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First ever Group Build entry so be gentle on me! Took advantage of this kit being £6 on Amazon, the box shows why it's so cheap Current update on build: First time I've built a conventional airliner so this should hopefully be easy, all out of the box with BA decals too

Work in progress. Standard Revell kit with Draw Decal decals. Hope to fly one of these one day! See my BA A319 in the background.

Mangwanani fellow modellers. Keeping up with my African theme, here's Air Zimbabwe Flight UM 468 from Johannesburg about to touch down at Harare International Airport : Zvezda's A320 with a mix of home-made decals, paintwork and other bits and bobs. Struggled with just about everything on this build, but finished it just in time for the Airliner Group Build next month - Hooray (I think......) Thanks for looking. mike (Perhaps one day I'll get to make the journey ?)

Hi all, I've been building the Revell A319/20's recently, putting a little more work into them each time. I'd really like some metal fan blades for the engines. A quick search hasn't turned up any. Does anyone know if they're out there? Chris

Airbus A320 Etihad Revell 1:144. Review Build The Airbus A320 is one of the most widely used airliners today, and is the middle sized version, with the A318 & A319 being shorter, and the A321 longer. All share the same basic wing, with the most noticeable difference being the fuselage length. Go to any civil airport in the world, and chances are you will see one of these, if not several. The Revell kit has been around for about 20 years now, and was recently released with a new decal sheet for the latest Etihad livery. Review Here To get the slightly pearlescent look, I used womens nail varnish thinned and sprayed via airbrush, which worked well. Were I to do it again, I would use a slightly lighter base coat as I feel that the final shade is a touch darker that I was aiming for. There are issues with the engines in this kit which are discussed in detail in the Work in Progress thread. 99% of purchasers of this kit will not be bothered by these issues, but for those who like to pursue accuracy, you will need to consider these points. The kit only has CFM 56 engines, only 1 of Etihads A320's has these (Reg A6-EIZ). Thanks to member 'Lesthegringo' for first pointing this out. It does not look like A6-EIZ has been painted in this scheme yet. It is still in service with Etihad, so may be repainted in the future. All the rest of Etihad's fleet use the V2500 engine. You can get these from Revells other A319 or A320 kits. As these other kits also have the CFM 56 engines, you can still build them. If building a V2500 powered machine, most of Etihads in this new livery have the new curved up 'Sharklets' on the wingtips, rather than the small endplates. Foe sure, A6-EIC has the end plates supplied in the kit, and has been painted in this livery. At the moment this is probably the best bet for finishing this model. In a further twist, all the engine decals in the kit are for V2500 engines, despite them not being in the box. Despite these minor problems I thoroughly enjoyed building this kit, the decals are beautiful and behave perfectly. You'd pay almost as much for it as an aftermarket sheet, as you would for the whole kit. The livery is really unusual and to my eye, quite attractive. So on with the photos. And finally, with the my recently completed Boeing 777 in the previous Etihad livery. It also shows that the A320 is a touch darker than I would have liked, due to the base coat i used. Both were painted with the same nail varnish as a top coat, (And despite what it says on airlinercafe, the cheat line on the triple 7 is straight . I accept that in some photos in can look like there is a wiggle in it, but that is due to compound curvature towards the front end. In real life it is fine. ) Thanks for looking, John

