Flash McSprue

Can't really say what are the best as I have not yet finished an airliner model yet :-) However, I am currently building two of the kits mentioned by others in this thread. Zvezda Tu-154M 1:144 is a lovely kit with fine engraved panel lines and it goes together very well. Heller/Airfix 1:72 L1049 Super constellation is not so great. Fine raised panel lines except doors which are engraved. Engines are incorrect shape. Surprisingly for a 1:72 kit it is less detailed (and accurate) than both the revell and minicraft 1:144 kits. Cheers, Gary

Sorry for the long time between updates, but I had stalled a bit with doing the flaps (pardon the pun). I was trying to add the detail shown here: http://www.scfa-pictures.ch/gallery/displa...=76&pos=181 First attempt was to scribe the lines and then fill with matt black, but the thinner lines were inconsistent and it looked like crap. Then I tried adding the detail using strips of the thinnest styrene sheet I had. This looked a lot more consistent and even, but it was too chunky. In the end, I masked and painted the wider black areas at the bottom of the flaps and the areas between

Thanks for the ideas, Frank. I have used BMF brand adhesive foil on other projects but I got frustrated with it. I seem to have more patience now, so i might give it another go. I am learning a few things: Don't use automotive wax and grease remover on styrene, it melts it. Only slightly, so no damage caused. Automotive putty (Septone brand Blade Putty - a one part putty, no mixing) also lightly melts the surface of styrene, but this seem to give it a great bond. Sands really well but seems to take a long time to dry. The can says it is sandable in 45 minutes but I could still easily p

I carried out some paint tests today. Qantas Connies had highly polished lower fuselages, it looks almost mirror-like in some photos. I bought some cheap (brand: "Australian Export") rattle-can appliance white and grey primer (enamel) from the auto parts store. They also had "Chrome" in this range, so I bought that too. Test spraying showed the chrome to be more of a grainy aluminium, like "silver" car paint. I compared it to Tamiya Silver Leaf (TS-30) which is much shinier, but still not a mirror finish - I've heard it is the most chrome-like of the Tamiya paints. The auto parts store a

Thanks for the welcome Chris. Sorry to hear that your company lost its contract. I hope you find some new work soon ( I'm "between jobs" myself). I have joined the two halves of the ailerons, rudders, stabilisers and fins. I filled gaps caused by the removal of the flight control surfaces with styrene and super glue. I have started work on the flaps. When cut from the lower wing, the flaps have a wedge profile but are required to have a airfoil profile. I was going to sand the curve into the leading edge but was worried getting consistent results. I couldn't find anything around the h

Thanks for the PM Ray. I will check out those other stores, although, I still have two unbuilt kits from my last excursion into aircraft modelling (Trumpeter 1/24 P51D Mustang, Tamiya 1/48 Lancaster "Grand Slam"). I may never get to them as I am interested in airliners now. Maybe I can convert the Lancaster to a Lancastrian :-) Anyway, I have detached the control surfaces: Flaps are part of the lower wing and extend out and down. At full flaps they are extended right to the trailing edge of the wing. On a real super constellation, you can see light between the wing trailing edge and th

Thanks for the welcome, guys. I bought the model at Fisher Discounts. They had three. The sales guy said that they only got them in last week. Are there any other Canberra stores with a good range? I had a look at Monaro Hobbies but they seem to have moved even more towards being a radio control store. Only kits were military aviation, armor, ships and cars. Is the shop at Phillip still open? Cheers, Gary

DC-7 looks fantastic! The finish and livery look great. Well done. If it were a real aircraft they may have to offload a few rivets to get under maximum take-off weight. Cheers, Gary

Thanks Chris, its good to be back! Some info about the kit and my progress so far: This Airfix kit is a re-boxing of the Heller kit, it still has the "Heller" logo on the inside of the fuselage. Both the long nose (Qantas and "Connie" option) and the short nose (Irish International option) are provided in the kit. Panel lines are (mostly) done as a very fine raised line. The doors and engine cowlings have recessed panel lines. The outlines on the wing leading edge for the de-icer boots (I think?) are very prominent raised panel lines. All the control surfaces are deeper recessed panel l

I hope it is not too late to join you guys in this group build. (but, I'll have you know, I am still going to build my model, whether you accept me or not :-) ). Today I have started building this: in Qantas colours using the kit decals. This will be the first model I've built since 2001 and the first airliner I have ever built. Thanks for all your help so far; I have read through the forums and got some great tips from you guys. And, in anticipation, thanks for all the help you are going to give me in the future :-) Cheers, Gary

Fantastic job. She looks gorgeous. You may have seen this already, but I was just watching a film from the 50's called Flying with Authur Godfrey sponsered by Eastern Airlines to build public confidence in commercial air travel. They fly an Eastern Airlines Super Constellation from New York to Miami. They also fly the Connie on just one engine, not, I presume, during a scheduled passenger flight! The funniest line in the film is: Captain: "Okay, our climb check is finished. Time for a Chesterfield!" Cheers.