Airfix Boeing 727 (1:144)

[Jaime]

Now that my workbench is finally seeing a bit of active service and following on from my post in Workbench Window here: http://uamf.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=5984&start=15, I thought I'd better start a separate thread on this as it's my first build for over a year, my first civil aircraft, my first using acrylics rather than enamels and my first experiment with airbrushing!

And yes, that was me getting my excuses in early!

I've re-pasted the first couple of paragraphs from my other thread for this first post and will add more photos following the work in progress in subsequent posts.

I'm assuming that this is a reasonably old-ish kit as many of the joins needed filling. Maybe I'm a bit pernickety but the sleek shape of an airliner means that I wasn't prepared to accept a badly fitting fuselage and engine halves - even if this is going to end up as a toy for my 11 year old!

I used Revell Plasto as a filler and I hope it sands down well as I found it quite difficult to apply because it dried very quickly - almost as soon as it went on. That means there's quite a bit of surplus filler. I think that inevitably some of the finely raised panel details will be lost.

Anyway, here are the first couple of images:

[Sissel]

Looking forward to see this being painted! I fancy the Iberia planes, they're nice looking.

[Jaime]

Well, the Plasto sands down pretty well having been left to cure overnight but I was right about the loss of some of the very fine raised panel lines and can't seem to avoid leaving very fine scratches in the plastic which I'm worried about showing up with thinned paint for my first experiment with the airbrush.

Here are some pics of the kit after filling and sanding. You can clearly see that it needed quite a bit of work on many of the joins and the finely scuffed plastic is visible. I can't wait to make one of the new tool kits in my stash to see if there is a noticeable difference in quality of fit.

[Jaime]

So, onto the experiment with acrylics and airbrushing. Firstly, I must state that I have ignored all common sense and advice on this and other forums by buying the cheapest airbrush possible - the humble Humbrol beginner airbrush - and a can of compressed airbrush propellant for this experiment.

I'm not really pleased with the way things are turning out and it is mainly to do with the properties of the acrylics rather than the airbrush.

The main reason for changing from enamels to acrylics is to do with the fact that enamels & their thinners have such an offensive smell (my model bench is located in a room next to our living room) and the convenience of being able to clean the brushes in water. However, it is becoming clear that for the acrylics to adhere uniformly a primer undercoat is needed and this appears to be the case whether applying with brush or airbrush. Since the primer comes out of a spray can it kind of defeats the object of using acrylics in my opinion. Same goes for the acetone thinners for using the airbrush.

Then there is the drying time - the acrylics dry ridiculously quickly and I've found it very difficult to avoid lumps when covering a large area. Years ago I got into painting metal miniatures using Citadel acrylics and they were ideal for that purpose but I'm already thinking that enamels are better for covering large areas such as wings and fuselages.

Anyway. here are a couple of photos. The first shows the kit after one coat of very streaky brush applied Humbrol 22 gloss white acrylic to the fuselage and the second after several more coats of both airbrushing and hand brushing. I don't like the satin finish (it really doesn't have the sheen of gloss enamel) and details are starting to become obliterated by the many layers being built up to iron out bumps.

The one silver lining in the many clouds is that the thickness of paint is hiding all the uneven join lines and sanding scratches!

Also, each time I use the airbush I get better at judging the amount of thinners but there is a lot of gravity induced dripping to contend with!

[Gregers]

Starting to look good, One thing to remember is that several thin coats sprayed on give a far better finish that a couple of thick ones and this also eliminates runs and drips. Quite a few of us started with that old Humbrol hobby airbrush or similar - I know I certainly did. Looking forward to watching progress on this one.

All the best.

Greg

[Dirkpitt289]

Looking forward to seeing more of this one

[Stamford]

Tamiya acrylics are usually the best behaving - I don´t spray enamels because of the smell. It really shouldn´t be a problem spraying large areas when everything else is right.

[Jaime]

Despite my online absence I've been squeezing in the odd half hour here and there on this build. Here are some more progress pics that were taken on 25th February. I'll add more in separate posts as it takes a bit of time to upload them to Photobox.


Masking the fuselage before painting the underside.


And the view from below with a patchy white undercoat.

Having masked the fuselage off with Tamiya tape I was really looking forward to getting on with some painting and had ordered some Humbrol 40 Gloss Pale Grey acrylic from the Airfix website. However, I was pretty disappointed with what I saw when I opened the pot:


Humbrol 40 Gloss Pale Grey

I didn't think I was going to be able to rescue the paint as it had formed a more or less solid block of green in the bottom of the pot. However, after much thinning, mashing and stirring it started to look something like what I had expected. I must be honest, I haven't been impressed with the Humbrol acrylics up to this point. I used to use Citadel paints on miniatures and I don't remember them looking anything like the picture above.


