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Pan Am's Sky Pig 747SP


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I modelled the The Pan Am Boeing 747SP from an Authentic Airliners 1/144 scale resin kit with the billboard decals from 26Decals and the cabin/cockpit windows from Authentic Airliners decals. As always, the quality of the AA kit was excellent and the 26Decals went on very well without difficulties. The white part of the fuselage is Tamiya Fine surface primer covered with Tamiya clear gloss spray. The metal areas were painted with Alclad polished aluminium and the light grey parts with Xtracolor Canadian voodoo grey X150

 

On October 30, 1977 Pan Am made history when the Boeing 747SP "New Horizons" N533PA completed an amazing around the world flight over both the North and South Pole in a record 54 hours, 7 minutes. Named ‘Pan Am Flight 50’ this amazing flight was a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the airline. The flight started at San Francisco with three stopovers, in London, Cape Town and Auckland.

New Horizons is in fact the very same plane (N533PA) that I have modelled. For some curious reason, when painting the plane with the new billboard livery the company also changed the name of the aircraft to "Clipper Young America". However, they kept the image "Flight 50" on the fuselage.

 

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1 minute ago, neilg said:

Are all of the probes part of the kit or are they aftermarket details?

All the photoetch probes are part of the kit

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2 minutes ago, Viking said:

Very nice, it is one of those ugly/beautiful aircraft.

 

Cheers

 

John

Thanks John

 

Cheers

Einar

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15 minutes ago, Alex1978 said:

Stunning build.

Superb detail.

Quite a number of SPs appeared recently here on BM👍

Keep 'em 

32 minutes ago, Team Aer Lingus said:

Another beauty Einar outstanding work

 

thanks for sharing

 

Eamonn

 

Go raibh maith agat, Eamonn😀

 

 

16 minutes ago, Alex1978 said:

Stunning build.

Superb detail.

Quite a number of SPs appeared recently here on BM👍

Keep 'em 

33 minutes ago, Team Aer Lingus said:

Another beauty Einar outstanding work

 

thanks for sharing

 

Eamonn

 

Go raibh maith agat, Eamonn😀

 

 

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3 hours ago, Viking said:

Very nice, it is one of those ugly/beautiful aircraft.

The jury is still out for me. OK, it's a 747 but there is just something that looks wrong to me but I'm still liking it. Super looking SP though.

:goodjob:

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43 minutes ago, Abandoned Project said:

The jury is still out for me. OK, it's a 747 but there is just something that looks wrong to me but I'm still liking it. Super looking SP though.

:goodjob:

Thank you very much!

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Beautifully done!  The SP was a real high-performer in so many respects, and it's a shame they are long gone.  How did you attach all the data probes?  Did you use CA, or white glue?  This usually eludes me in 1/72 scale, and you've done it in 1/144, so I'm very impressed.  

 

Regarding @Abandoned Project's comment, the only thing I can think of that might be "off" is the wing dihedral, but that's hard for me to judge as a non-747 expert.  Maybe the wing tanks are really full!!!

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32 minutes ago, TheyJammedKenny! said:

he only thing I can think of that might be "off" is the wing dihedral

Maybe TJK! Maybe if it was a twin jet and not a quad, it might be that that is throwing me off.

It's not the model that seems wrong somehow for me, it's the 747SP in general but it is just my opinion.

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24 minutes ago, Abandoned Project said:

Maybe TJK! Maybe if it was a twin jet and not a quad, it might be that that is throwing me off.

It's not the model that seems wrong somehow for me, it's the 747SP in general but it is just my opinion.

It looks a bit off due to the proportions,but I always liked the stubby 747.

Its like a "Baby Jumbo Jet"...😉

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10 minutes ago, Alex1978 said:

It looks a bit off due to the proportions,but I always liked the stubby 747.

Its like a "Baby Jumbo Jet"...😉

Well, I've tried to build the model as accurately as I could so I really cannot say why it doesn't  look ok. The AA kits are normally spot-on in proportions so it really beats me!

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1 hour ago, TheyJammedKenny! said:

Beautifully done!  The SP was a real high-performer in so many respects, and it's a shame they are long gone.  How did you attach all the data probes?  Did you use CA, or white glue?  This usually eludes me in 1/72 scale, and you've done it in 1/144, so I'm very impressed.  

 

Regarding @Abandoned Project's comment, the only thing I can think of that might be "off" is the wing dihedral, but that's hard for me to judge as a non-747 expert.  Maybe the wing tanks are really full!!!

Thank you very much. I used white glue to attach the photoetch data probes. As far as the "offness" of the model is concerned, I really can't say anything.

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33 minutes ago, Einar said:

Well, I've tried to build the model as accurately as I could so I really cannot say why it doesn't  look ok. The AA kits are normally spot-on in proportions so it really beats me!

Thats not what I meant.

Its beautifully build and nicely detailed.

 

I just tried to explain Abandon Project's impression on the SP itself.

Due to the shorter fuselage,the SP looks a bit off in its proprtions,because the wingspan is the same as on the regular 747s but it also has increased hight and span of the fin and rudder.

 

The standard 747s are approx. 70 meters in length and 59 meters wingspan compared to approx. 56 meters in length of the SP.

Thats what gives it its very special look.

Many love the SP just because of that,I am one of them.

As a 747 fan myself,its difficult to say which version I prefer...I just love all 747s☺

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19 minutes ago, Alex1978 said:

Thats not what I meant.

Its beautifully build and nicely detailed.

 

I just tried to explain Abandon Project's impression on the SP itself.

Due to the shorter fuselage,the SP looks a bit off in its proprtions,because the wingspan is the same as on the regular 747s but it also has increased hight and span of the fin and rudder.

 

The standard 747s are approx. 70 meters in length and 59 meters wingspan compared to approx. 56 meters in length of the SP.

Thats what gives it its very special look.

Many love the SP just because of that,I am one of them.

As a 747 fan myself,its difficult to say which version I prefer...I just love all 747s☺

Thank you Alex for your explanation😄

 

Einar

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27 minutes ago, Alex1978 said:

Due to the shorter fuselage,the SP looks a bit off in its proprtions,because the wingspan is the same as on the regular 747s but it also has increased hight and span of the fin and rudder.

Referring not to the OP's truly beautiful model...but to the real a/c, itself...one is almost reminded of the 'egg plane' kits currently available for so many types. Everything looks oddly foreshortened.

But, to be clear, the model is glorious.

 

And any 747 is rightly a 'Queen of the Skies'...particularly one as accomplished as this one was.

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2 minutes ago, thorfinn said:

Referring not to the OP's truly beautiful model...but to the real a/c, itself...one is almost reminded of the 'egg plane' kits currently available for so many types. Everything looks oddly foreshortened.

But, to be clear, the model is glorious.

 

And any 747 is rightly a 'Queen of the Skies'...particularly one as accomplished as this one was.

Thank you for the explanation. The 747SP really looks odd, just like the egg planes. But there are still some SP's flying around😄

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