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1/144 Bombardier CRJ 100 Big Planes Kits


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In my ongoing quest to completely leech all of the joy out of this hobby, I am tackling a limited-run kit of a Bombardier CRJ-100 in 1/144, from Big Planes Kits.

k37cFzP.jpg

 

Although it's an American-based airline, the aircraft is entirely Canadian-designed and built, at the Bombardier/Canadair plant at Trudeau airport in Montreal. I've toured the assembly line several times, while showing clients the Challenger 604 (now the 605 line) assembly area when I worked as an instructor on the Challenger. The CRJ 100 is pretty much a Challenger with some small changes (fuselage plugs, etc). 

This kit is tiny! 

ZN5wbeV.jpg

 

It is a funny mix of transparencies, masks, PE, resin, and plastic with few or no locator holes. All in a tiny size. This is going to be a bit of a challenge.

XR50lGN.jpg

 

ALF

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On 10/09/2017 at 10:28 PM, dnl42 said:

I'll be watching this! First because I have their Pilatus Porter kit in my stash, second because I'm a sucker for these builds...

I also have another of theirs in my stash: the 1/72 Challenger 604. This is really a practice build for me.

ALF

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On 11/09/2017 at 6:34 AM, martin_sam_2000 said:

I have one of these as well. Looking forward to see how it goes together. What scheme are you looking to build? I have V1 decals' Air Canada Express set for it.  

 

Sean

I was thinking of doing the kit decals, which are Comair. I think the GB rules permit that, since it's a Canadian designed and built aircraft? If not, looks like I'll be shopping for some Jazz decals... :)

 

On 11/09/2017 at 1:14 AM, Trojan Thunder said:

:popcorn:  I have their 1/72 version of this.

Nice! This, as I stated above, is my practice run to understand how to best build this kit, and transfer that knowledge to their Challenger, which is likely quite similar.

On 11/09/2017 at 12:07 AM, bmccarron said:

Beware!  Boeing might claim that this constutes an unauthirized subsidy.

Good! The more bad blood between Boeing and Bombardier, the less the chance that our Prime Minister goes ahead with the foolish Super Hornet idea.

ALF

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1 hour ago, ALF18 said:

I was thinking of doing the kit decals, which are Comair. I think the GB rules permit that, since it's a Canadian designed and built aircraft? If not, looks like I'll be shopping for some Jazz decals... :)

1

 

Well the GB rules state:

 

-Something built in Canada (Canso, Finch, Harvard MkIV, Hurricane MkXII, ETC)

 

This point does not specifically say that the vehicle has to be in Canadian markings,, Sean is the moderator so I suppose it is his call.

 

I also have the Challenger and accompanying RAAF markings which would be pushing the friendship if I built it in this GB :rolleyes:

Edited by Trojan Thunder
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1 hour ago, Trojan Thunder said:

 

Well the GB rules state:

 

-Something built in Canada (Canso, Finch, Harvard MkIV, Hurricane MkXII, ETC)

 

This point does not specifically say that the vehicle has to be in Canadian markings,, Sean is the moderator so I suppose it is his call.

 

I also have the Challenger and accompanying RAAF markings which would be pushing the friendship if I built it in this GB :rolleyes:

Actually, I would LOVE to see a RAAF Challenger. The initial cadre of pilots on the squadron was trained at Bombardier's training centre in Montreal, where I worked. I had the pleasure of training two crews (4 pilots) from that bunch, as well as going to Australia (Canberra) for a week in your summer (cold, frigid February in Montreal) to teach the whole squadron a condensed version of the aircraft systems training. I never did see the RAAF aircraft and markings, but the squadron folks were a great, friendly bunch. Some of them got me in trouble back in Montreal (something to do with Club Super Sexe and my supposed birthday... the rest is classified). Those Aussies. Always pushing the limits! :thumbsup:

ALF

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I forgot just how small things are in 1/144. The tiny cockpit includes a centre console that has a decal. I set it down better than this with a bit of glue. Nothing much will show in the cockpit through the tiny windows.

nIXke0T.jpg

 

Here is the cockpit. A clear part that will be masked for painting. This kit has a great feature; it comes with an extensive set of masks custom-cut for the windows.

dZ3r4Du.jpg

 

I glued the flight deck inside. Another decal for the instrument panel, which will be invisible!

