Caravelle F-BJTR "Principauté de Monaco"
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And off we go!
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Nice place for the injection hole, isnt't it?
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That's all I could achieve with the interior frets.
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Had to stabilise the rear one using the wood glue.
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Not the best fit, is it?
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More sanding...
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After few days of sanding and priming and sanding and priming...
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Actually it's not hard enough for sanding 🙁
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Once you peel off the stickers (they go off almost on their own anyway) it says "Light Lock" 😄
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In case the user is able to leave no residue, than the glue is quite shiny and transparent after drying.
I'm going to use it for the windows too.
I'm going to use it for the windows too.
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After a week the UV glue started drying inside, blocked the tip and I had to throw it away.
Definitely not recommended, solely because of the packaging. 🙁
Definitely not recommended, solely because of the packaging. 🙁
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I managed to cut my own masks, trying to get them symmetrical.
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Hopefully final surfacing.
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Couple of corrections are needed on the undersides.
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First use of the Gunze SM paints, this is the panel difference I wanted to achieve on my MiG-15 some time ago.
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Engine reference pic.
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The parts I'm using to get the engine nacelles right.
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The result of UV gluing, sanding, masking and spraying 😉
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Decals a minute after submersion...
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... and after trying to move them around 🙁
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Fighting for the tail continues...
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The decal window shape compared with the windshield shape (masks were cut to fit it as much as I could).
You can also read one of the most ridiculous texts I have ever seen in the model kit instructions 😄
You can also read one of the most ridiculous texts I have ever seen in the model kit instructions 😄
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Original exhausts.
I dedicate this pic to Thomas K. of course 😄
I dedicate this pic to Thomas K. of course 😄
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The plastic drink straws (already passe on the market) seem to be quite flexible 🙂
They are so small that it's hard to get the macro focus on them 🙂
They are so small that it's hard to get the macro focus on them 🙂
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To switch the focus, I started playing with the exhausts.
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Managed to fit the canopy frame...
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... however some corrections are needed as my masks were too long.
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So, even BOA set has errors - have a look at the light-blue stripes 🙁
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Started the decalling today.
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Komentáre
19 23 August 2020, 17:32
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omg Mistercraft ..
Sure you will make the best out of this Lukasz..
Following
23 August 2020, 18:22
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Thanks Daniel. I have to mention that this is one of the best Mistercraft sets, the other being the Hunter. Actually this is a rebox of a Airfix copy. No idea whether it was licenced or not, however they started molding it somewhere in the 70s or 80s.
23 August 2020, 18:56
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That is an interesting build... Mistercraft is a harsh mistress but I am sure you will wrestle it beautifully in shape. Following!
29 August 2020, 04:32
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Struggling with the fuselage joints, they seem to be still cracking. Hope to prime her soon.
1 September 2020, 10:59
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Merci beaucoup. After few days of sanding/priming I find the last layer of primer good enough.
3 September 2020, 20:11
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watching because I too am building an airliner from a kit where the parts don't fit together, lol
3 September 2020, 21:08
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Yeah, don't you just love this stage when the primer gets sprayed on and it turns that mucky, mottled and dirty appearance into a pristine and clean uniform gray?
4 September 2020, 03:36
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True, I had to reinforce the parts using significant load of perfect putty, CA glue, Mr.Cement and surfacer. Hope it will stay smooth now.
4 September 2020, 07:37
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I love the graceful lines of the Caravelle, (and Comet I), so hope you have a good build here Ł
4 September 2020, 12:03
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Not the best kit, however I enjoy the number of parts and pace of 1/144 airliner construction 🙂
4 September 2020, 12:40
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Progress looks promising and you are on a good way with this "kit" 🙂
9 September 2020, 20:04
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It's not so bad actually, however to my surprise the PE dedicated for Airfix doesn't fit so great. Always thought it was a pirate copy of UK kit...
9 September 2020, 20:08
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A very pretty aircraft! How did you manage to fair in that ill-fitting windscreen? On photo 7 it looks nearly impossible.
9 September 2020, 20:12
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Not that bad?
As Thomas noted. Withou formidable skills you will not get any pleasant result out of this.
9 September 2020, 20:36
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@Thomas&Daniel: As my skills are not that great, I put an accent on concepts instead😉 Had couple of ideas, tried two of them, both requiring UV light. As the nail stuff borrowed from the best one of all wives😉 turned out to stay sticky on the surface and not sandable, I had to order the proper UV CA glue, which I can sand extensively. I have to make my own masks now, before painting.
@Rando: welcome mate 👍
18 September 2020, 18:56
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Fantastic work and solution Lukasz.. As I said: Skills are with you 👍
I would have abort immediately after dryfitting or never started this thing..