Airbus A320 Etihad Review Build This kit has been around for 20 years or so, and released in various different boxings & airline liveries. The latest release is in the new Etihad livery and was recently received at Britmodeller for Review It is a fairly simple kit to build, so I thought I would take it out of the box and and use it to show a few techniques that I like to use on airliners. The lovely decal sheet by DACO just calls out to be used! I like to keep the cockpit windows clear if I can. Here is how. 1. Glazing glued in. Note the schoolboy error of a gluey finger mark on it.No worries, though, the following processes will eliminate it. The A320 kit is a bit awkward to fit the glazing, the aperture needs clearing of flash, and you need to fit it in carefully or it can crack. I leave the wing off so that I can get fingers to the inside of the glazing as well, and help push it into position. Fit it off centre so that one side is on the inside of the fuselage and the other outside, so that you are sliding it from left to right in the cockpit 'slot' to get it into position. Once located run a bit of Tamiya extra thin cement around to secure it. But watch it, if you keep fiddling with it you are likely to smear gluey finger marks on it! 2. Once dried overnight, start to sand it down to blend it in better. 3. The fit isn't perfect, so it will need filler to blend it in properly. White Milliput used here, and left for 24 hours to harden. 4. Further sanding, and the Milliput is mostly off the glazing now, and filling the gaps, particularly on the centrer 'crown' . 5. Using Micromesh polishing cloths, the glazing is restored to being crystal clear. 6. Masks are now needed. It is a straightforward job to get an A320 decal sheet with a 'solid' glazing decal on, lay a sheet of clear plastic over, add some Kabuki tape on top. Cut with a new blade following the glazing pattern beneath, remove the excess tape, and you have a set of home made window masks! 7. Add them to the model.Use thin strips to adjust any edges. Here the central pillar wasn't right, so a couple of this strips corrected it. 8. The wing on this kit needs a little fettling to get it to sit flush in its opening. I find that trimming, test fit, trim, test fit etc in these areas will help to get the wing fitting snugly without the integral lower fuselage section standing proud. 9. Talking of the wing, the kit winglets are too small. 15 minutes can make a new pair from 20 thou plasicard. Above, the replacement pair. Below, the kit (too small) kit pair. 10. The wings have the extra flap tracks of the A321 version, which need to be removed. A chisel type blade is ideal for this. Shave off most, and finish off by sanding. The engraved split flap lines also need filling in. 11. While the plasicard is out, I replaced some of the lumps and bumps I had cut off the fuselage, With them in place it makes it hard to sand and smooth the fuslege. So I usually shave them off, and make new ones later like this; 12. Primed up with Halfords rattle can 'Plastic primer'. I hope this helps anyone contemplating building an airliner in general, and the Revell A320 (or A319 & A321) in particular. More to follow as I move on to painting it with nail varnish, for that Etihad pearlescent look! John

Airbus A320 Etihad 1:144 Revell The first of the successful narrow body range from Airbus, the A320 flew commercially for the first time in March 1998, having completed its maiden flight in February of the previous year. Designed to compete for a share of the short to medium range market which at the time, was dominated by Boeing and Douglas with their B737 and DC-9 respectively, a production run of fewer than 1000 aircraft was originally intended. However, the success of the design, and the introduction of the longer A321 and shorter A319 and A318 derivatives has seen the A320 family become the worlds fastest selling airliner. As of April 2016, Airbus has delivered nearly 7000 aircraft, with a further 974 firm orders making this the worlds best-selling, single-generation aircraft programme. The kit. The Revell kit has been around for a while now, and has been issued in many different airline liveries such as Lufthansa, Eidelweiss, Air Berlin, and Condor. This latest release offers the rather attractive Etihad livery that has been recently introduced. The box is in Revell's new 'black' style with a side view painting of an A320 climbing to altitude. The instructions have likewise been revised and are now in full colour on glossy paper. The plastic parts are the same as previously issued, and are now beginning to show traces of flash in some areas, but nothing too serious. The first of the two main sprues holds the fuselage halves and undercarriage components. The passenger cabin windows are moulded open, so you will need to decide whether to finish them with one of the liquid glazing products such as Micro Krystal Kleer, or fill them in and use decals. Glazing is provided for the cockpit windows, but without any framing on the decal sheet (apart from outlines for the two centre panes), or a 'solid' decal option. I always prefer to retain the clear option and mask it, so this is no problem. Others who like to use decals will need to take one from the spares box. The second sprue contains the flying surfaces and the CFM 56 engines, but the V2500 engine option on some previous releases have been deleted here. The trailing edge flaps on all the Revell A320's need a little modification to remove some of the smaller track fairings, and this is clearly pointed out in the instructions. Note also that the inboard flaps need the 'sub section' engraved oblong filling in. The little 'winglets' on the wingtips are somewhat undersized, but larger replacements are easily fabricated from plasticard if you desire. All my previous builds of this kit have them, and it only takes 15 minutes to make a pair. Decals. The decal sheet is probably why most modellers will want to obtain a copy of this kit. Designed by DACO it provides a wealth of stencil detail, wing walks, door outlines, engine and pylon details, as well as the Etihad livery. It is all beautifully printed in sharp register and with excellent colour matching. Being a DACO design they should fit perfectly as well, no small consideration when considering all the decals to go around the rear fuselage and tail. The fuselage colour is suggested as mix of Revell's own paint, 75% White 04, 20% Orange clear 730, and 5% Aluminium metallic 99. Several other Etihad airliners have been posted on this forum over the last few years, and other suggestions may be available with them if you search. (My own Boeing 777 was done with nail varnish applied by airbrush). Whichever method you use, it is probably wise to mix up a batch and keep it for re-coating and touch ups. Conclusion. It is nice to have this kit back in such an attractive livery. The new upgraded box and instructions are also very welcome, and much clearer to read than the old instructions. Many of us will have already built at least one of Revell's A319/320/321 kits, so know that it is a trouble free build. The real 'icing on the cake' here is the beautifully produced decal sheet, and should produce a stunning model. Recommended. [EDIT] Under construction now ! Build log here [/EDIT] Review sample courtesy of

