1:144 Airliner Duo

[MiG31]

I've made prior comments on these two builds, which have been in progress for over a year at this point. The Airfix Tristar was started first, followed by the A340 some months later.

Both present significant challenges in their own right. The A340 is a conversion, utilizing parts supplied by Braz to transform the -300 into the stretched -600. The conversion kit supplies new wings, engines, tail and empennage parts, a new centerline main gear, and a fuselage plug that includes the wing/body fairing (which is made to accomodate the belly piece from the Revell kit). Because of problems with the resin parts, which will be explained later, I've had to undertake some significant kitbashing to accomplish the desired results.

The L-1011 is a standard Tristar 1, and anyone familiar with the Airfix kit can attest to its drawbacks: misshapen #2 intake and empennage section, no S-ducting for the #2 intake, poor #1 and #3 engines, misshapen nose, incorrect number of flap canoe fairings on the wings, and so on. This doesn't go into the (incorrect) raised panel detailing on the wings and fuselage, along with some other errors discovered along the way.

That said:

The fuselage diameters are similar, but you can see they are in different size classes.

The A340 at present. The A340-600 stretch was accomplished using an A340-300 and an A330-300. I had made cuts with the intent to use the Braz plug insert, so I had to make changes to accomplish the correct stretch:

The right-side fuselage half at top is the A330-300, while the left-hand half in the Lego jig is the A340-600 in process. Note some of the cut locations. This was somewhat nerve-cringing.

The Braz wing provided in the conversion kit. My wings are badly warped, and because of that and weight issues, I've decided to kitbash the two wing sets from the A330 and A340 kits to accomplish the wing stretch. Hopefully this will result in proper wings with less weight than their resin counterparts.

The Airfix Tristar wings are okay in general shape, but require significant changes in detailing. What's not readily apparent in the photo is that the engine hardpoints need to be moved outboard by about 3/32". The trailing edge should be roughly in line with the centerline of the inboard aileron. Note the absence of the flap canoe fairings. These will be replaced by modified fairings from the A340 and A330 kits. The trailing edge is quite thick, and has to be sanded to a much sharper shape.

This was a simple solution to a problem that had plagued this project for a year. The S-duct consists of two 1/2", 45-degree copper pipe fittings. With some trimming, both to the duct and the fuselage interior, they should fit well, and will provide the desired view of the #2 fan disk.

Further updates as I have them.

[Trojan Thunder]

Interesting fix for the 'S' duct, I suppose you will have to add a fair bit of nose weight to counter the pipe in the back!

Both projects are looking good!

[Uncle Uncool]

Interesting fix for the 'S' duct, I suppose you will have to add a fair bit of nose weight to counter the pipe in the back!

Or, MiG31 could use the copper pipe fitting, just as it is, as a mold to make a vac-form S-duct instead. Perhaps MiG31 could decrease the diametre on the copper pipe fitting prior to vac-form the new S-duct.

Nice project, by the way!

Cheers

[MiG31]

No, the copper fitting is going in, roughly as-is. I'll simply have to use additional nose ballast to counter. My only concern is the strength of the landing gear.

[Unang]

MIG31,

What livery are you doing these up in? Look forward to seeing the build progress.

Can't say I've seen the lego jig before. Interesting!

Rgds,

Sean

[GreyGhost]

Nice work on that Stretch and Intake !

I really think the A340-600 is one of the more elegant airliners flying today ... Beautiful aircraft ...

Gregg

[Uncle Uncool]

My only concern is the strength of the landing gear.

Hmph... which is why I suggested make the vac-form S-duct instead; the ballast on the nose will simply add a lot of weight to the landing gear.

[MiG31]

Hmph... which is why I suggested make the vac-form S-duct instead; the ballast on the nose will simply add a lot of weight to the landing gear.

I appreciate the advice, however. That said, I think it's a little out of my skill range, and I have some alternative ideas to counter potential weight problems. For one, I'm considering adding metal parts to the undercarriage to carry some of the load should I deem it necessary. We'll see how it progresses, since there are quite a few things to clear up between now and then. The wings and flap fairings, to name two examples.