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Authentic Airliners A300-600


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Received two Authentic Airliners new A300-600 kits in the mail the other day. This is my first experience handling any of Kurt's kits and can truly say the level of quality of these scale models is phenomenal, especially of a subject such as the AB6 which is practically not represented in 1/144 at all. Many of the resin kits I have had experience with in the past are quite intimidating as they require many skills that those of us who build plastic kits are not used to. This A300-600 kit, though containing many fragile parts, is very straightforward. The kit pieces are not attached to mold "flash" where they interfere with detail on the parts. Simply chop-off the larger scrap resin pieces, sand to fit and attach.


Photos (many may appear soft, i was again too lazy to bring out the tri-pod so you must suffer with a high ISO :D )


The first thing I noticed on one of the boxes was the extra set of photo-etch. Kurt was kind enough to include the extra sprue for my PAS A310 kit, which does not include any aeriels, pitots, etc. Service you can't beat.

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Since the A300 and A310 kits that Kurt offers share many of the same parts, you will find various A310 parts included in this kit as well, on top that, you get two complete engine sets for both GE and PW. This is an added bonus if you have a PAS kit and want to make an A310-200. You can use the tailskid included in this A300 kit that is for an A310-200 and also use the PW engines, although not 100% to a -200, they will work fine.

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APU detail:

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GE engines. Revell on bottom, AA in middle and PAS on top:

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PW engines. BraZ on top, AA on bottom:

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BraZ on bottom, AA on top:

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Pas on bottom, AA on top:

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Excellent fit:

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I want one too - but how will I get it past the mrs....

I used to find that any challenges were quickly and effectively resolved by asking "and how many pairs of shoes do you have now?" And raising an eyebrow. The last bit is essential.

Edited by buzz
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  • 3 weeks later...

I have receive my two A-300-600 plus two 737-900 and two 727-200's!

AA kits are the ultimate model kits no question asked!

I will have two BraZ A-300-600 conversion sets for sale cheap soon, they are no match to AA kits.

I have no idea how AA does it and I do not care to know how either but anything other than AA kits are junk!

Keep it up AA, you have no competition what so ever.

People, do not be afraid of the resin kit!

Walter

Edited by waltmertins
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I'm not afraid of the resin kit, it's just that I can't justify the rather large expense (€100) for this model. Plain and simple.

I do have some AA kits and lovely as they are, I couldn't afford to buy as many as I'd like to make all the colour schemes I'd like.

Other kits aren't "junk" but if you've got a bottomless fund for your model building hobby then fill your boots with AA kits, I don't and won't.

Jeff

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I have receive my tow A-300-600 plus two 737-900 and two 727-200's!

AA kits are the ultimate model kits no question asked!

I will have two BraZ A-300-600 conversion sets for sale cheap soon, they are no match to AA kits.

I have no idea how AA does it and I do not care to know how either but anything other than AA kits are junk!

Keep it up AA, you have no competition what so ever.

People, do not be afraid of the resin kit!

Walter

I to have to disagree because aa only make a small range and they are good at the planes they make but they don't make things like 777 or 747s

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They'd be even better if they were hollow with window openings. Kurt would probably be the only person to actually get the windows the size, shape and position correct! :winkgrin:

Andrew

Absolutely!!! I don't like decals for windows but am really fed up with the inability of kit manufacturers to get the windows

1) in the correct location

2) with the correct spacing

3) THE CORRECT SIZE!!

They can produce the finest tightest panel detailing and fit but for some reason a line of holes of a certain shape and size is beyond their ability...

AA kits are nice and at some point I will buy an A300-600 but I'll only buy one and wait for the day when an injection moulded kit is produced with super fine detail, good fit of parts, accurate in outline and (probably) the windows too big, in the wrong place and unevenly spaced.

Jeff

Edited by pinky coffeeboat
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I have a question to ask here having read the above comments. As modellers, do we expect the perfect shape, size, proportions each and every time we buy a kit and simply stick it together ? Or as modellers (no matter how good, experienced etc) are we not supposed to try our best to adapt what we have bought to build to produce our own individual "best version" of the subject at hand...? In my personal opinion, that is where the fun comes into the hobby - irrespective of the cost.

I ask only as I have been building the Minicraft 777 this month which is far from correct but have enjoyed endeavouring to produce my best shape / proportions etc.

I also invested in both the Magna Models and Anigrand 1/72 VC-10s earlier this year - and was shocked at how much difference there was in the 2 kits which were within £5 of each others purchase price. I studied various forums WIP notes about both kits to get an understanding of each models shortfalls - and needless to say, a similar story to this discussion about resin kits and their prices vs accuracy prevailed but at the end of the day, it was the hard work and attention to fine detail modifications of our fellow modellers that turned out some perfect examples of both manufacturers models.

I ask my question in good faith and truly hope I have not stirred up a heated quarrel .... :fight:

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A very valid point

Ask yourself this...we will use the Minicraft 777 as an example but this applies to anything.

Which of the following is easier to make an accurate Boeing 777 from.???

a...The Minicraft Boeing 777 kit.

b...A block of wood.

The problem is that a kit is NOT whatever it is supposed to be...it is just a set of plastic parts that when put together looks like one.

It is probably true to say that it is better to market a kit that is not truly accurate if that means avoiding a high price. This is because no ,matter how accurate it is, the purist is going to modify it anyway so the super detail is lost to a certain extent and the model gets priced out of the popular bracket.

Some kits are fine as they are because we can easily modify them...like the Airfix classic airliners...they are not going to update the moulds but lets have them as they are and let us bring them up to standard.

If we moan about them too much, they won't re release and so it's a block of wood if you want a BAC One-Eleven. I do hope they do continue to produce kits with windows, personally I'd rather see slightly wrong holes than decals. If you want to fill you can. Some, like the Airfix Vanguard, Glencoe Viscount have windows too small, the FROG Herald the wrong shape and the Airfix One-Eleven too big, but the first three are easily fixed and the One-Eleven can be done fairly easily too. In some cases less effort than filling, sanding and trying to accurately place decal stripes and windows with little position reference.

My main beef about decaled windows is that they are flush which is not the case in real life and it does show.

Amazes me how modellers fill windows in 1/144 and 1/72 airliners yet drill out the portholes in 1/350 ships for accuracy.

A lot gets said about windows in the wrong place and so they get filled and decal windows added which themselves are not put on in the right place.

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Ah, the old "modellers" versus "assemblers" debate !

As Garry says, Airfix aren't going to update their moulds and I'm perfectly happy to do corrective work on, for example, the BAC 1-11 which doesn't represent the aircraft in service but is a good basis with which to start. I've just finished a Comet 4B which needed a fair amount of effort particularly around the engines but the basic kit is accurate and easy to work with.

What does annoy me is having to spend time correcting errors in recent kits which result from a failure of basic research. The obvious example is the Revell B738 where the engines and the winglets are significantly inaccurate. I find it hard to believe that it would have been any more difficult or expensive for Revell to get it right and it's a complete mystery to me why they didn't.

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In the case of modern kits, yes, that is inexcusable. With CDT and multiple reference it is just as easy to get it right.

With the older kits, it is very satisfying when you manage to just get that right look about it after a bit or sweat and tears. To put one's own touch into the subject and bring out the true character is an uplifting experience, and of course it's yours and in various ways is different from all the others.

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I find this discussion great and agree with a lot of what's been written by many.

With the Airfix kits, they are what they are - I've built many and will continue to build many until a newer more accurate kit is released. Ideally I'd like that kit to have windows and flight deck transparencies that are correct in shape, correctly placed and spaced. I appreciate that if they're not, a little bit of modelling skill is required to fix that. However, as much as I like windows, I'm not totally certain my skills could allow me to open the flashed over windows on the Skyline 737 kits and (importantly) get them all the same shape, size and in a neat line. The same goes with vac form kits. If they're circular then a drill can be used. I do like to detail and add some extra little parts my kits such as a main undercarriage bay to the Airfix 737 or refining the shape of the 727 centre intake, that sort of thing.

Also, these newer kits would be injection moulded and not cost too much more than the ones they replace. I do like Authentic Airliners kits a lot and marvel at the skills shown by Kurt in capturing the accuracy of shape and outline. But, I like so many colour schemes past and present and want to make as many as possible that an expensive resin kit is not really an option for me.

What I find irritating and have moaned about it too much, is that in this day and age of computer designed super detailed kits - think the shear beauty of Tamiya kits, their finesse of fit and detail, the ultra fine panel lines of Hasegawa and Zvezda and the way their kits just fall together through very intelligent design and production and now the Airfix Typhoon with stressed skin effect and lap joints etc..- is how manufacturers are so unable to produce a line of holes the correct size and in the correct location!!! The irony being that the newly released Zvezda A 320 has cabin windows that are frankly shocking in their inaccuracy!!! Or as Skodadriver mentions Revells 737 problems. I simply don't like decal windows because they look, well, just that, decal windows!!

These are the sort of errors that would have been understandable when Airfix were releasing their BAC1-11, 737, Tridents etc.. but today?! I can't understand that.

Sorry to introduce a bit of thread wander and stray away from the AA A300-600 kit, which I will buy the next time they're in stock (and the A310).

Jeff

Edited by pinky coffeeboat
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Not too much thread drift in a way as a sub discussion has made it clear that older kits have faults and that's how it was then, but, some of the modern kits have faults that shouldn't happen nowadays given the state of the art.

This puts the OP in a good light as it supports the range for what it is...accurate and clearly shows that it can be done. Moulding types have their limits but this is basic shape and that is a level playing field be it injection, short run, Vacuum or resin.

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