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I'm having problems progressing several of my builds at the moment. To minimise paint fumes I do my airbrushing in the shed and it's just too cold to spray out there at the moment! Instead I have turned my attention to something that can be worked on indoors. I bought this model last year for just over £10, which is probably the best bargain I've ever had on eBay! It's completely un-started and will be built OOB - with one major exception. The tail fin will be adorned with a 'world image', also known as the Utopia livery, introduced by BA in 1997. Just to make it a bit more interesting, I have chosen an image that was destined to be used by BA, received full approval but was then quietly dropped when the Utopia livery was abandoned in 2001. There are around ten designs which reached this stage and were never applied to an aircraft - I think it's time to see them! As BA took delivery of its first A380 in 2013, there will be a fair degree of what-iffery involved. My first job will be progressing the design from paper to make a decal that fits the A380 - requiring some significant Photoshop action. At least I've had plenty of practice at this on my 747-436 build! 😆

It's that time of year again when I find all sorts of new projects making their way towards the workbench...! I know I have plenty on the go already, but most of these are awaiting paint which requires better weather - I spray outdoors and need warmer, drier conditions. As @Paulaero will understand, these other models are generally at least 95% built, which qualifies me to start on something new in the meantime! 😁 This build is partly a new challenge and a bit of repetition too. The new bit is refurbishing one of my older models and this will form the bulk of this thread. The repetition part is concurrently building two untouched Revell 767-300 kits, which I did here a couple of years ago and I don't see any point in documenting it here again! However, these kits will throw up a few challenges along the way (more on this when I get to those parts!), hence their inclusion into this thread. Let's start with the model to be refurbished. I would guess that I built it around 20 years ago, when my modelling skill set was rather more limited than it is now. It is the Revell 767-300, with RR engines and built to depict G-BNWA which I flew regularly at back in 2003. The model has been in the attic for years and I think it must have been dropped at some point too - luckily I still have most of the pieces: It's certainly been neglected and the attic did it no favours - it's covered in grime: The refurbishment will consist of the following tasks- 1. Open the fuselage up and fill the windows with Milliput 2. Removal of the damaged undercarriage and rebuild the model with the gear doors closed 3. Replacement of the missing windscreen (the only piece that I cannot find!) 4. Removal of the old paint and re-spraying with an accurate demarcation line and correct shade of blue 5. Production of custom decals to give the model a new identity To complete this introduction, the other two models in this build were purchased cheaply but with a few pieces missing. More importantly though, they both have the sprues for the RR engine option, so these will be built as BA aircraft. Here are the sprues: And another shot, showing the first task completed - Milliput is applied: It is well past its 'use by' date and quite dry and crumbly, but perfectly good enough for this job!

The backstory, which is a shameless copy and paste from a previous RFI...! As you may know, I quite like the 'Utopia' or 'World Image' liveries introduced by British Airways from 1997. However, these liveries were not universally popular and were quietly dropped in 2001, with all aircraft receiving the current 'Chatham' tail fin design from that year onwards. The A380 entered service over a decade later in 2013. I couldn't help wondering what this aircraft would have looked like with that massive tail covered in one of the ‘Utopia' designs. This build is just one result of my pondering and represents "Hong Kong", with a design called 'Rendezvous'. This design was usually applied with a white background, but one aircraft (G-BMRG) had a creamy colour instead. I intended to replicate this colour, but went a bit too yellow. However, I think it still works... The build thread for this particular model is on a longish thread but the relevant part can be seen here if you want to watch it come together, complete with the production of the custom decals I used on this model. As ever, comments and criticisms are welcomed! The design is deliberately NOT symmetrical, with the left side looking like this: Thanks for looking and I hope you like the outcome of this particular flight of fancy!

