Boeing 737-530 Smart Wings 1:144

1
December 10, 2023
Danny Coremans from Daco did a fantastic thing with this kit - for those who prefer glazed windows to decals, he had the inside of the fuselage molded with a template to cut out the cabin windows. I thanked him several times in my mind for that. How clever and kind! So I took a sharp chisel and carved out the windows.
2
December 10, 2023
In order not to be completely empty behind the transparent cockpit windows, I made a dashboard and pilot seats. I was making an airliner in 1/144 for the first time and with hindsight I realized that the seats are much bigger than they should be. But hopefully then it won't be distracting and at the same time there will be "something" behind the cockpit windows.
3
December 10, 2023
Here I used Extratech PE parts No. 14417. I made the flap actuator from metal wire and sprayed it red and black.
4
December 10, 2023
Control layer of surfacer applied to the sanded door. The Daco Skyline model has this door higher than the original, so it was necessary to use a putty.
A pilot checklist is already on the dashboard.
5
December 10, 2023
Blocker doors in the NACA cooling air intake are now installed in the fully extended position. I made them from a leftover frame from a PE part.
The landing gear wells are painted and wheathered.
6
December 10, 2023
7
December 10, 2023
The PE part from the Daco Skyline set was used to protect the engine pylon from hot jet exhausts. According to the original, I have emphasized the engraving and the division of the individual plates.
8
December 10, 2023
Static strips are installed on the radome. I made them from thin wire. The mouldings did show them, but not ideally. And, of course, they were not at all at the junction of the two fuselage halves. With hindsight I can say that they should have been thinner. But I won't redo them.
9
December 10, 2023
There is an attempt to do a detail of the hot section of the engine that is not on the moulding, but I find it quite a defining detail.
10
December 10, 2023
There is an attempt to do a detail of the hot section of the engine that is not on the moulding, but I find it quite a defining detail.
11
December 10, 2023
12
December 10, 2023
Vortex generators instaled.
13
December 10, 2023
Here I made this Boeing into a convertible because I decided to additionally glaze the passenger windows with clear resin. I originally thought I would do it with clear decal film, but I was becoming more and more doubtful. So I made this rather drastic intervention...
14
December 10, 2023
And here back after the operation codenamed "Convertible". 🙂
I also added sunshades to the windows - one fully rolled down and one partially. I am satisfied with the result.
15
December 10, 2023
16
December 10, 2023
The masks were made by my colleague Jarda Král. The ones on the Boeing 737-800 Zvezda are a bit smaller than they should be.
17
December 10, 2023
There was a big problem with the cockpit masks, because even the ones from the KV MODELS designed for B737 Skyline don't fit precisely.
18
December 10, 2023
Masks applied and the model is ready for the first coat of surfacer.
19
December 10, 2023
Surfacer was successfully applied and I started airbrushing the first thin coats of white.
20
December 10, 2023
I let the paint cure well and remove minor surface imperfections. I will need to add more white as the grey surfacer is still showing through slightly.
21
December 23, 2023
I did the cockpit. It's not final yet, but it's been a lot of work. When I was peeling off the masking tape, part of the surfacer with the white paint came off. I probably didn't degrease the surface enough... I had to fix it and was glad I did it before I would airbrush orange paint or even apply decals. I also found that some dust and dirt had gotten into the cockpit. You can't see it in the photo now, but there are some dust crumbs wandering around and it's disturbing. Next time I need to be much more consistent in sealing it before closing the fuselage.
22
December 29, 2023
Livery is painted. Now I have to do the underside of the wings (Boeing grey), leading edges and then a lot of decal work. I'd like to glue the engines on near the end.
23
June 30, 2024
24
June 30, 2024
The transition between pylon and engine is a bit of a challenge with the Daco kit. Everything was finally set up after many adjustments. I will now let the putty cure properly. I hope I don't ruin the already painted parts when sanding and cleaning.
25
July 4, 2024
The transition between the pylon and the engine is sealed and sanded. Now all that's left is to mask and then spray the surfacer. And I'll see if it'll be clean and fine or if any imperfections will show up. And the transition will have to be cleaned up.
26
July 19, 2024
I decided to use the decals from Authentic Airliner Decals for the cockpit window frame, although I had already sprayed them with Alcad duralminium. Not done here yet. You can see the difference between the sprayed frame and the frame from the decal. I had to cut the decal as the dimensions on the Daco Skyline cockpit are different from the Authentic Airliner Decals - the windshield is wider.
27
August 17, 2024
One static discharger from the nose has come loose. So instead of repairing it, I decided to remove all the original ones. Moreover, they were thicker than they should have been. And I used the 3D decal from Authentic Airliner Decal. I still have to finish the nose color again.
28
August 20, 2024
Pylon/engine transition painted, wash oil paint on top of wings done, airline name decal placed on fuselage.
29
September 16, 2024
The window frames on the starboard side have been installed. Emergency exit also. The cleanliness of the window glazing, unfortunately, did not turn out the way I wanted due to my mistake.
30
October 19, 2024
After a while, some progress again. The windows were framed on both sides of the fuselage. I finished washing the bottom of the wings and started decaling the fuselage - doors, stencil etc....
31
October 20, 2024
I took most of the photos in this gallery with my cell phone, so I took this one with a real camera with a tilt/shift lens to better capture the actual in-between state of the building process.
32
October 24, 2024
Original/incorrect location of VHF antenna after cementing, before cleaning and painting and its new correct location.

