The Boeing 747 is a wide-body commercial jet airliner and cargo aircraft, often referred to by its original nickname, Jumbo Jet, or Queen of the Skies. Its distinctive "hump" upper deck along the forward part of the aircraft makes it among the world's most recognizable aircraft, and it was the first wide-body produced. Manufactured by Boeing's Commercial Airplane unit in the United States, the original version of the 747 had two and a half times greater capacity than the Boeing 707, one of the common large commercial aircraft of the 1960s. First flown commercially in 1970, the 747 held the passenger capacity record for 37 years.

The four-engine 747 uses a double deck configuration for part of its length. It is available in passenger, freighter and other versions. Boeing designed the 747's hump-like upper deck to serve as a first class lounge or extra seating, and to allow the aircraft to be easily converted to a cargo carrier by removing seats and installing a front cargo door. Boeing did so because the company expected supersonic airliners (development of which was announced in the early 1960s) to render the 747 and other subsonic airliners obsolete, while the demand for subsonic cargo aircraft would be robust well into the future. The 747 was expected to become obsolete after 400 were sold, but it exceeded critics' expectations with production passing the 1,000 mark in 1993. By November 2015, 1,519 aircraft had been built, with 20 of the 747-8 variants remaining on order.

The 747-400, the most common passenger version in service, has a high-subsonic cruise speed of Mach 0.85–0.855 (up to 570 mph or 920 km/h) with an intercontinental range of 7,260 nautical miles (8,350 mi or 13,450 km). The 747-400 passenger version can accommodate 416 passengers in a typical three-class layout, 524 passengers in a typical two-class layout, or 660 passengers in a high density one-class configuration. The newest version of the aircraft, the 747-8, is in production and received certification in 2011. Deliveries of the 747-8F freighter version to launch customer Cargolux began in October 2011; deliveries of the 747-8I passenger version to Lufthansa began in May 2012. The 747 is to be replaced by the Boeing Y3 (part of the Boeing Yellowstone Project) in the future.

I believe that Hasegawa started the Egg Plane and over the decades, has slowly been adding to the line, releasing a number of kits in batches. Other manufacturers have also been getting in on the craze as well. These kits are just the thing for those who have a need for something uncomplicated and they are perfect for the younger modeler, thanks to the paucity of fiddly bits.

If you are looking for accuracy, look elsewhere as you won't find it here. The aircraft consists of a lower fuselage half that incorporates the wings. The upper section has a slot for the fin and an opening for the windscreen. Each of the four engines is in two pieces with the front fan section attaching to the aft hot section that also includes the pylon. These fit into large slots in the lower wing. Horizontal stabs fit in once the fuselage sections are joined. No weight is shown as needed and previous experience with these kits shows none is needed. The landing gear have wheels on one side molded along with the gear with separate wheels to be attached on the other side. These bits are in black plastic, apparently to help with painting. The nose gear doors are molded in place and there really are not any main gear doors, not that anyone really minds.

Instructions consist of two construction steps with the usual Gunze paint references. The main colors for this are white on most of the fuselage with the lower fuselage, wings and horizontal stabs being in Boeing Grey or some equivalent. The inside upper and lower wing/stab sections are in a darker grey. Silver is used for the edges of the engine intakes so the most difficult part of the kit will be painting it. In many cases, it would be best to paint before installation. Markings are for one plane from JAL and the kit includes both decals and stickers. Those who wish to do another livery could probably use standard airliner decals. In fact, I'd be surprised if someone doesn't do aftermarket decals for this kit.

If you are looking for a bit of whimsey in your model building or just want something different for yourself or a youngster, then you really cannot go wrong with these.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_747

May 2016

Copyright ModelingMadness.com 

Thanks to Suzanne for the Christmas present.