The Airfix Skyking Airliners.

[TonyW]

A wide ranging title for a thread but one that's fitting, as I think my Airliner builds need a bit of a tidy up.

I have four Airliner builds underway and a couple more making 'Pick me' noises behind those. Having the whole lot in one place makes more sense than umpteen separate threads. I'll let the existing threads drift off to the back pages of the GB and continue the builds here.

I'll also be able to add background information about the kit range in a logical way if I keep things in one place.

 

Although I've been collecting and building for many years, Airliners have never really been at the front of my build or buy lists. Times change though and I'm really getting a liking for the subject. I'm hoping that early days enthusiasm will carry me through the GB on a high.

 

Here's the current lot as they sit this morning...

 

 

I've run out of white primer, so the high build yellow stuff got used on some of them. There's still filling required followed by more priming. As that process is a bit repetitive and not exactly photogenic, I can see me adding some other builds to the thread as a way to keep things rolling along.

 

As a reminder of how things stand, the VC10 is on its way to a 26 Decals BOAC delivery finish. One 707 will sport Pan Am markings and the other BOAC. Another in TWA markings can't be far behind...

The BAC 1-11s seem to be multiplying at an alarming rate! One is destined for a Braniff finish and one of the others gets an original Airfix British Caledonian scheme. The third fuselage just got caught up in the priming frenzy that took place recently. If I can find  first issue British United decals before the GB ends, I'll try to add that as a third BAC 1-11 build. The disease is called Eyes bigger than Belly Syndrome and I have an advanced case.

 

The Airliner build explosion has been kicked off by me buying a big plastic storage bin, filling it with bleach and removing the paint from a whole load of built models. I'm now somewhat oversubscribed for Airliners to add here.

The models themselves are part of a large collection I bought last year and, although the total cost was a bit of a fright, the cost per kit is very low indeed, making all this building extravagance possible. All the stripped down models need repairs and renovations. Dodgy seams need filling, missing parts replaced etc etc. A new, unbuilt kit would probably make more sense, but the costs involved would stop that one in its tracks for me. I get more bang for my buck this way but I have to work harder in other directions. I can live with that.

 

 

 

 

There's not much chance of getting the whole Skyking range added here, but I'll at least have a stab at the task. The journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step and all that.

Decals are going to be the biggest holdup but I have enough here to keep me pretty busy for now.

 

More later.

 

Tony.

[tempestfan]

Do not try to sneak the F.27 in, @TonyW, it's not a Skyking! One alternative for a 1-11 could be Mohawk, IIRC one of the Craftmaster issues came with decals for them - though I'm not sure it's the correct subtype, Craftmaster/MPC was a bit liberal with that aspect.

[TonyW]

3 hours ago, tempestfan said:

Do not try to sneak the F.27 in, @TonyW, it's not a Skyking! One alternative for a 1-11 could be Mohawk, IIRC one of the Craftmaster issues came with decals for them - though I'm not sure it's the correct subtype, Craftmaster/MPC was a bit liberal with that aspect.

 

It's a fair cop, I'll come quietly...

 

The F27 is one of four! It would have had a thread of its own by now if an Ebay decal bid had been enough. I lost on a very nice looking Finair sheet last week.

Not to worry, I have plenty of other builds to cover that loss.

 

Mohawk decals are available on the aftermarket, along with a Braniff 707 in markings that compliment the BAC 1-11 version I'm building.  With payday a day away, I suspect the credit card will get a bit of use soon.

[TonyW]

Here's the start of the SkyKing series as shown in the first Airfix catalogue. Just the two kits, probably to test the waters. The Caravelle and Comet.

By the time the fifth edition came out the range had expanded quite a bit. Sales must have justified the expansion as there was more to come yet.

 

 

The Boeing 727 shown above in TWA markings is on my wants list. No decals to hand yet, but no shortage of models to rebuild...

 

 

..Straight away there is a mold variation revealed that I knew nothing about. The 727s I have here come in two fuselage lengths. The shorter is the original issue and came in Lufthansa colours as well as the TWA markings. I have a very sad looking example of the German one that will be refinished, hopefully during this GB. 

 

 

I also have a pair of built long fuselage examples, in Pan Am and Iberia markings. Not built by me, but very tidy examples none the less. I believe these two to be Airfix schemes from around 1990 or so.

 

 

 

The early kit is identical in every way to the stretched version, bar the longer fuselage. I'm going to enjoy figuring out how and when the modified kit came about.

