Minicraft 1/144 Iron Maiden 757

[KLP Publishing]

I started this one a couple of years ago as part of a larger series of airliner builds, but stalled out pretty quickly. After recently finishing the Minicraft DC-4 that was part of that series, I decided to drag this one back onto the workbench and kick it down the road. I think I've read just about every review and build thread of this kit on the Internet in the last few days!

 

Here's what I started with:

 

 

As the title suggests, I'm planning to turn this into Ed Force One, using laser printed decals from Babibi Model (the protective paper is still on the sheet here):

 

I also have some "3D" window decals from Authentic Airliners Decals, which should help spice things up a bit:

 

 

I'm just hoping they overlay the Babibi ones nicely.

 

I also received a set of what I'm hoping are the correct engines from my friend Ray Seppala, who I believe is known in these parts:

 

 

This is how I received them, so obviously he'd done a bit of work to them. I assume they're Minicraft parts from a different kit, but I'm really not sure. They do look like they're resin, however. 🤔

 

So, let's begin the build!

 

Many airliner models are moulded in white plastic for some reason, and Minicraft is especially fond of doing this. This plastic has an issue with translucency, so whenever I come across this situation, the first thing I do is paint the insides of the fuselage halves in flat black:

 

 

This provides some pretty effective light blocking, and the main benefit of that is that you require less paint on the outside of the model to achieve the same result. Here's a demonstration of the problem, and the effectiveness of the solution:

 

 

 

Note that I seldom bother giving the wings this kind of treatment.

 

I tend to prefer decals for windows in this scale, as they provide a better scale effect, and I don't have to worry about alignment issues with other elements of the livery. It also makes the build go quicker, so the only thing I needed to do before closing up the fuselage halves is add some weight to the nose. My method might surprise you! See below:

 

After having multiple problems with using lead weights in combination with CA glue to attach them (everything from the weights breaking loose to nasty thermo-chemical reactions melting the plastic and discolouring the paint work), I found myself experimenting with Blu-tack, of all things. It turned out to be remarkably effective, with more reliability than CA and none of its problems.

 

Take a healthy section of Blu-Tack and press it into the inside of the forward fuselage, and then press into that some lead weights of the appropriate size and shape - I'm using fishing sinkers in this example:

 

 

You'll note the length of Blu-Tack trailing out to the rear; this is to wrap around the exposed portions of the weights, and performs 2 functions: firstly, it secures them more firmly and prevents any movement; and secondly, it encases the lead so that it can't negatively interact with any of the surrounding material:

 

 

Now all you have to do is repeat the process with the other fuselage half, and you're good to go:

 

 

If done properly, this absolutely won't move, and won't cause any thermo-chemical issues, either immediately or down the track. The breakdown of this kit allows me to leave the cockpit/windscreen section off until I'm happy that there's enough weight in there. It's also very easy to add more if I decide I need to.

 

And this is how I left things 2 years ago:

 

 

More soon!

 

Kev

Edited April 2 by KLP Publishing

[KLP Publishing]

Upon returning to the build, I knew my first challenge would be sorting out the infamously asymmetrical wing attachments on this kit. I pondered this for quite a while, checking out every build I could to see how other modellers dealt with it (or not). And then I had an epiphany! But first, here's a quick demonstration of the differences in each wing root. First, a couple of photos showing how ropey the cut-outs are:

 

 

 

Next, measuring from the marked panel line to the top of the front part of the cut-out. Port side:

 

 

And starboard side:

 

 

So there's nearly a full millimetre's difference in height, assuming that the panel line is in the same place on each side.

 

During my various test fitting experiments, I noticed that if you slide and clamp the wing prongs together outside of the fuselage, they actually lock together rather nicely, and provide what looks like correct and symmetrical dihedral. It's only when you try to do this inside the fuselage that it all gets messed up, exacerbated by the different positions of the wing roots.

 

 

Rather than fiddle with the cut-outs on each side trying to even them up somehow, I figured if I could just take this version of the wing assembly and slide it up into place, I could adjust the position on each side to ensure they were even, with the dihedral and asymmetry issues already taken care of. So I decided to remove that section of the fuselage that prevents this from being possible:

 

 

The wings are now glued up, taking care to ensure that the correct width exists between them front and back to allow them to slip into place without any undue gaps.

