PBoilermaker

Great build, but those engines appear to be upside down.

Eric, Very impressive elevon and oleo work! Since you are not averse to upgrades, here are some much clearer views of the window flats. Note the effect in the cabin door outline as well: http://www.airliners...1551f022555b61b http://www.airliners...1551f022555b61b http://www.airliners...1551f022555b61b To be fair, no existing kit of Concorde has even attempted to get this detail correct, but as you can see, it will be quite obvious in 1/48. I have thought of either sanding the area in question flat (tedious) or carving out the window line and inserting a flat piece of plastic to get that effect. Unfortunately, you will likely be disappointed in the decals when you examine them closely. On the upside, DRAW Decal has already scaled up the Union Flag scheme for this kit and F-DCAL can scale up their Air France and Union Flag schemes as well. The DRAW sheet comes with window decals as well, although in solid gray. I wish we had a comprehensive set of decals similar to the ones Danny Coremans/DACO designed for the later releases of the Revell kit. Sadly, no BA Landor in 1/48 and none on the aftermarket that I am aware of. Regards, Mike

Eric, Are you planning on changing the too-trapezoidal tail bumper wheel well shape on yours? The only other major annoying errors on the kit outside of what you are already addressing are the aggressive downward slope of the top of the engine exhaust (pretty difficult to fix) and the lack of the flat section down the fuselage sides for the cabin windows. I've also noticed that the BA coat of arms on the decal sheet is, frustratingly, done in gray instead of silver, and the rest of the decals are intended for the Air France machine, so they are incorrect for the BA Landor scheme (RR/SNECMA logos, wing details, etc). On the topic of noses, yours looks outstanding. Like you, I have been studying this area in detail and see that I will need to scratchbuild a lot of the nose section, including the pressure bulkhead and droop nose infrastructure. The cabin window flat area... Mike

Shows as in stock and ready to order...pics of the transparencies and decals are also now up.

This kit will include transparencies for the flight deck. Although not shown in photos, it is listed on the website.

Outstanding review! I agree with the consensus that this kit is a winner. I wanted to note something important for those wanting to use the clear cabin windows, however. While the cabin window sections feature the appropriate overall number of windows on each side (34 total to starboard and 33 to port with emergency exits at the 18th window from the rear on each side), the first and seventh windows on the port side (counting fwd to aft) are spaced to allow for the cargo door with tight gaps between the 1st/2nd and 6th/7th windows ( 00 0 0 0 00 ). If you want a 737-200C, this window arrangement is fine and the port fuselage half has the cargo door and sill plate scribed already (the instructions tell you to putty the outline on the Piedmont kit). If you want a non-cargo 737, you will need to fill the cargo door outline as directed and alter the spacing of the 1st and 7th port side windows to be correct. Thankfully, the scribing looks light and you might be able to sand the offending window outlines flush to mask the correct window spacing with the provided vinyl masks. To be fair, the window spacing difference between the 737-200C and 737-200 is something that most people will not notice, but it stands out to those familiar with the type's external differences. The only other minor nit is that the bottom rudder hinge should be filled (the scribed cover plate should remain, though). The -200 only had the top two. That being said, thank you to BPK/Victorlas for bringing such a wonderful kit of this important aircraft to market in this scale! BPK even gave us a complete unpaved airstrip kit with a nosewheel gravel deflector and engine-mounted vortex disspators! This is a first in any scale as far as I am aware. I will need to pick up a few more... -Mike

Good to know, thanks. Mike

Soooo...does anyone want to sell their Minicraft Fat Albert 1/144 decals?

Seems simple enough to scratch the turret in 1/144...

Unfortunately, US defense spending hasn't kept pace with operational requirements either. The silver lining is probably that Boeing is gathering some great fatigue data on those RAF airframes. That and you guys have bragging rights. Are RAF birds all LAIRCM-euipped? I didn't see that option in the Revell kit. Looks like NATO is eyeballing 3 C-17's for purchase, too.

Those Saudi colors make pretty much any airframe look really good, but this is a nice, clean build nonetheless. Mike

Nice story and build. It must be tough not knowing what actually happened to your father, I wish you the best. Mike

Might want to get more of them, eh?

Here's a very good review: http://www.modelwarships.com/reviews/ships...acy-review.html The railings are horribly thick and out of scale, but they are separate items (thankfully). You'd be better off using PE, it isn't that hard to do on ships. Nice to see the OHP done in plastic. The Gulfstream resin OHP's were very nice, but this looks even better. Mike

I've never seen anything official, but it looks nearly identical to me (minus the eyebrow and cheek windows): http://tinyurl.com/5fynwj http://tinyurl.com/6rubc9 What does this mean for modelers? You could probably use 1/144 DC-10 decal windows for the cockpit if the clear versions aren't to your liking. I imagine most will leave them clear, however. Mike

The only thing I saw was a slight error in the shape of the windscreen glass panels (especially the center two, top angle). Outside of that, the front end looks very good and the error I speak of doesn't detract significantly at all. One of the hardest things to capture, especially in 1/144, is proper windscreen shape when dealing with airline-type models (and the C-17's windscreen is very similar to, if not just like, DC-10/MD-11 windscreens). Compared to the Anigrand kits, the Revell kit is in an entirely different league as far as accuracy and detail. Overall, Ivo did an outstanding job with the design of this kit. The surface details may annoy some, but this is a great addition to the 1/144 lineup nonetheless. Oh yeah...I'm also glad they only included USAF markings as I have absolutely zero interest in building an RAF C-17. The Xtradecal US addendum sheet is outstanding, BTW. Mike

Gorgeous kit of an outstanding aircraft. Thank you for taking the time to post the pics and in-box review. Mike

The Revell kit is the best C-17 in any scale by a wide margin. The other versions (vac and resin) don't hold a candle to it.

Sorry, I'll pass. Among other things, they appear to have done an awful job capturing that unique nose profile. To me, that is pretty important. The IFR hump and the kit overall have some shape issues as well. Hard to tell more than that from the photo, but having seen the C-17 kit, I know what to expect.

I am a big fan of the 1/144 resin C-141 made by Scot Doepker. $47USD and he did an outstanding job. Here is a little review I did over on ARC: http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index....p;hl=starlifter I purchased the Anigrand C-17 kits in both 1/144 and 1/72. They were both way off (the 1/72 version is a joke) and I am thankful Revell will at least be doing the C-17 justice in 1/144. I am very skeptical about an Anigrand C-141 in 1/72, especially at $196USD! Mike

So that Hornby 1/48 Nimrod probably won't happen?

Thanks for the heads up!

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That pretty much says it all. Everything else is speculation. There are plenty of threads over on HS and ARC, also here in Chat.

Sorry, but I have to ask...where did you get that avatar?