Dragon 1/144 Boeing 747 "Air Force One"
By Chris Banyai-Riepl
The Kit
When Dragon first showed their 1/144 747 kit at iHobby a couple of years ago, I was excited to see a new-tool 747 on the market and I hoped that they would do all the variants. Since then we have seen several releases and this one is probably one of the more interesting ones to do as a cutaway. The kit comes with a full Air Force One interior molded in gray plastic, all of which will be revealed between the clear fuselage halves. The detailing throughout is excellent, right down to the nicely done 1/144 President figure. The decals provide markings for both government 747s.
Since this is a cutaway model, there is quite a bit of assembly to do, even more so since this is a 747, which features two decks. For the flight deck and upper cabin, this is made up on a single-piece floor that also serves as the roof of the main cabin. The cockpit features a separate instrument panel and separate control wheels, as well as separate seats. The flight engineer's station is also separate, as is the navigator's table. Behind that goes a couple of beds, a couple of tables, more seats, and a toilet. All of this will need to be painted, depending on how much you want to have visible in the cutaway.
Moving on to the main deck, once again there are tables and such, but mainly this is made up of seats, and lots of them. The kit does a very good job of providing the layout of Air Force One, with press areas, Presidential quarters, and more. Again, you will have to determine just how much of this will be visible in the finished model, as with the clear fuselage halves, you can hide or reveal any amount of this.
A note on the clear fuselage halves should be made. In what is undoubtedly a modeling oddity, these halves are molded entirely in clear, except for the cabin windows. This means that you will have to mask off these windows when you paint your model, as otherwise you would end up painting through the windows and covering up your interior detailing. Given the ease of doing pre-cut masks these days, I would have much preferred to see the fuselage entirely in clear, with masks for the windows. That way one could paint this up as a regular model if they so wished.
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With the interior done and the fuselage together, attention can turn to the other bits and pieces. The wings features large clear sections designed to reveal internal wing structure, and similarly there are clear panels on the engines. The engines themselves are very nicely done, with one-piece intake rings and hot sections. The landing gear is also well done and does a great job of capturing the complexity of the 747's legs. The center landing gear pair fit into an insert that then fits into the lower fuselage. This is very nice as it allows the modeler a bit of wiggle room to ensure the finished model will sit on all five gear legs.
The last little bits for this kit comes in the form of ground support equipment. Since this is Air Force One, it needs some extra help in getting the President off the plane, as this plane doesn't pull up to a jet bridge. So this kit provides a nice little stair truck, as well as some stairs for the lower baggage door. Finally, there is a sturdy stand made up of a plastic base and a metal arm, should you wish to display this in flight.
The painting instructions are good, and there are plenty of photos out there for those who want more detailed information. The decals include just about everything you could want to finish your model, although you should probably be careful with the clear film over the cutaway areas. Trim that close to the edge and there should be no problem.
Conclusion
This is a nice addition to the Dragon 1/144 747 family, and the attention to detail on the interior will definitely pay off a steady hand with the paint brush. Even more challenging will be painting the President figure, but once finished this will make for a very impressive model. My thanks to Dragon Models USA for the review sample.