Fraser Aero Art

Finally reaching the home straight on this project which started about a year ago (I did complete another 747 during that time I might add), it is good to know that this aircraft will soon get a face so to speak, meaning it’s time to decide on the livery. The Airline is a no brainer, because this aircraft will remain in my hands, it will of course be Qantas.

The last decision is which Qantas Livery to paint the aircraft…The Two Boeing 747SP’s operated by Qantas were delivered in the 1970’s “Orange Ochre” livery (this had the orange strip along the windows and the winged flying Kangaroo). The SP’s were then repainted in the late 1980’s with the new Flying Kangaroo design introduced in 1894. Both Aircraft were retired with the same livery in 2002.

Alternatively, like my Qantas Concorde, which in reality, never existed,  I could follow a similar approach and paint the SP in the most recent 2017 Qantas livery. I’m still deciding. The pics below show my 1:400 scale diecast version in the 1970’s livery.

However, before I get too carried away, there are still several coats of primer – putty to apply before more sanding and minor filling to remove imperfections which the grey undercoat makes easier to spot. Then I can start applying the colour and bringing this aircraft to life.

Between now and my last post, there has been a lot of work to prepare the wings, engines and engine pods to house the wiring for the lights and drone motors. In addition to the nav lights on the wing tips, each engine will have an internal LED along with a drone motor, and LED landing lights will be installed on the inner leading edges of the wings. The pic below also shows the entry points of the wiring into the engine pods and into the engine itself. Prior to final filling of the wiring tracks, all wires were tested to ensure there were no breaks. After all, I’d rather replace a faulty wire now as opposed to finding out after the wings are all painted. My Avionics buddy, has also completed the circuit boards which will be added in the final assembly after painting.

Lastly, there is a bit of 3D printing to do, which includes the engine inserts that will hold each drone motor and LED light in place, and the exhaust nozzles at the rear of the engines. I will also be 3D printing a few stencils to assist with the finer details to be applied to the final paint job and livery.

On completion of this project, I will be staring work on my largest project yet…A 1:50 scale C5 Galaxy. I’m already working on the plans for this, with is another client order…