 

 

[Richard Humm]

The long fuselage was a Palitoy-era modification , 1984 or thereabouts, at around the same time the Hunter, Bronco and VC-10 moulds got modified. Iberia was the original scheme, then it got reissued by Humbrol in the late 1980s with Pan Am and Lufthansa decals.

[CliffB]

A brilliant thread Tony and that was news to me too about the two 727 versions.

Just one question please - how do you get the bleach out, from inside your stripped aircraft?  I have visions of it constantly oozing out and causing all sorts of chaos!

 

Cheers

[TonyW]

1 hour ago, CliffB said:

A brilliant thread Tony and that was news to me too about the two 727 versions.

Just one question please - how do you get the bleach out, from inside your stripped aircraft?  I have visions of it constantly oozing out and causing all sorts of chaos!

 

Cheers

 

I remove as much of the paint as possible with a soft brush while the model is still in the bleach. The model then gets upended in an old washing up bowl to drain as best as possible, then it's off to a big tub of water with a hose running into it for a good rinse followed by yet another draining. Then I repeat the rinse but with a good dose of bicarbonate of soda mixed in. That neutralizes any remaining bleach. I drain and dry the results out in the sunshine, inverting the model repeatedly to assist the waters escape.

It all sounds a bit long winded but I production line the process with as many models as I can fit in the tubs on the go at any one time. Keeping track of the little bits that inevitably fall off is the biggest problem but a wire mesh colander type thing takes care of the parts fishing. Breaking down the model as far as it will comfortably go helps a lot as well. It's recycling at its best although the bleach runoff probably negates any eco claims I can make here. A bit like battery disposal on electric cars. 

 

More later, I'm off to the market.

[TonyW]

9 hours ago, Richard Humm said:

The long fuselage was a Palitoy-era modification , 1984 or thereabouts, at around the same time the Hunter, Bronco and VC-10 moulds got modified. Iberia was the original scheme, then it got reissued by Humbrol in the late 1980s with Pan Am and Lufthansa decals.

 

Thanks Richard. I thought you would have the subject covered.

 

It also gives me an aiming point for 727 builds. It will be a long process and I may well never get to the end of it but I'll give it a go. TWA and Lufthansa short body builds are on my horizon.

[tempestfan]

11 hours ago, Richard Humm said:

The long fuselage was a Palitoy-era modification , 1984 or thereabouts, at around the same time the Hunter, Bronco and VC-10 moulds got modified. Iberia was the original scheme, then it got reissued by Humbrol in the late 1980s with Pan Am and Lufthansa decals.

Indeed, the 727, Hunter, OV-10D, Swordfish and Harrier 3 were among (or even the) first "new" Palitoy releases, apart from the number of new releases that were almost but not completely ready for release in January 1981 (F-18, 1/48 Ju 87, Alpine). I'd place them around a year or so earlier, in 1983 or even late 1982.

[TonyW]

Although not destined for immediate attention, I stripped down the Lufthansa 727 shown above.

 

 

The sunny weather here at the moment has got the bleach bath quite warm. Things happen very quickly at that point. From a wait of up to a week during winter, complete stripping happens over a couple of hours when it's warm. I'm making the most of the situation while I can. 

A couple of Ebay wins means some Lufthansa decals are on the way, making a rebuild of at least one 727 more likely.

 

It's all talk rather than action at the moment, and the build list is spiraling out of control as usual. A bit of solid groundwork at this point will pay dividends as the builds progress though.

 

Things like wing details and finishes are holding me up a bit, but there are references on the way that should help a lot. The price of reference books seems to have dropped of a cliff, if the ones I've ordered are any indication.  The usual internet bulk sellers will quite likely kill the book market eventually, but in the meantime it's hard to argue with decent reference books at less than a fiver delivered.

[TonyW]

Rather than get cracking on making a bit of forward progress on the 707s, BAC 1-11s and VC10, I've abandoned common sense and started another pair of airliners. I know, I know. The GB runs until November though. 

 

 

I now have Lufthansa decals for a Boeing 727 and a 737, plus the models to apply them to. Not only that, but both models are stripped down and ready for attention. 

I've primed the 727 fuselage and filled the windows on the 737. Both need filling and sanding and will be getting that later. That will bring them to the same point as the others and things start to make sense soon after, honest.

 

There are a few decal sheets on the way from the USA from https://www.fcdecals.com/ They will bump start the 707 builds in no uncertain terms. I'm hoping to have the airframes ready for when the delivery gets here.

