Łukasz Gliński
Following, of course

Zbynek Honzik Auteur
Welcome, Łukasz!

Robert Podkoński
Me 2!

Zbynek Honzik Auteur
Welcome, Robert!

Zbynek Honzik Auteur
After a long time I got into modelling and so managed to move a number of things forward. Now I have to let the putty cure properly on the transition between the pylon and the engine. And then the careful sanding and cleaning and final painting of the pylon and engine will begin.

Łukasz Gliński
Great to see you back on this one, the livery looks v.cool indeed.
And don't even think that Zvezda nacelles are much better 🙂

Spanjaard
wow it it is looking really good. I really like the windows, and the shades you added

Zbynek Honzik Auteur
Łukasz, I've got 373-800/700 waiting for me from Zvezda. And I'm looking forward to it. However, given my snail's pace, I don't know when their turn will come... 🐌🫣

Zbynek Honzik Auteur
Thank you, Spanjaard.

Łukasz Gliński
My both 800s are waiting as well 😄 Revell & Zvezda
Btw. How did you do such a nice pair of landing lights? I'm looking for ideas as decals are not available for all liners in 144th.

Michael Kohl
I am impressed by how clean and evenly you cut out the windows. Which material did you use to cover the windows before pouring the resin. I use regular Cello tape but the resin dissolves the glue and this sticks to the windows.

Zbynek Honzik Auteur
@Łukasz - I use either "little lenses" that I bought years ago at www.morellingtool.co.uk or nail glitter that I bought at a bead store.
I seal the headlight area first, then spray paint it matt black and glue the lights (glitter) in the appropriate places.
Then I sealed everything with transparent resin. After the resin hardened, I sanded everything to the shape of the leading edge of the wing and then polished.

Zbynek Honzik Auteur
@ Michael - I use an electrical tape that I bought on e-bay. I got a reference for it on YouTube here: Youtube Video
It's High Temperature Resistant Kapton Tape. The packaging says it is "Advanced Polymer Tape" and is characterized as "Clean Removal". And the adhesive doesn't really stick to the resin.

Łukasz Gliński
Velke diky Zbynku - I might use it on my next airliners 👍

Michael Kohl
Thanks Zbynek. I will try this. The Cello tape glue can be quite easily removed with IPA, but lazy as I am, I like the idea to omit that step.

Zbynek Honzik Auteur
You're welcome, mates!

Zbynek Honzik Auteur
So I moved forward a bit again and sanded and cleaned up the transition between the pylon and the engine.

Zbynek Honzik Auteur
In between letting the putty cure in the transition between the pylon and the engine, I started speculating how to improve the cockpit window frame.
In the end, Authentic Airliner Decals were used. I really like the way the authentic metallic finish looks on the decal, plus they depict the rivets and the thin black line showing the insulation between the glass and the frame. I had to cut the decal because the dimensions are a little different on the model, but I really like it. So I ordered another set. The windshield is wider, so one set was not enough for me.
On the photo you can see where the original frame is sprayed with Alclad and where the decal is.

Robert Podkoński
These window frames look perfect indeed.

Zbynek Honzik Auteur
Thanks, Robert!

Zbynek Honzik Auteur
So I found some time for modelling - Pylon/engine transition painted, wash oil paint on top of wings done, airline name decal placed on fuselage.

Mr D
See you like your Airlines 👍.
I may do a Soviet era TU in future.
You done some nice projects 😀👍👍

Zbynek Honzik Auteur
Thank you for your kind comment Mr D.
I am also going to do a Tupolev, specially TU-134 Malév. That was the first airliner I flew in from Budapest to Prague.

Zbynek Honzik Auteur
A small step forward has been made. The window frames on the starboard side have been installed. Emergency exit also. The cleanliness of the window glazing, unfortunately, did not turn out the way I wanted due to my mistake. I have to learn to live with that. Hopefully it will be better on the port side of the fuselage...

Mr D
It's all a learning curve, as in all art forms ......it's the persute of perfection very rarely we achieve it.
Looks great to me and I'm sure others think the same.
Your Tu-134 sound like great idea.
😁👍

Zbynek Honzik Auteur
"It's all a learning curve, as in all art forms ......it's the pursuite of perfection very rarely we achieve it." - Exactly! Thank you for the precise wording, Mr D!!!
That's also my curse...

bughunter
Today I came across this: what a wonderful work 👍
Such glossy finishes (on cars or airliners) are not easy because it brings all little mishaps to the surface. But I like your careful work, and it is great that you go a step back and fix things even it is more work.

