Airbus A400M, Revell 1:72

[neilg]

Here are the build pics of my A400M, which was a gift from an ex-coworker.

 

He wanted to see me build a prop for once, which was a new experience for me.

 

 

 

The interior has a lot of detail, and some living space like cabins, beds, and seats (none of which will be visible because there are no windows).  In any case, I like completeness, so I included all of the detailing.  Inside the cargo area, there are troop seats moulded into the walls (again, you can't see these after the model is made, but I detailed them anyway).  The kit is made up of two tubes, one sits inside the other.  Above is the inner tube, with the details.

 

 

This is the inner and outer tubes joined and installed.  The fit was really poor, and was even worse on the underside.  I needed more filler on this kit than on my Concorde build.

 

 

I was really unsure of which shade of grey to use for the A400M.  All of the reference pictures I looked at showed a different shade (some were very dark, others very light), because of the lighting conditions at the time.  The instructions say to use Revell 374, grey silky matt - the same grey I used on my Lufthansa 747-8i, but I thought this shade was too blue.

 

While I was priming the vertical stabilizer with Halford's grey primer, I thought that the shade of grey looked just right based on the A400 I saw at the Paris Air Show.

 

 

I sat the wings on top of the fuselage just to get a sense of the size of the finished plane, and wondered where I was going to put this thing.

 

The empennage is primed in Halfords grey primer, while the fuselage is still bare plastic.

 

 

 

The engines have a lot of detail inside as well, for the intake fans and exhaust turbines.  But because of the angles of the ducts, you can't see any of these.

 

 

 

Even the propellers are big!

 

 

One thing that bothered me a lot about this kit was the flight deck windows.  The flight deck windows come as a large clear section, like some of the Minicraft kits (like the 777 for example, if you ever built one).

 

This, combined with the proximity of the window edges to the edges of the clear section made filling and sanding a real nuisance.  I couldn't find any pre-cut masks online, so I had to cut my own masking tape.

 

You can see how much filler is required in the two halves, particularly around the nose, because the inner cylinder is too large - the outer fuselage just doesn't close up around it.

 

Underside was even worse, but I seem to have deleted the photo for that (I think because I never wanted to see that sight again).

 

 

I sprayed the whole think with Halford's grey primer, and thought the shade was pretty good.

 

 

 

 

The main landing gear for this thing is pretty awkward to install, because they all rest on one another.  When you install the first, it's fine, but when you install the second and third set, they start to dislodge one another.

 

I installed the first set, waited for it to set, then installed the second, waited for it to set, and installed the third, and waited for it to set.  This means it's very tricky to get the alignment right so all 12 tyres sit on the ground evenly.

 

The finished pictures will be on Ready for Inspection soon!

[Crossofiron1971]

Wow!

That is quite the beast!

Lovely work sir!

 

[modelman182]

Lovely job - I think I need to get one of these, though I will struggle to produce such a nice end product as yours!

 

Cheers

 

Kev

[stever219]

Thanks for the warning about the inner and outer fuselage shells not matching size-wise.  Mine was extracted from the nearest Cupboard of Doom recently and some tentative dry-fitting initiated.  Can you remember if there are any ejector pin scars that would have impeded the fit?

[PhantomBigStu]

Don't see this one very often thanks for sharing 

[neilg]

6 minutes ago, stever219 said:

Thanks for the warning about the inner and outer fuselage shells not matching size-wise.  Mine was extracted from the nearest Cupboard of Doom recently and some tentative dry-fitting initiated.  Can you remember if there are any ejector pin scars that would have impeded the fit?

I looked everywhere for something that would have prevented the fit.  I couldn't find anything, and I don't remember seeing any ejector pin marks of concern.

 

I sanded, shaved, squeezed, and it still wouldn't go.

 

In the end, I accepted the resulting gap and just filled and sanded, filled and sanded, filled and sanded...

[stever219]

1 hour ago, neilg said:

I looked everywhere for something that would have prevented the fit.  I couldn't find anything, and I don't remember seeing any ejector pin marks of concern.

 

I sanded, shaved, squeezed, and it still wouldn't go.

 

In the end, I accepted the resulting gap and just filled and sanded, filled and sanded, filled and sanded...

I see copious quantities of wet 'n' dry in my future😢

[Romeo Alpha Yankee]

Thanks for the build thread Neil, I have this one in the stash (plus another 2 )

 

It does not help you now, but Eduard makes a masking set for the beast.

 

 I can see I have some fit issue with my build(s)

 

[neilg]

7 hours ago, Romeo Alpha Yankee said:

Thanks for the build thread Neil, I have this one in the stash (plus another 2 )

 

It does not help you now, but Eduard makes a masking set for the beast.

