Mike J. Idacavage Posted January 1, 2009 Share Posted January 1, 2009 Here's my start on the New Year! In a manner somewhat unusual for me ( ), I'll be the first to kick of the build thread for an airliner entry. I will be building a 1/144 B727-100 using an old Airfix -200 kit and the OzMods 727-100 resin conversion set. Here's a photo of what I am starting out with: The OzMods conversion fuselage is on the bottom . I had a very badly warped Airfix -100 fuselage which I started many years ago sitting in the box for comparison. I recently came across an ad for OzMods that shows a different conversion set for the -100. The new set has a seperate tail fin. The one that I will be using looks like a straightforward resin cast of the Airfix 727-100 fuselage with the doors and windows (not too well) added. Here's the kick-off build thread for this GB in 2009! :lol: Have fun modeling! Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike J. Idacavage Posted January 4, 2009 Author Share Posted January 4, 2009 Before I started to actually do something with this kit, I shot several photos as a reference to compare the OzMods -100 fuselage with the original Airfix -100 parts. You can see the comparison in the photos below. The Arfix parts are in the dark gray plastic. As you can see, they are virtually the same. This might be useful for those contemplating a -100 three holer in their future. I hope to post photos on my first modeling progress with this build later today. Have fun modeling! Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AAbshier Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 Before I started to actually do something with this kit, I shot several photos as a reference to compare the OzMods -100 fuselage with the original Airfix -100 parts. You can see the comparison in the photos below. The Arfix parts are in the dark gray plastic. As you can see, they are virtually the same. This might be useful for those contemplating a -100 three holer in their future. I hope to post photos on my first modeling progress with this build later today. Have fun modeling! Mike It would have been nice if OzMods had fixed some of the screwups on the Airfix fuselage (chipmunk cheeks come to mind) but as we well know as airliner modelers, beggars can't be choosers! I have a Revell 727-100 blank that I built in 1979 (!!!) that still has never received a paint job! I'm guessing it is disqualified from the GB, but I will finish it one of these decades! Looking forward to seeing how yours comes along. I'm surprised you're not doing a Piedmont -100. :-) Andy Alton IL Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike J. Idacavage Posted January 5, 2009 Author Share Posted January 5, 2009 hi Andy! You definitely have my modeling interests down solid! I was originally thinking of doing this as a Piedmont aircraft to go with the different -200 Piedmont airliners I have built. I recently picked up one of Kurt's resin 727-100 kits, so I had no problem deciding to make this scheme the one to go with for Kurt's kit. I liked the Draw Decals FAA scheme and had them already in my stash, so I decided to go with the FAA scheme for the GB. You are spot on with your comments on the Airfix 727 look. I also hoped that OzMods would have done some correcting but no luck. At least it looks like a 727-100! Have fun modeling! Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike J. Idacavage Posted January 5, 2009 Author Share Posted January 5, 2009 Well, let the games begin! The OzMods conversion set has two resin fuselage halves that are typical of resin kits. In other words, there is a a small amout of warpage/out of level surfaces and there are no alignment pins. As I suspect that I will have my share of puttying and sanding with this baby, I started off by making my own alignment helpers. I took some Evergreen flat styrene pieces and used 5 Minute Epoxy to glue these to various parts of one fuselage. You can see that I put a flat piece over the hole which would have the tail exit door as this would likely be a pain to fare in without pushing it inside the fuselage. I also took the bulkhead from the Airfix kit and added it for some stability. In addition, I also glued in a small lead fishing weight as this kit would be a tail sitter. The last photo is a close up view of the supporting strips. Now to let everything fully cure for a few days, then the fuselage gets assembled! Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike J. Idacavage Posted January 11, 2009 Author Share Posted January 11, 2009 I managed to get the two fuselage halves together using 5 minute epoxy. Here's how it looks at this stage: As I suspected, the joining of the two halves did not go as smoothly as I would have liked. There are several spots where the joining area was very weak. One of these was on the bottom of the fuselage. I cut out a small section that was bad, and epoxied a small stryrene strip to help fill in the gap. You can see the fill in sevtion in this photo: It looks like I will have quite a bit of the ole puttying/sanding /priming/puttying steps to look forward to! For those interested, here's how the center engine inlet looks. I have not yet tried to smooth this area yet. It does have the correct oval inlet shape for the -100. Till next time..... Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Team 4R Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 Hey Mike! So that's a small fishing weight, huh?? You gonna have her ready in time for the IPMS meeting? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike J. Idacavage Posted January 16, 2009 Author Share Posted January 16, 2009 Well, reasonably small! I wont have to worry about this one being a tail sitter. I will have this at a meeting at AAA, but I have no idea as to the month! The fit is not that good, so I'll have a bunch of corrections to be made. I hope to log some time on the kit this weekend. Are you working on anything for the GB? Have fun modeling! Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike J. Idacavage Posted January 18, 2009 Author Share Posted January 18, 2009 Time for an update on my 727 project. As I thought when I first glued the fuselage together, I have been on a slow slog trying to make the seams vanish. I ran into an unexpected problem. The 5 minute epoxy that I used was likely too old, so it did not fully cure in places. Instead of being rock hard, it remained rubbery but not sticky. This proved to be a royal PITA when it came to the windscreen. The edges would tend to pop out resulting in a constant gap. I ended up digging the bad epoxy resin out of the joint and refilling with Apoxie putty. ;) Here's how it looks now: I also ended up digging out poorly cured sections around the fuselage and refilling with either Apoxie putty or superglue. I sure hope that I am getting near the end of this step! I also cleaned up the wings by sanding off the raised detail and doing some light rescribing. I also removed the bogus "Leading Edge" fence that is positioned on the trailing edge of the Airfix wings. Here's the wings about to be joined to the fuselage: Slow progress, but at least it is progress! Have fun modeling! Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike J. Idacavage Posted January 25, 2009 Author Share Posted January 25, 2009 Not a big jump in progress, but as predicted, this build is a slow crawl. The 727 is now looking like a real airplane. I joined the wings to the fuselage and am currently in my umpteenth session of filling in the seems, priming and resanding. Here is how it looks so far: Pulling together a kit combination of a limited run resin conversion and styrene parts from a 40+ year old kit is always a challenge! I test fitted the middle engine exhaust cone from the Airfix kit, and it was smaller in diameter than the main body. I decided to epoxy the kit exhaust at this stage, putty and sand the large step and duplicate the exhaust throught paint (likely Alclad). Here is how it looks just after glueing it on to the main body: Have fun modeling! Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MaRiO FDZ Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Nice work on the exhaust. Stupid question - What's the difference between a -100 and a -200 72??? Take Care Quote Link to post Share on other sites
martin_sam_2000 Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 I am not an expert..and I would like to know for sure..but i am almost certain that the -100 was slightly shorter than the -200 Sean Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike J. Idacavage Posted January 25, 2009 Author Share Posted January 25, 2009 It is a rather good question as to the differences between the -100 and -200 versions of the 727. There are two main, visible differences that I recall. The first is Boeing stretched the fuselage 10 feet on going from the -100 (earlier version) to the -200. The center air intake (#2 engine) is slighlty oval for the -100 and round for the -200. The center air intake for the -200 is also slightly longer than that of the -100. A more subtle difference is that the wing/fuselage filet is shaped slightly different on the -100 than the -200. All in all, not a major change like going from a 737-200 to a 737-300, but still different enough to be interesting. I really like the classic look of the 727 and it is perhaps my favorite airliner. Have fun modeling! Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike J. Idacavage Posted February 9, 2009 Author Share Posted February 9, 2009 Not much to report on this build as I have been using my modeling time to clean up the fuselage. I hope that after 1 more primer coat next weekend, I will be down to just a few odd flaws and can move on to the finishing step. In the mean time, I have been working on the stabilizers and the engines. For the Airfix 727 kits, the two stabilizers are joined together by a thin plastic rod molded on one stabilizer. This looked a little flimsy to me, especially after I bent it a few times during clean up! I removed the plastic rod and will substitute a brass square tube that fits perfectly into the two holes I reamed out at the edge of the stabilizers. You can see the brass tube in the photo. The engines just needed a few sessions of putty and super glue repair and they are now ready for the final primer step. Here's how they look so far: Hopefully, I can show some real progress starting in a few weeks! Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike J. Idacavage Posted March 15, 2009 Author Share Posted March 15, 2009 It's been awhile since I last posted an update, but I finally have a little progress to show. I have been in the version of modeler's hell which has one cycling between priming, filling, sanding over and over... :lol: I think it was a combination of the mismatch in material properties of the Airfix donar kit and the resin fuselage combined with using old 5 minute epoxy to stick this sucker together. I took a look at my fuselage after the umteenth time on priming earlier today, so it looks like I am good to go on the the next steps. Yay!! Here are two photos of the fuselage with the final primer coat along with the engines and stabilizers. I'll polish them tomorrow in preparation of the color coats. The next steps will also be slow as I plan on multiple gloss coats to build up the layers and I tend to only paint on weekends when I can open up the windows in mid day for ventilation. First up will be the white base (1 flat white followed by 2 coats of gloss white). Have fun modeling! Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Thrushcom Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Looking very nice so far! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Samurai_Chris Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 ;) Nice work so far. It does look shorter and stubbier.. Chris Quote Link to post Share on other sites
airplane88 Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 I am no expert, but is the nose pointy? I honestly have not seen a 727 in so long, that it may be why I am asking. Nice work! Very clean looking with the primer! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike J. Idacavage Posted March 15, 2009 Author Share Posted March 15, 2009 Good catch! I also think the kit has the nose a little too pointy. You can see this in the shots I took of the fuselage halves in one of the first posts in this thread. I just dug up some 1/144 scale 727 drawings, and the nose is definitely too thin/pointy. It was not bothering me too much as I was building it, but now that the primer is on, it does look a bit obvious. Oh well, I'll see what I can do with some apoxie putty and some sandpaper. With all the problems I had in getting this sucker to this stage, I just don't have a lot of energy for cosmetic surgery on the kit! :) Have fun modeling! Mike I am no expert, but is the nose pointy? I honestly have not seen a 727 in so long, that it may be why I am asking. Nice work! Very clean looking with the primer! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DC10Oiller Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 The build is coming along great Mike. I've used the OzMods conversion before and considering it's a limited run resin affair, I really liked how it came out. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike J. Idacavage Posted March 17, 2009 Author Share Posted March 17, 2009 Thanks! It's good to find out that these conversion kits can eventually be tamed. Did your model end up with a nose that appears a bit too pointy? After staring at the nose for awhile, I ended up rounding it out slightly using putty. I'll give it a few days to set up nice and solid, and then see if I can improve the nose a bit with a bout of sandpaper. Hopefully, I'll not lose any momentum with this unplanned nose job. Have fun modeling! Mike The build is coming along great Mike. I've used the OzMods conversion before and considering it's a limited run resin affair, I really liked how it came out. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
airplane88 Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 I just can't pinpoint it for you buddy! I mainly noticed it in the first few pics before the build. It seems like it is a bit sharp or fighter jet nose point. I might be wrong, but just a simple rounding off the tip of the nose might be the ticket. Again, I could be wrong, because it has been years since I have seen the 727 up close and personal. I will say this though, I love the 727! I still think the 727 is one of the sexiest looking airplanes out there. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
airplane88 Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 Before I started to actually do something with this kit, I shot several photos as a reference to compare the OzMods -100 fuselage with the original Airfix -100 parts. You can see the comparison in the photos below. The Arfix parts are in the dark gray plastic. As you can see, they are virtually the same. This might be useful for those contemplating a -100 three holer in their future. I hope to post photos on my first modeling progress with this build later today. Have fun modeling! Mike I think I found it! Look at the comparison in the second photo. The nose in the original kit looks like a 727 nose. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DC10Oiller Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 Thanks! It's good to find out that these conversion kits can eventually be tamed. Did your model end up with a nose that appears a bit too pointy? I thought the model looked OK when done. I still have a second conversion fuselage and when put up against both the Airfix and Minicraft parts it looks pretty much spot on. There might be a difference of 2 swipes with a sanding stick, maybe. Here's how mine turned out (you'll have to scroll down bit). When you're done, I'm sure you'll like how she looks. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GCA333 Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 That certainly is a little jet, I like it! More pics! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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