Fabulous mate keep it up 👍
18 September 2020, 19:27
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Thx Daniel 🙂
Got another update: I managed to cut my own masks. And today I added some white surfacer, so it starts to remind an airliner 🙂
How come absolutely nobody on this planet sells 1/144 Caravelle masks?! And I don't mean Mistercraft dedicated, just any kind of...
17 October 2020, 19:52
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Added white and grey today. What would you use for the grey part on 1/144 airliner?
I have a feeling Dark Ghost Grey (Mr Hobby C307) might be too dark after all...
18 October 2020, 19:18
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I think it looks great. But if you really want to repaint it, you could go with something like Tamiya XF-19 Sky Gray or Mr Paint MRP-363 Boeing Gray. Not sure about the corresponding color in the Mr Hobby range unfortunately.
18 October 2020, 20:12
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Looking good so far, Lucasz! Nice job on getting the windscreen fitted!
19 October 2020, 00:35
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Thanks for your feedback. I went for the Air Defence Grey after all 👍
19 October 2020, 14:52
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I second Gordon, I am still not sure how you managed to wrestle that windscreen in place, it looks impossible, even with UV glue.
19 October 2020, 15:55
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Easy-peasy - just spread the glue all around, remove most of the excess using plastic, toothpicks and your fingers (this order is not mandatory😉 ). Shine some black light, prepare for a week of sanding. Mask, prime and keep fingers crossed it's gonna look acceptable. 😄
Have I known the uv glue is that thick and hard, I'd throw the windscreen part away.
19 October 2020, 16:41
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That sounds easy. Like making a marble sculpture: you just take a huge slab of marble and remove the excess with a hammer and a chisel.
19 October 2020, 20:01
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Nostalgia! I remember this model in PZW boxing, even build it in the early 90ties! Looking good Łukasz!
24 October 2020, 17:16
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Thanks Patryk, however I have to add that the decals don't look that good - the first one just scatterred once I took it out of water 🙁
Will try to fix it by varnishing and we'll see whether I'll have to look for another set of decals or not.
25 October 2020, 09:44
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MisterCraft decals are known to do that... 🙁 Microscale Liquid Decal Film is perfect to make sure old decals hold together, you can simply spray it on with the airbrush.
25 October 2020, 09:51
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Hopefully you can save them with some liquid decal film... the Air France livery is very attractive.
25 October 2020, 15:28
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In the worst case you have this (same aircraft) and which also includes the frames fore the windscreens:
bsmodelle.com/eu/ind..-2/product/view/2/84
25 October 2020, 16:32
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Well, thanks for your feedback guys.
So, I went for the decal film for now. First, it's too thick to spray, it just clogged my airbrush instantly as I have no clue how to thin it. Hence I paintbrushed the broken fin decal and the rest has been sprayed using GX varnish. Will continue with the tail today and if I fail, I found a backup:
martola.com.pl/pl268..velle_iii_air_france
The BS set looks interesting, but I'd have to wait for it and since they have very interesting topics, the fit is not always good enough 🙁 However this one seems to be the copy of the Mistercrap set, even the layout is the same. 🙂
25 October 2020, 16:46
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Are you using the Microscale stuff? I often print out my own decals and spray that with my airbrush without any issues. The consistency should be like regular acrylic paint (thicker than water, but not like honey either - a bit like like milk).
25 October 2020, 19:49
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It's Microscale indeed, but it's waaaay thicker than milk, more similar to Vallejo Model Air paints (and don't tell me they're perfect for spraying, for they are not 😛 )
Brushpainting seems to be good enough, the decals are brittle, but it's not Ravensburger 1000 puzzle anymore😉
25 October 2020, 20:03
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Hm, strange, I am looking at my bottle here, it is definitely quite thin... Your bottle might be a bit old? I remember that I once read that it can be thinned with alcohol (like Tamiya thinner). But if brush painting works, then that's just fine!
25 October 2020, 20:24
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Seems so at least.
The final test is the nose-side decal, if it will break or not conform, I'm ordering BOA set tomorrow 🙂
25 October 2020, 20:31
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Yes, you live in a civilized country where you can buy modeling stuff without having to order from beyond the country borders and possibly face ridiculous Covid-dependent transport times... 🙁
25 October 2020, 20:37
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I brush on the microscale stuff. Sometimes the resulting decal does not conform immediately, but with a little patience and decal solvent, I get them to settle.
I build lots of old kits with old decals.
26 October 2020, 16:53
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@?Thomas: well, my Czech & Dutch shoppings arrived few days ago (ah, dat Huxley book😉 ) and the Ukrainian one is on its way 🙂
@Ben: brushing seems to work, though Mistercrap decals are very stiff, brittle and not so well designed. Working on the nose right now and still thinking of buying BOA set.
