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Hey Guys,

My first entry will be a 1/144 Minicraft MD-80 converted to an MD-87. I started this a few years ago, but all I got done was: cut the fuselage and glued it back together (no filling/sanding done yet), cut the tail off (BraZ will replace it), and glued the wings together (the wings aren't glued to the fuselage). So can I proceed?

MD-87inprogress.jpg

:thumbsup:

John

Edited by John King
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I believe it fits perfectly in the category of "no fuselage paint, except primer. Some details like wheels and gear can be painted" which was posted by one of the mods yesterday. And as I flew for Reno Air (and really liked the MD-87 in particular) I can't wait to see it done.

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Well here's an update. I was able to fill and sand the joins today! Next step will be adding the resin tail, I think. I dry fitted the wings, and they don't fit that well :cheers: There's a gap at the front of each one, so I suppose I'll have to add them on before I paint the fuselage. Oh well, a little masking never killed anyone.

DSCN2717.jpg

The decals I have are from the Minicraft MD-80. I hope I can just cut these down and they'll fit.

Until next time,

John

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  • 6 years later...

Sorry to bring up an old post but, I am in need of some assistance.

I am going to be converting the Minicraft MD-80 kit to an MD-87. Kinggoalie? Would you possibly be able to tell me where to make the cuts and how much needs to be removed fore adn aft?

Thanks, in advance, for any and all assistance.

Randie Coulter

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Randie,

You need to do the following:

  • Remove 20mm of fuselage in front of the wing
  • Remove 16.8mm of fuselage from behind the wing
  • Increase the height of the vertical stabiliser by 3.5mm above the horizontal stabiliser.
  • use the 'screwdriver' tailcone from the kit

For the cuts I try to find a suitable panel line to start with close the wing root, in alot of cases the second cut will not be on a panel line so you will just have to cut where necessary.

A modified vertical stabliser is available from Braz Models if you don't want to modify it and a MD 87 fuselage is available form Welsh Models as well.

I assume this is for a fire bomber version?

Hope this helps.

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Yes it is and thanks for the information. ;-)

Randie

Ooops! I thought of one other thing I intended to ask. As this is something entirely new to me, would you recommend making the cuts before or after the fuselage is assembled?

Again, thanks in advance for all the help,

Randie

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Some people like to stagger the cuts to give the joins more strength. This requires the cuts to be made before gluing.

I usually cut them prior to gluing together so I have stability of the part on a flat surface. The other thing I do is the run a scriber along the cut line to deepen it before putting a saw to it.

I have also ct after gluing and when I do this I used dymo tape as a guide along the line, then as above run a scriber along the line and then hit it with the saw.

As you can see Randie there are an umber of ways to attack this, use the one you are most comfortable.

Finally when I do glue the sections together I use strips of the cut fuselage to reinforce the join from the inside.

So hear is examples of models cut after a fuselage assembled and prior

B777-3_01_zps90c4e38c.jpg

and reinforcing the join

B777-3_04_zps1765c1a8.jpg

Edited by Trojan Thunder
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