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Boeing 727-finished!


ghodges

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This is the 1/144 Minicraft 727 kit, which will be done in Braniff markings. I decided to drop the flaps and slats, which ended up being more work than I anticipated. I had to simplify their construction, as the wing is not molded to make cutting them out easy, but they're cut, constructed, and pinned now, so the hard part is over (I hope!).

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The pinning was done with floral wire, superglued into place. It doesn't do justice to the multi-articulated actuators on the real thing, but it serves my purposes! There's still a lot of cosmetic work to be done. More pics when there's some primer on her!

 

GIL :smiley16:

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Here's pics of the control surfaces, to give a better idea of how they were done...

001-20.jpg

The inner and outer flaps are comprised mainly of the parts cut from the wings. But, they needed to be thinned down and sanded to an airfoil shape. The dark gray parts are sections of Contrail airfoil strut stock, glued to the tops of the kit flaps. They do a good job of replicating the hidden flap sections in this small scale. The kit actuators (part of the wing) had to be cut apart so that the rear sections could be added to the flaps. Parts were then drilled to accept the wire pins.

By the way, a byproduct of the way this kit was molded is that when you cut out the flaps, it takes parts of the top wing with it! These areas are where the spoilers are, and have to be replaced with thin sheet plastic, which also creates the bays the flaps retract into.

The Krueger inner leading edge flaps and the leading edge slats were vacuformed. Those sections of the wing were cut away and used as "masters" to make the new, thinner parts. In the case of the leading edge slats, I made an inverted "T" base for each one to raise them off of the vac platen to assure the plastic could be sucked down around all sides easier.

Got the fuselage together this evening and started building the engine housings too. More pics in a few days!

 

GIL :smiley16:

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  • 2 weeks later...

The main colors are on!

002-27.jpg

 

004-22.jpg

 

005-22.jpg

As for the "gloss", I used the new Alclad Klear Kote lacquer based gloss. I misted it on to start with, and then came back immediately with a heavier "wet" coat. I'll add another layer of gloss after the yellow trim decals are on the model to seal and protect them while handling the model to add the rest of the decals.

 

More pics when the markings are on!

 

GIL :smiley16:

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I'll never understand how to get such an incredibly fine paint result with such straight and crisp lines on any model. I've followed all the instructions people have given; I've used the tools people have suggested and yet mine always looks like some kid hand painted it.

 

Gil, this is why you are a Master! That is a most spectacular paint job; one that is far beyond my meager skills to do. I bow in the presence of greatness!

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Hi, Gil,

 

I am watching this with interest because I have an old Airfix 727-200 in progress. I am attempting to do it in Continental markings. I made an error in filling the open windows on both sides of the fuselage with Krystal Kleer after painting the center stripe. When I masked them over to paint the stripe below, over half of the windows came out with the masking tape, with some undetermined number of loose windows falling into the plane. On the Airfix, the flow fence on each wing was molded on the trailing edge of the wing rather than on the leading edge--file off the wrong ones and scratchbuild new ones. Like the Airfix kit, the Minicraft kit contains no landing gear bay details, just flat slabs. I fault Minicraft for the trenches they call panel lines.

 

Your work on the wings is excellent. I hope you do not have problems with the deep blue bleeding through the white airline markings when you add the decals.

 

Ed

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I have the Airix kit also, and opted for this one because I wouldn't have to fill those windows! Both wings are essentially the same except for the flap actuators. Neither of them makes it easy to reposition any control surfaces.

 

The Braniff markings are actually yellow! There are yellow trim lines that divide the blue and gray sections, including yellow trim lines on each engine. There are also black trim lines inside of the yellow ones! When you add in the window, windshield, door, and detailing decals; there's lots to be added! Luckily, as long as I don't screw them up, there are two sets of yellow markings, so I can double them up if they end up not being opaque enough.

 

I'll consider it success if I get them on, and be happy if I don't have to do major cutting to make them fit!

 

GIL :smiley16:

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Decalled on side of the model this evening. The decals are working well, and 97% of my trim painting is ok. It may take 4-5 days to get all of the decals on just to be sure I don't tear them while applying others...but so far, so good!

 

GIL :smiley16:

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Thanx for that in-progress shot of the control surfaces technique. Way cool to see you taking this kit to the next level. The dropped flaps do a lot for these.

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Hi, Gil,

 

With the final paint and decals on the fuselage, how are you going to deal with the joint/gap when you add the wings? Are the wings also finish-painted? I do not recall the wing-to-fuselage joint as being all that great. Your yellow decals show no blue bleed-through, and they look outstanding. Are these kit decals or aftermarket?

 

Ed

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The yellow striping is from the Aerocolors Graphics sheet. I'm still toying with using the extra markings on the sheet to overlay them again....the windows, windshield, and doors are sourced from other spare sheets though.

 

As for the wing roots....I've played with the tabs and slots to the point I think I can get an acceptable joint....especially for my shelf! This one already has too many boogers to be a contest model! :smiley2:

 

GIL :smiley16:

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That is pretty awesome looking.

 

On a side note, I have a friend named Braniff. He was actually named after the airline. No joke....

 

-Jesse

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  • 2 weeks later...

I can't say when they changed markings, but evidently they had several (4-5?) "schemes" over their lifetime. I get the idea that this was an '80s scheme, while the "B" tail dated more from the 60s-70s. Unfortunately, the decal sheet instructions were barely enough to get the model done, and really needed to be augmented with pics from the internet. It also give almost no history or time period for the markings. On the other hand, the decals themselves were of very good quality, with the only difficulties encountered being the result of applying thin lines with odd outlines.

 

GIL :smiley16:

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Nice build Gil! I saw plenty of those at Love Field in Dallas back in the late '60s through the early '70s. Best,

 

Mark

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