Air Berlin Revell Airbus A320

[BetaSingh]

My friend, who is brand new to modelling, wants me to help him with an Airberlin model set, which includes the paints and the glues along with the kit. Apart from that, he has bought primer, masking tape, cutting mat and a craft knife. Will he need to buy anything else or not? And is there any advice you guys have for either of us and on making the kit, any tips and tricks will be very appreciated.

[Jessica]

He should get sandpaper or sanding sticks. As a handy hint, you can get varying grades of nail files from the cosmetics section of your Drugstore/Chemist's for much cheaper than the equivalents in the hobby shop

 

He'll also need a tube of putty to fill in the inevitable dings and gaps. Automotive glazing putty is again cheaper than the hobby putty sold in the hobby shop, but it has the disadvantage of being toxic. Vallejo Plastic Putty is spoken well of hereabouts and it has the bonus of being water soluble which means cleaning it up is easy.

 

Tweezers to pick up the small bits are a also helpful.

 

There are all sorts of guides to the essential tools spread around the internet. Here's one example.

[Timo]

Masking and painting the red part of the fuselage needs a bit of care and planning. The curve down from the tail, under the wings and on towards the nose is quite a complex shape to mask on a round fuselage. The kit's decal sheet contains red/grey curved lines that go between the red and white parts of the fuselage - you could photocopy the decal sheet and then tape these lines to the model as a guide to positioning the masking tape in the right place.

There is also an error on the kit's wings which you'll need to rectify. The A320 doesn't have the small flap fairings in between the 4 main flap fairings on each wing, you should remove all these small fairings.

Overall it should be an enjoyable build for a new modeller. Best of luck to you and your friend.

Cheers

Tim