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My latest build is the 1:144 Authentic Airliners A340-600 kit in Iberia colours. I made the sister of the A340, the A330, a few years ago and I didn't want to simply create an "A330 but with four engines." I didn't want to use Bra.Z's conversion (it has quite a few issues), so I was waiting for a new kit. Fortunately, Authentic Airliners came out with one, so I jumped on it right away when that one became available. Took me several years to finally complete it though. The Airbus A340-600 is a wide-body, four-engine commercial passenger aircraft developed in the late 1990s by the European aircraft manufacturer Airbus. It is the largest variant of the A340 family and is designed for long-haul flights, with a range of up to 14,600 km. The A340-600 can accommodate up to 475 passengers in a typical three-class configuration. The A340-600 was designed to compete with other long-haul aircraft such as the Boeing 777 and 747, as well as the McDonnell Douglas MD-11. At the time, the aircraft featured several innovations, including a new wing design with a higher aspect ratio and larger wing area for improved lift, as well as more powerful engines. It also incorporates modern avionics and a fly-by-wire control system for enhanced safety and efficiency. The first A340-600 was delivered to launch customer Virgin Atlantic in July 2002 and entered into service the same year. Other major users of the A340-600 include Lufthansa, Emirates, Qatar Airways, South African Airways and of course Ibera. Despite its advanced features, the A340-600 has faced challenges in the modern aviation market. Due to its four-engine design and higher operating costs, it is less popular than twin-engine aircraft like the Boeing 777, which offer similar performance and lower fuel consumption. Airbus ceased production of the A340-600 in 2011 after delivering a total of just 97 aircraft. In recent years, some airlines have retired their A340-600 aircraft or converted them into freighters. However, the A340-600 continues to operate with several major airlines and is known for its spacious cabin, comfortable seats, and pleasant flying experience. Overall, the A340-600 remains a remarkable aircraft in the history of commercial aviation. As said before, the kit is from Authentic Airliners and is truly fantastic. It captures the essence of the real thing perfectly (as usual). It’s quite a heavy kit though (0,7 kg) and as such metal undercarriage is supplied with the kit. Decals are from 8a Decs. Cockpit windows are from Authentic Airliner decals, as are some of the details. I’ve also used some details from various spare decals that I had laying around. The “metal” parts of the engine pylons are also decals, that I made and printed myself. The red navigation light on top of the fuselage is from Counting Rivets Models. At any rate the pictures (The display bases are made by me): All in all this was a very pleasant build and the largest kit I've ever build. The only problem I had was with the 8a Decs decal set. The decals are very thin and have a tendency to crumple. Also they didn’t line up at the top of the fuselage, so I had to cut them several times to get it just right. With six completed models, this will be the last one of the year to be finished by me. Next in line is the Zvezda 1:144 Il-62 Aeroflot (with the KLM logo) , but that one will most likely be completed next year. Thanks for reading and see you next time!

I present the Revell A321 in the current colours of Iberia. Apart from replacement winglets and a few small details the build is OOB. I have an ongoing, very long term project to build at least one aircraft from each of the current and former European national carriers and I had intended to finish the A321 in the classic Alitalia green stripe livery. Unfortunately when the F-DCAL decals eventually arrived they turned out to be completely the wrong shade of green, so much so that I considered them unusable. A search on the net failed to find an alternative source of decals for that livery but I noticed that 8A Decs had the new Iberia scheme for the A321. Iberia was also on my national carriers “to do” list so off went my order and it took a lot less time for the 8A decals to arrive from Mexico than the F-DCAL ones had taken from France. The decals went on well. They needed a bit of trimming around the tail, especially at the base of the fin, and a little adjustment around the rear doors but other than that there were no major fit issues. My only criticisms are the slightly over scale aircraft names and the omission of the nose gear door registrations neither being the end of the world. Stencils and detail decals including wing coroguard and replacement nose gear registrations came from the spares box and Authentic Airliners windows completed the ensemble. Paint is Halfords Appliance White and Holts HL Grey01 with Tamiya and Revell metallics. Although the model didn’t end up as I had planned, I like the new Iberia livery and I think it suits the A321. I might be in a minority of one but I actually prefer it to the previous red, orange and yellow stripe scheme. Thanks for looking and as always constructive criticism is welcome. Dave G

Airfix DC-9 1:144 26 Decals 'Iberia' This is ye olde Airfix kit from the orginal 'KLM' boxing. As I have 4 of them in the stash I though I should build one of them, even though the Fly Models kit is a more modern tooling. It is still worth building as it has very good fit and is pretty accurate. The main problem with it is that it lacks the prominent 'Lobe Crease' along the lower fuselage. I scribed it in with an Olfa P cutter, and worked along the line with a sub miniature half round file to emphasise it. It also lacks the eyebrow windows on the cockpit glazing, and although I left the glazing clear, I used the eyebrows off the decal sheet. Iberia's 9's all seemed to have an amount of thrust reverser staining at the back end, so i tried to replicate this also, with a puff of Tamiya 'Smoke' from the airbrush. It's one of my favourite classic airliners, and it has the plus of a red cheat line! And 'With something else', A Fly Models 'Baby 9' in Draw Decals TWA livery. There was a 'Gotcha' with the decals. the instructions only show a Post side profile, so i reapeated the layout on the starboard side. A couple of days later looking on Airliners.net I spotted that it was wrong, which just goes to show the importance of checking references.. Out came the sellotape and I stripped the titles off. The ever helpful Mr Stringbag just happened to have some replacements so i was able to correct it. Thanks Chris! Can you spot the uncorrected error here? Thanks for looking, John

Here's my entry. Fly DC-9-32 and Iberia old livery decals from BOA. This is quite exciting because it's my first airliner ever and I haven't attempted NMF since the cold war.

Hi Everyone Im doing an Airfix Boeing 727-200 in Iberia Colours. Looking at photos it appears the instructions are all wrong. The instructions state the 727 have grey wings and tail plains with a grey belly. Looking at photos it appears that the aircraft in the box, EC-CFI, Has white tail planes with a bm leading edge and the belly is just white. The main wings is what i need help on. The photos i have found show the wings being white, but the front is silvery grey, can anyone confirm to me what colour that is was and if it is on the underside. Thanks Bradley