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Revell 1/144 Boeing 747-400 Wing Join.


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Hello all,

 

So, I have the fuselage assembled on my Revell 1/144 British Airways Boeing 747-400. It went together without any major fuss. Just some minor sanding to smooth things out. The wings were not as easy going. Absolutely terrible seam running right down the leading edge from wing root to wing tip. It was almost like the upper and lower wings were different sizes. Anyways, this needed repeated filling and sanding but we endured it and ended up with a pretty decent looking leading edge.  

 

But now I need to attach the wings to fuselage and I am stymied! The connection is loose with little positive contact between wing and fuselage and unless you want your wings in flying attitude (i.e. up-lift) there is a massive gap where the upper wing meets the fuselage. So for those who have built this kit how did you get a good solid attachment for the wing-to-fuselage AND get the wing to sit in the normal relaxed or on the ground angle without 2 to 3mm gaps?

 

Any help, thoughts, opinions, advice GREATLY appreciated!

 

Regards,

Don

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Don,

 

These moulds are pretty old now, I think from the mid-nineties and suffer from flash and moulding flaws.

 

I have the Lufthansa boxing and noticed the leading edge issue as well. One wing was worse than the other and that one's leading edge had a flat spot running almost the length. 

 

I was lucky that I had not fitted the lower fuselage panel on mine before checking the wing fit. I was able to reduce the gap with a lot of tape and clamps (which does not help you). I did not find the connection to bad, there was some binding which in fact I had to reduce a little.

 

I have yet to clean up the leading edges and am looking forward to the filling and sanding (not!)

 

The only suggestion I have would be to shim the upper wing gap with some cardstock to fill it when you go to fit the wing.

 

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37858550022_29d839f522_c.jpg

 

37179785254_3862b1f13e_c.jpg

 

 

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Wow yours is looking very good:thumbsup:! You seem to have gotten a good seam line and join on yours and a good relaxed/on the ground wing angle. Well done!

 

 I may punt on this one and do an in flight model (but still not fully decided until I sit down to really study my options... including your shim suggestion). I have two more 1/144 747-400's in the stash (Iron Maiden's Ed Force One and a United Airlines with the wrong engines...Rolls Royce...that I will need to get aftermarket decals for). So if I do my British Airways -400 in flight I can apply what I have learned for the other two.

 

Honestly, such an iconic aircraft like the 747 deserves a better kit. This -400 is really challenging!  I understand Revell's 747-8 is a new tool and much better? If so I will be grabbing one or more of those as the 747 is my favorite airliner.

 

Thanks for the info! I really do appreciate it.

 

Regards,

Don.

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Sorry...I have another question if it's o.k...how do you ensure that all of the main landing gear will make even contact with the ground? If I get the wing set in a relaxed on the ground flex angle, how will I know if all the main wheels will touch the ground? Or will I have to trim and shim those as necessary as well?

 

Again, many thanks!

 

Regards,

Don.

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Don,

 

The Revell and Zvezda 747-8s are much better kits, I finished one of these a while ago and had no issues (converted the Zvezda 'i' to an 'f').

 

I have seen someone convert the Revell -8 back to a -400 to get a more accurate model. A lot of work there.

 

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If the wing angle is OK all should touch, it may be a case of adjusting one set of gear. I would start by installing the wing bogies and adjust the fuselage bogies to suit just in case the wing angle is too high.

 

 

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Nice looking Qantas Freighter :thumbsup:! Top shelf job! I am definitely getting a couple of those Revell 747-8's (passenger and freighter versions).

 

A regular Qantas bird is definitely on my to-do list. I love the red tail and kangaroo. I ordered decals for this aircraft just last night for one of my other 747-400 RR equipped Revell kits:

4630.578l.jpg

This scheme is one that interests me as well:

800fe7bfc4b5fe5e6dc8aa5a7344ba02.jpg

 

As far as my British Airways kit goes, I am in the process of mounting some brass rods in the wing root to add strength. Once that's done I should be able to set my angle and fill the gap. I know for my next kit to plan ahead for this wing-to-fuselage issue

 

Off topic, but I am also in the painting stage for this bird:

Boeing_737-4Y0,_Virgin_Express_JP6130861

Minicraft 737-400 kit using an old Skyline decal sheet. I will post pictures in a separate thread when done.

 

Regards,

Don.

 

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Thanks Don,

 

I have the decals for 'Wulana Dreamin' MKII, one the 747-438ERs with grey engine pods. The Older sheet for the RR powered jet is harder to find. Where are you getting it from?

 

The second scheme never flew on a 747, it was on a 767 though and decals are (were?) available from Pasdecals in Russia.

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I got mine off of EBay. I was just searching for different airliner decals and ran across it (and some tempting Air Canada A319, A320, and 777 decals from a different seller as well that I book marked for later perhaps).

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I built this kit in a buddy build with DutyCat a couple of years ago. Mine is the British Airways Chelsea Rose, and Gills is the Thia Boat livery. It’s the 747 buddy build thread here. I discovered the weak gluing connection between the wing butt and fuselage wing plate and the flimsiness of the plastic. What I did to ensure good contact was to cement the wing assemblies in place before cementing the fuselage halves together. The wings actually give strength and support to the fuselage doing it this way without having to cut up the fuselage, or constructing frame support with scratch styrene bits.

 

Tracy

 

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Tracy,

 

Thanks for the tip! I wish I had stumbled upon your build thread before I started my 747-400. On my next -400 I will be better armed with info to tackle the wing joint. The kit isn't that bad aside from this one issue. It just happens to be a REALLY BIG issue. But having said that, I'd welcome a new tool modern -400 kit.

 

Thanks again!

 

Regards,

Don

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