 

Somewhere, someone mentioned in passing that the tailplanes were also asymmetrical, but mine seemed to be OK as far as position was concerned. However, they were each doing their own thing when it came to their own dihedral:

 

 

After removing some material from the connecting tab on the port stabiliser, I was able to get it close to even:

 

 

Not perfect, but certainly good enough.

 

The tailplanes themselves were also plagued by some sink marks and a generally uneven surface, so I marked the worst of it with a permanent marker, ready for sanding:

 

 

And this is more or less where we are today. I'm not out of the woods yet with the wings, but at least I have a plan. Let's see how it goes!

 

Kev

Edited April 2 by KLP Publishing

[Romeo Alpha Yankee]

What a blast from the past Kev, those are kit engines I sent you. I may have cleaned them up with oven cleaner, that has given them the resin look I think.

 

I have one of these at the paint stage to be finished in NASA markings, now where did I put that kit?

[KLP Publishing]

Get to it, Ray! And many thanks once again for those engines. Unless you've already done it, I believe I have to modify the pylons to allow them to sit parallel to the ground, rather than point upwards. But first, let's see how I go with the wings...

 

Kev

[KLP Publishing]

A little more progress. I've got the wings fixed in place, and sadly there's still a small lean to starboard, as evidenced by the vertical fin:

 

 

This is making the port wing tip sit too high.

 

 

Not sure if this is better (or even different) than I would have achieved without the mods, but it's done now. I might be able to modify the landing gear to compensate, but I won't lose any sleep over it. Once I get the tailplanes on, I'll set about turning this thing into a putty monster!

 

Kev

[KLP Publishing]

A bit of a longer update, this one - the end of which leaves the viability of the project hanging in the balance!

 

My next move after the last update was to fix the awful leading edges of the tailplanes at their roots:

 

 

They're bulbous, blocky, and don't blend into the fuselage at all.

 

Here's my best attempt to fix them, and comparison of the two:

 

 

 

Still not perfect, but a bit of filler should take care of the rest.

 

I then moved to tackling the fuselage seams. I started by filling the cut-outs I made with stretched sprue, before laying down a bead of black rubberised CA along all the joins:

 

 

I also did two of the three cabin doors on each side, as they're situated too low:

 

 

Here's a close-up of the kit's abysmal wing root fairing:

 

 

And the real thing:

 

 

Ugh.

 

Now comes the coup de gras. Since the point of tackling this awful kit was so I could put some cool Iron Maiden stickers on it, I thought I'd better check that they fit. They're home-produced decals, and I was assured by the vendor that they were designed for this Minicraft kit. But hey, if only life were that simple:

 

 

And if you're thinking, well at least it seems OK at the front, think again:

 

 

Doesn't look like a "designed to fit" scenario to me. Now, I know that the Minicraft tail is inaccurate in shape, and perhaps the tail decals are scale accurate in that regard. But that just means that I was initially misled when purchasing these decals, and also can't use them on this build. Thank heavens I stopped to check!

 

1. So, where to now? As I see it, these are my options:
2. Revert to the kit livery and finish the model;
3. Bin the whole thing as a bad idea;
4. Modify the tail decals to fit the kit tail, potentially distorting the iconic design;
5. Modify the kit tail to match the decals, potentially creating worse accuracy issues.

 

I don't have the Zvezda kit, but I do have the Welsh Models 757, so I'm going to drag it out and check the decals against it. If they fit better, than I'll probably pass them onto that build and do something else here. That would be the neatest solution, even if I'm not particularly interested in the Northwest livery that comes with the kit. And anyone who knows me will realise that #2 is just not an option. I'm not keen on #3, and #4 seems like a lot of work for a kit that really isn't worth it. So it's probably going to be Option #1, and I'll just have to see if I can use the Iron Maiden decals elsewhere.

 

There is one more option that I just thought of: I also have decals from another manufacturer for the later "Final Frontier" tour livery, so perhaps I should see if they fit better.

 

I'll be back later with the results of those fit tests. Stay tuned!

 

Kev

[KLP Publishing]

OK, so the tail decals don't fit the Welsh kit at all - probably even less so than here. I broke out my V1 Decals for the later livery - also allegedly designed for the Minicraft kit - and had much better luck:

 

 

A little short at the bottom, but I can live with that, so I'll be switching to this livery. That leaves me with set of "Somewhere in Time" decals that I can't currently use, which is frustrating. I'm thinking I might take my hi-res scan of those decals, adjust it to fit the Welsh tail, and reprint them (just the tails) on decal paper. Worth a try, anyway.

