I have found paint pens to be a godsend for creating the thin line markings required for the apron and gates. As I said before: "They are so easy to use. You just shake and then press the nib down until paint arrives. They can produce a thicker line with a harder press and even better can be used with a ruler. Plus the paint dries in a matter of minutes and there is no messy cleanup. Simply replace the nib and they are good for storage." Read more about my first dalliance with paint pens in this entry from way back in July 2015. As you can see below the L shaped pier has 13 gates on it. Mostly these fit A320/737NG sized aircraft (the 7 gates nearest the terminal on either side) however the 3 gates around the outer side of the dogleg will fit up to 757s. The gate, which will become gate 25, next to the United 767 with two lines on it, was originally going to fit a 767 however after I'd painted it I realised that the airbridge to the gate the 767 is in would not fit unless I moved the parking line. That's why it has two lines in the photo below - oops. So gate 25 will now also only fit up to a 757 leaving two gates for large widebodies (the 2 gates furthest from the terminal). For the shorter curvier pier the gate markings are complicated by a pair of swing gates. There are 2 gates for up to A320/737NGs and 1 for up to a 757. The remaining 3 gates are for widebodies - one of which will fit an A380. As you can see in the gate occupied by the Cathay A330 this gate can instead fit a pair of A320s. I subsequently did the same for the A380 gate too so the maxiumum complement the pier can hold is 6 A320s, 1 757 and 1 77W or 2 A320s, 1 757, 2 77Ws and an A380. You'll notice this time I made sure the airbridge pier fits ahead of the 757! You can also see above the beginnings of the connector fixing the pier to the main terminal. I want this to be like an extra wing of the terminal so it is quite large. As you can see it is constructed from card and masking tape. This is the first version. An updated version has a more sloping roof towards the rear. The last area of the new terminal is a small triangular corner area. I wasn't quite sure what to do with this but decided to connect it to the main terminal with a thin pier. This was made from the plastic packaging of a pen box, half one of the normal pier packets and some balsa wood. Obviously there's still plenty of work to be done on this part. Fitting it did however allow me to finalise the gates in this area which can fit 2 A320s and 1 A330. Below is the new pier before and after painting. So that brings me to the end of this instalment. In the next part I branch out, quite literally, into a new area and take a look at trees and a new background for Xin Long.
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I'm Richard Stretton, an aviation enthusiast and major collector of 400 scale model aircraft. This blog discusses ongoing events in the world of 400 scale. This site is free. Please donate to keep it going.
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