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1/72 Boeing 737-200 Air Zimbabwe


mitchem

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  • 3 weeks later...

Following the fiasco with my Buccaneer, I've turned my attention back to the 737.

 

The joints on the fuselage have been ironed out and I replaced the strakes on the nosecone with stretched sprue. A couple of passes with the Gloss Appliance white and this is where we are now

 

eHYyT0bl.jpg

 

After having let the paint bake in the sun yesterday, I've noticed that there are some areas on the fuselage that need attention. Progress is really slow and I know I was being ambitious when I started the process, but if it wasn't for the Group Build, I would never have started in the first place.

 

mike

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Slow progress is still progress and I'm delighted you chose this GB to work on such a worthwhile project Mike.

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On 31/05/2021 at 12:09, mitchem said:

but if it wasn't for the Group Build, I would never have started in the first place.

It's not a race Mike - I learnt that last year, rushing a couple of models to finish by a GB deadline...

 

Take your time and we'll all enjoy it when it's ready.👍

 

Great work so far!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Mike: I just caught up with your pro work on this!  It looks great, and admire your approach to the passenger interior, lights and all!  I would never have thought to do what you did.  I left the windows opaque, and because I never felt I could get window masks to line up properly and went with decals, so you're way ahead of me so far.  One thing I noticed is your decision to leave off the wings for now.  I presume this is to avoid excessive paint build-up from the Appliance White?  If you're confident that the wing/body joint is good, then more power to you!  

 

As for the engines, you came up with some innovative solutions that make the kit's less workable options...workable.  The results are great!  Will you paint them separately from the rest of the model?  What are your plans for attaching them to the wings?  Before, or after you paint the wings?  If after, that's fine, but you'll find that the wing/engine nacelle joint is a little iffy, and you'll want to give it a good sanding and test-fit the units repeatedly.  I would suggest using scrap plastic to create a stronger joint to the wing than the kit's engineering gives you.  Insert the scrap plastic in the top of the nacelle where it will join the wing, so you get a good bond.  You could use Perfect Plastic Putty, darkened with ground gray pastel to simulate insulation around the seam, rather than large quantities of more solvent-like putty.

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  • 1 month later...
On 6/3/2021 at 3:10 PM, Back in the Saddle said:

It's not a race Mike - I learnt that last year, rushing a couple of models to finish by a GB deadline...

 

Take your time and we'll all enjoy it when it's ready.👍

 

Great work so far!

 

Many thanks Matt. I'm afraid I've been side-tracked with a problem build and haven't been able to devote much time to this. Hopefully things will be back on track from now. 👍

 

On 6/21/2021 at 5:52 PM, TheyJammedKenny! said:

Mike: I just caught up with your pro work on this!  It looks great, and admire your approach to the passenger interior, lights and all!  I would never have thought to do what you did.  I left the windows opaque, and because I never felt I could get window masks to line up properly and went with decals, so you're way ahead of me so far.  One thing I noticed is your decision to leave off the wings for now.  I presume this is to avoid excessive paint build-up from the Appliance White?  If you're confident that the wing/body joint is good, then more power to you!  

 

As for the engines, you came up with some innovative solutions that make the kit's less workable options...workable.  The results are great!  Will you paint them separately from the rest of the model?  What are your plans for attaching them to the wings?  Before, or after you paint the wings?  If after, that's fine, but you'll find that the wing/engine nacelle joint is a little iffy, and you'll want to give it a good sanding and test-fit the units repeatedly.  I would suggest using scrap plastic to create a stronger joint to the wing than the kit's engineering gives you.  Insert the scrap plastic in the top of the nacelle where it will join the wing, so you get a good bond.  You could use Perfect Plastic Putty, darkened with ground gray pastel to simulate insulation around the seam, rather than large quantities of more solvent-like putty.

 

Thanks Alex. I've left the wings off because masking the fuselage's cheatline is going to be a bit of a headache. I've test fitted them onto the fuselage and I reckon I can get away with attaching them after the majority of the paintwork is completed. The good news is that the wing box area needs to be painted Boeing Grey, so I'm should be able squeak by. (Famous last words)

 

As far as the engines are concerned, many thanks for the tips. I've been preoccupied with the intakes, and doing everything that I can to remove the internal seams. Everything went according to plan, but then I realised that the diameter of the photoetch stator blades was wider the mouth of the intake. Having been to the dentist on a number of occasions recently, I figured that if he could fit all ten of his fingers in my mouth at the same time, fitting the stator blades shouldn't be that hard? With a bit of flexing, I managed to get them in and to lie flat. 👍

 

The internal bits were painted using a variety of masks and the intake lips have been finished off in matt aluminum.

