Eastern Express Boeing 747SP Aerolineas Argentinas 1/144

[Alex1978]

As I mentioned,and as it can be read through a link in my WIP of the -SP,some negative critics were given,shortly after the kits release.

 

Here the link to the WIP

Well,for those of you,who did not follow my build,I can assure you that nothing of those mentioned problems showed up.

I checked and cross-checked all 747 kits with drawings provided and it only showed that Eastern Express researched their subject very well.

The 747SP kit is,in my humble opinion,probably the most accurate injection moulded 747 kit available in 1/144.

How it compares to the resin counterpart from Authentic Airliners,I cant say because I do not own one and have not seen one either.But I assume there wont be many differences shapewise.

 

The build itself was more or less straight from the box,just some hydraulic cables were added to the already very well detailed landing gear.

The fit overall was very good throughout,carefull cleaning and sanding of the mating surfaces is recommended,then everything fits together very well.

Very little puttying and sanding was required on the fuselage.

The wingbox fits almost perfect into the fuselage.

 

The installation of the landing gear was the most troublesome part of the build.

To get all wheels touch the ground isnt so easy,but thats something that comes with almost every 747 kit.

I would recommend though to remove the locators for the wing landing gear in the gearboxes of the wing.They seem a tad to high and keep  the center main gear off the ground...ask me how I know😉.

It was a fiddly task to remove them after all was glued together and painted.So sanding them away before glueing the wing halves together will save a lot of trouble. 

The rest is no problem,just carefully read the instructions.

The instructions are the weakest part of the kit.The sprues contain only letters and the parts are not numbered.

Every sprue with their respective parts layout is in a diagram on the instruction sheet.

You will have to make out every part needed via the diagram.

 

I chose Aerolineas Argentinas because its a very attractive livery and the airline was a regular visitor at Zurich airport for many years.

Originally,I ordered that decal set from f-dcal,but for some reason,since mid december I received no news/update/ money or even a reply to my emails.

 

Thankfully Ray from 26 Decals was a big help and provided me one of his decal sets,designed esp. for the EE kit.

They fit perfectly and are nice to use.

A big thanks again to Ray 👏👍👍👍,otherwise this build would have been stalled infinite,or the whole model repainted.

Paints used for this build are from Gunze (white,some metallic shades)and Testors (engine cowlings,voodoo grey for the wings.)

 

The coroguard panels are a mix of Tamyia metallic grey mixed with light grey.

 

My conclusion;

 

Pros;

Very accurate mouldings

Only injection moulded 747SP

Highly detailed

Very good fit of parts

Decals are also nice,if one wishes to use the kit provided ones

 

Cons.

Very high priced

Instructions

Over engineered in some places (less is more)

 

Highly recommended kit for those who wish to have a 747SP in their collection and who dont fancy resin or vac formed kits.

 

I hope I tempted some to get one of these kits😊😉

 

Enogh text,here some photos

 

Enjoy 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 1, 2021 by Alex1978

[alxzinbox]

All your builds are flawless! always a pleasure

[mitchem]

Fantastic !  

 

Desperate to get my hands on one of these now, but the colour schemes I want aren't available yet .......

 

...almost tempted to buy one of the others just in case !

 

Thanks for posting.

 

Mike

[Alex1978]

11 minutes ago, mitchem said:

Fantastic !  

 

Desperate to get my hands on one of these now, but the colour schemes I want aren't available yet .......

 

...almost tempted to buy one of the others just in case !

 

Thanks for posting.

 

Mike

Thank you very much Mike.

 

I dont know which one you like but Ray from 26 offers quite a range of options together with the kit.

Few days ago,I received my Braniff Big Orange from him.

My next planned -SP after that will be SOFIA.

And a RollsRoyce powered -SP would be great as well of course☺😋

[26Decals]

That looks fantastic Alex, I will be very happy if mine looks half as good as yours

 

 

[Alex1978]

23 minutes ago, 26Decals said:

That looks fantastic Alex, I will be very happy if mine looks half as good as yours

 

 

Thank you very much Ray.

The decals are very nice.Thanks again

My other order with the Braniff kit arrived as well a few days ago.Might start that one soon I hope.

Just a question about the detail set that you provide with the airline decals;

Is there another kind of decal paper or printing method used compared to your previous detail sets ?

They seem a lot thinner and very delicate to handle.Or is there another way of using them ?

I usually soak my decals in warm water and use MicroSet decal soft .

 

Alex

[neilg]

That's beautiful!  Seeing your build inspired me to get the same kit in United Airlines livery!

[swralph]

Lovely build Alex.😀

[Abandoned Project]

Another beautiful build. Love the Aerolineas Argentinas livery. The only negative point for me is that the 747SP is not my cup of tea.

