1/72 Qantas 707-138B

Travel Agents display Model

by Stephen Thrum

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This model first started life as a travel agents model way back in the 1960’s. These were made with vacuum formed high-impact styrene and fibreglass. This particular model was originally marked in a Qantas scheme, with the registration and markings claiming it to be a 707-138B, Qantas’ own long range 707 custom-built by Boeing. (It was even shorter than the first 707-100’s). The wings and tail were correct for the 707-138B, however on inspection, the fuselage was that of the later stretched 707-338. (In Boeing parlance, the first digit signifies the model number, and the last two digits represent the customer: eg a 707-338 is a 300 series, originally ordered by Qantas (Boeing customer number 38). 

This model came to me by a customer wanting it to be restored to its former glory. It suffered from damaged and cracked paintwork, extremely heat damaged wings, and was missing an engine. The opportunity was made to reduce the fuselage length to replicate a 707-138B fuselage. This is definitely not a simple cut and shut job, as the fuselage tapers enormously. Two cuts were made in front of and behind the main wing.

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Fuselage break fore and aft of main wing.

The model was masked up for the procedure, and then run through my band saw! At this stage, the engines were also removed from the wing. At first, I had planned on casting one of the engines to replace the missing engine, however I had an Airfix 1/72 AWACS E-3D Sentry in my own collection that included the correct engines for this particular version. (I was going to be using the high by-pass engines for the AWACS anyway!). The wings were also repaired by cutting slots on the lower surfaces (At the engine pylon locations) and inserting strip styrene to straighten out the warpage. These were then filled with auto body filler (Bog!) and sanded smooth. 

I moved onto the front and rear fuselage sections, removing the appropriate sections to bring the fuselage back to the correct length. Take special note of the cut line in the rear fuselage, retaining the wing root fairing aft of the main wing, even though the principal break line was further forward.

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Front fuselage section removed Rear fuselage section removed

I glued large Evergreen tabs into the open ends of the mid-fuselage prior with epoxy. Reattaching the front and rear fuselage sections then began, with additional use of epoxy. Superglue just wasn’t going to cut the mustard on these joins!

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Closing the gap! An awkward fit!

With the fuselage joined up, the long process of filling and sanding, filling and sanding began! Particular attention and time went into the aft wing fairing area, as this required copious amounts of filler to get to the correct fuselage shape. Between filling, I applied spray putty and a guide coat to the join areas until I was happy that I had achieved seamless joints. The long probe at the top of the vertical stabilizer was also missing. This was replaced with a length of brass rod, glued into place and faired in with auto filler.

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Sanding back the spray putty. Almost there!

I built up the Airfix engines as per the kit instructions, then glued these into position using epoxy and brass locating rods for additional strength.

Painting was then carried out, using automotive acrylic lacquer. Finally, the decals were applied. I had these specially made by Steve Evans of Hawkeye Decals, and was pleased to see them released as a complete set to the general public. The decals went on magnificently. Steve has helped on a number of projects with custom decals, and I have found his second to none in ease of application and final appearance.

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A much nicer engine than the originals!

The finished model!

References: 

  • Boeing 707, Douglas DC-5 & Vickers VC-10 by Stewart Wilson

  • Hawkeye Decals

Stephen

Photos and text © by Stephen Thrum