I bought an old 1/72 scale resin model of a Qantas Boeing 707 VH-EBN from a Bric-a-Brac/Antique market. The model was made by the former English company Skyland Models in the 1960s. Back in the day, Skyland supplied models for airlines and travel agents, and had little competition. Unfortunately this 707 had a hard life and has a cracked fuselage and was missing two engines.
Click images for larger versions
This example of VH-EBN in the Adelaide Air Museum looks more healthy.
Museums Victoria also have a nice Qantas 707 model in their collection.
Aeroplane Model – Boeing 707-338C, Passenger & Cargo Turbo-fan Jet Airliner, Qantas V-Jet VH-EAB, circa1961. Photographer: David Thompson.
Source: Museums Victoria. Copyright Museums Victoria / CC BY (Licensed as Attribution 4.0 International)
Oddly, the ‘Qantas’ and ‘Australia’ wordmarks on the Museums Victoria model of VH-EAB are in the font introduced in 1984, but that particular aircraft was retired from the Qantas fleet in 1977. Perhaps their model has been restored by someone unaware of the historical font usage in the Qantas livery over the years.
Rather than trying to fix my damaged model, I decided to leave it as is, in its historical state, but with the addition of a pair of replacement engines which can be added without cutting into the existing pylons.
Modelling replacement engines in Lightwave resulted in 3D prints that were close to the existing engines on the models, in that there wasn’t much detail required.
Testing the fit of a 3D printed engine
Smoothing the prints with automotive bog and primer paint
Testing paints to try and get a match for the existing model. This proved very difficult as the original silver paint had changed colour over the years, taking on a sort of greenish/bronze tint.
The final result – the two outboard engines are the 3D replacements
As mentioned, other than making replacement engines for the two missing ones, I decided not to repair this model. Instead I am making a new 3D Printed 707 with more detailed engines.