NorbertBu Posted November 7, 2022 Share Posted November 7, 2022 (edited) The Boeing YAL-1 was converted from a freighter 747-400F and used to test laser weapons that could destroy incoming missiles. This was done in the years 2001 to 2012. The aircraft was scrapped after the end of the test flights. I have built this model using the kit by Anigrand. They produce resin kits of very rare aircraft. The fuselage consists of two halfs and is hollow as it would be as a normal plastic kit. The engravings are very very sharp but way too deep. I have tried to fill most of them but it was very hard to achieve a nice result. I have added the fuselage strengthening stripes around the rear freight door and used spare decals to show the door. As the landing gear was not very convincing to me I decided to display the aircraft in flight. Meanwhile the model had got the nickname "Ed" for obvious reasons. Ed was put into storage in the basement and Joe, a friend and fellow modeller kept asking what had happened to Ed. So, Finally I found the motivation to finish him and display Ed in Telford next to the An-225. Would I build another YAL-1 by Anigrand? No, it is very expensive and of course very big. But bext I would consider using only parts of the kit and parts from a Revell -400 and 747-8F. That would definitely make a better result. Again...very expensive and a lot of work. But it is unique... Being a resin kit, it could be expected that at least one part would be warped. Here it is the left wing that points downward but should of course be bent upwards. A treatment with heat helped only for a short time. So this flaw has to be accepted. I hope you that you enjoy the fotos inspite of this flaw. greetings from Germany and see you in Telford! Norbert Edited November 7, 2022 by NorbertBu 42 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GRIM REAPER Posted November 8, 2022 Share Posted November 8, 2022 Absolutely beautiful! I believe this is the first one I have seen built. Too bad she was scrapped as I think the ABL would be quite relevant in these times. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unfinished project Posted November 8, 2022 Share Posted November 8, 2022 Now there’s something you don’t see everyday. This is superb piece of modelling 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-32 Posted November 9, 2022 Share Posted November 9, 2022 Beautiful work, I remember seeing the aircraft in Tucson the year it was retired, such a shame PIMA didn’t get to have it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winded Penguin Posted November 9, 2022 Share Posted November 9, 2022 21 hours ago, Unfinished project said: Now there’s something you don’t see everyday. This is superb piece of modelling 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 My thoughts exactly 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted November 10, 2022 Share Posted November 10, 2022 Oh such a shame about that warping. That's a side, it's a brilliant model. One to be proud of Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Head in the clouds. Posted November 10, 2022 Share Posted November 10, 2022 Good work there, most resin kits kick back at some point but you did what all good modellers do, win! Do we know how the experiments went? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfhound32 Posted November 11, 2022 Share Posted November 11, 2022 Wow, what a beauty.. Very nice and impressive build, my compliments! I know what it is to build a Anigrand kit.. not for the faint of heart, the quality of the resin parts is always a surprise. AIM Transport Wings once said that they would produce a YAL-1A conversion set for their 1:72 B747 kit, but that will never happen as they don’t produce kits anymore. Too bad, I would have given it a go.. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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