[Turbofan]

Hi Alex,

 

Great result! So nice to see the Aerolineas Argentinas livery not one we see very often, you need a strip of white decal for the Argentinian flag by the way! Nicely weathered too.

Having built the Authentic Airliners kit recently I can't see any differences shapewise and at nearly half the price the EE looks to be the one to go for although it's still way overpriced!! 

4 hours ago, Alex1978 said:

Few days ago,I received my Braniff Big Orange from him.

I've always thought of the Braniff 747-100 as the 'Big Orange'  and the 747SP as 'Orange Squash' but maybe it's just me!!

Looking forward to your Braniff machine in RFI. I'm considering an SAA SP when it's available.

 

Cheers,

Ian

Edited February 1, 2021 by Turbofan

[Alex1978]

39 minutes ago, Turbofan said:

Hi Alex,

 

Great result! So nice to see the Aerolineas Argentinas livery not one we see very often, you need a strip of white decal for the Argentinian flag by the way! Nicely weathered too.

Having built the Authentic Airliners kit recently I can't see any differences shapewise and at nearly half the price the EE looks to be the one to go for although it's still way overpriced!! 

I've always thought of the Braniff 747-100 as the 'Big Orange'  and the 747SP as 'Orange Squash' but maybe it's just me!!

Looking forward to your Braniff machine in RFI. I'm considering an SAA SP when it's available.

 

Cheers,

Ian

Thank you very much Ian

 

Oops,I didnt notice the missing stripe in the flag,I will add that  to it👍

 

Good to know that the EE and AA kit are no different.Thanks for confirming that.

 

I wasnt aware that the Braniff -SP had a different nickname.I thought it was the same as their standard 747.

I guess I will start on this kit soon,after I cleared my workbench a bit.

There are still some 747 under construction amongst other projects.😊

 

Cheers

Alex

Edited February 1, 2021 by Alex1978

[woody37]

That come out superbly, great choice of scheme too

 

[Skodadriver]

Excellent result Alex - beautiful build, beautiful finish and realistic weathering.

 

I'll also take the opportunity of saying thanks for your WIP. It's a masterclass and a great source of reference.

 

Dave G

[Alex1978]

8 minutes ago, Skodadriver said:

Excellent result Alex - beautiful build, beautiful finish and realistic weathering.

 

I'll also take the opportunity of saying thanks for your WIP. It's a masterclass and a great source of reference.

 

Dave G

Thank you very much for your kind words Dave.

I really appreciate it

[SAT69]

Definitely an excellent build.

[26Decals]

On 2/1/2021 at 5:21 PM, Alex1978 said:

Thank you very much Ray.

The decals are very nice.Thanks again

My other order with the Braniff kit arrived as well a few days ago.Might start that one soon I hope.

Just a question about the detail set that you provide with the airline decals;

Is there another kind of decal paper or printing method used compared to your previous detail sets ?

They seem a lot thinner and very delicate to handle.Or is there another way of using them ?

I usually soak my decals in warm water and use MicroSet decal soft .

 

Alex

Hi Alex.

They are printed by BOA Decal and as far as I know they haven't changed anything but they do recommend adding a few drops of washing up liquid to the water to help the decal move more easily into position once applied to the model

[stringbag]

Very nice indeed Alex.  The livery is rather smart I must say.

 

Chris.

[Gimme Shelter]

How did I miss this superb build. Probably the best 1144 747 kit I have ever seen built - (IMHO) - such a shame the SP fuselage is not available as a cheap and standard option for us civie builders.

 

tip top - I just love this model of yours

[Milczacy]

What a Beatuy 👏

[Alex1978]

5 hours ago, Gimme Shelter said:

How did I miss this superb build. Probably the best 1144 747 kit I have ever seen built - (IMHO) - such a shame the SP fuselage is not available as a cheap and standard option for us civie builders.

 

tip top - I just love this model of yours

Thank you very much for your compliments

 

[BluesModeller]

Superb finish on that 747!

[Adam Poultney]

Love the SP, looks so strange. I wonder what a later SP might have looked like, based on perhaps a -400, purely unrealistic what if thinking

[Team Aer Lingus]

Fabulous work Alex it was a joy watching you put this one together very well done 👏

 

thanks for sharing

 

regards

 

Eamonn

[Alex1978]

8 hours ago, Adam Poultney said:

Love the SP, looks so strange. I wonder what a later SP might have looked like, based on perhaps a -400, purely unrealistic what if thinking

Would be interesting.

Probably including the longer upperdeck,greater wingspan and winglets...🤔

 

[JWM]

Great result!

How many 747 do you have now on shelves?

Regards

J-W