 

spacer.png

 

...and exhausts (need a bit of touching up, but the use of brass tubing meant that there were no seams that need to be sorted out) :

 

spacer.png

 

Close up of the starboard engine :

 

spacer.png

 

and then a test fit on the wings :

 

spacer.png

 

All is good in Africa..... 

 

mike

 

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  • 10 months later...

...well I'm back after an extended hibernation.

 

After the original splash of Gloss Appliance White, I noticed some minor issues in the window strip / fuselage joins. Bad enough for me to move the 737 into the hangar before shutting the doors.

 

Slow forward nearly a year, and a club KUTA competition scheduled for August made me have another think. No choice but to sand everything back to basics, fill in the blemishes, re-mask the windows and slap on some more Gloss Appliance White.

 

Better than the original attempt:

 

MeTXKJ7.jpg

 

 

Time to have a go at adding some colour using the vinyl masks that I made.

 

From left to right, add the colour mask to the tail before adding the offset surround, followed by removal of the original colour mask:

 

Ii7JvKT.jpg

 

Same with the curved bits on the forward fuselage...

 

omPhR7P.jpg

 

...before slapping on the yellow undercoat :

 

ktAIpDX.jpg

 

 

After successive masking sessions for each colour, I've managed to get the basics done:

 

s0xe4mA.jpg

 

I'll park it to one side now for the time being, while I plan my next move. I think the stripes connecting the tail to the fuselage cheatline could be a bit tricky.

 

mike

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53 minutes ago, mitchem said:

and a club KUTA competition scheduled for August

 

Better not be - it's September's comp.. I hope....!! Need to find some motivation from somewhere to finish my Falklands thing first though....

 

Good to see this one back Mike - good work with the masks!

 

Keith

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Wow, what an interesting and high-detalized process! I've read all 3 pages of topic, never seen airliner model with passenger seats, even in 1/72 scale. It will be grandiose model when finished! 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Bit by bit, I'm losing my plot !

 

I removed some of the window masks through impatience. Some of the window edges are a tiny bit ragged, so I need to think about how I'm going to deal with them.

 

kzDGjBL.jpg

 

In the meantime, I'm trying to work out how to get the cheatline and tail markings to join up.

 

mike

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1 hour ago, keefr22 said:

Glad to see it back in progress Mike!

 

K

 

Thanks Keith.

 

I'm sure it won't be finished by September and having shifted my attention to the other KUTA build, I've spent most of the weekend remembering why I shelved it in the first place 😱

 

Anyway, back to the 737. I took a bit more care in removing the remainder of the window masks, and then touched up around the window frames with all four colours, The forward section of the cheatline has had the yellow base colour added, and to my surprise, it lined up on the nose cone with the yellow base coming in from the port cheatline!

 

DiZ7Trp.jpg

 

Heading in the right direction, slowly but surely.

 

mike

 

 

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1 hour ago, mitchem said:

The forward section of the cheatline has had the yellow base colour added, and to my surprise, it lined up on the nose cone with the yellow base coming in from the port cheatline!

A bit of good luck is always useful! This one is looking great Mike; I might need to build another 1/72 airliner soon instead of my current 1/144 builds. The level of detail you’ve achieved looks superb.👍

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Many thanks for the support - much appreciated.

 

Fuselage cheatline has now been completed, but I'm really struggling with the tail stripes / cheatline join. There are some complicated curves at the back of the fuselage and laying down the masking tape has been a bit hit and miss. I'm hoping that once I've sorted out the starboard side, I can use it to make a template for the port side.

 

I also removed the cockpit masks to give the pilots a bit of a view 😁

 

oz99d81.jpg

 

View of the port side (some minor touch ups required) :

 

eay0d43l.jpg

 

and a dry fit of the wings (for motivation) :

 

GToFUpSl.jpg

 

I may have to take a bit of a break from the build as the Halford's Gloss Appliance White seems to feel a bit tacky at present. Not sure if it's due to all of the masking tape that has been used, or if it's because of the atmosphere of self-levelling thinners?  (Answers on a post card if anyone has any ideas ?)

 

Thanks for dropping by.

 

mike

 

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