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Why no weathered airliners?


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In looking at all the builds of jetliners, one thing I noted was that 99% of them are immaculate.  While they are impressive builds, they almost end up looking like toys.   Most airliners I've seen show some degree of grime, the pic below was taken on a recent SWA flight and makes for a good example.

 

SWA_zpstwqwdb2p.jpg

 

Weathering is pretty much mandatory for all other aircraft models, wonder why so few airliners are dirtied up?

 

John

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indeed airline models are more like civil car models. cars do get dirty as hell too but you'll rarely see model like that, bar the rally cars and they are seldom. i'm of the opinion that it's a means to display the craftsmanship required for a flawless finish in all parts of the build, which is rather high of course.

Edited by murad
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Thanks for the responses guys (and for the pics / links of some nicely weathered jets).   I see the rational for building a pristine airline, I still like the grunge look.  Shows she's been ridden hard and put away wet.   

 

Just personal preference.  I saw an Air France 777 at ATL a month ago, it was absolutely filthy.   Wish I could have gotten a picture of it.  

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Hi 11bee,   AV O shared these links of other modellers' builds, too.   Beautiful weathered birds and a clean cargo 747.   I can't make up my mind which one to build by looking at these -- weathered and clean both look too good!


http://fighters.forumactif.com/t23117-dc-10-air-liberte-1-200-hasegawa
http://fighters.forumactif.com/t21545-boeing-747-128-air-france-70-hasegawa-1-200
http://www.airlinercafe.com/forums.php?m=posts&p=39324

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Maybe it's also the smaller scale. I mean airliner models rarely are bigger than 1/72, in fact they are mostly 1/144 or even smaller. When you look at most real airliners from distance, like from a terminal window, they do look quite clean. But when you climb up the stairs into a plane you'll notice the fuselage ain't so clean and pristine anymore. There are dirt streaks coming down from the top along the sides of the fuselage and when you look at the wings from your seat, you will notice even more dirt and grime. 

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36 minutes ago, janman said:

Maybe it's also the smaller scale. I mean airliner models rarely are bigger than 1/72, in fact they are mostly 1/144 or even smaller. When you look at most real airliners from distance, like from a terminal window, they do look quite clean. But when you climb up the stairs into a plane you'll notice the fuselage ain't so clean and pristine anymore. There are dirt streaks coming down from the top along the sides of the fuselage and when you look at the wings from your seat, you will notice even more dirt and grime. 

Absolutely, in the airline I work for the dirt/grime on external surfaces is quite prominent when viewed from the ramp/ jetty/ stairs. On the fuselage, it tends to build up around the forward door used for passenger boarding as the jetty tends to leave a mark when attaching to the fuselage. Grime accumulates in the windows and then leaves streaks down the fuselage and at this time of year deicing fluid leaves streaks on the wings and fuselage.

 

Stephen (Flight attendant)  

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  • 3 weeks later...

While I love the look of a tastefully weathered model, I haven't been able to master the art of achieving this myself.   I usually end up with an unrealistic over weathered kit that looks like the racecar in MoFos post.   After spending all the time of building, painting and decaling, it kills me to then ruin it with an unrealistic weather treatment.  So, I just leave them unweathered.

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I'm like Drifterdon. That, and by the time I get to that stage, I'm ready to move onto something else. Modeler's ADHD.

 

The airline I used to work for originally kept the jets relatively clean, but after the bankruptcy, they were allowed to get filthy. Ground crews would regularly write "Wash me" in the grime on the aft fuselage, and one CRJ carried an "I wish my wife was this dirty" sticker for a couple of flights, until it blew off.

 

Ben

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On 3/3/2017 at 10:37 AM, Drifterdon said:

While I love the look of a tastefully weathered model, I haven't been able to master the art of achieving this myself.   I usually end up with an unrealistic over weathered kit that looks like the racecar in MoFos post.   After spending all the time of building, painting and decaling, it kills me to then ruin it with an unrealistic weather treatment.  So, I just leave them unweathered.

Exactly the same with me.  I just don't have the artistic eye to capture weathering where it

looks right to me so I gave up years ago trying to weather.  Mine are all cleaned up for an

airshow appearance plus I have a very good crew chief. :nanner::banana:

:cheers:

Jerry

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On ‎3‎/‎4‎/‎2017 at 4:40 AM, Ben Brown said:

Ground crews would regularly write "Wash me" in the grime on the aft fuselage, and one CRJ carried an "I wish my wife was this dirty" sticker for a couple of flights, until it blew off.

 

 

Love it!  

 

On ‎3‎/‎4‎/‎2017 at 10:27 AM, k5ikl said:

Mine are all cleaned up for an airshow appearance plus I have a very good crew chief. 

 

Ditto!   I find it hard to explain why my Fatface Skyraider that is all bombed up and ready to go only has light exhaust stains on the sides or my USAF F-4E has a full bomb load yet is clean as a whistle.   I guess we only have to satisfy ourselves.   Right?   :thumbsup::cheers:

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4 minutes ago, Drifterdon said:

Ditto!   I find it hard to explain why my Fatface Skyraider that is all bombed up and ready to go only has light exhaust stains on the sides or my USAF F-4E has a full bomb load yet is clean as a whistle.   I guess we only have to satisfy ourselves.   Right?   :thumbsup::cheers:

 

Exactly!!!  :cheers: 

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  • 3 weeks later...

If it helps, during the short stint I did servicing airliners in the 90's (737's, MD-80's, A-320's) I noticed that pretty much every one of them had a thin film of grime on the undersides, with very little up front but progressing snowball-style the further after you went. Wasn't anything to do with airline policy, it was actually two different airlines. 

 

Not sure how useful that is to most of you, but I offer it for whatever it's worth. :cheers:

 

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I am a 145 Captain, and I see this on our aircraft all the time. Including the a-typical MEL sticker in the AML, "Company Paint Main cabin door" amongst a number of many other places.  The belly is the worst. Paint peels off in sheets sometimes. Grime builds up in a hurry from the nose wheel chines throwing dirt up. In the winter, de-icing fluids puddle for extended periods of time in small compartments and bleed out in flight.

 

Tracy

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