Okay, I have made a start on building the 1/144 scale Ed Force One kit from Revell. Two things were immediately apparent when I unboxed the kit. Number one - this bird is big
Fuselage length is 50cm, and wingspan is 45cm. This makes it much larger than any of the die cast EF1 models that I have seen online.
Here is the contents of the box:
The second thing that jumps out is the fantastic quality of the decals. This thing should look great when completed - the Maiden markings are outstanding. I love being able to see the names of the cities on the side of the plane!
The third thing that I noticed is that this is an old kit i.e. this is an old Revell 747-400 kit that they have repackaged as Ed Froce One, rather than a brand new mold. This has two implications; 1), you need to make some adjustments to the kit's parts to build an exact EF1 replica, and 2) being an older mold it has some imperfections that the modeller needs to clean-up.
For an example of #1, there are several windows that you need to "open" buy cutting them with a sharp knife, as shown below. You can choose to avoid cutting open the windows by simply cutting the window decal surrounds instead. The latter would be the easier option for a less experienced modeller.
An example of point #2, there are imperfections (known as "flash") that you need to clean-up when building the kit, as shown below. Nothing too serious, but not the kind of thing you see in a more modern kit.
Anyway, on to the actual build of the kit
I started by washing all of the parts and applying a grey acrylic primer. Then I glued the fuselage together and held it tight with masking tape and clothes pegs. The glue will be left to dry overnight. I also assembled the front landing gear, which needed to be inserted into the fuselage before the two halves could be joined together.
That's all for this first nerd-tastic modelling post. I hope to have time tomorrow to construct the wings, as well as work on the engines and the rear landing gear.
