Revell/Lodela Douglas DC-8 - 21 1/144 (really 1/143)
Discussion
When I was a keen plane spotter in the mid 1970s, there were still plenty of early generation jet airliners still in service - although by then many of them had been offloaded by their original users and were now being flown by charter and 3rd level operators. One of these airlines was Air Spain who were an early player in the charter market and were regular sights at British (and Irish) airports taking holidaymakers to sunshine destinations such as Spain or Tenerife.
Air Spain was an early casualty of the rocketing oil prices that scuppered so many of these 1970s charter airlines and went bust in early 1975. Indeed, these 1st generation turbojet powered airliners were themselves nearly all gone by the early 1980s as their operating economics just didn't make sense by that time.
The Revell kit is very old with Scalemates showing the original release as 1959. It would have been a "box scale" kit at the time but, for once this isn't too much of an issue. The "scale" of 1/143 is pretty close to what later became the more common airliner scale of 1/144. So it won't look too out of place lined up against an Airfix 707 or VC-10.
The version I am (re) building is from an early 1990s issue from Revell's Mexican affiliate, Lodela. I bought, and built, this actual kit back then. It was originally finished using a set of decals for the Eastern Airlines Golden Jet livery. It looked very attractive at the time but after about 30 years sitting on a shelf gathering dust it wasn't looking its best. Rather than junk what was a perfectly complete but fairly rare model, I decided to strip it back, update it where necessary, and repaint it in the colours of Air Spain.
I was able to obtain a nice set of resin Pratt & Whitney JT4 turbojets from F-RSIN. I really needed these because, even though the original Revell engines are perfectly presentable, they don't feature the moveable noise reduction "rings" which were a unique feature of these early DC-8s. Revell were not wrong. When they released the kit back in 1959, the few DC-8s flying weren't yet fitted with these devices. So, if you wanted to depict one of these early DC-8s as they looked later in their careers. they are essential.
Here are some pics of the project -
The first picture shows the model in the process of being stripped back. At this stage the original Revell engines were still fitted.
These are the F-RSIN engines with their rings -
The 2-6 decal sheet I will be using -
And where I am at the moment. The new engines (minus the rings) have been added, the fuselage and wings stripped, sanded, filled and primed ready for the next stage. Getting the resin engines and their pylons to fit properly and blend in with the wings was quite time consuming
I have a Revell "stretched "DC-8 - 61/63 waiting in the wings.
Air Spain was an early casualty of the rocketing oil prices that scuppered so many of these 1970s charter airlines and went bust in early 1975. Indeed, these 1st generation turbojet powered airliners were themselves nearly all gone by the early 1980s as their operating economics just didn't make sense by that time.
The Revell kit is very old with Scalemates showing the original release as 1959. It would have been a "box scale" kit at the time but, for once this isn't too much of an issue. The "scale" of 1/143 is pretty close to what later became the more common airliner scale of 1/144. So it won't look too out of place lined up against an Airfix 707 or VC-10.
The version I am (re) building is from an early 1990s issue from Revell's Mexican affiliate, Lodela. I bought, and built, this actual kit back then. It was originally finished using a set of decals for the Eastern Airlines Golden Jet livery. It looked very attractive at the time but after about 30 years sitting on a shelf gathering dust it wasn't looking its best. Rather than junk what was a perfectly complete but fairly rare model, I decided to strip it back, update it where necessary, and repaint it in the colours of Air Spain.
I was able to obtain a nice set of resin Pratt & Whitney JT4 turbojets from F-RSIN. I really needed these because, even though the original Revell engines are perfectly presentable, they don't feature the moveable noise reduction "rings" which were a unique feature of these early DC-8s. Revell were not wrong. When they released the kit back in 1959, the few DC-8s flying weren't yet fitted with these devices. So, if you wanted to depict one of these early DC-8s as they looked later in their careers. they are essential.
Here are some pics of the project -
The first picture shows the model in the process of being stripped back. At this stage the original Revell engines were still fitted.
These are the F-RSIN engines with their rings -
The 2-6 decal sheet I will be using -
And where I am at the moment. The new engines (minus the rings) have been added, the fuselage and wings stripped, sanded, filled and primed ready for the next stage. Getting the resin engines and their pylons to fit properly and blend in with the wings was quite time consuming
I have a Revell "stretched "DC-8 - 61/63 waiting in the wings.
Over the years I've tried various paint stripping materials - oven cleaner, brake fluid, Dettol. The one that works best for me (so far) is a product called Model Strip. I'm not sure it's available any more and it does tend to go hard in the tub if not used fairly quickly after use. I used Model Strip on this DC-8. I actually stripped it a couple of years ago and then the project went onto the "shelf of doom".
However, doing a Google search for Model Strip does throw up some interesting results!!! And not many are related to plastic kits.
I've recently stripped back an old Airfix BAC 1-11 model using Isopropyl Alcohol. It does work but requires a fair bit of elbow grease compared to Model Strip which you can just wash off, along with the old paint, under a tap.
Before -
After -
I'll do another thread on this project as it will be a bit more involved compared to the DC-8.
However, doing a Google search for Model Strip does throw up some interesting results!!! And not many are related to plastic kits.
I've recently stripped back an old Airfix BAC 1-11 model using Isopropyl Alcohol. It does work but requires a fair bit of elbow grease compared to Model Strip which you can just wash off, along with the old paint, under a tap.
Before -
After -
I'll do another thread on this project as it will be a bit more involved compared to the DC-8.
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