stringbag Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 Having spent a day going through some of my airliner kits and decals, I decided that it was time I got stuck in and completed something instead of just watching the stash grow ever larger. I wanted to do something quick and relatively easy, and decided to do an Airfix 737-200. Choosing a colour scheme would be more difficult and eventually I decided to go with something from the '70s. That narrowed things down a bit as I only had twenty five different aftermarket decals that fitted the bill. It was about now that things started to get out of hand. The aftermarket decals were all so tempting, and it seemd a shame to put them on to the old Airfix kit with it's raised panel lines, iffy engines and slightly suspect nose contours. There was only one thing to do. Backdate the Daco 737-300 to a 200ADV. A quick check of the references indicated that I would need to reduce the fuselage length both in front of and behind the wing. Front fuselage needs 7.88mm removing at 1/144 scale. 10.65mm was removed from the rear fuselage. By removing the required sections from close to the wing root fairings, the cross sections are constant, and only the joint at the lower rear will require re-shaping. Hopefully this will show things a little more clearly. I have also installed a couple of card formers in the centre section to give a little more glueing area when joining the sections together. In addition, I have placed a slip of card inside the rear section at the base of the fin fillet. This area will be re-shaped later and the fillet will be reduced in length. The scrap of card will provide a base for any filler required. Here, the sections have been taped together to check the fit and shown alongside a 300 series fuselage. May as well do two while I'm as it I suppose. All glued up. The engraved lines on the Daco kit make alignment a doddle. The fuselage is shown here with the old Airfix fuselage for comparison. Next job will be to re-shape the fin and modify the wings and tailplanes. I still can't decide in a colour scheme either. Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 Very nice work Mr Tonks I expected to see pics of the Blanik (glider), but this'll do Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atdb27 Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 Hi Chris Shall follow with interest. Adrian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stringbag Posted December 12, 2009 Author Share Posted December 12, 2009 Very nice work Mr Tonks I expected to see pics of the Blanik (glider), but this'll do Might do a bit on the Blanik later Mike. Just by way of a change. Just trying to decide on a colour scheme for this one. Hi Chris Shall follow with interest. Adrian Cheers Adrian. A bit more tomorrow I hope. Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richellis Posted December 13, 2009 Share Posted December 13, 2009 Very nice. Will be watching... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
general melchett Posted December 13, 2009 Share Posted December 13, 2009 Nice start Chris, bit of proper modelling!!.... only had twenty five different aftermarket decals that fitted the bill....Am I missing something here??... Look forward to seeing this one develop, 70's eh.........so many groovy schemes to choose from...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted December 13, 2009 Share Posted December 13, 2009 Realy looking forward to seeing this one develop mate. Not had the testicles to try this yet, so very interested to learn. As long as it doesn't slow progress on the Connie though ps, the Emoticon has nothing to do with the thread, I just like it !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousFY21 Posted December 13, 2009 Share Posted December 13, 2009 looking rather good there Chris old chap! Keep it coming rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stringbag Posted December 13, 2009 Author Share Posted December 13, 2009 Thanks Neil and Rich. All being well, a bit more later if the Director of Domestic Operations will allow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stringbag Posted December 13, 2009 Author Share Posted December 13, 2009 Nice start Chris, bit of proper modelling!!....Look forward to seeing this one develop, 70's eh.........so many groovy schemes to choose from...... Happy days GM. As you say, so many to choose from, and that Ray doesn't help adding more juicy options to the Two-Six catalogue. Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted December 13, 2009 Share Posted December 13, 2009 Have you narrowed the options down on decals yet ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntPhillips Posted December 13, 2009 Share Posted December 13, 2009 Hi Chris, Nice job on the cut and shut, hadn't thought about backdating the DACO kit to a -200, are you going to use the BRAZ models engines? Can't wait to see some more. Ant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stringbag Posted December 13, 2009 Author Share Posted December 13, 2009 (edited) Have you narrowed the options down on decals yet ? Hi Neil. Sort of narrowed it down to 5 possibles at the moment, but I'm leaning towards using the Sabena sheet from Two-Six. It is absolutely superb. Can't make my mind up whether to apply the decals or frame the sheet as it is. Dan picked a copy up from Telford for me. I'll post a picture of the scheme I intend to use once it is confirmed. Chris. Edited December 13, 2009 by stringbag Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stringbag Posted December 13, 2009 Author Share Posted December 13, 2009 Hi Chris,Nice job on the cut and shut, hadn't thought about backdating the DACO kit to a -200, are you going to use the BRAZ models engines? Can't wait to see some more. Ant Hi Ant. How goes it? You