 

Kev

[KLP Publishing]

Time for another update! I took the RB211 engines that my friend Ray Seppala sent me, thinned out the intakes a little, and then installed them onto the wings. This was followed by a light coat of primer to see where things were at:

 

 

It actually doesn't look too bad! Earlier, I'd used Tamiya epoxy putty to blend in the forward wing roots and make them look like some semblance of the real thing. Still a bit of work to do there, however:

 

 

The other thing that this kit is infamous for, is the upward rake of the engines once installed:

 

 

I've read about various ways to fix this - most of them prior to installation, but I felt I needed to install them first, so I could assess the problem properly, and correct it against some fixed datum points. It actually doesn't look too bad at first glance, but the giveaway is that the fronts of the engine intakes are perpendicular to the ground, whereas they should be sloping rearward from top to bottom. My plan is to make strategic cuts to the pylon just forward of the wing leading edge, and then shim them with styrene stock.

 

Wish me luck!

 

Kev

[KLP Publishing]

Well, I'd hoped that I could report back with glowing news about progress with this one - particularly regarding a successful fix for the engine angles. But it turns out that my decision to do it after installation was not the best one, and there's a reason most people attend to it first. For a start, the wing root on the inboard side of each engine is in the way of making a clean cut where I wanted it to go, so this was a bit of a struggle. I also had to cut much further into the pylon than I wanted to in order to elicit any movement from it. But I got there in the end, shimmed the gap with styrene, and bogged it all up with Milliput:

 

 

Or so I thought! A couple of minutes into sanding back the Milliput, this happened:

 

 

At least the other side survived! That's enough to ruin your best pair of undies.

 

So after some swearing and half a tube of CA, I managed to get it back in place:

 

 

I also think it's now pointing a little high again, but better than OOB. I guess I'm just going to have to treat this area as fragile from now on. Hopefully that mess will clean up OK. Stay tuned to find out!

 

Kev

[KLP Publishing]

Engine repairs completed, though I might still need to do some work around the pylon/engine interfaces:

 

 

Creeping ever closer to the painting stage! Got some Flying Colors coroguard decals to assist:

 

 

Kev

[KLP Publishing]

A quick update, as this build finally makes it to the painting stage! SMS Light Grey on the wings and tailplanes:

 

 

The strong studio lights make it look basically white, but it should have enough contrast with the white on the fuselage when it goes down - which will happen after the silver bits!

 

Kev

[Romeo Alpha Yankee]

Nice to see it rolling along Kev, did you know SMS do a Boeing Grey as per the Flying Colors instructions?

[KLP Publishing]

16 minutes ago, Romeo Alpha Yankee said:

Nice to see it rolling along Kev, did you know SMS do a Boeing Grey as per the Flying Colors instructions?

 

Indeed they do, Ray. Unfortunately both my bottles have a very obvious beige tint, which I can't explain, but is evident on the wings of my MD-80 build:

 

 

For the first layer of colour on the wings of the 757,  I mixed a bit of this beige Boeing Grey in with the Light Grey, but it didn't shift the colour appreciably, so I went with straight light grey for the second coat.

 

Kev

[KLP Publishing]

Fairly racing ahead with this one now! I gave in to angst and gave the fuselage another coat of neat SMS White, painted the engine and APU exhaust areas, and pulled off all the masking tape:

 

 

I ended up spraying the entire tail silver, so that I didn't have to guess where the leading edge demarcation should be, and the decals would have a uniform colour under them. Of course, I didn't then mask the entire tail, so I ended up with white patches anyway.

 

I then proceed to get as many decals on as my evening would allow, starting with those tail decals. I figured that if they failed me, then I could reprint them from the scans I took, but happily, this was not required. As it happens, though, the decals themselves are printed on a continuous sheet without any white (probably laser printed), so the tail decal really needed to be laid down over a white background. Too late, she cried!

 

 

And a different angle against a white background:

 

 

I'm really pleased with how it's turning out. The windscreen decal is from the Authentic Airliners Decals "3D" set, but I've decided I probably won't use the cabin windows from that set, as the fuselage will already be quite busy once all the decals are on, and the windows that come with the Ed Force One set actually look pretty good. I'm hoping to get all the decals on for the next update.

