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Hi everyone, long time no see. Somehow I'm back into assembling kits, due to a lockdown, of course. So, this time it is the Zvezda's triple seven, arguably their best kit in the Emirates livery by the Pas-decals (Actually three sets of decals because kit decal is way too poor). Well, the build was relatively straight and easy. Some known flaws that I'm still not capable to fix (droop wings for instance). Quite a few mistakes of mine.. All in all I've learned a lot from this build and quite happy with the result. Cheers, Steve

Airbus A380-800 Emirates Wildlife Livery (03882) 1:144 Revell The A380 is a wide bodied super-heavy airliner from the European consortium Airbus, and its entry into service took the crown away from the venerable Boeing 747 as the largest passenger aircraft in the world by a significant margin. It has recently announced that they will cease production in 2021 due to changes in the aviation world, and as the wings are made down the road from me I wonder how that will affect them. Not too badly I'd hope. It first flew in 2005 from the Airbus HQ in Toulouse, and over 200 airframes have been delivered so far with the final total nudging 300 by the time the lines close. Unfortunately for Airbus, the airlines have become more interested in smaller aircraft to reduce their losses when flying less than capacity as well as the flexibility that comes with it. Emirates have been their largest customer with almost half the production flying under their banner, and BA have been the second largest. There have been a few non-fatal incidents during its service so far, which has probably affected its sales, and Airbus don't expect to break even on their £25bn development costs by the time production finishes. Having seen it in flight it is a true behemoth of the skies, and the huge sweeping wing-root and forest of landing gear makes it an impressive sight. It didn't just pip the Boeing 747 past the post in terms of size – it's 40% larger than the old Jumbo Jet, but with even the 747 under threat of ending production, the A380 is and will remain a much rarer sight. The Kit This is a re-release of their 2002 original kit, following on from the Technik edition with sound and lights earlier this year. It's the new Lufthansa livery which we've seen before, but it's a welcome re-release all the same. It arrives in a top-opening box for a change, and inside are lots of large white sprues – eight in total, plus a small sprue of clear plastic for the transparencies, a super-long decal sheet and the instructions in the new style with three pages of profiles showing the decal placement and painting instructions. The size of the sprues is the first thing of note, but that's hardly surprising given the size of the real thing, moulded in some really shiny white plastic with fine engraved panel-lines and raised detail where appropriate plus twin rows of windows running down each side. Construction begins with the cockpit, which is still fairly rare in airliner kits, and it has a moulded in coaming, three crew seats and rear bulkhead with access door moulded-in. Parts are included to model the kit in flight or on the ground, with the former involving a long jump to the end of the instructions for the fitting of the closed gear bay doors. If you're deploying the gear, you start with a well-detailed nose gear leg with twin wheels that fits into a bay with moulded-in sidewall details. The inside main gear legs are equally detailed with three wheels per side to spread the weight, and separate brake calliper parts behind each of the six wheels. These too have their own bays and when complete are set aside for a little while for the wings to be built-up with wingroot and tip lights added before gluing the whole 12" long halves together. The fuselage is then brought together after populating the sides with gear bays, the cockpit, and a pair of additional bays that will receive the outer main gear later. You're advised to add 40g to the nose to prevent it tail-sitting, and there's a ton of room in there so siting it won't be an issue, just remember to glue it down well so it doesn't come loose while you're Neowwwwming! it around the room… sorry, I mean transporting it. The fuselage joins will need to be strong, so consider adding a few extra tabs along the top line that will make hiding the seam an easier job with less risk of cracking the new join. The majority of the wing weight will pull down in the top seam, so a strong join in that area is key to your model's long term health, so bear that in mind. The wings fit using the usual tab and slot method, which might benefit from the addition of a couple of spars through the middle to take some of the strain from the top seam. A couple of brass rods with easily drilled holes would be my choice, but you may well have better ideas (it's highly likely). The fuselage between the wings is a separate insert that joins the two halves and includes cut-outs for the gear bays. Careful test-fitting and fettling will make the task an easier one, and at the same time the inner doors of the outer main bays (what?) are put into position, as these are usually closed on the ground unless there's maintenance going on. The outer main gear legs are then made up in the same manner as the others with their captive gear door attached as it goes into place. Again, there's a separate brake part that fits between the wheels and the axles, with only four wheels per assembly, with one under each wing root. The wings that were made up earlier are simply the aerofoil shapes to which all the detail is added, and need the aerodynamic cowlings around the flap actuators that are made up from two halves, and you'll need to keep a note of which construction step they relate to, possibly by marking the inside with a pen or paint. These little chaps will be glued into the recesses under the wings later on. The elevators are next, with two parts each making up the flying surfaces, which also fit using the slot and tab method, and even these are larger than some 1:72 fighter wings. These are fitted along with the flap track fairings before you begin working on the engines. The engines in the Lufthansa fleet are the Rolls-Royce Trent, and they hang four of them under the wings on custom pylons, which necessitates four separate build-steps due to the difference in shape and handing of the cowlings and their moulded-in pylons. The core of the engine is the same throughout, consisting of a front fan and a five-part rear assembly with another fan visible around the bullet-fairing at the rear. Each one is trapped between the cowling halves and a single piece intake lip is inserted at the front that makes for a nice smooth lip with no ugly seamlines to deal with. Each one has a small additional fairing inserted at the rear to complete construction of the engines. They are each pinned in place under the wing according to their construction step number, so again – keep a note. The airframe is ostensibly complete, but some details are yet to be added, such as the windscreen that you may want to install earlier so that you can fill any gaps around it to give it that overall sleek, smooth look that most airliners have. The new fuel-saving scimitar wingtip fairings are also glued in place, as are numerous antennae, pitot probes and the fuel-dump fairing at the rear of the fuselage. The remainder of the gear bay doors are supplied as pre-engraved single pieces that you can fit as a single part for in-flight models, or cut apart to use with wheels deployed. The nose gear door is cut into three parts, the larger front one posed closed with the other two to each side of the bay. The inner main bays are both attached to the sides of the bay in the open position, while the outer main gear doors have separate parts if they're to be posed closed. Markings Just the three main options in this boxing, but that's why you bought it, right? The new Emirates United for Wildlife livery, however the standard Emirates Titles are on the sheet as well. It's a massive sheet and there are a lot of decals which just fits in the boxand a choice of clear windows with silver surrounds, or darkened ones, depending on how you like your windows. The same option is provided for the windscreen, there are decals for all the doors, access panels and even some decals around the engines. Then of course there are the wing walkways, which are super-fine, and even the spinner decals for the engines so you can see when they're going round. The decals have been designed by Daco Products for Revell, and are printed by Cartograf, with good registration, sharpness and colour density, plus a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion It's always good to see the A380 re-released, and although it wasn't a massive commercial success at 1:1, I think Revell have done rather better as they have reboxed it a number of times now. The detail is good, the decals are excellent,. Highly recommended. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