The fuselage underside after one coat of the Humbrol 40. It really doesn't go on too well in my opinion and needs to be really thinned down to avoid lumps and streaks as it dries almost instantly.

[Jaime]

At this point I'm starting to see glimpses of the finished kit. These taken on 27th february:


The fuselage masking removed after numerous coats of the infamous Humbrol 40 gloop.

Incidentally, I'm not sure Airfix have even got the colour scheme right. Having come across loads of photos of Iberia 727-200s on the internet I can't find a single instance of one with both the Iberia livery in the box and the grey underside. Earlier Iberia liveries definitely had the grey underside but all the photos I've seen with the one supplied with the Airfix kit show a completely white fuselage. I won't be changing it - it's done now!


Paintwork begins on the wings.

[Jaime]

1st March. Masking removed, wings and fuselage now painted by a combination of brush and airbrush.





I had to mix the grey in the centre of the wings as the 147 Matt Light Grey required by the colour scheme is not yet produced by Humbrol as part of their acrylic range. I used a combination of 34 Matt White and 64 Light Grey Humbrol acrylics.

Just the detail work to be done now. Engine intake & exhausts, undercarriage and cockpit glazing.

[Jaime]

At last! As of today, 10th March, all the painting is done:








The fuselage underside painted with the Humbrol 40 doesn't really bear close scrutiny as it is a bit grainy.



The tail plane has not been glued yet as it will be easier to affix the decals without it in place.

[Jaime]

OK decals and windows. Looking for a bit of advice here!

As you can see from the images below, the main fuselage livery decals cut across the row of windows, which are not glazed. The instructions advise the use of glue to create the windows and I have bought some Humbrol Clearfix to do the job.

From what I have read, the way to do this is to fix the decals first, then punch holes in them at the window positions with a cocktail stick before smearing the Clearfix across the resultant holes.

Any advice on the details and procedure for doing this will be very gratefully received as I haven't done this before and it seems like an operation that can either make this kit look really good or really bad! For example, should I let the decals thoroughly dry before punching the holes? What is the best way to tidy up the edges of the torn decals? What is the best way to fill the holes with Clearfix and what if I put too much in?

Thanks in advance!

Here are the decals, paint scheme and box art to give you an idea of what I'm in for!

[Sissel]

Hi Jaime.

I don't really have much experience when it comes to stomping windows through decals.
But I would see myself trying with a toothpick/cocktail stick that's a little blunt in one end. Crack a tiny hole and try to bend the edges around inside of window trying not to crack the decal edges too much, maybe with a tiny bit of glue if necessary.
When it comes to Clearfix I love this stuff, many times have used it on bigger and smaller canopies/windows/lights/glass etc. I apply it with toothpicks, longside. Just drag it over the hole and it creates a fine thin flat 'fix'. But if I'd done it my way here, I'd be afraid to mess up the decals.
Get the holes dones first, and then see if you want/need clearfix over.

I'm sure there's others here that's done this and can come up with better tricks and tips than me.

Good luck!

[Eric Mc]

The "punch hole in cheatline" technique has been the "Airfix Way" since the inception of their "Sky Kings" range of airliners in the 1960s. It is fraught with problems.

1st - wait until the cheatline has thoroughly dried out. In other words, let the decals settle and dry out for a couple of days.

2nd - DO NOT use the plastic "punch tool" if provided. The older kits (such as the Comet) used to have a little puncher attached to one of the sprues. I found them a bit uncouth and they could tear and rip the decal in and around the window aperture if used too roughly.
I would initially push through the decal with a No.10A Swann Morton scalpel blade and then carefully open out the hole with the scalpel and a cocktail stick.

3rd - I'm not a huge fan of Clearfix as I find it too stringy. I prefer Micro Crystal Clear - or even simple PVA glue (which is what Crystal Clear actually is).

To be honest, for 1/144 airliners I much prefer to use decals for the windows, including the flight deck windscreens. There are a number of reasons why I prefer this technique.

Firstly, getting the flight deck windows properly fitted, blended and them masked for the framing is very tricky. I've lost countless items of cockpit glazing through the cockpit aperture. I've also split and cracked cockpit windows. Maybe I'm just ham fisted.

Secondly, most airliners tend to have a chromed or silver surround to the windows, especially those for the passenger cabin. They are pretty standard on all Boeing airliners, including the 727. There is no real way of achieving that effect in 1/144 scale without using a window decal.

[AndrewR]

If you want to spray non-smelly acrylics with an airbrush, get a Vallejo primer, and Vallejo Air paint. Water based, easy to clean up and no smell. Tamiya acrylics are great but smell strongly, so I can't use them either!

Cheers

Andrew