TpyZyt6.jpg

 

You can see not much will show inside.

esSOBP2.jpg

 

The rear cockpit wall includes the circuit breaker panels and a closed door.

x0O4kWW.jpg

 

Things didn't seem to fit that well, so I chopped some of the rear wall inside the rear fuselage.

DWM9C4h.jpg

 

I built up the engine nacelles, leaving out the jet nozzle and the compressor fan parts for now. Nacelles glued onto the engine pylons here. I will paint the front and rear parts separately, because they are a shiny natural metal colour. I'll do them with a rattle can of natural metal paint, then put on bits here and there at appropriate times to facilitate painting.

0T8YlnZ.jpg

 

ALF

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One challenge for this kit is that none of the parts have locator pins. It requires patience and care to ensure the fuselage halves, etc, are precisely aligned. I would glue a couple parts, walk away and let them dry, then come back an hour later and do another 10 minutes.

This is the lower wing section, with the 3 rectangular parts that form the rudimentary wheel well. The RJ (like the Challenger) sits VERY low on its wheels; none of this is visible when on the shelf. The Challenger wing came to around waist level or so at the wing root, and in a crosswind I always worried about scraping the wingtip as I applied cross-controls just before touching down.

iPbxuiQ.jpg

 

Note that the side (rear) windows will be clear parts that must be cut to fit (long, rectangular transparencies that will glue into the recesses in the fuselage sides, then masks will be applied to paint around the parts that will remain transparent. I am trying to decide what colour to paint the insides of the recesses, to represent either a darkened interior fuselage, or maybe closed blinds.

In this pic, fuselage halves together, and main instrument panel visible.

9BkNKli.jpg

 

Here the fuselage is together, and I have glued the lower wing part in place. Fit was surprisingly good into the fuselage.

FLfzFPl.jpg

 

I used my usual technique of gluing the lower wing into the fuselage first, then the upper wings into the fuselage side and wing root. I let them set, then glued the rest of the wing together toward the tip.

ppyrfQO.jpg

 

Did I mention this was tiny?

rC1IGjS.jpg

 

More soon. Thanks for stopping by.

ALF

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12 hours ago, Trojan Thunder said:

 

Well the GB rules state:

 

-Something built in Canada (Canso, Finch, Harvard MkIV, Hurricane MkXII, ETC)

 

This point does not specifically say that the vehicle has to be in Canadian markings,, Sean is the moderator so I suppose it is his call.

 

I also have the Challenger and accompanying RAAF markings which would be pushing the friendship if I built it in this GB :rolleyes:

Trojan, If you want to build the RAAF challenger, go right ahead. It fit within the rules and would be a nice addition.

 

14 hours ago, ALF18 said:

I was thinking of doing the kit decals, which are Comair. I think the GB rules permit that, since it's a Canadian designed and built aircraft? If not, looks like I'll be shopping for some Jazz decals... :)

 

Nice! This, as I stated above, is my practice run to understand how to best build this kit, and transfer that knowledge to their Challenger, which is likely quite similar.

Good! The more bad blood between Boeing and Bombardier, the less the chance that our Prime Minister goes ahead with the foolish Super Hornet idea.

ALF

ALF, Comair decals would be fine and fit within the GB rules. 

 

This is coming along nicely. Learning a few details for when I build mine.

 

 Sean

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Nice job!

I've started it during the xmas holidays last year, but haven't painted it due to some problems.

On my model, I've cut out the recessed panels and tinted the clear parts from the inside with Tamiya smoke, but messed it up when masking the windows.