Nerded out and built a Revell A319 kit I had lying around in a personalised livery (imaginary airline I had when I was a kid). Clearly I was a complex child. Anyway, here it is. A 'Lomasair' A319. still a bit scratchy here and there, but i'm learning. ...and here it is on the shelf next to my BA 319. See that here.

Hi all, I'm building a 1/144 A319 at the moment, and to be geeky for geeks sake i'm painting it up in a fantasy livery of the imaginary airline I has when I was a kid... Take what you will from that. Either way, I need to find a decal sheet of standard lettering to form a random/made up registration. G - XXXX (or whatever). Ideally I need them in white. I can find some squarey RAF ones around, but if someone can point me towards some more generic ones, i'd be grateful. I can paint the livery but not the reg. Cheers, Chris

Airbus A319 I completed a month ago. Not perfect, but getting better. I'm currently building the same kit again in a personalised livery (will post on here when done, if it succeeds) Goes together relatively easily. On my second time round i'll be paying more attention to the join lines on the engines. If you go for the CM56 option, i've noticed the starboard engine on both kits didn't fit together. The IVAE engines (pictured) seem to fit consistently. Chris

Hell fellow modellers. I have finally completed my Norwegian Air Shuttle fleet. A project that has lasted me far too long. The first model being the Revell 737-800, LN-NOL, was finished back in November 2012. The -300 was completed back in January 2014. Now, two years later, the Dreamliner is complete. My target back in the days, was to model one of each plane type in the 2012 fleet. The -300 has now been withdrawn from service. The Dreamliner has switched registration, so its now on norwegian registration; LN-LNA, and accordingly, the 737-800 has changed from LN-NOL to EI-FHC. The Norwegian Trio by Robin Matcham, on Flickr Norwegian Long Haul 787-8 EI-LNA by Robin Matcham, on Flickr Norwegian Air Shuttle 737-3Y0 LN-KKR by Robin Matcham, on Flickr Norwegian Air Shuttle 737-8Q8 LN-NOL by Robin Matcham, on Flickr After being three months in the Phillippines with work, I have now returned to Denmark and should be able to complete some more models in the near future. Robin

Hi there, After the Air New Zealand A320 decals, Attach Before Flight has released another two decal sheets, this time for Azerbaijan Airlines: These two, just like the ANZ sheet are printed by BOA in the Czech Republic. I have bought the A320 sheet because some of these jets had/ have a bit of extra colour, carrying titles for the 1st European Games held in Azerbaijan's capital Baku in 2015. Maybe I'll go for a double build: Azerbaijan A320 and Indian Airlines A320... Cheers, Niki

Hi everyone, One of my earliest civil aviation memories refers to the A320 with the 'non-standard' landing gear flown by Indian Airlines: http://www.crashdehabsheim.net/autre%20crash%20indian%20airlines.htm Has anyone of you build a model of this? Is there perhaps another 1/144 kit you reckon I could borrow the main landing gear from so that it makes some sense proportionally if not outright perfectly dimensional. Perhaps from a 757 or would even that be too big? I have just saw the Vintage Flyer Decals sheet(s) for the Indian Airlines 737-200 and remembered the atypical A320... Cheers, NIki

