Which 1/72 Pan American 707 do you like better?

[Henry Tenby]

Below are photos of two 1/72 Rife metal Boeing 707 models that I refinished from their Air France liveries into the iconic Pan American scheme.

The first image (top) shows the model I refinished in 2000 using early 1960s decals that were produced for period models by Boeing and/or Pacific Miniatures. I was lucky I got the decal sheet to apply properly as other similar sheets shattered into a million shards as soon as they hit the water.

The second image shows the model I refinished in March-April, 2013 .. using current day decals, which are slightly different in several aspects compared to the 1960s decals. The cheatline is thinner and the windows smaller. Also notice that I painted the silver de-ice strip on the vertical tail of this model.

Which model do you prefer? I cannot decide which I like the best .. but I am curious as to other people's comments.

[Brian Laurance]

Henry, thank you for posting these images. Both look great!

If I were to choose, I would probably vote for the second model with its current decals. The scale of the cheatline looks slightly more accurate to me, but this is a difficult decision.

Where were the Rife metal models originally manufactured?

[Henry Tenby]

Hi Brian,

Rife models were made in Kansas City I believe. They were famous for their ashtray models depicting various airliners from the 40s and 50s in polished aluminum. These were small models mounted on top of ashtray. Perhaps someone else will chime in to this post with correct information where Rife was based.

As for the Pan Am 707 .. I am now leaning towards the thicker cheatline. Even though the size of the windows is probably a bit too big.. as you point out the thinner cheatline is likely closer to accurate scale.

Thank you for the comments Brian .. much appreciated.