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1/144 Boeing 747-8i Lufthansa - COMPLETED


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Bought this one in Tokyo last week. With just under two months to go in this GB I should be able to finish it.

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Will be using the Lufthansa decals from the kit since there are no other passenger 747-8s delivered to date apart from Lufthansa.

I haven't seen the Zvezda 747-8 kit so cannot comment on the differences between the two.

First steps...

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Fuselage halves and the clear window strips have been glued into place. I noticed the window sizes are not consistent but I will be using the supplied window decals so will fill the windows and sand smooth.

Looks like I may have ended up with a bad copy of the kit as the left fuselage half and tail are twisted... I did do a dry fit and the fit seems fine though (except the tail which will need some clamping when the fuselage halves are glued).

There was also an issue with the horizontal stabilizers... the top left half has a big dent in it, and there is a lot of flash on the trailing edges. Not too difficult to fix. Again I may have been unlucky and got a bad copy of the kit.

More progress soon...

Thanks for looking

Dennis

Edited by LHRHKG
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Progress so far...

Windows filled and sanded

Landing gear wheel bays assembled and painted. Couldn't figure out a way to fit the nose gear after closing the fuselage halves so will have to fit it at this stage. The other sets of landing gear can be fitted at the end.

Wings assembled, horizontal stabilizers assembled and painted

No major problems with the build so far.

Thanks for looking

Dennis

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Fuselage halves now glued.

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The fit is very good but there are small steps/gaps in front of, and behind the nosewheel bay which will need fixing.

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Thanks for looking

Dennis

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  • 3 weeks later...

Finally managed to start painting this thing! Had a long spell of very wet weather here which was no good for paint. Used Mr Surfacer, then Tamiya flat white and Tamiya AS-28 grey.

The wings and gear were on for a dry fit and the fit was fine.

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The engine fans have also been done. Sprayed with semi-gloss black and the leading edges of the fan blades were painted freehand with a Tamiya paint marker. Quite pleased with the end result

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Next is the blue tail, and silver on the leading edges of the wings, followed by a gloss coat.

Still plenty to do. Just under a month to go in this group build and time is running out...

Thanks for looking

Dennis

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Some more progress...

Had to re-spray the gray lower fuselage after checking photos of the real thing. The gray section now extends a bit further back on the rear fuselage. Fuselage and wings gloss coated with Tamiya TS-13 from the can.

About half-way through applying decals to the fuselage. The kit decals were very nice to work with but do settle down a bit too quickly. So had to use lots of water to keep the decals wet when positioning them, and I applied a touch of Micro Sol once the decals settle.

The engines have been assembled and awaiting paint.

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Thanks for looking

Dennis

Edited by LHRHKG
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Thanks for posting your WIP, it’s looking good. What brand and code of blue color do you paint on vertical stabilizer? As looking lot pictures of LH planes, is grey color of the engine different than lower fuselage?

Some more progress...

Had to re-spray the gray lower fuselage after checking photos of the real thing. The gray section now extends a bit further back on the rear fuselage. Fuselage and wings gloss coated with Tamiya TS-13 from the can.

About half-way through applying decals to the fuselage. The kit decals were very nice to work with but do settle down a bit too quickly. So had to use lots of water to keep the decals wet when positioning them, and I applied a touch of Micro Sol once the decals settle.

The engines have been assembled and awaiting paint.

IMG_0068_zpsb363b73e.jpg

Thanks for looking

Dennis

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Almost completed... Still need to add decals to the engines and glue them to the wing. The engine exhausts also need to be painted - I am playing with a mix of clear blue and clear grey/smoke to try and get the heat staining effect as seen on the real thing.

The nose wheels provided appear to be too small so I replaced them with the nose wheels from my abandoned Revell 747-400.

The blue was Tamiya TS-15 from the can followed by a couple of thin coats of Mr Hobby #5 blue carefully sprayed from the can. Gave a close match to the blue decals, close enough for me anyway. I used the same grey on the underside and the engines. In this case, the grey is too dark I think... but will leave it as it is.

Photos of the completed model will be posted as soon as I can.

Thanks for looking

Dennis

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Thanks for the comments. Looks like my last post has been lost after the forum outage yesterday.

But here is my 747-8I finished!

The completed engines. The exhaust cones were brushed painted with a thinned mix of Gunze smoke blue, smoke grey and a drop of clear blue, followed by a flat clear coat

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And the finished model

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Despite the minor issues early on, such as the window size and bent fuselage/tail, I have enjoyed this build and highly recommend this kit.

More photos in the completed builds section.

Thanks for looking

Dennis

Edited by LHRHKG
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That's strange, I did place a comment on your build but that post is gone too.

Anyway, I said that it looks gorgeous! Very neat finish. I really don't like the 747-8i as the upper deck looks way out of shape to me (too straight at the top) but your model looks great.

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