DONE @p.5 +++ 1:144 Boeing 727-301, Aéromexicana, late Seventies

[Dizzyfugu]

The fact that I got the longer/deeper Super VC-10 nacelles is not bad at all for me, because it offers enough "flesh" to create a proper fit for the fuselage. The kink on the 727's tail where the conical part starts is quite pronounced, at least on the Minicraft kit.

BTW, the 727-300 starts looking like an aircraft. Here's what happened to engine #2's exhaust:


1:144 Boeing 727-301 - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:144 Boeing 727-301 - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


...and this eventually led to this:


1:144 Boeing 727-301 - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:144 Boeing 727-301 - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


In parallel, work on the small parts started, too. I will, since the -300 is supposed to operate from smaller and not-so-percect airfields, give the aircraft four-wheel bogies instead of the standard twin wheels. The parts come from a 1:200 747 corpse - the main wheels are pretty small, but I think that they should work when you place four of them together?


1:144 Boeing 727-301 - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Then, one of the Minicraft kit's weak points: the leading edges. Their shape is... blunt. The front is almost vertical and somewhat flat, it really looks wacky, esp. towards the wing roots. I tried to mend this with a new leading edge, sculpted with putty:


1:144 Boeing 727-301 - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Then the nacelles were mounted to the tail; due to the lack of attachment points, I simply used superglue, and thanks to the solid pylons and my trimming efforts, they hold well onto the fuselage:


1:144 Boeing 727-301 - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:144 Boeing 727-301 - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:144 Boeing 727-301 - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:144 Boeing 727-301 - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


And, finally, the wings have been added, too. Looks like a sleek Il-62 now, and proportions are good:

1:144 Boeing 727-301 - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


At the moment I am working towards the final details, like an APU under the fin, and I am making my mind up how to paint this, technically. The fuselage will become silver/aluminum, while the stabilizers and the wings will receive bigger, light grey areas, and the fin will become orange. I tend to paint the grey and orange areas first and mask them, since I want to apply the silver with a rattle can.

[PR19_Kit]

Can you use the words 'sleek' and 'Il-62' in the same sentence? 

On the other hand, your 727-300 is looking REALLY good!

[Dizzyfugu]

Thank you, Kit. The 727 looks really purposeful with those four engines. 

[PR19_Kit]

Here's a Super VC10 pylon. You can see the kink quite clearly now.

It's interesting how thick and blunt the TE is too!

[Dizzyfugu]

No new pics yet, but yesterday saw a coat of primer on the model and some additional PSR work on some surface flaws, esp. around the fuselage seams. The fin has been painted orange and parts of the wings and stabilizers in light grey, the glossy enamels are drying now over the course of today. Masking to follow, and maybe I can add the overall silver this evening.

Currently I am a little torn between two shades of silver; one is a rather dull/opaque tone, called "White Aluminum". It's not really a NMF shade, rather looks like Aluminum paint - here's where I already applied it:

1:72 Heinkel He 70K floatplane, 'LN-KME' of the Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS); operated in northern Norway, 1949 (Whif/Matchbox kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


The other option is actually a chrome effect paint - effectively it's a bright silver tone that comes closer to NMF, but I am not certain how it looks on a complete fuselage, and from my experience, these paints are quite touchy. While the chrome paint looks more spectacular, I feel inclined to go with the White Aluminum.

[zenrat]

IME chrome paint looks spectacularly shiny...
...and then it dries.  Some brands still look good but can be susceptible to handling.  Clear coating chrome paint results in silver paint.

[Dizzyfugu]

Agree. Therefore I will most probably stick with the conservative White Aluminum option - it's acrylic paint and "stable" to the touch or varnish treatments.

