Murph's Models Boeing 377

[scon10]

The Stratocruiser is an iconic airplane, And I would like to build the model. But I would be very interested in the old Pan American colour scheme, with the double dark blue striping. Any chance for that?

[C9B]

Originally Posted by scon10

The Stratocruiser is an iconic airplane, And I would like to build the model. But I would be very interested in the old Pan American colour scheme, with the double dark blue striping. Any chance for that?

I agree. Pan Am had three different 337 liveries. The original was a bit plain. The second was a very attractive and “fiftyish” scheme. The last one was designed to gussy the old girls up until they had enough jets. I am holding out for one of the earlier liveries. That would bring back all the romance these planes inspired when they first went into service.
Jon

[papermodelfan]

Thanks Aaron and C9B. What great collections of detail shots. I think I get how to proceed now. Wheels down...

[C9B]

Nonetheless—Papermodelfan’s model is spectacular.

[C9B]

Originally Posted by papermodelfan

Thanks Aaron and C9B. What great collections of detail shots. I think I get how to proceed now. Wheels down...

The nose gear is important. The Strats landed on their nose wheels prior to touching down on the mains. I think they fixed that later on, but the early ones did.

It’s subtle, but you can see it here at the beginning:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=m42MA9WbUX4
Much more noticeable in person.
Jon

[Don Boose]

Great work on this historic airplane, Rob!

Don

[papermodelfan]

A moment now to catch up. Got the nose gear parts formed and then assembled. The opening for the gear is mostly covered up - apparently the larger nose gear doors only opened during retraction and extension, and were closed otherwise (can see this in many photos). So the only gear door provided is the smaller front one, with the number ("30V") on it. I used that to create a small black rectangle to represent the open wheel well, rather than a full depth wheel well. The bent finger nose strut assembly then just glues onto that. The long forked sway bar that must go deep within the wheel well had to be clipped short. It also meant that there was only room for about 3 mms of the retraction strut, which seems to go from the knuckle of the sway bar up to the base of the nose strut. I elected to leave it off. The final assembly looks satisfactory, except the marker I used to cover the white bits on the tires was sloppy. The main gear assemblies are straightforward - the thick built up gear doors are interesting.

[C9B]

The landing gear and nose wheel look great. Those details add a lot to the model. Thanks for posting the detailed pictures.

[papermodelfan]

So a few final details and it is finished. I went ahead and included a tiny bit of the nose wheel retraction strut above the sway bar - almost invisible. I realized that a mysterious piece barely visible just to the right of "Wheel wells gear down" on the 1st pic on panel #27 would make a reasonable light atop the tail, so used it for that purpose. Then I rigged the craft with white thread. Now to hang it up from the ceiling, out of harms way.

I really enjoyed making this. The model is made up of very sculptural and satisfying shapes somehow. thanks many for the helpful hints and photos. And thanks particularly to Aaron Murphy for the careful design and layout of the model, and to Jeff Orcutt for this repaint.

And Happy Saint Patricks Day to all.

[PacificWind]

Wonderful work on this beautiful plane! Boeing 377, along with the Lockheed Constellation, is my favorite airliner ever.
I have a plan to build 377 too but in 1/300 scale and in Transocean livery. Your model gives me some more inspiration.