Dornbirn International Airport LODB 1:500

[777-200ER]

Hi all,
After a long time out of the hobby because of school, university and everything else I have finally returned! And during the lockdown over the past months I have been working on a new Airport;
Dornbirn International Airport (fictional). Located at the small city of Dornbirn in far western Austria it is a small but bustling Airport which offers flights all around the world to this secluded section of the alps. Given its geographical location which is within 20 miles of the German border it is a hub for both Austrian Airlines and Lufthansa. The majority of traffic is European flag carriers and low cost carriers which fly tourists into these beautiful part of Austria. There are also flights to both the Americas and far East Asia which operate less regularly. Given the geographical position of the Airport the apron and terminal area are very cramped and require some interesting taxiing manoeuvres at times. The Airport sports a 8,300ft runway which provides plenty of room for even the largest arrivals at Dornbirn.
The Airport was built primarily to give me an opportunity to display my models and so the some of the traffic which flies into the airport is not currently flying and airlines such as Hapag Lloyd Express and Thomas Cook are commonplace. Rather than focus on realism the Airport gives me an opportunity to display my favourite aircraft and liveries from around the world.
With over 50 destinations Dornbirn is the hub of Western Austria.

I am not a particularly good modeller or have an eye for detail. Therefore I confess that aspects of Dornbirn will look a little rough and scrappy compared to some of the masterpieces which are on this site.

The Airport at 7.20 on a Thursday morning;

[LeoMuse747]

Very nice storyline! Airports are indeed a great way to show our collection! Congrats

[DutchCollector]

Pleased to hear everything in your life has progressed to the point you find yourself able to enjoy some old hobbies!

Originally Posted by 777-200ER

Therefore I confess that aspects of Dornbirn will look a little rough and scrappy compared to some of the masterpieces which are on this site.

Skills develop over time, I'm sure with the right amount of perseverance you'll see yourself become better each and every day. This is what makes modelling so much fun!

[777-200ER]

Originally Posted by DutchCollector

Skills develop over time, I'm sure with the right amount of perseverance you'll see yourself become better each and every day. This is what makes modelling so much fun!

Thanks! It's certainly addicting!

Here are a few pics from Dornbirn at 18:00 on a Satuday;


Lufthansa CRJ900 DLH994 arrives from Prague just ahead of schedule:


As a Hapag Lloyd Express prepares for pushback from Gate B10 on its way to Hannover as HLX026


British Airways BAW1735, loads holidaymakers for a seasonal charter back to Gatwick


Austrian Airlines OS327, a 777-200ER disembarks passengers after its recent arrival from Montreal


Delta A350-900 DAL1224 for Seattle embarks final passengers before her return across the pond


Lufthansa A319 DLH018 waits for clearance to the active before proceeding to Lisbon


Finally the regularly scheduled flight to Heathrow BAW970 embarks passengers before her departure and return to the UK



A MIAT flight to Mongolia is to commence later this week and further new destinations to be announced soon! Upon arrival of Herpa's surprise box of three airbus models.

[Charter]

The general layout is very nice but the tarmac is awful. Apologize but it is the truth.
Now: i don't consider "architectural" project, wonderful but computer made, because i am an expert of handmade airports, but here you did not put your "love" for the job!
Please have a look at this thread
Tutorial thread for handmade airport builders. ( 1 2 3 4)
then, if you don't want to read everything and you want to improve the apron of your airport:
1) resurface everything using grey paint (white + black tempera colors = grey)
2) when dried fix everything with a fixative spray
3) with a pencil or a black Lumocolor pen, draw the tarmac grid (1 cm x 1 cm squares or 2 cm x 2 cm squares)
4) if you used a pencil fix with the fixative spray; if you used black pen there is no need to fix
5) using STRAIGHT RULERS, PROTACTORS, CURVED RULERS and, if needed, various measures DISHES, realize all the taxiing,
parking and stopping lines and markes, using Uniposca white and yellow medium and small tips colors.
Maybe some lines could be not perfect (only God is perfect!), but even with not good skills but with good concentration you can
achieve great results.

[Charter]

This airport has the potentiality to become a wonderful one, just make what i suggested you. Any help or suggestion you are more than welcome.

[777-200ER]

Originally Posted by Charter

The general layout is very nice but the tarmac is awful. Apologize but it is the truth.

Thank you for the constructive critiscm Charter, I will admit that I was pretty sloppy with the tarmac and this is something I hope to improve on. I probably didn't make it completely clear but this is only the first iteration of Dornbirn and the initial work was designed to give me some idea of layout and the general feel of the diorama. Now that I am satisfied that the layout works more progress can be made with neatening up the details and providing a more satisfying and impressive result. I did most of the current work in one night and it gave me a quick fix which helped to jumpstart my enjoyment of the hobby once more, I've certainly caught the bug again and will hopefully have some more work to show over the next few days.
Thanks again for the help

[Charter]

Originally Posted by 777-200ER

Thank you for the constructive critiscm Charter, I will admit that I was pretty sloppy with the tarmac and this is something I hope to improve on. I probably didn't make it completely clear but this is only the first iteration of Dornbirn and the initial work was designed to give me some idea of layout and the general feel of the diorama. Now that I am satisfied that the layout works more progress can be made with neatening up the details and providing a more satisfying and impressive result. I did most of the current work in one night and it gave me a quick fix which helped to jumpstart my enjoyment of the hobby once more, I've certainly caught the bug again and will hopefully have some more work to show over the next few days.
Thanks again for the help

I am sure it will be a great layout.

