1/72 Boeing 737-200 Air Zimbabwe

[mitchem]

Something civvie from me 

 

I've had this kit sitting on a shelf for more years than I care to remember - I think the dust is testament to that :

 

 

Should fit into the Group Build restrictions quite easily as the Boeing 737-200 has been flown by airlines in 34 African countries. There should be plenty of colour schemes to choose from but decal availability could be a serious issue. 

 

Guess I'm going to have to do it the hard way, but at least I can aim for this as the bare minumum if I manage to get to the painting stage :

 

https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/6306437

 

Buckle-up ! I'm expecting there's going to be turbulence on our flight over Africa  

 

mike

 

 

[Col.]

That's a kit, indeed a company, I've never seen before Mike so interested to see what your box contains.

[CliffB]

A great choice and unusual in 1/72.  I do hope it's moulded in white plastic .

 

Cheers

[mitchem]

10 hours ago, CliffB said:

...I do hope it's moulded in white plastic ......

 

Thanks Cliff. Pleased to report that the important bits are moulded in white plastic, with other parts in grey, clear and a bit of etch thrown in....and rubber tyres.....

 

 

Not too many parts, so it should be a bit of a doddle..... 

 

I think that at this point, I should thank @TheyJammedKenny! for sharing pics of his 737 finished in British Airways colours (or "colors" as he would say). Truly inspirational and the real reason why I've pulled this down from the shelf, and not something easier like the Airfix 1/48 buccaneer ! .

 

In the meantime, just waiting for the flight crew to arrive from their pre-build flight briefing at the Big H warehouse control centre.

 

mike

[Smudge]

Nice. Always fancied one of those.

 

Looking forward to a nice colourful example  (good luck with the decal hunting)

[TheyJammedKenny!]

Thanks for the compliments, @mitchem!  I'm looking forward to seeing how this goes together.  I used mine--oddly--as a Mojo restorer after making a mess out of an attempted 1/72 DC-9. The correct shape resin nose radome is a welcome change in this kit (compared to mine), but you'll still need to grit your teeth and chop the nose wheel doors out of the cockpit / forward fuselage clear part.  I was really afraid of having unsightly fractures all over the clear part, but it worked out fine. 

[mitchem]

On 2/16/2021 at 6:42 PM, Smudge said:

Looking forward to a nice colourful example  (good luck with the decal hunting)

 

I've been looking at a number of options and I figured that if I'm going to crash, I may as well go down in flames . 

 

After a "nudge from Smudge", some tinkering on Photoshop, and a lot of "I think I can, I think I can....", I'm opting to return to my roots - Zimbabwe.

 

Starter for 10 :

 

 

mike

 

(P.S. My profile pic will be "flying the flag" during the Group Build  )

[Smudge]

Wow, that certainly is a colourful scheme. Respect for having a go at your own decals.  

[mitchem]

Two steps forward - one step back. 

 

Cleaned up the basic pieces for the cockpit and promptly fed a trim wheel to the carpet monster. Punched out two replacements from plastic card.....

 

 

 

...and assembled the whole lot.

 

 

....and then the flight crew arrived........and they didn't fit....

 

I could have always amputated their legs, but as they were already having to rely on one arm, I opted to rip out the control columns and rudder pedals before extending the back of the seats

 

 

Self-inflicted set-back for trying too hard 

 

mike

[Col.]

Oops. The crew figures will fill the flight deck nicely even if it does take some furniture rearranging to get them comfy.

[mitchem]

Not really the way I wanted to do it, but sometimes, stuff just happens.....

 

 

mike

[Col.]

It all looks good from that view Mike.

[mitchem]

I've left the aircrew to their own devices for the time being as I was keen to have a crack at fitting the transparent inserts into the fuselage halves.

 

Here's the port fuselage with the clear strip just visible above it :

 

 

The corresponding rectangular section of the fuselage was removed using a scriber - very thoughtful of BPK to provide a guide which would leave a supporting frame behind for the clear strip 

 

Fitted the strip; allowed the glue to dry thoroughly and then sanded the edges in, using various sanding sticks, Micromesh and a buffing pad.. Started fitting the starboard panel but then opted to tape the fuselage halves together to see the effect :

 

 

Quite pleased with the way it turned out. Far easier than I expected 

 

mike

[Col.]