Kommentarer

50 10 December 2023, 18:22

Łukasz Gliński
Following, of course

23 December 2023, 21:52

Zbynek Honzik
Welcome, Łukasz!

24 December 2023, 07:20

Robert Podkoński
Me 2!

24 December 2023, 07:50

Zbynek Honzik
Welcome, Robert!

24 December 2023, 11:48

Zbynek Honzik
After a long time I got into modelling and so managed to move a number of things forward. Now I have to let the putty cure properly on the transition between the pylon and the engine. And then the careful sanding and cleaning and final painting of the pylon and engine will begin.

30 June, 19:41

Łukasz Gliński
Great to see you back on this one, the livery looks v.cool indeed.
And don't even think that Zvezda nacelles are much better 🙂

30 June, 20:20

Spanjaard
wow it it is looking really good. I really like the windows, and the shades you added

30 June, 20:45

Zbynek Honzik
Łukasz, I've got 373-800/700 waiting for me from Zvezda. And I'm looking forward to it. However, given my snail's pace, I don't know when their turn will come... 🐌🫣

30 June, 20:50

Zbynek Honzik
Thank you, Spanjaard.

30 June, 20:51

Łukasz Gliński
My both 800s are waiting as well 😄 Revell & Zvezda
Btw. How did you do such a nice pair of landing lights? I'm looking for ideas as decals are not available for all liners in 144th.

30 June, 21:11

Michael Kohl
I am impressed by how clean and evenly you cut out the windows. Which material did you use to cover the windows before pouring the resin. I use regular Cello tape but the resin dissolves the glue and this sticks to the windows.

30 June, 22:35

Zbynek Honzik
@Łukasz - I use either "little lenses" that I bought years ago at www.morellingtool.co.uk or nail glitter that I bought at a bead store.
I seal the headlight area first, then spray paint it matt black and glue the lights (glitter) in the appropriate places.
Then I sealed everything with transparent resin. After the resin hardened, I sanded everything to the shape of the leading edge of the wing and then polished.

1 July, 11:29

Zbynek Honzik
@ Michael - I use an electrical tape that I bought on e-bay. I got a reference for it on YouTube here: Youtube Video
It's High Temperature Resistant Kapton Tape. The packaging says it is "Advanced Polymer Tape" and is characterized as "Clean Removal". And the adhesive doesn't really stick to the resin.

1 July, 11:39

Łukasz Gliński
Velke diky Zbynku - I might use it on my next airliners 👍

1 July, 12:28

Michael Kohl
Thanks Zbynek. I will try this. The Cello tape glue can be quite easily removed with IPA, but lazy as I am, I like the idea to omit that step.

1 July, 17:31

Zbynek Honzik
You're welcome, mates!

1 July, 21:09

Zbynek Honzik
So I moved forward a bit again and sanded and cleaned up the transition between the pylon and the engine.

4 July, 21:55

Zbynek Honzik
In between letting the putty cure in the transition between the pylon and the engine, I started speculating how to improve the cockpit window frame.
In the end, Authentic Airliner Decals were used. I really like the way the authentic metallic finish looks on the decal, plus they depict the rivets and the thin black line showing the insulation between the glass and the frame. I had to cut the decal because the dimensions are a little different on the model, but I really like it. So I ordered another set. The windshield is wider, so one set was not enough for me.
On the photo you can see where the original frame is sprayed with Alclad and where the decal is.

19 July, 17:20

Robert Podkoński
These window frames look perfect indeed.

20 July, 06:29

Zbynek Honzik
Thanks, Robert!

20 July, 06:52

Zbynek Honzik
So I found some time for modelling - Pylon/engine transition painted, wash oil paint on top of wings done, airline name decal placed on fuselage.

20 August, 07:16

Mr D
See you like your Airlines 👍.
I may do a Soviet era TU in future.
You done some nice projects 😀👍👍

3 September, 13:15

Zbynek Honzik
Thank you for your kind comment Mr D.
I am also going to do a Tupolev, specially TU-134 Malév. That was the first airliner I flew in from Budapest to Prague.

4 September, 20:18

Zbynek Honzik
A small step forward has been made. The window frames on the starboard side have been installed. Emergency exit also. The cleanliness of the window glazing, unfortunately, did not turn out the way I wanted due to my mistake. I have to learn to live with that. Hopefully it will be better on the port side of the fuselage...

