1/144 Revell Mahan Air 747-400 (EP-MNB)

Gallery Article by David C S Teo on June 30 2010

 

Hi Everyone,

This 747-400 model is modeled after a successful Tehran based private commercial airline operating three Boeing 747-400s (EP-MNA, EP-MNB & EP-MNC) from its home base in the newer Tehran Imam Khomeini airport and used for long haul Indian and Asia commercial routes as seen in its latest livery.  The kit is from Revell Germany in its usual wonderful detail but this time, I choose to model it in "climbing" position without the undercarriage detail. Modeling this plane was challenging as there were no decals on the market on Mahan Air, but it was made easier thanks to some brilliant Iranian plane spotters who took photos and posted them on
www.airliners.net . Some assistance on reference material was also obtained from the airline's website.

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The decals were custom made with the help of photos from these spotters and with lots of time spent on photo editing software and printing drafts of both English and Persian fonts to ensure that it was the right font size on the Revell kit. Lots of time was also spent on color matching with the actual aircraft.

The decals printed with a inkjet printer on decal paper but were a bit tricky to apply as it was very thin and as a result, it often folded up upon application. So, what I did was to cut up the decal into segments to ensure a smoother application of the larger decal designs. Once decaling was completed, the usual Gunze Super clear coat was sprayed on to protect the decals and to give the model that "shiny" look.

The completed kit was mounted on a black wooden stand and epoxied to the custom made display case for an Iranian who has fond memories of living in Tehran, Iran. Hope you guys enjoyed my artwork and photos!

David C S Teo

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Photos and text © by David C S Teo