Nevertheless, as you already wrote, the fit was surprisingly good.

http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?/topic/296584-1144-bpk-canadair-crj-100/

 

Have you already decided on how you do the cabin windows?

Edited by Lancer512
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My attack plan for the windows was to paint the recess black(or dark grey) and then apply the clear parts over it and then mask This would give the look of windows without the hollow interior or the nasty gaps of individual windows. 

 

Looks like I will have to create a masking tape pattern to ensure all the windows are placed properly. 

 

 Sean

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On 15/09/2017 at 6:48 AM, martin_sam_2000 said:

Trojan, If you want to build the RAAF challenger, go right ahead. It fit within the rules and would be a nice addition.

 

ALF, Comair decals would be fine and fit within the GB rules. 

 

This is coming along nicely. Learning a few details for when I build mine.

 

 Sean

Thanks for the confirmation, Sean. I was fairly certain, which is why I didn't do my normal action of running it privately by the mods before starting the topic. Appreciate you chiming in, though.

ALF

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On 15/09/2017 at 4:43 PM, Lancer512 said:

Nice job!

I've started it during the xmas holidays last year, but haven't painted it due to some problems.

On my model, I've cut out the recessed panels and tinted the clear parts from the inside with Tamiya smoke, but messed it up when masking the windows.

Nevertheless, as you already wrote, the fit was surprisingly good.

http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?/topic/296584-1144-bpk-canadair-crj-100/

 

Have you already decided on how you do the cabin windows?

Yes, I know how I'll do the windows. I found a WIP on Britmodeller, which includes how the guy did the windows. Please see my response to Sean just below.

On 16/09/2017 at 11:32 AM, martin_sam_2000 said:

My attack plan for the windows was to paint the recess black(or dark grey) and then apply the clear parts over it and then mask This would give the look of windows without the hollow interior or the nasty gaps of individual windows. 

 

Looks like I will have to create a masking tape pattern to ensure all the windows are placed properly. 

 

 Sean

Hi Sean

I found a WIP here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234965919-bombardier-crj-100-1144-bpk-finished/

In there, he chopped out the fuselage where the clear parts go, to give the appearance of depth. I've decided no to do this, because it is a lot of effort. After looking at his finished model, I see the windows look quite dark anyway, and comments I found there and elsewhere lead me to believe that most people do these windows in a dark colour. Therefore, I will paint the fuselage side that the transparency goes onto a very dark metallic grey (a gunmetal). 

 

When it comes to aligning the window masks, this kit does it for you. The individual window masks are contained within a mask that shows you where to stick the window masks in place. You can see in the linked WIP how the guy did it; I will mimic his technique.

Progress soon. I have done a lot on it, but have yet to upload my pics to Imgur.

ALF

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20 hours ago, ALF18 said:

 

 

When it comes to aligning the window masks, this kit does it for you. The individual window masks are contained within a mask that shows you where to stick the window masks in place. You can see in the linked WIP how the guy did it; I will mimic his technique.

 

ALF

Hmm.. I didn't even loom at the masks yet. Glad to know they thought ahead on that front.

 

 Sean

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On 14/09/2017 at 8:52 PM, Emvar said:

Nice!

 

On 14/09/2017 at 11:41 PM, Trojan Thunder said:

Looks good ALF.

 

The idea of the recess for the cabin windows is to cut the centre of it out leaving a small lip for the clear piece to sit on. Then you glue the clear piece in for clear windows. Mask, etc to finish off.

Very true, which is exactly the way the guy did it on Britmodeller. It looks like a bit of extra work, though, that I won't undertake.

On 15/09/2017 at 4:43 PM, Lancer512 said:

Nice job!

I've started it during the xmas holidays last year, but haven't painted it due to some problems.

On my model, I've cut out the recessed panels and tinted the clear parts from the inside with Tamiya smoke, but messed it up when masking the windows.

Nevertheless, as you already wrote, the fit was surprisingly good.

http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?/topic/296584-1144-bpk-canadair-crj-100/

 

Have you already decided on how you do the cabin windows?