 

 

[tempestfan]

21 hours ago, TonyW said:

 

 

 

The blue on the 737 sheet looks very suspect - so much so that I repainted mine in the then-new Revell Matt Silk Lufthansa Blue. Around 1980 I guess? Also not at all sure if any DLH 737 ever wore "D-LUFT" as registration.

[TonyW]

1 hour ago, tempestfan said:

The blue on the 737 sheet looks very suspect - so much so that I repainted mine in the then-new Revell Matt Silk Lufthansa Blue. Around 1980 I guess? Also not at all sure if any DLH 737 ever wore "D-LUFT" as registration.

 

There's going to be at least one with D-LUFT on it in the near future Claus. It may well be wrong but it's a nice touch, a bit like the G-BOAC that FROG used on their airliners. They at least provided other numbers on their sheets.

 

The shade of blue used is a problem. It does look far too bright. I can't find any pictures of 737s other than in the usual and very smart dark blue. I have the Revell colour here but although the stripes and fin would be easy enough to mask and paint, the LUFTHANSA script would be a bit difficult to deal with. I'm sanding down the airframe today so I'm a few days at least away from making any decisions.

 

I'll be having a think about this one...

[tempestfan]

4 hours ago, TonyW said:

The shade of blue used is a problem. It does look far too bright. I can't find any pictures of 737s other than in the usual and very smart dark blue. I have the Revell colour here but although the stripes and fin would be easy enough to mask and paint, the LUFTHANSA script would be a bit difficult to deal with. I'm sanding down the airframe today so I'm a few days at least away from making any decisions.

 

I'll be having a think about this one...

The German Wiki article has a pic of a DLH -100, in which the blue looks significantly lighter than that of the 727 above, but nowhere near as light as the decals. 

[TonyW]

No end of filling and sanding and priming got me to this point this evening.  

Multiple goings over on each model slowly get to a finish worth adding white primer to. Once the white primer looks good and has hardened sufficiently a bit of top coating can begin. 

 

 

The yellow primer is high build stuff and it sands and polishes very easily. Tiny bits of bodywork still to deal with show up well against it. I'm at the point of using little scrapes of putty here and there now. Painstaking work and more than a bit tedious. My fingertips are a bit sore as well thanks to them spending a few hours today in a washing up bowl full of water using up endless tiny sheets of W+D paper.

 

It all seems a bit overwhelming piled up on the bench, but I can always back off a bit and just work on one or two if necessary. Am I waving, or am I drowning? We will know by November.

 

 

References keep arriving here, all from the cheapo bulk book sellers on the net. 

 

 

World of Books had a buy three, get one free deal that saw four of the books above turn up here at under twelve quid the four! There are more already here and yet more on the way. They are bringing me up to speed on the Airliner world in no time. It's all new to me and endlessly fascination.

 

 

 

 

 

[silverfox63]

6 hours ago, TonyW said:

Am I waving, or am I drowning

Hi Tony. To quote Dory from Finding Nemo; Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.

Cheers,

Chris.

[TonyW]

My long suffering Postman had an easy trip today, just the one envelope, all the way from the USA.

My first Flying Colors order just turned up.  https://www.fcdecals.com/

 

 

A Braniff 707 to match the BAC 1-11 already underway. They should look fine alongside each other. The detail sheets have two shades of wing markings for 707s. I'm not sure what goes on what here but I'll get to grips with the subject ASAP.

 

Flying Colors Decals get my vote for being right on the ball and with more than reasonable shipping costs. This lot came to $7 for shipping and took a week to get here. I'll be using them again for sure.

 

Contrast that with another decal company I wanted to order from, Vintage Flyer Decals http://www.vintageflyerdecals.com/index.html who wanted a whopping $48 shipping for two decal sheets. I queried the cost and was told that the amount was correct.

I won't be using them then!

 

 

[tempestfan]

The Braniff 707 looks tasty - are the Conway nacelles close enough to the JT3s with silencer? It was my impression the Conways are somewhat more bulbuous. If you have a third, you can also do a Lufthansa (which used -400s).

If I find the time this evening, I have found something to completely derail you from this thread and "put you on rails", @TonyW 😉

[TonyW]

2 hours ago, tempestfan said:

The Braniff 707 looks tasty - are the Conway nacelles close enough to the JT3s with silencer? It was my impression the Conways are somewhat more bulbuous. If you have a third, you can also do a Lufthansa (which used -400s).

