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Boeing 737-800 (03809) 1:288 Carrera Revell Whilst Boeing was achieving considerable success in the early jet-airliner world with the larger 707 and 727 in the 60s, development of the BAC 1-11, DC-9 and Fokker F.28 were progressing well to serve an anticipated need in the world market for smaller aircraft on short haul routes. In 1964, Boeing proposed to tap into this market, but to reduce development cost and save time, they created a design that would use 60% of the structure and systems of the 727 which would also benefit by reducing new tooling costs to a minimum. The 727 body had an advantage over its potential rivals in that it accommodated six abreast seating compared to a maximum of 5 abreast on others of the period. Another feature of the 737 would be its capability for Cat II or instrument landings, the first of its kind. Production was guaranteed following an order by Lufthansa for 21 airframes with 100 passenger seats each, the first of which went into service in 1968, with others to follow from other operators. Further variants with different capabilities followed, starting with the second generation that are now known as the Classic with variations in engine fitment and passenger capacity, reaching service in the 1980s, to be replaced again by the third or NG for Next Generation during the 90s, beginning with the smaller -600, and the stretched -700, which was supplied in either C for convertible between passengers and cargo, or the ER Extended Range with 126 passengers. The -800 was a further stretched airframe, seating between 160-190 passengers, and acting as the direct replacement to some of the early variants, including the -200 and -400 series from the original range. Following the -900, the 737 MAX was created to extend the life of the 737 line rather than creating a completely new airframe, with a keen eye on costs and re-training requirements, something that has caused issues relatively recently. The Kit This is a re-release of a 2012 tooling from Revell of what was originally intended to be a clip-together Easy-Kit that required no glue, pre-painted at the factory in Air Berlin livery to appeal to their home market. This boxing is marketed as a traditional kit, and it arrives in a small end-opening box depicting the aircraft in Boeing’s own livery as would be seen on a demonstration airframe. Inside are two small sprues in white styrene, a comparatively large decal sheet, and instruction booklet with colour profiles on the rear inside pages. For the unusual scale, the detail is good, with fine leading and trailing edges on the wings, while the panel lines will appear oversized at this scale, regardless of how fine they are. At this scale there are no physical depiction of the windscreens and passenger windows in the parts, which are instead shown on the decals that cover much of the model once completed, providing registration points for locating the decals in the process. Construction begins with closing the fuselage around a substantial 20g of nose weight and the fin at the rear, which fits into a pair of slots within the aft fuselage for additional strength. The wings are applied to the lower fuselage insert, which is a separate part that covers the lower inner wing profile and the main landing gear bays, inserting it in a space under the fuselage, detail painting the bays and fitting the elevators into slots on either side of the fuselage. Surprisingly at this scale, the gear legs have separate wheels that push-fit onto the axles at the bottom of the legs, making up the nose gear and two sets of main gear, which slot into holes in the bays under the fuselage. The twin engines under the wings are each made from four parts, starting with one half of the cowling, into which the intake fan and exhaust are slotted, closing the cowling with the other half before they are both fitted under the wings on pins that locate in holes in the wing fairings. Markings This edition depicts the aircraft as a demonstrator, which is in factory livery that is common between all Boeing aircraft types, showing the product number on the tail fin, and company branding on the forward fuselage, accompanied by a wave pattern along the sides and wingtips. From the box you can build the following: Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. There is a separate windscreen decal, and the side windows are incorporated into the fuselage side decals, which are applied as one per side, adding a separate decal to the underside around the main gear bays. There are silver decals for the leading edges of the wings and elevators, and more decals with silver leading edges for the winglets on both sides of each tip. The modeller will need to paint the fuselage and engine cowlings white before decaling, and the wings a silver colour that is common to most airliners. Conclusion It’s an unusual scale for an airliner, which has a de facto common scale of 1:144, or less commonly 1:200, but if you feel like adding a pocket-sized 737-800 to your collection, this is a nice model, and may well be suited to a novice due to its Easy-Kit origins. Highly recommended. Carrera Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

Well, I realise it's a bit late in the day to start a WIP on this one, but technically it's not finished yet, so here goes. I picked up this kit quite cheaply from Creative Models and I am quite pleased with it. 1/200 is not a scale I've built in before, but for aircraft of this size it still gives a fairly sizable model. On the whole, this is a good kit - fit is generally very good, with a couple of minor exceptions (wing halves). It looks pretty accurate to me, and unlike the Zvezda/Revell version includes separate parts for the Trent 1000 and GEnX engines (although to be honest the differences are quite subtle). The only error I have noted is the APU intake being moulded on the wrong side of the fin. Panel lines are a little on the heavy side, particularly on the fuselage. I had originally planned this as a LOT Polish Airlines aircraft, but having got two sets of decals (both laser printed) wasn't really all that happy with the resolution (being particularly picky really), so I've gone with the kit decals. Coincidentally, I also saw this aircraft when it visited the Farnborough Airshow back in 2010 when it did a flypast with two Spitfires (http://www.airliners.net/photo/Boeing/Boeing-787-8-Dreamliner/1745320/L/&sid=a9351297298616bba1b5f732614e8323). This is meant to be a quick (for me) build, so I've dispensed with the landing gear and done it in flight. It's painted in Tamiya acrylic spray and Alclad laquers for the leading edges/APU exhaust. Engines and stabilisers are still to be done, and it's still awaiting a clear gloss coat of some description: Untitled by Caution Wake Turbulence, on Flickr Untitled by Caution Wake Turbulence, on Flickr Untitled by Caution Wake Turbulence, on Flickr Untitled by Caution Wake Turbulence, on Flickr I still need to tidy up the tail decals a little. The kit decals are alright, if a little thick and on the matt side. Hope you like it! Cheers, Andrew