Minicraft 1/144 Electra

[LSP_Kevin]

This build will feature the Minicraft Electra kit in 1/144 scale:

 

 

Even though the kit-supplied AA decals look OK, I'll be building this one in Qantas livery, with the aid of a sheet from Hawkeye Models Australia:

 

 

I like to build my airliners in Aussie liveries whenever I can.

 

This is a very simple kit, and I've already done quite a bit of assembly work. Here's the fuselage, with the insides painted black, the nose wheel bay fitted, and nose weights fixed in place with Blu-Tack:

 

 

Here's a close-up of the nose weights in place:

 

 

And the inside of the windscreen painted black for good measure:

 

 

I've also assembled the wings:

 

 

Here are the wings test-fitted to the fuselage:

 

 

That's a total of 6 kit parts! And for those of you wondering why I bother painting the interior of the fuselage in black, notice the difference in colour between the fuselage and the wings. The plastic is translucent enough that you can see a hint of the internal black colour on the outside. The point of doing it, though, is to lessen the number of coats of paint you have to use on the outside to eliminate any translucency effects.

 

The fit of the wings looks OK at the roots, but there will be some gaps to contend with below:

 

 

As you've probably already surmised, I'm hoping to make this one a pretty quick build!

 

Kev

[Derek B]

I like it Kev  

 

It reminds me that I have an old Revell 1/115 scale P-3 Orion to complete one day!

 

Derek

[mpk]

Unreal. 

[LSP_Kevin]

So, the Electra takes the lead in the airliners build race.

 

 

Plenty of filling and sanding ahead for this one.

 

Kev

[Out2gtcha]

Nice kit Kev. I only own one 1/144th kit, and it's a 777, so probably not quite as diminutive, still looks quite large.

I've been thinking an airliner might be a good change of pace!

 

How do you apply window decals and such when most airliner kits seem to have the carrier all across the whole sheet?

[LSP_Kevin]

1 hour ago, Out2gtcha said:

Nice kit Kev. I only own one 1/144th kit, and it's a 777, so probably not quite as diminutive, still looks quite large.

I've been thinking an airliner might be a good change of pace!

 

How do you apply window decals and such when most airliner kits seem to have the carrier all across the whole sheet?

 

The 777 would be close to 4x larger than this little Electra, Brian, so you've got quite a beast on your hands! Here's my best attempt at a comparison (I left the Minicraft 777 in its wrapper for expedience):

 

 

The 777 is pretty close to twice as long as the Electra, and would be about the same in wingspan too, I reckon. It's a deceptively large aircraft!

 

Kit decals will usually be of the traditional screen-printed variety, but aftermarket sheets can be all kinds of things. Depending on the livery, the window decals are often printed as part of the fuselage cheat striping, so even when they're printed on a continuous sheet, it's usually just a matter of closely cutting the entire cheat decal out of the sheet and applying it. Even then, it's often more practical to cut it into shorter sections, as ultra-long skinny decals can be a real challenge to apply! In cases where the windows are not part of a fuselage cheat, they're almost always printed with the correct spacing required for the kit, so you really just do the same thing. That's pretty much how it was with these Ansett 737 decals below (from Flightpath):

 

 

Kev

[LSP_K2]

Yep, really depends on the scheme for sure. With so many of the boring all white corporate stuff, adding window decals is a snap.

[Out2gtcha]

Huh, I've never tried. I acquired some Air New Zealand "All Blacks" decals for it with a black/gray/white Haka leave style designs around the back. My issue is I want to use the window decals (with as little carrier showing as possible) but am planning on reproducing the leaf decals with some paint masks.

IIRC, the decals are all on one sheet with carrier over the whole sheet.

 

 

 

[LSP_Kevin]

Do you remember who made the decals, Brian?

 

Kev

[Out2gtcha]

7 minutes ago, LSP_Kevin said:

Do you remember who made the decals, Brian?

 

Kev

 

 

IIRC, I think it said "PAS-DECALS" on it.   Some really nice reflection style cockpit windows and passenger window decals, along with walk guides for the wings. 

[LSP_Kevin]

Just now, Out2gtcha said:

IIRC, I think it said "PAS-DECALS" on it. 

 

Gotcha. Unlike military aircraft modelling, the decal landscape for airliner models is dominated by homespun outfits that seem to produce their decals on domestic printing hardware (inkjet and laser printers, basically). They're usually quite well designed, but come with a few caveats - including that they're printed on continuous film. There are a few who don't, but traditional silk-screened aftermarket airliner decals are actually pretty uncommon in my experience. Hopefully your set came with instructions about how to handle them!

 

FWIW, one of my 777 kits is destined to have ANZ Hobbit decals on it.

 

Kev

[Greif8]

Nice work so far Kev.  It will be very colorful when complete. 

 

Ernest 

[LSP_Kevin]

35 minutes ago, Greif8 said:

Nice work so far Kev.  It will be very colorful when complete. 

 

Ernest 

 

Thanks, Ernest. I have some '3D' cockpit and cabin windows on their way to me for this build, so hopefully they will lift the sense of realism of the final result. I've never used them before, so I don't quite know what to expect!

 

Kev

[LSP_Kevin]

Not much progress to show on this one, other than lots of filling and sanding, which continues still:

 

 

 

What you see at the moment is some Mr. Surfacer 500 liberally brushed on. Once I've sanded it back, it'll be time for a coat of primer to see what's what, before yet another round of filling and sanding.

 

Phil Sand, out.

[Alex]

Great progress, and a heads-up for me.  I have this kit stashed, boxed with an early United Airlines scheme.  I'll have to get it out at some point when I need another break from tiny wires and hoses.