Authentic Airliners 1:144 DH-106 Comet 4C Mexicana

[Malair]

My latest build is the Authentic Airliners 1:144 DH-106 Comet 4C Mexicana. I once made Airfix's Comet 4B, but that kit has a lot of flaws and when I heard that Authentic Airliners came out with a kit for the 4C, I couldn't pass it up.

 

Poor famed Comet 1....what civil aviation enthusiast doesn't know the tragic story? The world's first commercially produced jet-powered passenger jet airliner with the famous fatigue-induced crashes in the 1950s. The Comet could have been a real success story, but Boeing and Douglas, among others, learned from the mistakes of De Havilland and build superior aircraft. By the time De Havilland came out with an improved version in the form of the Comet 4, the Comet had already played its part (although the Comet 4 was otherwise a very capable aircraft).

 

The Comet 4C I will be making is an extended version of the Comet 4 sans suffix. In particular, the fuel tanks on the wings of the Comet 4 I find very striking (our 5-year old son likes those a lot too. It looks like an X-Wing he said :p) .

 

The kit is truly excellent and comes highly recommended. The decals by Vintage Flyer are also very nice (and as a bonus come with AccuScribe, for easy masking). Cockpit decals are from Authentic Airliner Decals, but I didn’t like all the windows from that decal sheet, so I made the windows a combination of Authentic Airliner decals and Vintage Flyer’s window decals.

 

I used Tamiya white for the top of the fuselage and Inspire Chrome for the metal parts. The antennas are scratched and the wire antenna is made using a hair from my girlfriend.

 

At any rate the pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My next build will be the Authentic Airliners Lockheed L-1011 (Air Atlanta).

 

Thanks for watching and see you next time!

 

Martijn

Edited May 27, 2022 by Malair

[Lewis95]

Stunning build mate. Not my most preferred airliner but the build is great

I would point out as well, that images 7 8 & 9 really showcase this model. The lighting and color saturation is perfecto! 

[Malair]

Thank you very much! I always try to make pictures with direct sunlight. Gives a more realistic effect I think.

[Skodadriver]

A beautiful model of a beautiful aircraft Martijn. I have been looking forward to it since you mentioned it a couple of weeks ago and I'm certainly not disappointed! The photos are almost as good as the model itself. It's great to see a Comet in a livery that isn't BEA or Dan Air.

 

Out of interest did you have any difficulty getting the Vintage Flyer decals? His website says he will no longer sell small orders directly to customers in the UK or EU because of the rules about VAT. How did you get round that?

 

Dave G 🇺🇦

[Vulcanicity]

A lovely model, and as Lewis said the photography is spot on, some of those photos look like aerial shots of the real thing taxying out

[Back in the Saddle]

Lovely job all round!👍

[Lord Riot]

That’s stunning! 

[SAT69]

I remember the Mexicana Comets flying into San Antonio. Your model captures the beauty of these stunning aircraft wonderfully.

[Malair]

Thank you all for your kind words. Much appreciated!

9 hours ago, Skodadriver said:

Out of interest did you have any difficulty getting the Vintage Flyer decals? His website says he will no longer sell small orders directly to customers in the UK or EU because of the rules about VAT. How did you get round that?

 

Simple answer: I ordered them in December 2020, so before the policies went into effect. As such, I had no trouble receiving the decals.

[T-21]

Nice build love the markings nice change from BEA !