Jump to content

Alitalia Caravelle VI-N in 1/144


Recommended Posts

IMHO the most beautiful jet airliner of all times is the Caravelle. In the 1960-80's they were widely used by various airlines, most of them European ones. For instance the Finnish flag carrier, Finnair operated several Caravelles of different types during 23 years.

 

One of the Caravelle operators was Alitalia whose old livery looked very elegant (in my mind very much smarter than the airline's later green, white and red livery). I built the Alitalia Caravelle VI-N from the excellent Authentic Airliners 1/144 resin kit. The decals I ordered from 26Decals. The assembly of the resin kit was, as usual, straightforward and without any problems.

 

However, the same cannot be said about the decals.The problem was the cockpit area where they didn't fit at all. The cheatline namely consists of horizontal white and blue lines that spread wider at the cockpit area. In order to get all the lines horizontal on the convex surface of the fuselage tip I had to cut each and every line off the decal and attach them one by one. In fact, I had to order another decal sheet from 26Decals to get the more material for the job. In the end I think I managed reasonably well.

 

I painted the white areas of the fuselage with Tamiya fine surface primer which I then sprayed with Tamiya gloss varnish TS-13. The metal areas I primed with Tamiya gloss black TS-14 and sprayed with Vallejo metal colour-aluminium shade. For the landing gears, wheels, and smaller details I also used Humbrol enamels and Vallejo acrylics.

 

spacer.png

 

spacer.png

 

spacer.png

 

spacer.png

 

spacer.png

 

spacer.png

 

spacer.png

  • Like 44
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is exquisite!  The decals must've been a pain, indeed.  I agree with you about the looks of the Caravelle: one the most attractive airliners ever built!  Regrettably, I never flew on one, and I understand they had a "smallish" feel on the inside.

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'll always steer clear of a multi striped cheatline that meets on the nose. You are braver than me Einar, and have made a beautiful job of it! I'd agree that this is one of the most attractive liveries.

 

Cheers

 

John

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 minutes ago, Viking said:

I'll always steer clear of a multi striped cheatline that meets on the nose. You are bracer than me Einar, and have made3 a beautiful job of it! I'd agree that this is one of the most attractive liveries.

 

Cheers

 

John

Thanks John,

 

Einar

Link to comment
Share on other sites

27 minutes ago, TheyJammedKenny! said:

This is exquisite!  The decals must've been a pain, indeed.  I agree with you about the looks of the Caravelle: one the most attractive airliners ever built!  Regrettably, I never flew on one, and I understand they had a "smallish" feel on the inside.

Thanks, you're quite right they, were quite narrow inside

 

Cheers

 

Einar

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another lovely model Einar, thanks for sharing.

 

I tend to agree with @Viking that multiple stripes round a model's nose are best avoided!  In fairness to 26 Decals your problems probably arose because most of their Caravelle sheets were designed to fit the Airfix kit which is inaccurate around the nose. Anyhow, your hard work and skill have produced a superb result which more than justifies the effort.

 

Just one small suggestion. A couple of years ago I built a modified Airfix kit in Alitalia green strip livery using 26 Decals. I overlaid the 26 windows with Authentic Airliners window decals and I was pleased with the result which you can see here. I think they add a final touch and I wonder if you would consider "retrofitting" them?

 

Dave G

 

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

39 minutes ago, Skodadriver said:

Another lovely model Einar, thanks for sharing.

 

I tend to agree with @Viking that multiple stripes round a model's nose are best avoided!  In fairness to 26 Decals your problems probably arose because most of their Caravelle sheets were designed to fit the Airfix kit which is inaccurate around the nose. Anyhow, your hard work and skill have produced a superb result which more than justifies the effort.

 

Just one small suggestion. A couple of years ago I built a modified Airfix kit in Alitalia green strip livery using 26 Decals. I overlaid the 26 windows with Authentic Airliners window decals and I was pleased with the result which you can see here. I think they add a final touch and I wonder if you would consider "retrofitting" them?

 

Dave G

 

Thank you Dave!

 

Your Caravelle looks excellent!

 

That's a very good idea. I will absolutely retrofit the AA windows. I have an extra set of them so I can do the trick.

 

Cheers,

Einar

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Buzby061 said:

A lovely rendition of a classic aeroplane. I logged quite a few of those from the terraces at Ringway many moons ago!

 

Pete

Thanks Pete,

 

Einar

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Antti_K said:

More beautiful work Einar! The smooth aluminium painted surface really caught my eye. Well done!

 

Cheers,

Antti

Thanks / kiitos Antti!

 

Cheers

 

Einar

2 minutes ago, ForestFan said:

That’s lovely, great job you’ve done there

Thank you!

 

Einar

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Einar,

A classic airliner in a classic scheme and yet another of your top class models. Those Alitalia stripes were worth the effort and added expense.

Vincent

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, exdraken said:

Very nice model! , and the Caravelle is anyways one of my favourite classic designs!

As Alitalia is bowing out, very worthy!

Thank you Exdraken!

Einar

 

 

8 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

Looks lovely, despite your issues with the decals it turned out really well.

Great work 

Chris

Thanks Chris,

 

Einar

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, Vincent said:

Einar,

A classic airliner in a classic scheme and yet another of your top class models. Those Alitalia stripes were worth the effort and added expense.

Vincent

Thank you Vincent!

 

Einar

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wonderful Caravelle.

I agree,cheatlines around the nose of an airliner are a pain to achieve.You did a great job on this.

I remember seeing the last flying Caravelle in Europe in 1991-1992 in Zurich.It was the Swiss charter airline Air City who operated the last one.They eventually had to phase her out because the Swiss authoroties did not renew the Caravelles air worthiness certificate.

It was always a nice and somehow unusual sight,seeing her at the gate side by side with the then quite new A320s

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...