Lufthansa 737-500 (1/200 Hasegawa)

[bianfuxia]

 

This is my Lufthansa 737-500 in 1/200 using Draw Decals.

 

I have a project to build a model of each type of airliner I've flown (as a passenger) in the airline livery I flew it in. I picked 1/200 mainly because this project entails three 747s, three 777s, a couple of Dreamliners, an A340 or two and an A380 plus a long list of 737s, A320 family and random others. Good luck fitting those on the shelf even in this small scale! I flew on the -500 just once, an LH flight from (I think) Frankfurt to Hamburg in very early 1994. This is why I left off the Star Alliance logo on the nose, as SA didn't exist then. As far as the wing colour goes, I'm not sure it's right. When I started this in about 2017, I feel sure I looked hard for images of a LH -500 dated around that time and must have painted the wings white for a reason. Now it seems odd but I decided to get this off the Shelf of Doom the other day and just push on with the decals (which was all it needed).

 

 

 

 

The 737-500 is an interesting creature. As many readers will know, the 737 is one of the most successful airliners of all time. Across all versions it has attracted more than 15,000 orders - not far behind its main competitor the Airbus A320 family. The crashes of the latest Max models a few years ago really hit orders, too, otherwise the 737 would probably be out in front.

 

The family is broken into several groups:

the original Boeing 737-100 and the "advanced" -200 (these are the old school ones with the loud engines)

 

The next generation of -300, -400, and -500 - the "classics"

 

The generation after that, the ones you mostly see today, the -600, -700, -800, -900 - the "NG or third generation". Usually these have the big winglets.

 

The newest Max family, presently on hold due to those crashes.

 

The -500 was brought into that second main generation when airlines realized they liked the technological advances of the -300 and slightly longer -400, but still wanted the original passenger capacity of the original -200. So the -500, despite having a higher number than the -300 and -400 was actually the shortest of the the three. By the next generation, the -500 was replaced by the -600, so that the progressively higher numbers again lined up with the progressively higher capacity.

 

Here's a -500 lined up next to my China Eastern Purple Peacock -800 so you can see the size difference:

 

I flew at least once on that Purple Peacock 737 amongst my uncountable flights with China Eastern when I used to work in China. 

 

The -500 was not really a successful model. Of the nearly 11,000 737s delivered, nearly half (just under 5,000) have been the -800 model. By comparison, only 389 of the -500 were made (out of nearly 2,000 in the "classic" sub family of -300, -400, -500).

 

Even less successful was the -600, which directly replaced the -500 as the shortest 737 when the "next generation" models came in. Just 69 of those were built out of that generation's total of almost 7,000). Much to my regret, I'd booked a -600 with SAS but a -800 showed up on the day. That was in 2018 and since Covid, SAS has pensioned off its -600s, as did Westjet, the last other main operator of them in Canada. So unless I get a job at Area 51 and have to fly Janet out of Vegas each day to get to work, I will never get on a -600. This is a shame because the -100 and the -600 are the only ones I've not flown on. 

 

 

 

The kit is also of an older generation. Modern 737 kits from Hasegawa have left/right fuselage halves, while this one had top/bottom. I feel like the -500 kit has slightly less, or softer, detail than the -700s and -800s I have built. I've never got my hands on the -400 kit Hasegawa released, but I guess it's similar to this one. I won't say "toylike" because it's not, but it's just not quite as good.

 

The Draw Decals were pretty good. I see from the photos that one of the wing decals has peeled - I don't know why but it's most likely operator error. Draw Decals are little more finicky than regular ones. The main tip I have, which I got from a fellow BritModeller a while back, is that the longer decals are unwieldy and it's safer to cut them in to smaller parts than to try to wrangle a long one into the right spot without it curling up. Sound advice which I followed.

 

Other than the 737-800 in a few of those photos, the only other model I have completed as part of this project is the A319 I made recently out of the A320 kit - a chop-shop special I did within the latest Nordic Group Build:

Anyway, it was a fun project and one I'm glad to have on the shelf at last. Now to move on to the 20+ other builds in this crazy project!

 

 

[busnproplinerfan]

Those look good, looks like you have a lot to make. I like the airfield prints, where can you get those?

[bianfuxia]

46 minutes ago, busnproplinerfan said:

Those look good, looks like you have a lot to make. I like the airfield prints, where can you get those?

i got them from this website where you can download them free and print out yourself. Lots to choose from.

 

[Skodadriver]

Nice model but you need to fix the emergency exit decal on the right wing!

 

The wings were definitely white on top with grey undersides. The walkway markings were prominent.  See this photo.

