British Airways Boeing 747-400, Revell 1:144 - Landor

[neilg]

I've said it before, but British Airways Landor livery is - in my opinion - one of the smartest schemes ever put onto an aircraft.

 

On Concorde, it looks beautiful, but is equally elegant on the 747-400.  The box art for this kit does a good job showing off its elegance.

 

I never got to see G-BNLY after it was repainted in the Landor colours, but I remember smiling a lot when I saw the first images after it was rolled out.  The only retro scheme I saw in person was G-CIVB in the Negus livery.

 

I first built the Revell kit in Landor colours when I was at university.  That one is still hanging up in my parents' house, but every time I see it, I wince with displeasure.  I didn't mask very well, didn't know about filler then, so the result was quite unsatisfactory.

 

I was determined to do a better job with this one, and I am pleased this time with how it turned out.

 

Last time, I used Humbrol gloss white, brush-painted, for the fuselage.  On this build, I followed the instructions and used Revell 371 light grey. 

 

I used for the first time a Revell spray paint, which went on really well and gave a nice smooth result.  The only thing is, the cans are not very large, and I used almost an entire can just on this one model alone.

 

The belly and engines are Humbrol 15 midnight blue.  This is a deviation from the instructions, which specify a mix of 85% Lufthansa blue 350 + 15% black 302.

 

The decals took an age to apply - there are many NO STEP markings for the wings, and the CUT HERE IN EMERGENCY stencils are made of five pieces - four corner markings plus the text decal.  It's an awful way to do these!  I don't know how old this kit is, but the decals went on without any problems.

 

I was also particularly worried about the wrap-around decal for the red stripe around the tail, and how to paint the blue belly to match the curve.  This was another thing that went wrong on the first build, where I tapered the blue into a sharp point, rather than curve around.

 

This is G-BNLI, City of Sheffield.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 13, 2021 by neilg

[phil1]

wow mate, she looks magnificent. best aircraft, best livery. well done mate!

 

Phil

[gazza l]

Really nice work, very smart indeed that livery.

 

gazza l 

[Viking]

Very elegant! It is always good to go back and try another build of a model from your early days. It is amazing what you learn in a short time.

 

Cheers

 

john

[Challenger350Pilot]

Hi Neil;

 

I must agree with Phil…the best plane and the beat livery. Very good work indeed! I am quite familiar with the Revell 747-400…it brings some pretty challenging hurdles to the workbench. Some of those are surmounted with perseverance, patience, and a lot of sanding…and some we just have to live with. And your learning process from a previous build seems to have really paid off…in modeling airliners…school never stops! Really appreciate your particulars using Revell paint. One of my local hobby shops has just begun to carry the Revell paint line, and I am anxious to try them. 
 

Thanks for sharing! 

[FRO]

Great

[Sky Keg]

Very nice Neil.  The queen of civil aviation is the 747 and did it proud with these beautiful renditions.  

 

Mike

[SAT69]

Gorgeous build!

[neilg]

12 hours ago, Viking said:

Very elegant! It is always good to go back and try another build of a model from your early days. It is amazing what you learn in a short time.

 

Cheers

 

john

 

I wanted to be able to do it sooner, but this kit is really hard to find these days!

 

I'm slowly redoing my past collection just to give me some satisfaction!

[neilg]

10 hours ago, Challenger350Pilot said:

Hi Neil;

 

I must agree with Phil…the best plane and the beat livery. Very good work indeed! I am quite familiar with the Revell 747-400…it brings some pretty challenging hurdles to the workbench. Some of those are surmounted with perseverance, patience, and a lot of sanding…and some we just have to live with. And your learning process from a previous build seems to have really paid off…in modeling airliners…school never stops! Really appreciate your particulars using Revell paint. One of my local hobby shops has just begun to carry the Revell paint line, and I am anxious to try them. 
 

Thanks for sharing! 

 

I have seen other people's builds with extensive plastic surgery on the nose - I wasn't really up for doing that, because I have four of these to build, and I wanted them to all look the same.

