photo I linked to earlier shows there was one. It was at this point I noticed that there were two transfers on the sheet which were not shown on either this Ansett or the Air New Zealand colour guide - escape markings on the wings. I found another boxing online of this Airfix kit, and was surprised that it included cabin windows as transfers, whereas this boxing does not have them. Odd, I think. Anyway, a couple of brush painted coats of Revell 90 Silver acrylic later I had:

 

 

I will see If I can highlight the inboard landing lights with a different silver later. The two strips of masking tape on the top of the fuselage are there to let me know which cabin window the midship exit door transfers go. I was very happy with how things had turned out. The transparency fix had worked, the leading edges looked sharp, and then...

 

 

A blob in the windscreen! This shot also highlights that I had not got the sanding right above the cockpit, and there is also a blemish on the roof, I think it was where I had the plane upside down when I sprayed it. Close up pictures show things, warts and all! Anyway, I cut out the starboard front window and re-Kristal Kleared it, and it looks better. I still have a bit of cleaning up to do, but those blemishes will have to stay I am afraid.

 

On the other hand, tomorrow I get to put on some transfers, and this will finally become an Ansett aircraft!

 

Thanks for looking in, and sorry about the problems that have shown up on this,

 

Ray

[Ray S]

The transfers are mostly on now. They seemed to behave quite well, but I did have a spot of bother with the large door outlines. The carrier film is only just around the printed section, with no infill. That caused this modeller a bit of a problem when my shakes caused the frame to move as I was positioning it, and I had a fine mess to untangle with one of them! All was well though in the end.

 

 

There is not much more to do now. I remembered to spray the gear doors, they are drying now. I think it is just four more transfers (two on each front gear door) and the doors themselves to be fitted, the wheels(!) and fill in the cabin windows, followed by trying to deal with the inboard landing lights and wingtip lamps.

 

That is it for now, thanks for looking,

 

Ray