Boeing 747-8 converted to 747-100... how?

strobez · July 07, 2018, 11:41:19 PM

As part of my ongoing Area 88 series of projects, I've been humming and hawing over building a 747-100 (or maybe 200) - I'm not quite sure which one would've been active circa 1979 when the Manga first appeared. Anyway, after looking at various options and weighing price, shipping, and availability, I starting to think that I might want to just pick a Zvezda 747-8 off the shelf and convert it. Am I crazy? The other, more expensive, option would be to get the Revell "Ed Force One" 747-400, but after doing some poking around, it seems that one might not be a better option because of some shape issues.

Now, I'm not going for 100% accuracy here, but just a passable rendition - hence my interest in the significantly lower priced, possibly more detailed and better fit, Zvezda. I know that I'd need to cut out a slice of the fuselage to get a more appropriate length, but besides reshaping (or cutting off) the little wing tips, is there anything major that would need to be done?

One 747 looks like another to my uneducated eyes, so I'm not really after the minute details... just the major ones that would cause me to later look at the finished model in disgust and shame...

AS.12 · July 08, 2018, 03:10:33 AM

Fuselage chop, bump chop and rebuild, wingtips, need to reprofile and shorten the wing, engines wrong and much too big for a -100

There's really nothing externally similar between a -100 and a -8 other than the Section 41 ( nose ) and vertical tail.

Much easier to start with the Revell 747-100 Shuttle Carrier.

Spey_Phantom · July 08, 2018, 03:23:36 AM

Over been playing Sith a simulator idea (alsof using these Revell 747 shuttle carrier of E-4B)
But first i might look to start with a smaller scaled version.

PR19_Kit · July 08, 2018, 04:29:06 AM

I got an original Revell 747-200 from a UK trader only a year or so ago, and it was pretty cheap too, £8 as I recall.

That model, from which the Shuttle Carrier kit was derived, wasn't too bad at all, especially for its age.

strobez · July 08, 2018, 06:39:12 AM

Thanks for the advice guys! I took a closer look at it, and I see the differences now. I think the Revell 1/144 space shuttle kit is on hand and available so I think I'll go with that one. I think it passed me by because I confused the "SCA" for the stubby version of the B-747 and ignored it.

I think I need to shop where Kit does... £8?!

Hobbes · July 08, 2018, 06:44:56 AM

The SCA was recently re-released and should be available at reasonable prices.

strobez · July 11, 2018, 01:44:34 AM

I found a reasonably priced recent boxing of the revell E-3B "Command Post", which I'm given to understand is the 747-200 I'm after with some extra bits and pieces. It seemed like the best option, so I went for it.

PR19_Kit · July 11, 2018, 03:38:29 AM

Quote from: strobez on July 11, 2018, 01:44:34 AM

I found a reasonably priced recent boxing of the revell E-3B "Command Post", which I'm given to understand is the 747-200 I'm after with some extra bits and pieces. It seemed like the best option, so I went for it.

Nice one.

I'd forgotten they'd done that version too, and you're right, it is basically a 747-200.

strobez · July 11, 2018, 05:57:17 PM

The fact that it was nearly $20 cheaper than the Shuttle combo option made it worth the risk of buying it (slightly) blind. The blurb on the box said "military version of 747-200" but the box art shows no windows. So I used my kit-buying experience to guess that it was the same mold with extras I could ignore rather than a different tool altogether. It seems I guessed right.

Now all I have to figure out is how I'm going to hide it from my wife in the luggage going back to Seoul. I already have an incognito shoebox full of sprues to smuggle home... and this one is a long box.