[777-200ER]

So there's been some pretty major changes at Dornbirn, the entire tarmac has been resurfaced and some new jet bridges have been added. I also wanted an excuse to post a Qantas 747-400 for the memories as they took flight for the last time today:

Here's mine as QF2228 leaving Dornbirn on a Saturday evening flight back to Perth via Singapore;


Newly arrived Arkefly TFL475 unloads passengers from Cancun;


As Delta DAL1224 pushes back from gate 6 for departure to Seattle;



Lufthansa A340-300 as DLH2533 prepares for a long evening flight to Bangkok;



Lufthansa Regional Crj900 operating as DLH236 takes on passengers before a quick hop back to Munich;



Air France Hop! Erj145 as AF198 waits at gate 1



And finally LOT 737-300 LOT655 waits at gate 3 for refuelling.


Had lots of fun resurfacing the Tarmac and adding the appropriate lines, which I found both therapeutic and satisfying. I would like to thank Charter for pointing me in the right direction!

[DutchCollector]

The lines look very clean indeed, a big step up from your previous work. But that's also a development process in which you get better every time you try. So in 5 years, this work might seem 'amateuristic' compared to your skills in 5 years. It makes the whole thing just a bit more fun

[777-200ER]

Originally Posted by DutchCollector

The lines look very clean indeed, a big step up from your previous work. But that's also a development process in which you get better every time you try. So in 5 years, this work might seem 'amateuristic' compared to your skills in 5 years. It makes the whole thing just a bit more fun

Thank you! I can imagine it will be so.

[Charter]

Much better, great job so far.
Very nice to see a LOT B737 model, too sad Herpa will never produce new LOT models.

[777-200ER]

Originally Posted by Charter

Much better, great job so far.
Very nice to see a LOT B737 model, too sad Herpa will never produce new LOT models.

Thanks! I 'm a big fan of that old LOT 737 and although it is not NG I find it's stubby qualities rather adorable.

[Charter]

Originally Posted by 777-200ER

Thanks! I 'm a big fan of that old LOT 737 and although it is not NG I find it's stubby qualities rather adorable.

Unfortunately no more LOT models for Herpa...

[777-200ER]

An update from Austria:
The refurbishment of the tarmac is now complete. Also I wish to provide some information on the airlines and destinations which are available from Dornbirn:
From Monday the 27th of July:
Alitalia
Rome
Aer Lingus
Dublin
Aeromexico
Mexico City
Aeroflot
Moscow
Air Canada
Calgary
Toronto
Air France
Paris
American Airlines
Charlotte via Keflavik
Phieledelphia via Keflavik
Arkefly
Cancun
Austrian Airlines
Vienna
Milan
Bucharest
Brussels
Zurich
Paris
Madrid
New York
Mumbai
Hong Kong
San Francisco
Shanghai
Montreal
Avianca
Bogota
British Airways
London GTW
London HRW
Edinburgh
China Southern
Guangzhou via Delhi
Delta Airlines
Seattle
New York
Eurowings
Miami
Emirates Airlines
Dubai
Etihad
Abu Dhabi
Eva Air
Taipei
FlyNiki
Athens
Oslo
Istanbul
Barcelona
Keflavik
Finnair
Helsinki
Hapag Lloyd Express
Cologne
Hannover
Stuttgart
Leipzig
Icelandair
Keflavik
Interflug
Salzburg
KLM
Amsterdam
Korean Air
Seoul
Lot Air Poland
Warsaw
Lufthansa Cargo
Anchorage
Lufthansa
Munich
Prague
Berlin
Frankfurt
Hamburg
Lisbon
Moscow
Vancouver
Los Angeles
Beijing
Sao Paulo
Hanoi
Cape Town
MIAT Airlines
Ulaanbaatar
Middle Eastern Airlines
Beirut
Northwest Airlines
Detroit
Minneapolis
Pakistan International Airlines
Islamabad
Qatar Airways
Doha
SAS
Stockholm
Oslo
Copenhagen
Sichuan Airlines
Chengdu via Moscow
Sterling Air
Copenhagen
Krakow
Alicante
Thomas Cook Airlines
Edinburgh
Glasgow
Manchester
Aberdeen
United Airlines
Newark
Chicago


Fingers crossed for a few new arrivals when the bank account recovers!

Here was the view earlier today at around 13:40:

A general overview of operations;


Interflug IFL366 prepares to depart from Gate 8 to Salzburg


Alitalia AZA241 is prepped before her return to Rome FCO


NWA099 loads passengers at remote stand 6 before departing to Detroit


Lufthansa DLH118 pushes back for departure to Hamburg right on schedule, as newly arrived SAS315 unloads passengers from Oslo at gate 3


TCX682 shuts down her engines after arriving from Manchester


QTR102 prepares for departure back to Doha


The view from above the main terminal building, with OS144 from Vienna and DLH995 from Prague waiting to disembark passengers


I'm also currently working on a much smaller project which will be portable enough to take to university. Will post a thread with more detail at some point!