Skodadriver Posted May 15, 2022 Share Posted May 15, 2022 Here is the Zvezda Tu-154M finished as LZ-BTX of Balkan Bulgarian Airlines circa 1994. The build is more or less OOB although I used BraZ engine fans in place of the unlovely kit items. Paint is Halfords Appliance Gloss White and Mr Hobby H338 grey with Humbrol and Tamiya metallics. Decals are by Two Six and are up to Ray's usual standards apart from a couple of minor points. The green sections of the two small forward doors on the right need to be shortened by just over 1mm otherwise the doors will be too tall and affect the placement of the main “Balkan” title. If you have filled the door outlines it’s easy to get caught out as I was. Also a bit of patching material would have been nice since the red and green stripes don’t meet under the belly and the green in particular proved difficult to match with paint. Windows are from Authentic Airliner Decals and I added a sensible modicum of stencils from the spares box. The obligatory soot staining was done with artist’s pastels. Thanks for looking and constructive criticism is always welcome Dave G 61 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hook Posted May 15, 2022 Share Posted May 15, 2022 Very nice! The soot looks suitable subtle. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisrope Posted May 15, 2022 Share Posted May 15, 2022 Amazing rendition, nicely done. I’ve been on that exact aircraft too 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted May 15, 2022 Share Posted May 15, 2022 Very smart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exdraken Posted May 15, 2022 Share Posted May 15, 2022 Great work!! Such an elegant and at the same time brute aircraft Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex1978 Posted May 15, 2022 Share Posted May 15, 2022 Superb build Dave with a nice choice of livery.👍 An extra 👍because its one of my favourite aircrafts Alex 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coneheadff Posted May 15, 2022 Share Posted May 15, 2022 Great looking Tu!!! Can't remember how often I flew in one of them as a kid from Berlin to Sofia and back...and I always hated it 😁 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romeo Alpha Yankee Posted May 16, 2022 Share Posted May 16, 2022 Very nicely done Dave (as usual ). It's a very nice scheme as well 🏆 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted May 16, 2022 Share Posted May 16, 2022 Cracking build Dave, lovely model! Really gorgeous finish! Remember taking my son to Cardiff airport a few times to see these arrive - you could spot the smoke trails for miles out over the Bristol Channel! Great noise from them too - and Ryanair were still operating 732's, so two classic noisy, smoky jet airliners to watch - happy days! Keith 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted May 16, 2022 Share Posted May 16, 2022 That is very nice indeed.Great job! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eng Posted May 16, 2022 Share Posted May 16, 2022 Beautiful build, I remember these being regular Glasgow visitors in the 90's. I had a very quick look onboard one once when I worked for Alpha Flt Catering, bit of an eye-opener compared to the likes of the 737/757's at the time. Was crossing the swing bridge at Renfrew once and saw one on finals, when I pointed it out to my wife her immediate response was, "Is that on fire?"!! Yep they were definitely not good for the planet! Lovely work, Eng 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GiampieroSilvestri Posted May 16, 2022 Share Posted May 16, 2022 Beautiful Tupolev Tu-154M! The Tu-154,Ilyushin Il-62 and the Caravelle are the most elegant passenger aircraft ever built. Saluti Giampiero 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viking Posted May 16, 2022 Share Posted May 16, 2022 Lovely work as usual Dave, the Tu-154 has bags of character. I couldn't agree more about decal sheets having a bit of 'patching' material on them. I'm always grateful when they do. Cheers John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wulfman Posted May 16, 2022 Share Posted May 16, 2022 A beautiful build ! Wulfman 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stringbag Posted May 17, 2022 Share Posted May 17, 2022 I remember the Balkan 154's regularly visiting Manchester when I used to make the trip there for an afternoon spotting. They could be seen for miles when on approach, trailing black smoke. that's a lovely result Dave. Thanks for posting. Chris. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim R-T-C Posted May 17, 2022 Share Posted May 17, 2022 Beautiful build and that weathering is lovely. Wish I had gotten a flight on one of these back in the day. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAT69 Posted May 17, 2022 Share Posted May 17, 2022 On 5/16/2022 at 6:38 AM, GiampieroSilvestri said: Beautiful Tupolev Tu-154M! The Tu-154,Ilyushin Il-62 and the Caravelle are the most elegant passenger aircraft ever built. Can I add the Comet 4 series to that list? And the VC-10 and Super VC-10? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ventsislav Gramatski Posted May 17, 2022 Share Posted May 17, 2022 Beautiful model that brings back childhood memories, I was in the cockpit of one of those Balkan Tu-154s as a kid during a landing! I miss Balkan's livery, it was awesome. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bianfuxia Posted May 17, 2022 Share Posted May 17, 2022 Fantastic build! While we're all telling Tu-154 stories ..I've never been on one but I saw an Air Vladivostok one at Harbin airport in China in 2007, January it would have been so super cold. That beautiful looking plane also looked like it had seen its best days probably decades prior. I was simultaneously wishing I could go on it and very glad I was sitting in a nice new China Eastern 737! I could only imagine what an Air Vladivostok flight from Harbin to Vladivostok must have been like inside the cabin in a North Chinese - Eastern Russian winter! Congrats on a top class model! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malair Posted May 27, 2022 Share Posted May 27, 2022 A wonderful build as always Dave! I'm a sucker for Soviet Aircraft and you've done this bird justice. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BerndM Posted May 27, 2022 Share Posted May 27, 2022 Lovely build in a very nice and colorful livery. The Tu-154 has really great lines. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted May 27, 2022 Share Posted May 27, 2022 That is a lovely build Dave, sorry I missed it the 1st time around. I like the look of these aircraft, they have a certain elegance to my mind. The only time I saw them was flying over a friend's house in East Sheen in the mid 80s where I was staying for a time, they were right under the Heathrow flight path, no memory of smokey motors or chance to see the liveries. They did have some very attractive ones as yours has brought out so well. 👍 Steve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PLC1966 Posted May 27, 2022 Share Posted May 27, 2022 That is a lovely build. Always enjoy looking at the Russian built Airliners, always looked so elegant...... And checking my logs, I saw LZ-BTX at Heathrow 28Aug91... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vesa Jussila Posted May 30, 2022 Share Posted May 30, 2022 Looks really nice. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abandoned Project Posted July 24, 2022 Share Posted July 24, 2022 Ooh, that's pretty. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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