Thanks. I will do exactly as Sean (martin_sam_2000) mentioned above. I have painted the recesses a gunmetal colour.

 

Dry fit of the engines. The resin fan facings are fantastic; I screwed one up by trying to chop off too much of the resin plug at once. That's the one with the poor repair on the compressor face, which broke away from the cowling as I crushed the resin with pliers. With the other one, I trimmed the resin a bit at a time, using a sharp knife, and it looks much nicer.

I will leave off the hot sections; they will be painted a glossy silver from a rattle can, and installed at the very end. The fit works nicely for that on this kit.

m8B7deU.jpg

 

Engines glued together, and the fuselage ready for mating. Note the resin tail. I had a good look at the plastic kit tail, then the resin one, and failed to see a difference. Decided to use the resin, because the guy on Brit Modeller said it was a correction.

w22UqTr.jpg

 

Here I installed the landing gear. Boy those struts are tiny!

0BnBTRr.jpg

 

mEg5D16.jpg

 

Now, some progress to show how the masks worked out for me.

Here you can see the colour of the recesses: a Tamiya acryl gunmetal colour. 

Uye3NTw.jpg

 

Here's what the transparencies look like after they are glued in place. Yuck. The crack happened when I chopped it to the required length. For some strange reason, the kit's transparencies come far too long, and it is necessary to chop them to size. Perhaps they are used for more than one kit? Try as I might to be slow and gentle, the parts cracked. And no, that's NOT what she said.

NN8lTXh.jpg

 

More soon

ALF

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Masking. Sorry for the unclear first pic here. If you look carefully, you can see the line of windows. At the left, by the cockpit windshield/window masks, you can make out an outline that is intended to be a cabin access door. There is another one, fainter in this picture, at the far right of the mask sheet.

0NgNnaE.jpg

 

I had a good look at the instructions, and studied the relationship between windows and access door. One one side (this is the right), the windows are higher than the centre of the access door. On the left (boarding) side, the door is roughly centred with the windows. Looking at the masks for the windows, I noticed the lower windows in this picture were aligned with the centre of the left door outline, and the upper ones were aligned higher up on the right-hand door outline. Therefore, I cut the template accordingly (seen in the pic), to create masks that align with the doors and go along the transparent parts.

yIYRpif.jpg

 

Here you see one of the masks cut out, ready to apply.

EvkEexB.jpg

 

I was a bit impatient when I peeled off the masks from the backing; some of the windows stayed behind on the backing.

Q2mrpKo.jpg

 

Here it is as I aligned it. Fixed the rear portion right after this pic. I found I would have needed an extra set of hands to get this right. For the other side, I enlisted my wife, who held the model steady while I aligned the mask before applying it. It does NOT slide like decals! Note the blank sports where the windows are missing.

udDb77e.jpg

 

After some painstaking lifting of the remaining windows from the backing with an exacto, I reapplied each window into each hole, and ended up with a set of aligned windows. I then carefully peeled off the mask to leave just the windows behind.

tbQGW93.jpg

 

With the second side, I made sure to be very careful peeling off the mask with the windows. That way, I did not leave any windows behind. My wife held the model, and I carefully aligned the mask and pressed it in place, using the boarding door as a guide at the left front.

k4oSsJI.jpg

 

I peeled off the mask, and both sides were done.

hdAlcUE.jpg

 

Now, for the windshields/windows. Fun fact: Bombardier calls the centre ones the windshields, and the side ones the windows for the cockpit. These masks didn't seem to be quite the right size, so I did some trimming.

Mk1ZdGw.jpg

 

Here's where I am now. I painted both the RJ and 604 at the same time. Tamiya light grey primer, followed by 3 coats of Tamiya white primer. I allowed them to dry between each application. So far, so good. I am not seeing any drips or runs in the paint. It takes patience, which I sometimes don't have.

RBATRnW.jpg

 

More soon. Thanks for dropping by.

ALF

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