Update and Trump 757

I am still finishing out the Thai Airways 747.  I have to give it an overall gloss coat to protect the extensive decals, put on the wheels and antennas, and do some minor trim detail paintwork.

In the meantime, I have started my annual summer "buddy build" with my friend Tracy Mann.  We have chosen to build 757's from the Minicraft 1/144 kit.  He is going to do a retro American Airlines Astrojet scheme, and I am going to do Trump Force One.  Some pics below:

Basic kit with NASA markings.  I chose this boxing as it comes with the Rolls Royce engines that are also on the Trump jet

Markings supplied with the kit.

Trump Force One.  This jet is all white with the exception of the black top, natural metal leading edges, and personalized trim.

Nice.

That is Tamiya white putty going down the middle of the seam, and Squadron White (which is actually sort of off-white colored) around the nose.  Both putties have there advantages and disadvantages.

Trump's 757 comes with "sharklets" on the wings.  In addition to looking good, these reduce drag from wingtip vortices.  These were add on aftermarket items from an outfit called Contrails and cost me about ten bucks.   They have some issues. The one on the right is what we call a "short shot," meaning the molding is not complete.  Also, the shapes are not consistent, or accurate.  The will have to be modified to get closer to the real thing.

You have to cut off the existing wing faring to make room for the sharklets.

Sharklets installed.  They need to be straightened.

One problem area with almost all airliner kits, (except the newest ones made with "slide mold" technology), is the elimination of the seam that runs down the interior of the intake.  This is because the fan blade piece has to go in between the engine halves when assembled.  This makes it impossible to work the seam. My solution is to cut the intake forward of the fan blade and work on them as a separate assembly.  Once the interior seam is dealt with, the forward intake can be reassembled to rest the engine.  The interior seam, now vertical, will be hidden by the fan blades.