That's an unusual way to get the cabin windows set in but you're making it work Mike

[Team Aer Lingus]

Fantastic work so far Mike really impressive

 

well done

 

Eamonn

[mitchem]

So while I've been waiting for the clear strips to set in the fuselage halves, I've turned my attention to the markings. The plan is to paint the cheatline segments using masking and a tonne of patience, but with regards to logos and other elements, I thought I'd take the easy way out by asking Classic Airlines if they could rescale their 1/144 sheet ? Unfortunately, I've heard that Nick is dealing with more important things in life and I never had a response. This meant that I had to take the long way around and after a few hours of messing about with Photoshop, I managed to make markings for Z-WPB "Great Zimbabwe" with a couple of instrument panel decals thrown in for good measure :

 

 

 

Here's the inspiration :

 

https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/194923

 

...named after the largest stone structure south of the Sahara :

 

https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/great-zimbabwe/

 

(Who says model-building isn't educational?  )

[Smudge]

Very nice.

 

 

[mitchem]

Clear window strips sealed in on both sides before polishing them to death. Also tried out the front door frame which has been cut from vinyl. (The remnants will be used as a mask when I get around to painting)

 

 

Speaking of painting - time to get back into the cockpit.

 

mike

[mitchem]

Crew have emerged from the changing room and the co-pilot looks a bit like Rob Beckett?  May have to put some carpeting down in the front office :

 

 

Took some of the home-made decals for a test drive on the fuselage :

 

 

The benefit of DIY markings is that I can rip these off and print some more 

 

mike

 

[Col.]

Nice work all round throughout this one Mike

[mitchem]

Attention has been moved back to the clear strips in the fuselage sides. One of the reasons why it has taken me so long to build this kit is the concern over the see through nature of the windows. First prize would have been to have a fuselage interior, but life's too short. Obviously the panoramic window strips had to go, and after some head-scratching, I'm trying something I've never done before.

 

Vinyl window masks were cut using a Silhouette cutter and these were then applied on the inside of the fuselage

 

 

These windows are slightly bigger than the masks which will be applied to the exterior, but the process could still end in a disaster.

 

Next thing to do was spray over the masks with Matt white :

 

 

Once dry, the interior of the fuselage was painted with Matt black. The masks were then removed and the fuselage halves were taped together :

 

 

No seats + no passengers = not really what I wanted.

 

I suppose I could always resort to window decals, but based on the scale, I'd rather try and avoid them.

 

In the meantime, the crew are enjoying their new location at the front, but I've already had complaints about the draft coming in the front 

 

 

[stevehnz]

I'd originally decided this was too big but then having a soft spot for that tormented nation, I looked in & am pleased I did, the Air Zim colour schemes are certainly striking & your approach looks to be on course to produce a great result. I was interested to see some other photos of it on Jetphotos including one that appears to wear a different name on its nose, but a shot taken after the close up you have shown & before a photo in a later livery but with GZ back on its nose. Any idea what happened here?

Steve.

[mitchem]

9 hours ago, stevehnz said:

I'd originally decided this was too big but then having a soft spot for that tormented nation, I looked in & am pleased I did, the Air Zim colour schemes are certainly striking & your approach looks to be on course to produce a great result. I was interested to see some other photos of it on Jetphotos including one that appears to wear a different name on its nose, but a shot taken after the close up you have shown & before a photo in a later livery but with GZ back on its nose. Any idea what happened here?

Steve.

 

Thanks Steve. Not sure what happened there as the different name "Matojeni" ended up on Z-WPC. The name is linked to the Matopos Hills outside Bulawayo (Zimbabwe's second city), where I was lucky enough to live between 1970 and 1977. 

 

Not sure what happened to the nose cone either, but it certainly looks like it was damaged at some stage, and then replaced with one that didn't have cheatline painted on it. (As I'll only be building one of these, I'll be aiming for the full effect )

 

mike

[Col.]

Tidy work and the fuselage windows look great Mike. Perhaps mocking up some basic bulkheads and seats can help fill the interior? Depends how much can be seen through all the windows but it'd be a shame to hide all your great work behind window decals.

[RidgeRunner]

On 3/6/2021 at 7:47 PM, mitchem said:

In the meantime, the crew are enjoying their new location at the front, but I've already had complaints about the draft coming in the front 

I can see Eben Murapa (my old Air Zim customer) in his rightful place :).