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A couple questions about building/painting sequence


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It depends on your own personal preferences and what you can live with seam/gap wise. Based on my observations, airline modelers do a variation of one of two build sequences:

 

Sequence #1 (if you don't mind a wing-to-fuselage gap/seam if one is present)

A.  Assemble the fuselage and fill/sand any gaps or seams (including filling the cabin windows and cockpit "glass" if using decals for these).

B. Assemble the wings and fill/sand any gaps or seams.

C. Prime A and B separately and fix any seam issues that need further attention.

D. When happy with the seam areas, paint and decal A and B separately.

E. When all painting and decaling are done to A and B then assemble both together after a protective light gloss coat (attach the wings to the fuselage).

F. Attach the assembled and painted landing gear.

G. Attach the engines.

H. Final gloss coat.

I. Done.

 

Sequence #2 (if you want to fill the wing-to-fuselage gap seam if one is present)

A. Assemble the fuselage and fill seams as per "A" above.

B. Assemble the wings and fill/sand seams as per "B" above.

C. Attach the wings to the fuselage and fill any seams.

D. Prime and check you seams. Correct/fix any seams that need further attention. If happy...

E. Paint the model (I do wings first, then mask them off and paint the fuselage. See my 737 thread here on ARC).

F. Remove the masks and attach the completed and painted landing gear.

G. Decal and initial gloss coat.

H. Attach engines.

I. Final gloss.

J. Done.

 

These are just general build sequences. They will vary from modeler to modeler. Find what works for you, what you're comfortable with. Regardless, its all about having fun and learning as you go.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Regards,

Don.

EDIT: Apparently I need to learn my alphabet as I had to fix my Sequence #2...LOL!

Edited by Don
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Don's comments on the build sequence are excellent! :thumbsup:  For the vast majority of my airliner builds, I follow for the most part Don's sequence #2. This has worked out for me quite well on a wide variety of different manufacturer's airliner kits. I am working on a Daco B737-300 right now in a West Pac scheme and am in the middle of step E with the wings painted gray but before shooting the main fuselage color.

 

Have fun modeling!

Mike

:cheers:

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I generally follow #2, too. Since most of the liveries I build have a lot of white, I'd prime with Tamiya's white primer in the rattle can. Now I use Mr Base White, so I can airbrush without having to decant paint from the can. Both work great as base coats for Alclad, for the natural metal areas. Once I've primed the entire model, I'll paint the wings, and then the natural metal areas. 

 

Mike, if you haven't built the Daco 737s before, the left (IIRC) wing has a strange fit. The way the lower half mates to the fuselage causes the upper half to leave a gap between it and the fuselage. It takes a lot of test-fitting and sanding to get a good fit. The right wing fits a little better.

 

Ben

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Thanks Ben! Your comments are spot on about the Daco kit. As I am just passed this step, I learned the hard way on the wing/fuselage joint. I ended up having to resort to Apoxie putty to clean up this area. I now know what to do (follow your tip) on my next Daco B737 build!

Have fun modeling

Mike

:cheers:

5 hours ago, Ben Brown said:

 

 

Mike, if you haven't built the Daco 737s before, the left (IIRC) wing has a strange fit. The way the lower half mates to the fuselage causes the upper half to leave a gap between it and the fuselage. It takes a lot of test-fitting and sanding to get a good fit. The right wing fits a little better.

 

Ben

 

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Kind of off topic but still related to build sequences (probably more painting sequences)  is the sheer amount of masking involved in airline modeling. More often then not, the colors used in airliner modeling do not take kindly to even the smallest amount of over spray. In other words poor masking techniques stick out like a sore thumb. Dark grey shows up on light grey, red on white, blue on white, aluminum shows up everywhere etc etc. Unless you've built or are building an airliner I don't think you can truly grasp the time and patience it takes to mask off after each color is applied and make sure that all the masking is symmetrical (i.e. squared off, matching on both sides of the fuselage or wings). Very little if anything in airliner modeling can be done freehand. Factor in the small scales of 1/200 or 1/144 and the masking becomes even more challenging.

 

This is just something that has been on my mind as I progress through my current airliner  builds and compare them to my recent Mig-29 and P-51B builds where very little was masked off.

 

Happy modeling!

 

Regards,

Don.