18 September, 05:07

Mr D
It's all a learning curve, as in all art forms ......it's the persute of perfection very rarely we achieve it.
Looks great to me and I'm sure others think the same.
Your Tu-134 sound like great idea.
😁👍

18 September, 17:16

Zbynek Honzik
"It's all a learning curve, as in all art forms ......it's the pursuite of perfection very rarely we achieve it." - Exactly! Thank you for the precise wording, Mr D!!!
That's also my curse...

18 September, 19:01

bughunter
Today I came across this: what a wonderful work 👍
Such glossy finishes (on cars or airliners) are not easy because it brings all little mishaps to the surface. But I like your careful work, and it is great that you go a step back and fix things even it is more work.

18 September, 19:26

Zbynek Honzik
Thank you very much for your encouraging comment, bughunter!
Thanks to my almost obsessive nature, everything takes a very long time though.
Your fast forward while maintaining exceptional quality and cleanness is one of the things I highly admire. Your masterpieces are a great inspiration to me.

18 September, 20:50

Guy Rump
Looking great, following. 👍

3 October, 21:45

Spanjaard
it looks really good, what is the issue about the windows? they look great in the pictures

3 October, 22:24

Spanjaard
maybe some tiny white spots? you can say it is result of condensation, I have seen that in quite a few real flights 😉

3 October, 22:27

Zbynek Honzik
Thanks for the kind and witty comment, Spanjaard.
The tiny white spots are bits of dust that got into the fuselage, although I tried not to let that happen.
The other problem is that melted paint from around the windows has soaked into the clearcoat when I dripped too much diluted varnish over the dent left by the masking tape. It created some weird maps...
But you're right, it could be some condensation, I've experienced it in real flight too. Thanks! 👍🙋🏼‍♂️

5 October, 11:28

Zbynek Honzik
Thank you, Guy! Welcom.

5 October, 11:32

Agnius
Looks great! 👍

5 October, 11:36

Zbynek Honzik
Thank you, Agnius!

5 October, 13:08

Zbynek Honzik
After a while, some progress again. The windows were framed on both sides of the fuselage. I finished washing the bottom of the wings and started decaling the fuselage with doors, stencils etc...

19 October, 14:42

Vintas
Good job, and just a terrible airline

19 October, 14:45

Zbynek Honzik
Thanks Vintas for the comment!

It is a horrible airline today, you're right.
But this is a version from way back, from 2004, when they were subsidiary of Icelandiar Group. They started with two Boeing 373-500 on leased from Lufthansa. From my point of view it was a sympathetic activity at that time to make a low-cost carrier in the Czech Republic.
But it turned out very sadly...
And eventually they liquidated CSA, a more then 100-year-old airline, originally our national carrier.

19 October, 15:03

Vintas
Sorry about the CSA. It was one of the oldest operating airlines along with KLM and AEROFLOT. You are absolutely right. By the way, they also have the TRAVEL livery.

19 October, 18:14

Mr D
Looks Great Zbynek 👋😁👍
Have you seen any other models like yours ??
Or is it quite unique??
I'm just doing some finishing touches to one of my models at min....all takes time n steady hands 👍👍👍

19 October, 18:58

Alec K
Excellent modeling 👍

20 October, 00:45

Zbynek Honzik
Gentlemen, thank you for your comments. They are very encouraging.
@ Alec K - Your modelling mastery is a great inspiration to me. 🙋🏼‍♂️

20 October, 08:14

Zbynek Honzik
While decalling I found out by reference photos that I have a incorrect positioned VHF antenna on the bottom of the fuselage. I was misled by the side view in the kit instructions without checking it against the photos. How many times again! I move forward like a snail and then fail to check such a thing! 😱🫣
So I ripped it out, sealed the hole and now I have to clean it up and repaint it. The photo shows the incorrect location and the future correct one.

25 October, 18:56

Alec K
Ahh, I feel your pain! I was just using a jar of paint yesterday and thought: "Why the heck do I even HAVE this??" Turns out I bought it for a recent build and completely skipped applying it in one of the final steps! At least you caught it (and mine is the next level of "forget") 😄

26 October, 11:32

Zbynek Honzik
That's a funny story too, Alec! Yes, that's the next level of "forget"... And that's getting worse with age...
Well, I wonder where I'll end up... When I forget what aircraft I'm actually building?🤣🤣🤣

26 October, 18:06

Album info

Towards the end of 2017 I started a project to build Boeing 737-500 Smart Wings by Daco Skyline. My basic impetus was the successful completion of the same aircraft in 1:200 scale and the desire to try the same thing in a larger scale. And to what extent I can improve the level of detail, execution and also the fidelity to the original. The work is progressing rather slowly due to my work commitments and sometimes occasional laziness. But it seems that I could crawl towards the goal.

Daco Skyline Boeing 737-530 Smart Wings

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1:144

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1:144 Boeing B737/300/400/500 (Extratech 14417)

1:144 Smart Wings 737-500’s (Draw Decal 44s-373-39)

Boeing 737-530

Smart Wings
OK-SWZ
Smart Wings (early)

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