Welcome to my first RFI of 2023! These models were all built last year, but I have only just got around to posting an RFI - sorry! The aim of this project was to produce some custom decals for the 727, depicting various different British Airways 'Utopia' liveries. This build was not about the models, which are a mixture of 2 x Airfix 727-200's and 1 x Revell 727-100. I have made these completely OOB with no enhancements, so they are quite basic and still have any inherent faults that originally came with these kits. Every single decal is custom designed, including the windows, windscreens, BA titles and the artwork on the tails. As is the custom for a 'what if' build, a little back story. Some artistic license is required...! After BA acquired Dan Air in 1992, they became the new owners of a fleet of 727 aircraft. Five years later during BA's rebranding, these aircraft were repainted into three 'Utopia' liveries, representing Scotland, South Africa and Egypt. The build thread is here if you want to see how these decals were designed and produced. Time for the photos! I'll start with G-LGWA, a 727-200 in the Scottish 'Benyhone' livery designed by Peter MacDonald, which was the first of the three models to get produced. It was also the most difficult, with a very complex design on the fin: The next model was another 727-200, this time in the South African 'Ndebele' livery by Emmly Masanbo and registered G-LGWB: The third model to get designed was a 727-100. Having a shorter fuselage and doors in different places required a new set of decals for the fuselage too. This model is depicted in the Egyptian 'Crossing Borders' livery by Chant Avedissian and wears the registration G-LGWC: Finally, just for fun, I thought I would use Photoshop on this project for one final time to see how these aircraft might have looked in BA publicity shots for the new livery: As ever, comments and critique are welcome. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Welcome to my second RFI of the day! These models were both built over the past two years, as a comparison between the Revell and Zvezda kits. Both are OOB and are finished in two fictitious 'what if' liveries, with custom designed decals for the tails. My thanks to @mitchem for his help with the Polish livery, cheers Mike! A little back story is needed to explain why I built these model, so here goes...! Back in October 2006, BA started the process of finding replacements for its ageing fleet of 747-436's, ultimately resulting in an order the following year for 12 x A380 aircraft. However, Boeing were also being considered with the 747-8. Imagine for a moment that Boeing had won this order instead of Airbus and that the BA Utopia livery was still being used (I know, it's a big stretch of the imagination!) The first two 747-8's to be delivered were registered G-IIXA and G-IIXB, using pseudo Roman numerals to form the basis of the registrations. The liveries represented artwork from Saudi Arabia and Poland, both of which had been previously applied to smaller aircraft but this was the first time a 747 had received these designs. A full build review can be read here if you would like to know more... Onto the pictures, starting with the Zvezda kit: And now the Revell kit: As ever, comments and critique are welcomed. Hopefully a couple more 'what if' BA 747-8's will appear on these pages over the summer... Thanks for looking!

As you may know, I quite like the 'Utopia' or 'World Image' liveries introduced by British Airways from 1997. However, these liveries were not universally popular and were quietly dropped in 2001, with all aircraft receiving the current 'Chatham' tail fin design from that year onwards. The A380 entered service over a decade later in 2013. I couldn't help wondering what this aircraft would have looked like with that massive tail covered in one of the ‘Utopia' designs. This build was the result of my pondering and can be seen here if you want to watch it come together, complete with the production of the custom decals I used on this model. The design I chose was one of the rarer ones, used on just one aircraft. I hope you like it.🙂 As ever, comments and criticisms are welcomed! I have five more of these kits in my stash(!), so other Utopia liveried A380s will follow in due course - it would be rude not to...!

In July 2020 I found out that the aircraft I flew for a living, the British Airways 747-436, was going to be retired early due to the Covid-19 pandemic. That news prompted me to build a tribute to this iconic aircraft in the shape of G-CIVP, an aircraft that I had flown multiple times over the past few years. Ironically I was to fly in this aircraft one final time, as I was part of the crew that delivered G-CIVP to St. Athan for scrapping on 21st September last year... It was an interesting build with a few tribulations along the way! It is all documented here if you want to see the kit coming together. The scheme I choose for the aircraft was its delivery scheme - one of the 'World Image' liveries called 'Colum'. These schemes were controversial but I thought this particular livery looked stunning. Time for the pictures: As ever, comments or criticism are welcome! Thanks for looking.