 

The only modification I made was to the landing gear, to position them for weight off wheels.

 

Someone else had a 747 build with flaps extended, which looked great - but way beyond my skill!

7 hours ago, Sky Keg said:

Very nice Neil.  The queen of civil aviation is the 747 and did it proud with these beautiful renditions.  

 

Mike

 

Thanks!

 

Two more to come!

[Back in the Saddle]

You’ve done a great job with this one Neil, it looks fantastic!

[Alex1978]

Superb build in every way.

 

Its a 747 =👍👍👍👍👍

Landor livery = 👍👍👍

Together with another BA 747= 👍👍👍👍👍

 

Full marks here from me.

 

Side note; the Revell BA 747-400 was first released in 1996.

The decal sheet is great and very extensive

[RMCS]

Outstanding 

[JosephLalor]

Fine job, Neil, very attractive result.

 

You've just reminded me that I have that kit myself and that somewhere I have a book from the BA marketing department with dimensioned drawings of the Landor livery on various types.  Also, if memory serves, Pantone references for the colours.  I could probably dig those out and see if I can find matches using e-paint.co.uk or encycolorpedia.com.  The Xtracolor range featured the Landor Pearl Grey and the Chatham Dockyard blue.

Edited June 13, 2021 by JosephLalor

[neilg]

12 hours ago, JosephLalor said:

Fine job, Neil, very attractive result.

 

You've just reminded me that I have that kit myself and that somewhere I have a book from the BA marketing department with dimensioned drawings of the Landor livery on various types.  Also, if memory serves, Pantone references for the colours.  I could probably dig those out and see if I can find matches using e-paint.co.uk or encycolorpedia.com.  The Xtracolor range featured the Landor Pearl Grey and the Chatham Dockyard blue.

 

Yes, I read some comments about the X304 British Airways grey on this forum:

 

 

[Back in the Saddle]

17 hours ago, JosephLalor said:

I have a book from the BA marketing department with dimensioned drawings of the Landor livery on various types.  Also, if memory serves, Pantone references for the colours.

I would be very interested in a copy of this please Joseph, should you dig it out...! 🤞

[Einar]

On 13/06/2021 at 11:10, neilg said:

I've said it before, but British Airways Landor livery is - in my opinion - one of the smartest schemes ever put onto an aircraft.

 

On Concorde, it looks beautiful, but is equally elegant on the 747-400.  The box art for this kit does a good job showing off its elegance.

 

I never got to see G-BNLY after it was repainted in the Landor colours, but I remember smiling a lot when I saw the first images after it was rolled out.  The only retro scheme I saw in person was G-CIVB in the Negus livery.

 

I first built the Revell kit in Landor colours when I was at university.  That one is still hanging up in my parents' house, but every time I see it, I wince with displeasure.  I didn't mask very well, didn't know about filler then, so the result was quite unsatisfactory.

 

I was determined to do a better job with this one, and I am pleased this time with how it turned out.

 

Last time, I used Humbrol gloss white, brush-painted, for the fuselage.  On this build, I followed the instructions and used Revell 371 light grey. 

 

I used for the first time a Revell spray paint, which went on really well and gave a nice smooth result.  The only thing is, the cans are not very large, and I used almost an entire can just on this one model alone.

 

The belly and engines are Humbrol 15 midnight blue.  This is a deviation from the instructions, which specify a mix of 85% Lufthansa blue 350 + 15% black 302.

 

The decals took an age to apply - there are many NO STEP markings for the wings, and the CUT HERE IN EMERGENCY stencils are made of five pieces - four corner markings plus the text decal.  It's an awful way to do these!  I don't know how old this kit is, but the decals went on without any problems.

 

I was also particularly worried about the wrap-around decal for the red stripe around the tail, and how to paint the blue belly to match the curve.  This was another thing that went wrong on the first build, where I tapered the blue into a sharp point, rather than curve around.

 

This is G-BNLI, City of Sheffield.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Simply awesome!