My Boeing 727 project

[hrtpaul]

Mmmmmmmmmmmm very nice

[F-27pax]

A day later and I've started applying the Hawkeye decals. I gave them a light coat of Tamiya TS-13 Clear that gave them a bit of added strength and gives them almost the same sheen as the rest of the model. Here is what the model looks like with the main decal applied, and there are three problems. The first is that i miscalculated the location of the white line around the red cleat line on the forward fuselage, which is my fault and will be a nuisance to sort out, but not unsurmountable. The second is that the width of the upper red line where it meets the big red A on the tail are not quite the same width, as they should be in real life. I'm not sure what to do about this one. The third is that the colour density on the decals is insufficient, particularly on the white big red A which is pink rather than white at the moment. The solution to this one is simple enough, another set of this decal sheet to lay on over the top of these first ones. I suspect it will be a few days now to order and get the decals, so don't hold your breath.

[Graeme H]

OK, coming together now
one problem that has always bugged me is the white on Hawkeye decals, it just doesn't have enough opacity, I found the best was to double up the decal, very expensive fix of course.

[F-27pax]

I've run into a couple of snags in this project. Needing to get another set of Hawkeye decals for the Ansett-ANA 727-100 Peter of Hawkeye tells me that there is a delay while some more of the white decals are printed.

No problem there, I've gone on to make a TAA 727-100 which I assumed was the delivery scheme but turns out to be the second scheme, adopted in 1965. Having got the model to the stage where it is ready to get top coats I thought I'd best check the fit of the decals I have. It turns out that they don't fit at all. Using the reduction function on my computer I've found that a reduction to 84 per cent fits nicely onto the Airfix 727-100.



Having found that a reduction to 84 per cent works nicely for the stripe down the fuselage side, I thought I'd try some of the other decals in the set. It turns out that at that reduction the T on the tail is too small, and I'm not sure yet about the logos above the strips. All this needs careful calculation.



This is a bit of a challenge and means that I will have to figure out the reductions for various part of the decal sheet to get everything looking okay. Fortunately I have a fairly good ink jet printer and a good supply of blank decal sheets, so it will not be an impossible task. It will just take some time to get right. So, don't hold your breath.

[F-27pax]

Oops. I made a mistake in calling this TAA scheme the second scheme. It was the first scheme, the second one appeared in 1969 or thereabouts before the scheme was changed into the one with the blue tail with the white T.

Leigh

[Graeme H]

Makes me wonder what kit the decals were originally made for, if there is that much of an error, the Revell kit is almost exactly the same length, so probably not that

How does the window count go against the real thing?

[tor lives]

I am just wondering if the decal was in actual fact sized to fit the VEB 1:100 727-100???
TOR

[F-27pax]

Thanks for your comments gents. Looking at them it occurred to me that there might be a simple cause of this problem. And there is, Although the decals are supposed to be for a 727-100 they have been designed to fit a 727-200. As you can see, the decals would fit an Airfix 727-200 kit exactly, even though they are specifically for VH-TJC which was a -100 series.



Oh well. The solution to the problem is simpler than I had supposed although it will send me off to count windows again to see what I need to cut out from the decals. There is also the annoyance that I've gone and masked the model based on my earlier assumption and I will now have to do all that again. Grrr. Do I enjoy my hobby?

Leigh

[F-27pax]

An addendum to the above comment.

The next 727 on the production line an another 727-100 flown by TAA, this one featuring the later blue tail with the white T. The decal set for this is Hawkeye CDS-121. It occurred to me that perhaps the same mistake had been made to it as had been made for the sheet I've been concerning myself about, CDS-002. Fortunately it looks as though CDS-121 has been designed with the 727-100 in mind, and has options for all the 727-100s that TAA flew. The added advantage of this is that it will be a useful guide in working out the window count for reducing CDS-002 from -200 to -100 length. Happiness all around.

Leigh

[hrtpaul]

Nice work mate. I was a bit worried that all my Ansett and TAA 727-200 decals from Hawkeye might be a problem. But you've put my mind at ease