SAS Star Alliance Boeing 737-800 in 1/144

[Skodadriver]

Here is the Zvezda Boeing 737-800 finished as LN-RRW “Saga Viking” of SAS in the Star Alliance logojet scheme.

 

We all love our Zvezda kits but they need to pay a bit more attention to quality control. I recently binned a Tu-134 when attempts to fill bad sink marks on the upper wings went wrong. On the 738 the wings, particularly the left one, were so badly warped that it was touch and go whether I was going to be able to fix them. I had also forgotten how badly the engines fit and it took a fraught hour or so to get them properly aligned followed by a lot of Milliput and Mr Surfacer to make things reasonably presentable. I’m still not 100% happy but it’s as good as I can get.

 

I added a spare Revell satcom fairing, some Daco p/e pitots and a few other small details from plastic sheet. The build was otherwise OOB.

 

As usual paint is Halfords Appliance Gloss White and Racking Grey. The engines are Xtracolor X339 and Revell Aqua 371 since Xtracolor seem to have discontinued the SAS Light Grey they used to make. Metallics are by Tamiya and Revell.

 

Decals are by V1. They helpfully give you the choice of an overall fin decal or a separate logo. Not being a big fan of overall fin decals I sprayed the fin (Mr Hobby H2 for anyone interested) and used the logo. I also added Authentic Airliners windows and supplemented V1’s detail decals from the spares box.

 

Thanks for looking and constructive criticism is always welcome.

 

Dave G

 

 

 

 

[NorbertBu]

Another beautiful airliner from you, Dave! Thank you for the warning of the bad quality. I am also doing a Zvezda 737-800 but haven't encountered flaws like that ...yet.

 

cheers,

 

Norbert

[Winded Penguin]

Very very nice outcome. Thank you for sharing 👍

[michael301757]

Thats a really nice sharp looking build, lovely job .                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Cheers Michael.

[stringbag]

Superb as usual Dave.

 

Chris

[Skodadriver]

On 12/5/2022 at 9:49 PM, NorbertBu said:

Another beautiful airliner from you, Dave! Thank you for the warning of the bad quality. I am also doing a Zvezda 737-800 but haven't encountered flaws like that ...yet.

 

cheers,

 

Norbert

Thanks Norbert. I might have been unlucky with the particular kit. It's the third time I've built the Zvezda 737 and all have had warped wings although this was by far the worst with the left wing twisted as well as warped. The fit of the engines on the other builds was poor with a noticeable gap and step where the pylons join the wings. On this build there was a further problem in that if you just glued them in place the engines were canted outwards far too much and the head-on view looked silly. Why this issue should only affect one kit out of three is one of modelling's mysteries. I have a Max in the early stages of building and it will be interesting to see how the engines fit on it.

 

All the best

 

Dave

[VolkerR.]

I always admire a modeller who can do a completely white aircraft. For me spraying a perfect white is the ultimate goal in painting.

This paintjob is perfect.

[Timo]

Really great job Dave.  I always think the Star Alliance livery is quite striking, and your build and paint job has highlighted it at its best. I also like your use of Authentic Airliners window / cockpit decals which make the model appear much more realistic. Well done

Cheers

Tim

[Eric B.]

Hi

 

Very nice build and I am learning the Zvezda B-737s are not that perfect. I did not know about the engine fit being that poor. I'll have to take care of this issue when building one. 

As for the wing warping, some of my B737-800 kits have the same warp, it seems some of my B737-800s, B737-700s or B737-8Max are less plagued with this problem.

Wings are very sharp, plastic is quite soft but it makes me wonder if it could be my earliest bought Zvezda B737s that have this problem. Just wondering. 

 

Congratulations for this new beautiful model. 

 

Eric B. 

[Viking]

Lovely looking 738 Dave, and no sign of the quality control issues on the kit. The engine fit looks perfect so you must have done good job there.

So far I've been lucky with my Zvezda kits and can't see any warping/sink marks on those still in the stash. I think I'll go and check the 737 Max though!

 

Cheers

 

John

[Samuraiwarrior]

Done a great job on this one. 

One definitely to be proud of. Nicely finished and presented. 

Thanks for sharing 

Kevin 

[Alex1978]

A very fine looking 737 Dave.Cant see any flaws.

 

I have a bigger number of those Zvezda 737s in my stash,so its good to know about possible issues.

 

Right now I have a line up of Revell 737-800s on the bench,which are quite a work to correct some major flaws...🤕

 

Thanks for sharing

Alex

[Berko]

Another Masterpiece.!! Great job as usual. Thanks for sharing

[JK_Models]

Very nice model, Dave. Looks awesome, very realistic, with a neat paintjob and some fine details. Very well done with a lot of care, definitely something I appreciate.

 

I can only echo your words for Zvezda models. I recently ordered a 767-300 where one side of the fuselage was badly warped in several directions so that it was impossible to make something good out of it. Luckily the seller took it back..otherwise it would have ended in the bin.

 

Cheers,

Julien

[Malair]

Beautiful build as always Dave! I plan to build the A340-600 this year and I'm also going to use a Star Alliance livery.

 

Usually the Zvezda kits have been very good for me, but I've had similar experiences with the Boeing 767-300 where the wing was badly warped. Nothing that hot water couldn't cure, but still...