got it in one-Braz engines it is. As I said above, I didn't want to waste the decals on the old Airfix kit. I know it can be built into a great model as proven by some of the lads here, but I think the Daco kit is a peach so thought I'd give it a go. Had to build something Ant!!!! Fed up with Woody and Mike on my case all the time.LOL Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stringbag Posted December 13, 2009 Author Share Posted December 13, 2009 Managed to do a bit this afternoon, though not as much as I would have liked. Started off by reducing the tailplane span. Just needs a bit of polishing and scribing here and there. Next up was the fin fillet. Not a job I was looking forward to, but in actual fact it wasn't so bad. I was suprised to find that I didn't actually break right through the kit plastic, so the little piece of card I installed as a support for the filler is redundant. In fact, I wont need any filler in this area at all so that's a result. Again, a little re-scribing and a polish should do the trick. Here is a shot to show the differences between the 200 and 300 series fins. Next job will be the wings. More later if I get the chance. Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted December 13, 2009 Share Posted December 13, 2009 The verbal pressure is working !!!!!!! Keep 'em coming mate, enjoying this one. That tail is excellent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stringbag Posted December 13, 2009 Author Share Posted December 13, 2009 The verbal pressure is working !!!!!!!Keep 'em coming mate, enjoying this one. That tail is excellent. Cheers Neil. PM Inbound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romeo Alpha Yankee Posted December 13, 2009 Share Posted December 13, 2009 Wow this is looking good Chris. I did not think you could backdate the 300 to a 200. Are the wing profiles the same? I assume you are using some after 200 engines as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stringbag Posted December 13, 2009 Author Share Posted December 13, 2009 Wow this is looking good Chris. I did not think you could backdate the 300 to a 200. Are the wing profiles the same? I assume you are using some after 200 engines as well? Hi Ray. It's not as easy as I would have liked, but not impossible. The fuselage is relatively simple to convert and the fin was easier than I anticipated. The wings are quite straightforward to convert to 200 standard. The main steps will be to reduce the span at the tips by 1.84mm each side. Sand off the engine pylons on the upper surface, and remove the pylon completely from the lower surface. There are only three lift dumpers on the 200, so the outboard spoiler on the 300 wing will have to be removed. There are other scribed lines which will have to be removed as well. The engines that I intend to use are the resin items from Braz Models. Pictures soon I hope. Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romeo Alpha Yankee Posted December 13, 2009 Share Posted December 13, 2009 Thanks Chris, Not as much work on the wings as I thought. Thanks for that. I suppose a -500 fuselage would have been too short to make a 200? I have copies of the Daco 300, 400 and 500 in the stash. I should drag one out and have a crack at it, the mouldings look very nice from your pictures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stringbag Posted December 13, 2009 Author Share Posted December 13, 2009 (edited) Thanks Chris,Not as much work on the wings as I thought. Thanks for that. I suppose a -500 fuselage would have been too short to make a 200? I have copies of the Daco 300, 400 and 500 in the stash. I should drag one out and have a crack at it, the mouldings look very nice from your pictures. Just checked my references Ray, and the 500 would still have to be reduced in length. 200 series overall length =30.53m 500 series overall length = 31.01m That suprised me as well. Chris. Edited December 14, 2009 by stringbag Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev1n Posted December 14, 2009 Share Posted December 14, 2009 frame the sheet as it is. Chris. dont tempt me...,I once had this wierd idea of buying three copies of every decal sheet I wanted - 1 to use, 1 as a spare and 1 to frame. financial reality soon hit me..."sigh"... Nice conversion but I was wondering why not use the airfix kit? The corrections are a lot less work than converting the daco kit. ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stringbag Posted December 14, 2009 Author Share Posted December 14, 2009 dont tempt me...,I once had this wierd idea of buying three copies of every decal sheet I wanted - 1 to use, 1 as a spare and 1 to frame.financial reality soon hit me..."sigh"... Nice conversion but I was wondering why not use the airfix kit? The corrections are a lot less work than converting the daco kit. ? Hi Kev1n As I have mentioned, the Daco kit is very good and incorporates some fine detail sadly missing from the Airfix kit. The nose shape is better as well, and when you consider the job as a whole, there is not really that much more work involved doing it this way. Basically, I wasn't happy with the look of the Airfix kit. Cheers Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted December 14, 2009 Share Posted December 14, 2009 Looking good so far Chris... what's next? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stringbag Posted December 14, 2009 Author Share Posted December 14, 2009 Looking good so far Chris... what's next? Thanks Mike. I'm currently working on the wings as the moment. Woody has pointed out in a PM. that the Braz engines are a bit of a disappointment and I have to agree. I'll have a go at the undercarriage next while I decide what to do. Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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