 

Thanks for the link to the DIMA website.

 

Dave G

[bianfuxia]

44 minutes ago, Skodadriver said:

Nice model but you need to fix the emergency exit decal on the right wing!

 

The wings were definitely white on top with grey undersides. The walkway markings were prominent.  See this photo.

 

Thanks for the link to the DIMA website.

 

Dave G

Thanks - so I wasn't imagining it! Yes I don't know why the decal curled. I only noticed it while I was taking the pics. I will fix that somehow. I should one day try the black lines on the wings but I really dislike doing that kind of marking. I can never get the lines straight!

[F1xena]

Old 737 driver here. From 1988 I was flying for Ansett New Zealand, equipped with 737-100s. Our aircraft included the 2nd 737 off the production line, which began life with Lufthansa. We were a new airline, competing with the national carrier, and we needed new aircraft. I remember when it was announced that in 1990 we were to be one of the launch customers for the 737-500…in fact I still have my copy of the Boeing brochure that we all had delivered to our work mailboxes. We had dreams of flying them across the Tasman to Australia, as well as domestically in NZ. Unfortunately it didn’t happen, and we became victim of Ansett Australia’s CEO’s infatuation with the British Aerospace 146 instead. The company always struggled, and finally went out of business in 2001. 
Subsequent to that I got to fly the 737-300, as well as the 767-300ER, and 777-200 and -300ERs, before a COVID enforced move back to the A320/321/CEO/NEO. 

It’s great to see your model of the -500….an aircraft I had great hopes for.

[bianfuxia]

1 hour ago, F1xena said:

Old 737 driver here. From 1988 I was flying for Ansett New Zealand, equipped with 737-100s. Our aircraft included the 2nd 737 off the production line, which began life with Lufthansa. We were a new airline, competing with the national carrier, and we needed new aircraft. I remember when it was announced that in 1990 we were to be one of the launch customers for the 737-500…in fact I still have my copy of the Boeing brochure that we all had delivered to our work mailboxes. We had dreams of flying them across the Tasman to Australia, as well as domestically in NZ. Unfortunately it didn’t happen, and we became victim of Ansett Australia’s CEO’s infatuation with the British Aerospace 146 instead. The company always struggled, and finally went out of business in 2001. 
Subsequent to that I got to fly the 737-300, as well as the 767-300ER, and 777-200 and -300ERs, before a COVID enforced move back to the A320/321/CEO/NEO. 

It’s great to see your model of the -500….an aircraft I had great hopes for.

Thanks and that's great background! I always wondered about those Bae-146s - the few times I've flown in them I found them to be so small and uncomfortable.

 

One of my side projects is indeed an Ansett NZ 737-100. I got the decals from Oldmodels Decals and I am figuring out how to convert the Revell 1/200 737-200 to the 100. I never flew on that one but seeing as I am making so many 737s I thought I should have a -100. Looking around to see who else had them but the standard LH one was how I discovered your one!

 

But I've done all the easy builds now. To get the -100 I need to modify a -200; for a -300 I need to cut back the -400 kit (which I don't have yet). And for the -600 and -900 I have two extra -800s. One will get cut back and the other will be lengthened with the parts from the first. Hopefully that will work! My -800s are the China Eastern one above, an AA one, and an Air China special scheme with the Olympics characters on it. The -700 was easiest of all, because I actually went on the Air Do one that came in the Hasegawa kit. My -900 will be Korean and the -600 will be Janet, the Area 51 airline (which I obviously have not flown).

 

thanks for your interest and I hope you keep flying!

[AV O]

Very nice, bianfuxia !

She deserves another dayround on the front page.

 

Regards.

AV O

Edited January 13, 2022 by AV O

[Alex1978]

Very nice builds.

Those Hasegawa kits are fun to build.I have a ton of Hasegawa airliners waiting to be built...😊

The -500 is on of the lesser efforts from Hasegawa,compared to the 737-200 or others.

Nonetheless it builds up to a nice Baby Boeing.

 

There is nothing wrong with your wing paint.

This Lufthansa livery features a white fuselage upperhalf including the wing top.

The underside is grey as are the wings and engine cowlings.The stabs are all white with metallic leading edges.

So,looking at your model,everything seems to be correct.

 

Thanks for sharing

Alex

 

 

[AV O]

5 hours ago, Alex1978 said:

Very nice builds.

Those Hasegawa kits are fun to build. I have a ton of Hasegawa airliners waiting to be built...😊

 

Thanks for sharing.

Alex

 

 

Yes Alex, they still are. 
If I may :

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/27699-airliners-twin-jets-squadron-1200th/