[Dizzyfugu]

An update from the workbench, dosumenting the previously mentioned steps. First, there has a display holder adapter been integrated into the fuselage, roughly in the CoG's position - a mere styrene tube, but it perfectly matches a 3mm steel wire that I frequently use as holder:


1:144 Boeing 727-301; "XA-DOK", operated by Aeroméxico (Aerovías de México, S.A. de C.V.); late Seventies (Whif/modified Minicraft kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:144 Boeing 727-301; "XA-DOK", operated by Aeroméxico (Aerovías de México, S.A. de C.V.); late Seventies (Whif/modified Minicraft kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Then came the grey primer, and you can already tell the flaws along the fuselage halves:


1:144 Boeing 727-301; "XA-DOK", operated by Aeroméxico (Aerovías de México, S.A. de C.V.); late Seventies (Whif/modified Minicraft kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:144 Boeing 727-301; "XA-DOK", operated by Aeroméxico (Aerovías de México, S.A. de C.V.); late Seventies (Whif/modified Minicraft kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

In consequence: more PSR...


1:144 Boeing 727-301; "XA-DOK", operated by Aeroméxico (Aerovías de México, S.A. de C.V.); late Seventies (Whif/modified Minicraft kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:144 Boeing 727-301; "XA-DOK", operated by Aeroméxico (Aerovías de México, S.A. de C.V.); late Seventies (Whif/modified Minicraft kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Then the fin and wing areas were painted yesterday...


1:144 Boeing 727-301; "XA-DOK", operated by Aeroméxico (Aerovías de México, S.A. de C.V.); late Seventies (Whif/modified Minicraft kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

...and after 24h of drying, I started masking. Nothing I am used to, and I do not expect stellar results.


1:144 Boeing 727-301; "XA-DOK", operated by Aeroméxico (Aerovías de México, S.A. de C.V.); late Seventies (Whif/modified Minicraft kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

And just a couple of minutes ago, a shower with White Aluminum from the rattle can:


1:144 Boeing 727-301; "XA-DOK", operated by Aeroméxico (Aerovías de México, S.A. de C.V.); late Seventies (Whif/modified Minicraft kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:144 Boeing 727-301; "XA-DOK", operated by Aeroméxico (Aerovías de México, S.A. de C.V.); late Seventies (Whif/modified Minicraft kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

I actually expect that all the masked areas peel off when I try to remove the tape... 

[PR19_Kit]

Look at the pics, your brain says 'Ah, a short VC10', but then you look at the fin and it says 'Er, no, it's a 727 but the middle engine's gone!'

The very epitome of Whiffing, I LOVE it! 

[jalles]

WOW, that's sure looking pretty 

[NARSES2]

Impressive 

[Dizzyfugu]

Glad you like it so far. As fightfuly expected, there were losses following the de-masking procedure, but not as severe as I had expected - just some grey and orange touch-ups were necessary. Phew! 

[Dizzyfugu]

Not much new to show here - spent yesterday with small stuff like painting the wheels and mounting the struts to the fuselage, as well as more paint preparations like a black ink wash for the the many engraved flaps on the wings. Also did some post-shading of fuselage panels with Humbrol Polished Aluminum metallizer.
But I will soon have to tackle the stunt of trying to apply DC-8 decals onto a 727 fuselage, there's no way around...

[PR19_Kit]

But I will soon have to tackle the stunt of trying to apply DC-8 decals onto a 727 fuselage, there's no way around...

An airliner modelling JMN would complain that windows will be the wrong size and shape, but there aren't any of THEM here. 

[Dizzyfugu]

That's an issue I am easily able to evade, since I have separate cheatlines as well as 727 windows as decals. 

BTW, here's some progress from the decoration phase; the cockpit area matched surprisingly well:


1:144 Boeing 727-301; "XA-DOK", operated by Aeroméxico (Aerovías de México, S.A. de C.V.); late Seventies (Whif/modified Minicraft kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Then came the next hazardous area, the engines - but with some cutting and patience, this also turned out better than ever hoped for:


1:144 Boeing 727-301; "XA-DOK", operated by Aeroméxico (Aerovías de México, S.A. de C.V.); late Seventies (Whif/modified Minicraft kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:144 Boeing 727-301; "XA-DOK", operated by Aeroméxico (Aerovías de México, S.A. de C.V.); late Seventies (Whif/modified Minicraft kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

...and after some more decals, things look like this - bright!


1:144 Boeing 727-301; "XA-DOK", operated by Aeroméxico (Aerovías de México, S.A. de C.V.); late Seventies (Whif/modified Minicraft kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

This has to thoroughly dry, and then I will add doors, windows and some wing markings from the 727.