I built this one some time ago. A friend of mine was a manager for UPS aviation maintenance here in Louisville. (He retired two years ago after 30 years of service) He’s also a member of our local model club. He was instrumental in helping me get this one right.
He invited me to see one up close in their maintenance hanger. It was getting an annual inspection. Once I had the photos, I made a list of paint colors. I was able to get a color than was almost a perfect match to their UPS brown. The construction was pretty straightforward. No issues to speak of.
To get the paint layout on the fuselage correct, I made a color copy of the decals. I cut the yellow stripes out, and used them as a template. Once they were taped in place, I simply traced around them. This made it a lot easier to determine where each color would start and stop. I polished everything with Novus compound.Gave it a great shine.
The base was 3/4” plywood covered with 220 grit sandpaper to simulate the taxi way. A super fun build.
Great backstory. I imagine a 747 hanger would be pretty big! Following - very interested in your base construction.
Fantastic Build Chris, I bet your mate has that displayed in a prominent place !
Thanks. Its on permanent display at the UPS pilot training center here in Louisville.
As for the base. I’ve been using sandpaper for years to simulate runways, taxiways, and even aircraft carrier decks. The smaller the scale, the finer the grit sandpaper used. In this case, 220 grit. For something in 1/32nd scale, use anything from 120-100 grit. My buddy gave me a layout of one of their taxiways. All of the taxiway lights are scratch
built. I had to recess lights next to the center line.
WOW, that came out great !! Would like to see an overall shot of the plane on the base.
Steve
“Eggselent Smithers” 
That is a very nice display. And you’re right, the brown is right on the money.
Magnificent kit, and awesome work!! Getting it all shiny was a job in itself, I’m sure!!
When I was a kid, my Dad was an Air Force test pilot. His last assignment before retiring was at Edwards, during the time they were certification testing the 747 and C5A. BOTH are huge birds!! Our first visit to the base, we pull up and park at one of the hangars, front bumper to nose of the TWA 747. My Mom looked up at it and asked 'Where are the rest of the wings?!? Dad replied, ‘That’s all it needs!’, or something like that. That’s when Mom declared “You’ll never get me in one of those things then!!!”
I’d go to the office with Dad on multiple occasions, and had a lot of opportunity to wander around and on those big birds. The 747 had about 20 airline style seats in it at the time, the rest of the space was taken up with test equipment and space for more test equipment.
Fun fact: For taxiing tests, they bolted a 12X12 railroad tie to the tail section so they could rotate the bird back onto it. The aluminum behind the tie was a bit discolored and wrinkly from the heat.
You were one lucky fella.
Felt like normal stuff back then, but yes, I was. Even moreso, as that was the next assignment after Dad got back from Nam.
Absolutely and phenomenal build sir!! Your workmanship on this is impeccable. It’s a great kit and I see you’ve overcome the only bug-a-boo with the kit itself….the fan blades which can be distorted in the mold process.
Good to see this on display at HQ. My CargoLux version of this exact kit caught the eye of the execs, but getting it to Luxembourg was going to be a hassle. Got a t-shirt and hat instead 
Thank you! It’s awesome that they recognized your work! Its no wonder why they would want it. Truly, one of a kind. I understand your reluctance to ship it all the way there.
Oh, I could have driven it to Miami (3 hours) but they were afraid it would be broken by the time it got to HQ.