Challenge Build 737-268C - AIR SAUDIA -

[TheChronicOne]

This thing is still throwing up ever barrier possible to keep me from completion. I tried moving forward with the transfers today but the ones I had had spent too much time in the heat. Sad thing is I tested a smaller portion long ago to ensure the decals were good but apparently different sections of the sheet have different values of condition and a great portion of it has the backing paper welded to the carrier sheet and getting it off proved to work in some areas but not in other to the detriment of the transfers.

Long story short, the decals went tits up and I will have to order in some more and roll the dice yet again. It's not ATP's fault... it's the fact that these have sat around for 40 years.

Oh well... the seperate sheet of windscreens and side windows seems like it could be viable, however. It took effort, but the windscreen transfers worked well enough so they're on. Problem is, I wanted to put them on then quickly put the cheatlines on so I could align them all in situation but uhhhh.... so much for that. I think they're in the right position, however. Remember, this whole area was a rounded blob at one time and I had to re-shape it all so while it looks pretty good, it could be slightly off. ON THAT NOTE, though, a high point of this is that said formerly rounded blob seems to look pretty damn good now with the transfers on.

In an attempt to feel like I'm getting anything at all done, I stopped and mocked up the wings real quick and created this "ultra generic airliner." All white...... no windows.... no engines... It's strangely appealing! Very clean.

[Ansett A330]

What about using the Avigraphics Sheet?

[TheChronicOne]

That's what I'd like to try next if I can get my hands on one. Not sure how they stack up against ATP but I've had two sets of ATP go bad on me because of how long they sit and I'd like to see if Avigraphics stuff holds up better. Some transfers age better than others, for sure! It's such a shame because there's still a healthy market full of ATP sheets out there to be had and I'm sure many if not most of them are completely fine or even would be with decal film or something but when you have these welded together types there's not a damn thing you can do and I just don't like gambling my money but sometimes It's the nature of the beast.

I know 26 Decal does Tristar and I believe 747 Air Saudia stuff but I didn't see a 737 sheet. Coincidentally, I ordered a 26 decal sheet yesterday for my PSA Tristar! Surprisingly cheap, I was impressed. I bought direct and saved a fair chunk. I digress.

[TheChronicOne]

Alright! Determined to not let my baby stagnate, I've grabbed all the little parts and stuff that I could to work on. To that end, I've attached the gravel plate to the nose gear and glued on the two struts. I need/should build a "box" type thing that goes around the main strut but that's something I'll contemplate on later. I've also clipped out what few parts were remaining on the sprues; the small stuff I didn't want to lose, then threw that stuff into a little box. I also applied putty to the modified nose gear doors and once it dries I'll sand it into it's final form. I also cut out the stretched sprue so I can make the vortex dissipators but stopped at that. Indeed, I'll have to wait until further along because I need to cut some of the lengths whilst in the process. No way around it, really. This was a good hour to hour.5 worth of stuff that I won't have to mess with at the end of the build. :thumbsup: Oh yeah, I also did some sanding on the engines as well, but not too much because I need to whittle down the putty on them...

[hrtpaul]

Looking nice there mate

[TheChronicOne]

Thanks!! I've stopped for awhile but I'll be doing a tiny bit more on this in a few days. It's panfully close to being at the stage I wait to work on it more.

[Uros]

Looks great! Get it finished!

[TheChronicOne]

Thanks! I saw your post and decided to do all I could right away to advance the build.

To that end.... I have painted the two tiny parts I glued on to the gravel plate mechanisms on the nose gear. Better than nothing! Less I have to do in the future. For now I'm playing the waiting game. I'm going to have to get some new transfers. I'll probably address that within the next week or two.

[TheChronicOne]

Believe it or not, I'm back to work on this one. I've procured a battery powered rotary tool to use to sand away the excess Miliput on the engines and I've also worked refining the nose gear door fairings.

Next up is continued refining of the engines. Once I get the nacelles straightened out I'm going to do a series of dry-fits in order to build up the "beefier" pylon arrangement on the Adv.

[RayS]

Great to hear Brad, I suppose I should get back to mine.

More sanding before attempting to paint it