In the meantime I played with the engine nacelles and sth called "hush-sets" 🙂
26 October 2020, 20:47
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Ouch, those windscreen decals... 🙁 Which is more correct, the windscreen or the decals? Although considering that it is MisterCraft, I guess neither... Thanks for the pic dedication, BTW! 🙂 The drinking straw idea is quite cool, you might just get it looking like the real stuff! BTW I recently loaded up with a bunch of plastic straws from McDonalds, the paper straws you get nowadays is quite useless for model building.
27 October 2020, 09:39
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Neither of them probably. But if you want to follow the decal shape, you have to overpaint the windshield part.
27 October 2020, 13:59
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So the Mistercrap decals turned out to be incredibly stiff, so I ordered BOA set instead.
My honest recommendation: if you need a 144 Caravelle, head for the Amodel.
1 November 2020, 18:07
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Not that nobody warned you 🙂
But you do a fantastic job with this.... And your patience is admirable Lukasz..
keep up the good work 👍
"Whatever is on the market, must be better"
I heard of a kit producer from France which name describes the Speed with that his products fly into the bin 🙂
1 November 2020, 19:07
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Thanks Daniel, well I have couple of the kits issued by the abovementioned French company and yes, I still maintain I'm gonna build'em 😄
1 November 2020, 19:25
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I agree with Daniel, your determination with this pig of a kit is astonishing.
1 November 2020, 19:25
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Thank you. In the meantime I filled and sanded the engines, corrected the windscreen once again and went on to decalling.
The BOA set has some errors though, the most noticeable one - missing blue stripes either on top or on the bottom of the main dark blue band.
I'm gonna live with it anyway.
8 November 2020, 22:00
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Looks really neat but with a huge amount of work! What is that paste on the wing leading edges in pic 33?
8 November 2020, 22:19
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That's the famous Perfect Plastic Putty by Deluxe Materials from (not-so-much-Cool anymore) Britannia, the best putty I have ever used. Wanted to fill the huge slot gaps without repainting the wings and had to give up.
8 November 2020, 22:28
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Graceful lines captured Łukasz, now to build Comet I alongside the Frenchman? Yours from KühlBritannia...
13 November 2020, 12:36
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Much appreciated Mr.A 🙂 However while working on the nose and the windshield it's hard to find the true Caravelle shape there 😄
I have to disappoint you though, next will be DC-9 (or couple of them, not sure yet) 😛
Not sure about the Comet in 144 as 72nd BAe Nimrod is waiting on the top of my shelves (too big to fit inside 😄)
So, I decided to leave the kit shape as it is, the nose painting will be my licencia poetica and I'm not going to correct the decals. Added the engines today, lovely British Putty is stepping into action again 😄
13 November 2020, 13:00
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Whoa! That was one difficult kit... Turned out quite good Łukasz! Well done mate!
13 November 2020, 21:28
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Thanks, still there are couple of details to complete 🙂
@Thomas: Bear in mind this kit is actually an unlicensed (most probably) copy of the old Airfix, copied in the Polish Peoples Republic era. So nobody took too much care and smoking stuff was really hard to get here 😄
14 November 2020, 09:01
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For some reason my comment got deleted, not sure why... This kit looks like nightmare fuel but you certainly managed to bring out the best of it. You deserve a medal for persistance! 😉
14 November 2020, 09:44
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Łukasz ..... really tough work on that dog of a kit !!!!! Chapeau !!!!!!
16 November 2020, 20:00
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Thanks a lot for your support, it's really needed 🙂
In the meantime I attached the engines, need to repaint the pylons once more (the fit was horrible) and I started adding details - wheels, gear details, door and so forth.
19 November 2020, 20:45
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Hereby I announce this bugger finished!
Skipped couple of details as it's gonna be the photo background element after all (panel lines, stairs decal, stairs railings, few minor decals here and there).
My advice? Avoid at all cost!😉
13 December 2020, 22:06
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You certainly to managed to wrestle this pig of a kit into a really attractive little model. What a transformation! Lovely! 🙂
14 December 2020, 07:51
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Thanks a lot Gents, glad you like it (even though I took so many shortcuts at the end😉 )
14 December 2020, 09:07
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I've only just stumbled on this, what a great finish!
The Caravelle has always been one of my favourite passenger liners, especially in this livery, excellent 👍
18 January 2021, 10:16
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Graceful lines captured well Ł. [Caravelle and the Comet I....they don't make 'em like they used to!!]
18 January 2021, 10:25
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Thanks Gents. did my best, but gave up the nose section. I'd have to build it from scratch😉
Glad you like it anyway. Maybe one day the Comet will join it, who knows...
18 January 2021, 10:32
Album info
My first foray into 1/144 airliners