Zbynek Honzik Auteur
Thank you very much for your encouraging comment, bughunter!
Thanks to my almost obsessive nature, everything takes a very long time though.
Your fast forward while maintaining exceptional quality and cleanness is one of the things I highly admire. Your masterpieces are a great inspiration to me.

Guy Rump
Looking great, following. 👍

Spanjaard
it looks really good, what is the issue about the windows? they look great in the pictures

Spanjaard
maybe some tiny white spots? you can say it is result of condensation, I have seen that in quite a few real flights 😉

Zbynek Honzik Auteur
Thanks for the kind and witty comment, Spanjaard.
The tiny white spots are bits of dust that got into the fuselage, although I tried not to let that happen.
The other problem is that melted paint from around the windows has soaked into the clearcoat when I dripped too much diluted varnish over the dent left by the masking tape. It created some weird maps...
But you're right, it could be some condensation, I've experienced it in real flight too. Thanks! 👍🙋🏼‍♂️

Zbynek Honzik Auteur
Thank you, Guy! Welcom.

Agnius
Looks great! 👍

Zbynek Honzik Auteur
Thank you, Agnius!

Zbynek Honzik Auteur
After a while, some progress again. The windows were framed on both sides of the fuselage. I finished washing the bottom of the wings and started decaling the fuselage with doors, stencils etc...

Vintas
Good job, and just a terrible airline

Zbynek Honzik Auteur
Thanks Vintas for the comment!

It is a horrible airline today, you're right.
But this is a version from way back, from 2004, when they were subsidiary of Icelandiar Group. They started with two Boeing 373-500 on leased from Lufthansa. From my point of view it was a sympathetic activity at that time to make a low-cost carrier in the Czech Republic.
But it turned out very sadly...
And eventually they liquidated CSA, a more then 100-year-old airline, originally our national carrier.

Vintas
Sorry about the CSA. It was one of the oldest operating airlines along with KLM and AEROFLOT. You are absolutely right. By the way, they also have the TRAVEL livery.

Mr D
Looks Great Zbynek 👋😁👍
Have you seen any other models like yours ??
Or is it quite unique??
I'm just doing some finishing touches to one of my models at min....all takes time n steady hands 👍👍👍

Alec K
Excellent modeling 👍

Zbynek Honzik Auteur
Gentlemen, thank you for your comments. They are very encouraging.
@ Alec K - Your modelling mastery is a great inspiration to me. 🙋🏼‍♂️

Zbynek Honzik Auteur
While decalling I found out by reference photos that I have a incorrect positioned VHF antenna on the bottom of the fuselage. I was misled by the side view in the kit instructions without checking it against the photos. How many times again! I move forward like a snail and then fail to check such a thing! 😱🫣
So I ripped it out, sealed the hole and now I have to clean it up and repaint it. The photo shows the incorrect location and the future correct one.

Alec K
Ahh, I feel your pain! I was just using a jar of paint yesterday and thought: "Why the heck do I even HAVE this??" Turns out I bought it for a recent build and completely skipped applying it in one of the final steps! At least you caught it (and mine is the next level of "forget") 😄

Zbynek Honzik Auteur
That's a funny story too, Alec! Yes, that's the next level of "forget"... And that's getting worse with age...
Well, I wonder where I'll end up... When I forget what aircraft I'm actually building?🤣🤣🤣

Zbynek Honzik Auteur
Christmas holidays also brought me time for modelling. I started by repairing decals that I damaged by careless handling. And then I went on to apply other decals. In doing so, I encountered a number of inconsistencies that I had to address. In some places I compromised with the fidelity to the original, in others I had to make my own decals.

Zbynek Honzik Auteur
Other small steps done - first phase of weathering and anti-collision beacons.

bughunter
Oh, the finish line comes closer 👍 Good luck on the last mile!

Mr D
It's looking really good so far Zbynek, 👍👍

Michael Kohl
Jep, looking good indeed

Zbynek Honzik Auteur
Yes, it seems that somewhere in the distance the finish line is beginning to appear.
Thank you very much gentlemen for your kind comments.

Zbynek Honzik Auteur
I found some time for modelling again and here are some partial results.

Alec K
Nice progress 👍

Zbynek Honzik Auteur
Thank you, Alec, but it's slow going... 🫣

Alec K
As an VERY slow builder myself, I empathize 😄

Dick
Absolutely stunning… a crisp paint job, those tiny PE parts, all in this scale make it look so realistic. 👍🏻Great work Zbynek!

Zbynek Honzik Auteur
Thank you, Dick!