This is Zvezda's latest "ultimate kit" which was released earlier this year. It includes extra details such as options for open cabin doors, extended flaps/slats and even extended undercarriage oleos to represent a final approach mode. I've built this version in Thomas Cook's new "sunny heart" colour scheme with just flaps/slats extended into the landing position. Some say that this new livery is drab compared with Thomas Cook's previous two-tone blue scheme, but I think its actually quite striking. The kit goes together really well and was a delight to build, although some care is needed in assembling the extended flaps - the kit instructions need a bit of interpretation. Also the kit doesn't come with wingtip sharklets which are now fitted to most new A320 family aircraft, so these are add-ons from Braz which were easy to fit. The Thomas Cook decals are home made with the detail decals (windows, doors, etc) from Daco. Paints used for the Thomas Cook colours are Yellow Revell 310, Dark Grey Revell 378 and Mid Grey Humbrol 128. I think that Zvezda are definitely setting the standard for airliner models. Their next release will be a Boeing 777-300ER - bring it on! Thanks for looking. Tim

This was a refurbish project of an old A300 build. I decided to update the model since the Airfix kit missed a few A300 features. I started with this: As it was finished about 15 years ago How it was before the restoration Rubbed it back with the associated voluntary disassembly Started a repaint Scratched up some missing parts Modified the engines Added some paint and decals.. The decals are from an A310 Flying Colours sheet. Due to a deadline (today) I used A310 registrations instead of mucking around with making up A300F4 regos.

Here is one that has been cluttering my version of Victorville for a while. A Revell A340-300. I saw a nice build over at ARC where the inboard pylons were corrected. The engines hung too low so I had to do it with mine. Pylons removed from the nacelles Pylons attached, of course some putty is involved and has to be cleaned up when set I did not take many early progress shots. Here is is how is stands now I have filled some cabin windows and added some antennas, lumps and bumps and finally test fitted the engines to check sit and ground clearance

Still digging in my collection now I bring you one of our service stars: the A340. They arrived in 2000 and were retired this year from service. 15 years flying to Madrid-Frankfurt, Auckland-Sydney, Los Angeles, a few times to Easter Island-Tahiti and even once to the Falkland Islands. I was lucky enough to fly it for 3 years and I am deeply proud of it. I did try to make her justice as much as I could. Real aircraft paint matched to Automotive paints, Gio decals, tail hand masked and painted. Thanks for looking. Part of the family in scale:

Hi again, now with this quite unique aircraft. I liked so much the way it looked at Auckland I knew I had to build one someday. Gio Decals, which were a nightmare, and Model Master enamels. I did my best with the decals but at some stages I must confess I almost quit. Glad I managed to get through the storm though. Thanks! Ignacio

Good day everyone out there! I bought the said kit last year and it goes along nicely with my slowly growing collection of Russian Airliners. My first was the gorgeous TU-154 but this was ruined by the utterly poor decals. I have decided that I would like a fleet of Aeroflot aircraft in the silver and blue livery, so with that regard has anyone used the kit decals with the Zvesda A-320? They do look alot better than what I have come accros before, and are certainly alot better defined. My problem is I don't want to risk a repeat of my 154 fiasco after spending ages masking and spraying. So has anyone used the kit decals and how successful were they? Much obliged Bob