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  • 3 months later...
On 11/5/2017 at 5:13 AM, Ben Brown said:

Mike, if you haven't built the Daco 737s before, the left (IIRC) wing has a strange fit. The way the lower half mates to the fuselage causes the upper half to leave a gap between it and the fuselage. It takes a lot of test-fitting and sanding to get a good fit. The right wing fits a little better.

 

Ben

Hello Ben & Mike,

I'm looking for a 737-300. In addition to the left wing issue, what do you think of the Daco as far as fit and accuracy?

Thanks for any thoughts!

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10 hours ago, taneal1 said:

Hello Ben & Mike,

I'm looking for a 737-300. In addition to the left wing issue, what do you think of the Daco as far as fit and accuracy?

Thanks for any thoughts!

 

Hi!

 

The Daco 737s are some of the most accurate 737 kits available. They're more accurate and better detailed than the Minicraft kits. The only minor complaints I have about them, besides the fit of the left wing, are the engraved cabin doors are too tall and the gear doors are too thick. The main gear doors require some trimming to get them to fit properly. Most of the decals I've used on my Daco kits had door decals that were sized from the real thing, instead of the kit doors, so I just fill the door outlines during construction. The engines are a little fiddly to put together, but they look good when finished. I haven't tried installing the clear cockpit part on any of my models, because I like decal windows. The pitot tubes look good, but their mounting pins and associated holes are a little large.

 

Here's a review I did for Modeling Madness 11 years ago (wow, time sure flies!): Daco 737-300 review  Fortunately, I don't have to depend on my photography skills to feed my family. :whistle:

 

Ben

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9 hours ago, Ben Brown said:

 

Hi!

 

The Daco 737s are some of the most accurate 737 kits available. They're more accurate and better detailed than the Minicraft kits. The only minor complaints I have about them, besides the fit of the left wing, are the engraved cabin doors are too tall and the gear doors are too thick. The main gear doors require some trimming to get them to fit properly. Most of the decals I've used on my Daco kits had door decals that were sized from the real thing, instead of the kit doors, so I just fill the door outlines during construction. The engines are a little fiddly to put together, but they look good when finished. I haven't tried installing the clear cockpit part on any of my models, because I like decal windows. The pitot tubes look good, but their mounting pins and associated holes are a little large.

 

Here's a review I did for Modeling Madness 11 years ago (wow, time sure flies!): Daco 737-300 review  Fortunately, I don't have to depend on my photography skills to feed my family. :whistle:

 

Ben

 

Hi Ben,

Thanks for the quick response - especially the review link. This kit is the ONE for me!

The Daco website is sparse on details for the kit, and the photoetch. It appears that the "Simpson" decals come with the kit. Not my choice, but there are plenty of decal options. Do you have any suggestions as to where I should purchase the kit? The Daco website, or should I continue to look for a US dealer?

 

Edited by taneal1
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Airline Hobby Supplies has them in stock. I've dealt with Russell for years, and he's a good seller. AHS isn't his main business, so you won't get your stuff as quickly as you would from Sprue Brothers or Squadron. The kit doesn't include photo etch, but Daco sells details separately. I haven't tried them, so I can't comment on how useful they would be. I've also never ordered directly from Daco, so I don't know if that would be any faster. I bought my last two 737s from Squadron, but it looks like they only have the detail decals, now.

 

Also, I forgot to mention, the silver decals for the wing, horizontal stabilizer, and tail leading edges are a pain in the neck. The silver is very brittle and breaks up easily. You might want to consider masking and painting these areas on your model. I think it's something to do with metallic colors, because I've never seen a metallic  decal that wasn't brittle.

 

Cheers!

 

Ben

 

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11 hours ago, Ben Brown said:

Airline Hobby Supplies has them in stock. I've dealt with Russell for years, and he's a good seller.

 

Thanks, Ben.
I just spent over an hour trying to get my payment info accepted without a rejection due to "select payment method" error. When it was finally selected (UPS Ground was the only option) the cost was $38 just for shipping! Damn. What does a 1/144th scale airplane weigh? It's certainly NOT a cubic inches issue... I can't say I've ever thought shipping was cheap, but this is getting ridiculous. Tomorrow during bizness hours I'll give Russel a call and see if he can't do better.

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