If I find the time this evening, I have found something to completely derail you from this thread and "put you on rails", @TonyW 😉

 

The Braniff 707 instruction sheet tells you to use the Airfix nacelles on the Revell kit. And in what can only be an amazing coincidence, I've dug out a part built Revell Germany 707! It doesn't fit in here other than to show what the opposition were up to at the time.

 

Inside the box were a pair of original Lufthansa postcards showing a Boeing 720. B.  Check out the colour of the tail and fuselage stripe.

 

 

 

 

 

The last sentence of your post has got me a bit twitchy! Best you get derailing pronto, I'm on a flight in the morning....

 

Ton

 

 

 

[tempestfan]

38 minutes ago, TonyW said:

 

The Braniff 707 instruction sheet tells you to use the Airfix nacelles on the Revell kit. And in what can only be an amazing coincidence, I've dug out a part built Revell Germany 707! It doesn't fit in here other than to show what the opposition were up to at the time.

 

Inside the box were a pair of original Lufthansa postcards showing a Boeing 720. B.  Check out the colour of the tail and fuselage stripe.

 

The last sentence of your post has got me a bit twitchy! Best you get derailing pronto, I'm on a flight in the morning....

 

Ton

 

Lovely 720 postcards - but that is an earlier scheme. Admittedly the 737 blue is pretty close to that medium blue.

 

Having a casual perusal of the Plasty 1960 catalogue and its 1961 supplement, and knowing you like shop displays, now how's for this:

 

"Order your sales aid as pictured! Free of charge!"

Now I'll take a dozen.

And see you frantically running to the shed, looking for the cranes. And if by magic, some time ago I came across a parcel received at the end of 2014 (don't ask...) that contained a couple of kits I hadn't really looked at ever. Including this one:

Edited August 6 by tempestfan
2nd pic

[TonyW]

Fantastic! Now all we need is a colour photo so a reproduction can be got underway as soon as possible. I know I have all those kits somewhere...

[tempestfan]

25 minutes ago, TonyW said:

Fantastic! Now all we need is a colour photo so a reproduction can be got underway as soon as possible. I know I have all those kits somewhere...

Unlikely to turn up - it doesn't look particularly involved, and was probably thrown away by 1965 at the latest. The good thing is it is very stylised, so should should be well with a blues sky, black and white ship with some red on the funnel and perhaps bridge top, buildings white and grey, and a darker grey cobblestone pavement. Take your laptop on the flight, so you can do a bit of design work 😉

[Ventora3300]

On 05/08/2024 at 11:42, TonyW said:

 

The shade of blue used is a problem. It does look far too bright. I can't find any pictures of 737s other than in the usual and very smart dark blue. I have the Revell colour here but although the stripes and fin would be easy enough to mask and paint, the LUFTHANSA script would be a bit difficult to deal with. I'm sanding down the airframe today so I'm a few days at least away from making any decisions.

 

I'll be having a think about this one...

 

This had me rummaging to find my stashed Boeing 727 and compare the colour of the provided Lufthansa transfers with those going on the 707 - a very subtle shade difference by Airfix but a difference between the lighter Lufthansa Blue and the BOAC blue. You have to paint the fin on the 727 and the Instructions say to use 'G6 French Blue' - this translates to Humbrol 14 which is indeed lighter than Humbrol 15, which is the near match for the BOAC blue.

 

 

 

[Ventora3300]

On 05/08/2024 at 20:52, TonyW said:

No end of filling and sanding and priming got me to this point this evening.  

Multiple goings over on each model slowly get to a finish worth adding white primer to. Once the white primer looks good and has hardened sufficiently a bit of top coating can begin. 

 

 

 

 

Tony, just checking for the Build List, do you now have 3 x 707's, 1 x VC10, 1 x 727, 3 x BAC 1-11's and 1 x 737 in progress? Hope you are keeping track better than I am!

[TonyW]

On 8/9/2024 at 11:28 AM, Ventora3300 said:

 

Tony, just checking for the Build List, do you now have 3 x 707's, 1 x VC10, 1 x 727, 3 x BAC 1-11's and 1 x 737 in progress? Hope you are keeping track better than I am!

 

Seeing the list like that makes it all rather daunting. I'm not about to mention the Vanguards, Tridents or any of the others. They are all sitting here taunting me. 

 

I'm back from holiday now and will freshen up the thread in the morning. I'm knackered after fighting my way back from Stansted and all its delights.