Erik's Paint Thread- 2023

[alex94]

Never knew about that first livery

[darrenvox]

never even knew they flew 737-200s

[Erik Ingram - HJG]

Here are a few more Lufthansa birds to fill out their fleet; some very non-standard ones in here, representing some unusual experimentation throughout the '80s.

First up is D-ABHX circa 1982. This one was a little more straightforward, simply being leased on a temporary basis from Condor.


From 1983 comes D-ABHD; this was also a Condor lease, but with an experimental tail design. It also had a blue cheatline applied to the right side only. Unfortunately it crashed on approach to Izmir in January 1988 after returning to Condor service.


Throughout the '80s, Lufthansa leaned heavily into the yellow aspects of its branding (for example, it was the primary color used on its Lufthansa Airport Express train service), which culminated in this test livery in 1988, which featured yellow undersides to the wings and even the nose wheel. Due to model limitations this one isn't completely accurate, but it's still fun and different! It was also briefly applied to an A310 registered D-AIDB before delivery, but it was repainted to the standard livery before entering service.


Finally here's D-ABMA circa 1990, in what became the standard livery until 2018.

[alex94]

They look great Erik

[Tony Madge - HJG]

Nice variation there Erik

[hornit - HJG]

Oooooo....very nice bare metal there Erik!!!! Always a fan of Lufthansa liveries.

[transportfan2014]

A mainly yellow Lufthansa livery? Looks interesting...

[aerofoto - HJG Admin]

„JA, IN DER TAT“ .... die sind alle sehr gut!

"YES INDEED" .... these are all very good !

Mark C
AKL/NZ

[darrenvox]

they sure are!!

[Erik Ingram - HJG]

Thanks everybody! I also enjoy a good bare metal scheme...and experimental ones, for that matter!

Anyway, here are still more Lufthansa Group 737s of the cargo variety:

D-ABHE, 1987. Two of Lufthansa's original six 737-200Cs were modified and upgraded in 1985 for cargo service, which also included the replacement of the original engines with JT8D-15s. Lufthansa Cargo has had a somewhat complicated history; it had operated since the early '70s around the world, but new IATA regulations placed limits on what all it could do. Consequently, Lufthansa created German Cargo in 1977 as a non-IATA airline to get around this, and used the Lufthansa Cargo name for shorter routes as permitted. Eventually the rules were relaxed, and all cargo operations were consolidated under the German Cargo umbrella, at which point it was rebranded as Lufthansa Cargo again, which remains its current form. Anyway, here's one of the short-range cargo birds in its initial paint job:


D-ABGE, 1989. After Lufthansa introduced their then-new paint scheme, it was applied to the cargo 737s accordingly.


Finally, they were moved over the German Cargo side of things in 1991, only to move back to Lufthansa Cargo in 1993.


Along with the remaining passenger 737s, they later got the Nordam hushkit package for the rest of their time in service.

[aerofoto - HJG Admin]

Das wird alles immer besser !

These just keep getting better still

Mark C
AKL/NZ

[darrenvox]

well said "aerofoto", well said

[aerofoto - HJG Admin]

Official portraits of Erik's latest 9X B732's ....


AIRTRAN AIRWAYS B737-284 ADV N470AT (1997) .... for the B732 ADV JT8D-9 base pack


AIRTRAN AIRWAYS B737-2L9 ADV N4645AT (1998) .... for the B732 ADV JT8D-17 base pack


LUFTHANSA GERMAN AIRLINES/CONDOR FLUGDEINST B737-230 ADV D-ABHX (1982) .... for the B732 ADV JT8D-17A/R base pack


LUFTHANSA GERMAN AIRLINES/CONDOR FLUGDEINST (experimental livery) B737-230 ADV D-ABHD (1983) .... for the B732 ADV JT8D-17A/R base pack




"NO" .... Erik never ran out of paint when producing the above LH B732 .... this aircraft supported the airlines fuselage cheatline on its starboard side only

LUFTHANSA GERMAN AIRLINES (experimental livery) B737-230 ADV D-ABFW (1988) .... for the B732 ADV JT8D-15 base pack


LUFTHANSA GERMAN AIRLINES B737-230 ADV D-ABMA (1990) .... for the B732 ADV JT8D-15 base pack



The following 3X subjects are a little more unusual than meets the eye. These were each originally P&W JT8D-9 powered "early production" (pre 1970) B732's .... which were later upgraded with P&W JT8D-15 engines. A number of early (and even later production ADV) B732 aircraft underwent such power upgrading and with corresponding weight recertification later during their service. I've recently finished working up a new "B737-200C JT8D-15" specific aircraft base pack for the following 3 textures (and any others requiring it and that may over time turn up here. Doing this, and this manner, just makes what we offer "HERE" a little more authentic/comprehensive than most of what's been previously been offered for the B732, in FS, since this "IS" something well within our capacity to be able to easily achieve. Can't do this in respect of every detail though) and which will be included among our next releases. There's also another one among these too .... and which will/should now complete our B732 aircraft/engine type base pack inventory, but, more about this other one "later".


GERMAN CARGO AIRLINES B737-230C D-ABGE (1991) .... for the "NEW" (soon to be released) B732C (pure freighter) JT8D-15 base pack


LUFTHANSA GERMAN AIRLINES CARGO B737-230C D-ABHE (1987) .... for the "NEW" (soon to be released) B732C (pure freighter) JT8D-15 base pack


LUFTHANSA GERMAN AIRLINES CARGO B737-230C D-ABGE (1989) .... for the "NEW" (soon to be released) B732C (pure freighter) JT8D-15 base pack



"NICE" stuff Erik

Mark C
AKL/NZ

[darrenvox]

what 737 are we using for these paints when they are released??

[Erik Ingram - HJG]

A few more 737s, with no particular theme:

CT-43A 72-0283, circa 2000. This particular one was flown by the 6th Air Mobility Wing at MacDill AFB, Florida, supporting various special operations.


N9022U of United, circa 1982. This represented the experimental weight-saving initiative seen on most other aircraft types in service at the time.


N241US of Piedmont, circa 1989. The merger with USAir was in full swing by this time, and quite a few planes got this hybrid scheme, or some variation thereof. USAir's paint schemes at the time were models of inconsistency, so there may be more to come!