Converting Revell's Airbus A319 into an Airbus A318 I've seen several attempts at doing this conversion, they've involved chopping sections out ahead of and behind the wing, and increasing the height of the tail. Whilst this is in escence correct, it doesn't deal with several other differences that have been glossed over or ignored, and all the conversions I've seen involved filling all the cabin windows - all my other baby busses have open windows and I wanted to keep them open on the A318 if possible. So, after much mulling over and drawing lots of lines on the kit parts, I've finally got round to chopping up the kit. I'll say straight up, I wouldn't recommend this as a first attempt at an airliner cut'n'shut!, but if you've done a couple , can get your head round the marking out, and can make accurate neat cuts, it's not too difficult. Here's the fuselage halves with my rather overcomplicated plan drawn out on them - follow the notes if you're attempting this as I'd do things slightly differently if I did this conversion again! Firstly, you may notice a vertical line through the front of the wing root fairing on both sides - ignore this, it was part of plan A and ended up having to be filled as I'd scored the line in position. Secondly, the aft upper section can be cut out directly above the lower section, at least on the port side, which will simplify things somewhat. So, how much to cut? We need to loose 2.4 metres from the A319, 1.6m aft of the Wing and 0.8m in front, which equates in 1/144 to 11.11mm and 5.56mm. This equates to 3 frames (windows) aft and 1.5 frames forward ( 2 windows, outer edge to outer edge) The aft three windows can come out anywhere aft of the roof aerial (if you want to keep it, it looks to retain the same position 319-318). To retaiin the correct window spacing the forward section has to come out where shown ie the 7th & 8th windows from forward have to be removed. This is all fairly straightforward down to the window line, but gets more complicated for the lower fuselage, as this takes in the wing root fairings, and the cargo doors, which are modified on the A318. Taking the port side first, as it's easiest, the forward lower section is taken out immediately in front of the wing root fairing, use dividers to ensure the upper and lower sections are the same length. The aft section would be best cut as one section, with the aft edge immediately aft of the wing root fairing. Measure 3 windows forward, and remove this section EXCEPT for the wing root fairing, score round this and remove the body tube. The starboard side is more complex if you want to retain the cargo doors. These were reduced in width to 1.3m (9mm scale). The forward edge of the forward door remained in the same place, so mark 9mm aft of this and scribe vertically up to the window line. Scribe another parallel line at the front of the wing root fairing. Measure this distance and subract from 5.56mm (fwd reduction). Use the result to measure forward from the wing cutout, and scribe up to the top of the wing root fairing. Scribe another line parallel to the window line at the top of the wing root fairing forward to the waste section previously marked. This wil result in a shortened wing root fairing which sits up against the forward cargo door. The aft door moved aft one frame, so two parallel lines, 1 frame (window spacing, 3.7mm) apart need scribing immediately aft of the aft door up to the window line. Mark the door width (9mm) from the aft edge of the door and scribe a vertical line up to the window line, EXCEPT over the wing root fairing. Mark another parallel line 2 frames (window spacings, 7.4mm) forward, again not on the wing root fairing. Score the vertical lines and finish the cuts with a fine razor saw. Score the horizontal lines, and fold/snap the parts in two. Score and snap away the waste plastic around the wing fairings. You should end up with a set of parts similar to below. Next installment - sticking it all back together.

Any challenges with the fit of the fuselage/rear door? Cheers, Andrew

Zvezda is to release in 2015 a 1/144 Airbus A-321 kit - ref.7017 Source: http://scalemodels.ru/news/8359-katalog-zvezda-2015.html V.P.

Hello all, Whilst I still have to finish my Spitfire build, thought I'd purchase more models ahead of the Christmas rush! Was so excited when I picked up the intercom and heard "Hello, I have a package for your flat." I did a very quick celebration and ran down to get my stuff. My first airliner scale model kits ever! Anyway, the unboxing of these kits is here: Around mid-late December is when I'll be building these, so do stay tuned! Hope you enjoy it! Regards, Hamdhan

Hi folks,well I,ve been tempted to the dark side! having seen and been highly impressed for a while now by the superb civil aircraft posted here and being a little jaded by the site of green and brown paint on my ongoing Hurricane builds I thought I would have a go at something a bit more colourful.So here goes.this is Revells Lufthansa liveried A320 which features nice engraved panel lines and a superb decal sheet a million miles from the last airliner I built way back in the seventies which I think was an Airfix Boeing 727.heres the box top,and I,ll make a start next day off,now where,s the gloss paint..........

Having been brought up near Filton airfield, I have set myself the task of building as many aircraft associated with Filton over the years, to a greater or lesser extent. This will be done in 1/144 due to limited storage space. I have started with VC10 RB211 testbed G-AXLR, VFW614 D-BABC and DC-3 G-AMPO. If anyone has photos/slides ets of aircraft at Filton and would be willing to share tham with me, please let me know.