 

 I can see I have some fit issue with my build(s)

 

Everything went together pretty well (the engines were a really good fit in particular), but the body is too large to be able to easily handle, and close the gaps and keep them closed - I think I needed a vice to hold the fuselage seams closed while the cement dried.  

 

I didn't have clamps big enough or bands strong enough to close the gaps prevent them re-opening, so I wound tape around the two halves, which seemed to do the trick.  Until I removed it, and found that cement had soaked under the tape and caused the plastic underneath to melt, resulting in pits and bumps...  requiring more filling and sanding...

 

The cargo door is a bit of a fiddle as well - like the Revell C-17, it has hinge pins at the top and bottom, that locate in holes in each half of the fuselage.  You have to align the hinge pins WHILE you align the two halves, and any gaps in the fuselage means the pins don't fit tightly and can come out of the holes.  I didn't want to have a moveable cargo door anyway, so I cut off the hinge pins and cemented the door in position, and filled all around the edges.

 

 

[modelman182]

Hi folks

 

I'm obviously well late to the party with this thread, but since my original comment I have managed to snag one of these beautiful beasts. A quick test fit yesterday revealed the fuselage closure problems mentioned, but I found that there were some serious impediments in the way of ejector pin marks (standing VERY proud of the inner surface of the outer fuselage - particularly from the cargo door hinge point and rearward of that point). Using a chisel scalpel blade [Swann Morton SM62], a small rounded blade [Swann Morton 15] and a sanding stick, I have managed to smooth the surface which improves the fit to almost manageable proportions. I then checked the fit of the inner parts and found that the mating edges along the top were not as smooth as one would like, so I proceeded to strategically sand the edges (holding the parts up to the light to see where gaps were showing) to produce a tighter fit. No need to include the floor, as that doesn't seem to play any part in the fit problem which seems mostly to be at the top and rear of the outer fuselage parts.

 

An hour or so of 'tidy up' and the fuselage now fits together beautifully. Of course - it helps that there is absolutely no sign of any warping on any of the parts in my kit, which is a welcome surprise on a kit this size.

 

I shall stuff this one back in its box for now, as I have loads of other things to finish... 

 

Hope this helps some of you.

 

Kev

[neilg]

20 minutes ago, modelman182 said:

Hi folks

 

I'm obviously well late to the party with this thread, but since my original comment I have managed to snag one of these beautiful beasts. A quick test fit yesterday revealed the fuselage closure problems mentioned, but I found that there were some serious impediments in the way of ejector pin marks (standing VERY proud of the inner surface of the outer fuselage - particularly from the cargo door hinge point and rearward of that point). Using a chisel scalpel blade [Swann Morton SM62], a small rounded blade [Swann Morton 15] and a sanding stick, I have managed to smooth the surface which improves the fit to almost manageable proportions. I then checked the fit of the inner parts and found that the mating edges along the top were not as smooth as one would like, so I proceeded to strategically sand the edges (holding the parts up to the light to see where gaps were showing) to produce a tighter fit. No need to include the floor, as that doesn't seem to play any part in the fit problem which seems mostly to be at the top and rear of the outer fuselage parts.

 

An hour or so of 'tidy up' and the fuselage now fits together beautifully. Of course - it helps that there is absolutely no sign of any warping on any of the parts in my kit, which is a welcome surprise on a kit this size.

 

I shall stuff this one back in its box for now, as I have loads of other things to finish... 

 

Hope this helps some of you.

 

Kev

I tried to scoop out some of the ejector pin marks, but I obviously didn't remove enough of the material.  I should have used better tools!!

[Harry Callahan]

May i ask, what does your project, did you end up or? I asking coz i am planning to build a one soon.

[neilg]

7 hours ago, Harry Callahan said:

May i ask, what does your project, did you end up or? I asking coz i am planning to build a one soon.

Hi there, I'm sorry, I didn't fully understand your question.

[modelman182]

Hey Neil

 

I think that "Harry Callahan" was asking how the project has progressed since your last update and whether you have finished it. The question may have been confused in 'translation'.

 

HTH

 

Kev

Edited June 8, 2019 by modelman182

[Harry Callahan]

I am sorry for my badly english, i thought you know what i mean.

 

[email protected] your right, i wanna know if the A400M still in progress

 

Thank you

Edited June 10, 2019 by Harry Callahan

[neilg]

2 hours ago, Harry Callahan said:

I am sorry for my mistake english, i thought you know what i mean.

 

[email protected] your right, i wanna know if the A400M still in progress

 

Thank you

 

Yes, I finished the model, but it was badly damaged during my move from France to the UK.

 

I will probably make another one in the future.

 

Here are the photos in Ready for Inspection: