Xīn lóng International - A Bit of Architecture

The completion date at Xin Long's terminal 2 rapidly approaches and it is time to add some realism to the barebones. I have to admit that I am not much of a model designer, but what I have found is that just playing about with the materials you have at hand can sometimes create surprising results, especially when there is a problem to get around. In this case an attempt to hide some unseemly joins has allowed me to add to one of the piers a bit of an architectural flair, that I originally never intended to create.

The first set of enhancements in this post was more paint pen detailing, but this time to the L shaped pier. As previously gate edging is in red and parking is white. The third colour is then yellow to demarcate the swing areas for the airbridges, which sits over the top of the red markings. With the roadway running alongside the inner portion of the pier it was a rare opportunity for me to use the Gemini jetway connectors as they were originally intended, albeit painted, with windows added and the slot in portion cut off.

I then turned my attention to making the join of the piers and terminal more natural. This was accomplished with a combination of card stock and balsa wood to make a more architectural look:

Flushed with the success of this I turned my hand to a troublesome area - the join of the two parts of the shorter J shaped pier, which was rather clumsily joined with painted masking tape. The solution here needed something that could mask the artificial join, which I couldn't soften easily. I tried my hand at more cardboard side additions but putting on a fitting roof was proving difficult so I decided why bother. This led me towards something that has a bit more of a floating wing like look to it. It's really a cheat to get around the curved surface but I actually think it looks rather decent.

The last addition for this segment was the addition of the widebody dual airbridge connectors for the 6 gates that needed them. In truth one of these is actually for a pair of narrowbody gates on the corner of the L pier but I found that only by using one of the double connectors could I make the airbridges fit both gates. The connectors are positioned at two of the gates on the J pier to allow airbridge access to a pair of 737/A320s instead of a single widebody also.

In the next instalment it's time to fit the airbridges and look at weathering. Stay tuned...