 

Stay tuned!

 

Kev

[KLP Publishing]

And here's the promised update! Decalling done on Ed Force One:

 

 

 

 

 

I've taken the photos against both a white and a charcoal background, since each offers a slightly different perspective on the model.

 

The only decals left are a pair of stencils for the nose wheel doors, and a registration decal whose placement I can't determine:

 

 

My best guess is that it's supposed to go under the outboard end of the starboard wing, but I can't find a single photo that confirms this, so will probably just leave it off.

 

Just need to deal with all the wrinkling now! But very happy with the way this is turning out.

 

Kev

[Dave Swindell]

1 hour ago, KLP Publishing said:

My best guess is that it's supposed to go under the outboard end of the starboard wing, but I can't find a single photo that confirms this, so will probably just leave it off.

Right position, wrong wing, it's on the port side. Difficult to make out on most photo's, but here's one of G-STRX in Aerosur livery where you can see it, position didn't change.

https://imgproc.airliners.net/photos/airliners/4/5/1/1742154.jpg?v=v40

[KLP Publishing]

1 hour ago, Dave Swindell said:

Right position, wrong wing, it's on the port side. Difficult to make out on most photo's, but here's one of G-STRX in Aerosur livery where you can see it, position didn't change.

https://imgproc.airliners.net/photos/airliners/4/5/1/1742154.jpg?v=v40

 

Awesome! Thanks for that. Tom Probert also confirmed this position for me, but it's nice to have a photograph of it.

 

Kev

[KLP Publishing]

These Coroguard decals are going to have to come off, unfortunately:

 

 

They're like that all the way along, on both wings. They reacted badly to Microsol, and no attempt to fix them has yielded any results. The uppers aren't in great shape either, and haven't even had any Microsol yet. I had exactly this issue with this same decal brand (Flying Colors Decals) on a 767 build from 10+ years ago, so never again. I'll strip them off and mask and paint them. And sadly, I'd already applied the underwing registration discussed earlier, so it looks like that will be wasted, too. Quite bummed about this, as it was all going quite well until this point. But then, it isn't really one of my builds until something like this happens...

 

On the upside, the decals on the bottom are out of position anyway, and not necessarily a very convincing colour. But what to paint them with?

 

Kev

[Romeo Alpha Yankee]

I gave away corogard decals years ago due to similar issues. I make a corogard mix with Tamiya metallic grey and any lighter grey to tone it down. Since the corogard changes tone over time you can mix it to match what ever time period of an aircraft's operational life as you want.

[KLP Publishing]

Happily, the FCD Coroguard decals came off without much trouble at all:

 

 

 

The next step is to give the entire model a couple of liberal gloss coats to protect the existing decals and paint work, and then it's on to some tedious masking...

 

Stay tuned!

 

Kev

[KLP Publishing]

Gloss coating done:

 

 

I used Alclad's Aqua Gloss, which I generally reserve for those occasions where I'm concerned that a solvent-based clear coat might affect the decals - which is the case whenever they're laser-printed, like here. I'll leave this for at least 48 hours now, before going anywhere near it with masking tape!

 

I've also discovered some errors and omissions, some of which I also plan to attend to. The most visible one is that I got the colour of the engine pylons wrong. I assumed they'd be white like the engines themselves, but they are in fact the same light grey as the wings, so I'll be attempting to correct that, at least.

 

Kev

[eng]

Thats magnificent, the 757 is such great looking jet.

 

Eng

[KLP Publishing]

8 minutes ago, eng said:

Thats magnificent, the 757 is such great looking jet.

 

Eng

 

Thank you, sir!

Kev

[KLP Publishing]

I've just finished masking and painting the Coroguard panels on the upper wings and tailplanes:

 

 

I used SMS Dark Gull Gray here, which turned out to be a pretty good match for the decals, though a tad lighter. Still have to do the lower surfaces, which will be an altogether more complicated process. Wish me luck!

 

Oh, I elected not to repaint the engine pylons in light grey, as I realised after starting the masking job that it was going to be a lot more difficult than I thought, and really not worth the bother.

 

Kev

[Klaasdebouwer]

Quite a challenging build if you ask me. Doing a great job. Iconic aircraft and a legendary tour. Great tribute to the band.