A few built models

Finally got a few models finished (mostly - just a few details to add here and there... ), and here's a few pictures.

AMT KC-135 to 707-138 conversion - update 1

Here is update 1 of this conversion.

With the fuselage cut and split, apart, I now had a model aeroplane in many pieces! A nose section, a mid wing section and a tail section. The 7mm segment cut from the aft, was of no use, so out it went. To move the wings "back" meant the nose section had to be extended, so using scrap plastic I crafted 'extenders 'that I glued to the inside of the fuselage. 

For the 'middle' section the top had to be widened so I glued a 3 mm strip of styrene along the top seam, to fatten it out. Once all dry, the nose section went on leaving a 7mm gap for extension.  Next the tail section was glued on.

Now with the KC-135, being a tanker the boom underneath had to go.  I carved it off leaving a gaping hole in the underside. Using more scrap plastic I filled as much as I could cram in, and once dry, used epoxy resin to fill it in.  Once the epoxy was dry, on went milliput.

Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of all of this, but this is what it looked like after the milliput had been applied and the main wings glued back.

 Probably not the most elegant way of doing things! She's a bit or a mess that's for sure!  The strip along the top is to help beef up the top seam.  It will be filled with milliput and filed/sanded down to profile.

Below shows where the aft section has been glued.  Again milliput to fill the hole where the boom housing was, and to profile the fairing.

Notice the crack in the fuselage, running from the wing/body fairing up? When pulling the model apart, I ended up cracking the whole thing in half. The result of this means that the model is pretty badly out of shape and there is some serious misalignment. (I warned you this conversion was an experiment). It's not going to be perfect, but if anything I'm learning a few things.

Below is the underside of front section extension filled with milliput.  On the wing root, I hollowed out the vent as there are one each side on the 707s, whereas the KC-135 only has one. 

More soon!

AMT KC-135 to 707-138 conversion

I had a half built AMT EC-135 model that was looking quite sad, considering my attempt at putting it together was dismal to say the least. The wings were not straight, the gluing really bad, and it had gaps galore.  So for the last 15 years it languished in the corner of the workshop worthy only of the trash. It seemed such a shame to throw it away...

So "heck...", I thought, "...don't throw it, convert it." I decided I will convert it into a 707-138!

Qantas operated the 707-138 and the 707-138B. The 138B was a 'souped' up version, with better engines and aerodynamics.  I won't go into the details, there are many people out there who are experts on such matters, so you'll have to google it!

Starting out the conversion
Due to the condition of the model,  my approach was relaxed and I felt I could be quite liberal in cutting it up.  In some respects it is an experiment out of boredom.  It was mostly complete, had engines, but no gear. The gear had been ripped off some years before.

Obviously I wanted the outcome of the finished product to be good enough for my cabinet, but this was an experiment. If I stuffed up I would just throw it away.  In fact, at one point I toyed with the idea of building a"what if"' KC-135 by re-locating the wings to the top of the fuselage, much like a C-141 but I soon canned that idea because I'd likely end up wasting modelling materials.

As some of you are well aware a KC-135 is not a 707. They are completely different machines, so technically it's not possible to get a 707 from one. But hey this is modelling and anything is possible - even a high-wing KC-135!!

Starting the conversion
I located the excellent 707 conversion guide by Jodie Peeler (Jodie is well known in the US Airliner Modelling circles), and got to work. Jodie's guide is comprehensive and provides all the measurements and advice on 707 conversions. For a 707-138, the KC-135 fuselage length is the same, but the wings are located too far forward.  Also, the KC-135 fuse is narrower, so there is no "lobe-crease" that is visible on all 707s (and all later single aisle Boeings).  There are also some other differences but I wasn't worried about those aspects of the conversion yet.

For those that have built AMT's KC-135 you might know about the dreaded "wing-droop" problem.  I was not aware of it when I originally built the model but I sure found out about it. It was part of the reason I abandoned the model. The "droop" leads on to other problems if not rectified (eg no 1 engine pointing 'up') and just makes the model look dumb.  Another problem is the gap for the main wing/fuse joint. The mating surfaces are small and it is difficult to get a nice solid join,  making the whole wing-body assembly weak. So knowing this, the wings had to come off.  The engines I had were the wrong type for my project so they got ripped off too. And the fuselage? Well that had to be split apart.

Easier said than done. Nothing wanted to come off in a hurry, I must have used a ton of glue when I built it.  After a bit of wrenching, I managed to get things apart but not before cracking the left fuselage causing it to buckle, damaging the trailing edges of the wing halves and putting holes in the plastic where the engines were... Oh well I thought, it was stuffed anyway...

Next the I had to make cuts in the fuselage to re-position the wings  Following the suggestions in Jodie's guide, I had to remove a 7mm plug from the aft and insert it forward of the wings.  Doing this meant I had to re-sculpt the aft wing-body fairing sometime a bit later, but that didn't worry me, as there was a fair bit of sculpting to do elsewhere. In addition to this, the top of the fuselage has to be wider than the bottom and eventually a "crease" made down the side.

The razor saw made good work of the cuts and I didn't get too precise about the measurements. I measured a 7mm segment to cut out and proceeded to cut away...

Decals

The drawings below are for my inventory of home made decals.  I use Corel draw to design them and print them on a Epson ink-jet printer.   I get the decal paper from the UK.

I have been making decals for my models since about 2006. I started making them as it's almost impossible to get decals of for the airliner schemes I want to make. 

Retro A320 - update

I updated the drawings of these retro Air NZ A320's, it now has wings and engines! man I wish Air NZ would paint them as this, it would look wonderful!

Retro Air NZ?

I drew up this picture of an A320 in DC-8 colours, my first attempt at drawing.  Haven't got around to drawing the engines and wings.  Would be interesting if this actually happened.

HLJ Airliner sale

HLJ has airliner kits on sale! Check it out!