Vickers Viscount Type 700 Aloha Airlines 1:87

[Knife]

Inkscape (freeware) has a gradient tool which gives a blend from light to dark. Search this site for Skylinepapermodels DC-9 to see a good example of gradient shading. A gradient of light blue to dark gray seems to work best for me. The biggest problem is getting different sections gradients to match so best used for large parts. Good luck and thanks for the design.

[MacSongLi]

Great model, and thank you so much for the detailed build thread too!

Gary

[aansorge]

Gimp has an instruction on metalizing a graphic, I think a special color gradient is provided. the name of the gradient was "cool metal" or some such. You are right about the view changing, but some things can be held constant, like the sky above is blue, and the ground is darker green or brown, so the gradient can be somewhat constant. Here is wishing you better luck than I had.

I looked, and cannot find the instruction I was using before, but here is an interesting take:
https://docs.gimp.org/2.6/en/script-...ogo-alpha.html

[N96HBK]

Looking good there!!

[hjlyuen]

Thank you McSongLi, Knife, and Aansorge for the tips and ideas on creating a natural aluminum finish using and inkjet printer. I created 2 different gradient patterns in the attached pdf file. I tried to created a highlight and shadow pattern that would work in all angles of light and all viewing angles. I am not entirely happy with the results and will sleep on it tonight. In the left example, there is a highlight on the leading edge of the horizontal stabilizer which is OK if you are facing the aircraft. In the right example, the highlight is on the top surface which is OK when the aircraft is seen from above or below but not OK when seen from the front.

Meanwhile, I must have I forgotten to click on the upload button when I tried attach a photo showing the APU vent (round, just below the registration number N7471) and another opening (rectangular, below the cheat line, between the APU outlet and the aft cargo door) that I don't know the name or purpose. So it is attached here.

Thanks again everyone.

[hjlyuen]

I had to revise the tail patterns (attached) to correct (1) an error in the horizontal stabilizer and (2) an error in the emergency window markings (one too many on the port side and one missing on the starboard side).

After a month of trial and error, I finally got the wing and fairing to work. The aft end of the fairing where there is an upwards curve from the trailing edge of the wing to the fuselage gave me the fits. I tried to make all of the changes in 3D in Sketchup but in the end I got frustrated and instead used a pencil to mark the areas to trim on the paper model, flattened the model, made a photocopy and traced the changes to the 2D patterns in Adobe Illustrator.

This is what worked for me. (1) Use a ruler to make sure the bottom edge of the assembled spar and ribs is flat because that will affect the shape of the wing. (2) Roll the fairing parts into a “U” shape BEFORE gluing the fairing parts together so the edges and glue tabs will line up correctly. (3) Glue the fairing to the wing BEFORE gluing the wing to the fuselage so you can reach behind and re-position the glue tabs as needed. See the attached photos.

Still to be done: the engines, landing gear, and antennas.

[herky]

is the model model going to be availible when finished?

[N96HBK]

Originally Posted by herky

is the model model going to be availible when finished?

I think it will, just like the 717.

[hjlyuen]

After more than 2 months of delays and endless revisions, I am done fiddling with the inboard engine. We start with the inboard engine because if I started with the outboard engine, and then tried to work between it and the fuselage, the odds are very good that I will bump into some part of the outboard engine and break it off.

I had been struggling to fold small parts and then hold them together in alignment as the glue dried without deforming the folds. It didn’t work so I gave up and reduced the number of parts that had to be glued together. Thus the landing gear doors on parts 111 and 115 and the air scoop on part 110 are no longer separate parts.

There are two versions, with landing gears and without. Not that I wanted two versions of the same model, but because I needed to test fit the engine parts without the complexity of a wheel well (part 111) and exhaust (part 113) getting in the way. As a result of the tests, the main landing gear doors in the version with the landing gears are smaller in order to strengthen the model. The hinge area on part 110 was so narrow, I couldn't cut it out of cardstock without distorting it. I had no choice but to make it wider. That had a ripple effect and the doors on part 111 and part 112 had to redesigned to accommodate the wider hinge.

The propeller spinner was originally designed in Sketchup as one piece that unfolded as a petal. Looked nice on the computer screen but it was another exercise in frustration trying to glue the petals together into a dome. Furthermore, each of the 4 propeller blades had to be glued on separately because of how the petals folded together. That idea got abandoned after a couple of days of trial and error and the propeller spinner got redesigned as a stack of 3 truncated cones (parts 84-86). As bonus, the propeller blades could be designed as 1 single part (actually parts 87 and 88 if you count front and back). But then the glue tabs on part 84 had to be folded down in order to attach part 85. After fumbling with that arrangement, I went full circle and enlarged the glue tabs as petals since they had to be folded anyway and did way with part 85.

So here is a preview of the parts. Tomorrow, we'll being building the engine.

[N96HBK]

Looks really cool!!! Looking forward to see how the engines look like.