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Beluga and 747 LCF


richellis

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Ive been wanting to do a Beluga and a 747 Dreamlifter for ages, now the baluga has been re-released Im having a go at one!

As I had some part built A320 kits I wanted to open the door and do a load, but how to do all the internal ribbing? SMW to the rescue! I found some ribbed plasticard that was quite thin and hopefuly when painted and inside it will look OK!

I cut the floor to the template in the instructions, and put the rear wall in as well.

reviewstripil017.jpg

A close up of the ribbed plastic,

reviewstripil018.jpg

I cut the fuselage of an airbus up looking at pics on the net for referance. I noted that the tail is normaly sent with the rear section of the fuselage. They will be painted in the primer with some red covers as on the pics!

This is how they should sit,

reviewstripil019.jpg

Boeing 747 LCF Dreamlifter

the Boeing 747 LCF is built to carry the 787 sections, it is built from second hand 747-400 with a large cargo hold and an opening tail section. I did lost of research on the net, and found info very hard to come by! I found a fantastic walkaround though! This will be a closed model!

I thought the best way to start would be to copy how they did the real conversion! So I lopped the tail off and cut the fuselage roof off to the top of the cabin windows! As the real aircraft has had 10ft added to the length, that is the hinges and frame for the swing tail, I will be adding 22mm here, all scratch built. I could do with a scrap 747 fuselage if any one has one!

I got the kit from Telford but for some reason the 2 sides of the fuselage are slightly differant lengths, and differant plastic! Ah well! Good job its being cut so much!

Anyway pics,

reviewstripil020.jpg

I need to get a 2inch plastic pipe to glue on the top, then a pile of filler!

Edited by richellis
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This should be interesting. Are you going to do the Dreamlifter in final livery, or the primer & white it originally appeared in pics. I always thought it looked like a 747 in a hotdog bun :lol: Your local DIY shop should be able to help with the pipe, but it'll probably be vinyl, so you'll need to use epoxy glue and filler so you get a good bond. Might be an idea to skin the pipe with styrene sheet too, so it takes the paint better.

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  • 2 months later...

thanks Kev1n. Its stalled a bit, need to pick up some pipe, and some of that zinc primer stuff.

Will carry on when my KUTA GBs, and my 727F are off the bench. i say that but Ive started to glue one of my S&M Viscounts together this afternoon while waiting for some paint and Kleer to dry!

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well may see some movement on the 747 now, I have been sent a revell 747 by troy Smith, big thanks, so I will chop the fuselage up to give me the extra length in the back, and if I have enough bits Ill do a cut-away (its that kit) 747SP and use some of the seats in a BAe146 conversion I have in the planning stage!

Getting the glue out later!

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Great stuff Rich.

You're not afraid to wield that saw are you? I guess that's nothing compared to your big ol' BAe 146 in that respect.

Phil.

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Well, the good news for me is that I will be able to do a 747SP out of the second kit! I have chopped up the second kit and removed a large section of the rear fuselage.

This has now been added to the 747LCF and the tail re-attached, adding 22mm to the length of the fuselage.

Lots of Epoxy glue and plasticard to add strength is now drying.

Piccys later...

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Hi,

piccys,

gb001.jpg

gb002.jpg

Lots of epoxy in the join as with the scrach built hinge section and the filer/ milput on the back, it will need it!

The tin is on there as it is 2inch, and thats what I think I need, but now I think its too big, I am looking at dropping to 1 3/4 inch tube, a nose on view shows it a bit better,

gb003.jpg

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  • 5 months later...

I must drag this off the shelf later. have had some problems with the epoxy I used for the tail extension, not setting and causing the tail to droop, thats why it stalled. All seams dry and hard now, got to pop to B&Q this week, so will have a look at the pipes!

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I think its the right size, but is sitting too high. I will try chopping the plastic cap so it will sit lower and get some pics later.

Ill need 6 lids to do the job, so any one got any spare spray can lids?

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Some update piccys, I have cut a front bulkhead and added some plastic frames to start shape the front of the body.

lcf001.jpglcf002.jpglcf004.jpg

The last shot shows how I had to chop the fuselage down to get the shape I wanted, and it was an utter pain to chop with the wings inplace etc!

lcf003.jpg

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thanks, Ive "borrowed" some of them. Spent some time looking at pics of the tail hinge section to get a feel for the shapes between painting the kitchen!

If I get a chance later ill try and cut some plastic!

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  • 7 months later...
  • 1 year later...

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