Recent stuff from East Midlands, all handheld except the two photos of the 747 & 76 on the stands. Ultra high ISO used, I think all bar the two above were 20,000iso with shutter speeds of around 1/10th, 1/13th & 1/15th... I would love to upgrade my lens to improve these shots.... One day. Thanks for looking, hope they are of interest. TNT by Radleigh Bushell, on Flickr OE-IAS by Radleigh Bushell, on Flickr Jet2 by Radleigh Bushell, on Flickr HA-FAU by Radleigh Bushell, on Flickr HA-FAU by Radleigh Bushell, on Flickr DHL by Radleigh Bushell, on Flickr euroAtlantic by Radleigh Bushell, on Flickr OO-THC by Radleigh Bushell, on Flickr Star of the night - RA-76950 IL-76TD-90 RA-76950 IL-76TD-90VD by Radleigh Bushell, on Flickr RA-76950 IL-76TD-90VD by Radleigh Bushell, on Flickr RA-76950 IL-76TD-90VD by Radleigh Bushell, on Flickr RA-76950 IL-76TD-90VD by Radleigh Bushell, on Flickr RA-76950 IL-76TD-90VD by Radleigh Bushell, on Flickr OO-THC by Radleigh Bushell, on Flickr

This is the hasegawa kit. Liveries Unlimited Decals. Model represents Emirates' second 777-200, A6-EME, delivered in 1996 and still in the fleet. 1 by Billy Wilt بيلي الذبول, on Flickr 2 by Billy Wilt بيلي الذبول, on Flickr 3 by Billy Wilt بيلي الذبول, on Flickr 4 by Billy Wilt بيلي الذبول, on Flickr 5 by Billy Wilt بيلي الذبول, on Flickr 6 by Billy Wilt بيلي الذبول, on Flickr 7 by Billy Wilt بيلي الذبول, on Flickr 8 by Billy Wilt بيلي الذبول, on Flickr 9 by Billy Wilt بيلي الذبول, on Flickr 10 by Billy Wilt بيلي الذبول, on Flickr 11 by Billy Wilt بيلي الذبول, on Flickr

Hello everyone, I have just seen some Emirates 1/144 SkyCargo decals for the 777-200, is there any possible way, with some spare windows and doors transfers, I could turn it into a 777 for people, cargo, i'm thinking remove the gold line and everything underneath it and make up my own registration, would that be good enough? Link: http://www.shopdrawdecal.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=44%2D777%2D25