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1:144 Airbus A380 'British Airways' (New)


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Hi Guys,

First post here :) I am in the process of making my first Proper model commercial airliner! In the past I have just put it together from the instructions, and slapped some paint on and hey presto.. it looked c*%$ :P

So, I'm doing this properly now. I will leave a small 'Hello' in the introductions forums to say a bit about myself :)

Many thanks, and I love the amount of commercial models on this forum! Especially loved the Airbus A330 conversion wheels! Couldn't stop looking at those last night! If I only I hadn't finished my wheels on this A380.

Just to note, the kit is from Revell in 1:144 scale. It was a originally designed to be painted/decalled in the Airbus first flight livery, but I'm a huge fan of British Airways and they are taking delivery of theirs soon, so.. Why not paint it all BA! :D

Enjoy! Always looking to learn and improve so I have lots of questions and queries, but please feel free to jump in and let me know what things can be done better.

Thanks.

So let me introduce you to the whale!...

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I went to my local modelling shop about 2 months ago now, to get these paints. I spent quite a long time in there and even took the model with me, the owner was very helpful and advised me to get these three paints:

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They are, 1x Silver (11) Humbrol Acrylic Spray Paint, 1x Aluminium (56) Humbrol Model & Craft Hobby Spray Acrylic and finally 1x White Gloss (22) Humbrol Acrylic Spray.

Here are a few more pictures of the kit:
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My new paints! (Well some of them..)
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The workstation! With laptop for radio and facebook!
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My workstation again.
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And here we go, it's under way! The front nose wheel and wheel structure painting is complete and I have started work on the engine fan blades. I am planning on doing something special for the engines, stay tuned!
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Engine fan blades.
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First coat of white gloss spray paint on the fuselage. I have now put a light second coat on and will see how that got on tomorrow morning.
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Bit of a closer image, I really love the colour of these. Clean Aircraft! biggrin.gif

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Next up, we have the engine front cowling bit's (Not sure what they are called, I should know!) But these are painted in silver, as referenced from photos. I was going to put a darker silver/grey half way through, again as referenced in pictures, but this will be very difficult to do.. I tried masking, it won't get straight, and also thought about dipping half of it in the paint but it may become quite thick.. So I'm passing on this and keeping it one colour:

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Closer up...:

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Now the huge number of wheels that were painted with absolute patience and precision. The way I painted these were to paint the inside hub part silver and then once dry, use a cocktail stick (Yes on each and every wheel, BOTH sides for 20 wheels) and dipping it in the black paint finely going around the tyre part of the wheel. After that I used a brush to get the rest of the tyre black. This took a long time but they look absolutely great!!

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This is the small structure that my dad made for me to make the paint dry when I had the idea of dipping it in the paint.

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I still have to finish building these wheels but they are ready to go, these wheel's and structure's are attached close to the wing root:

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And now, the finished Main Landing gear wheels! It does make me think that the ones on the real aircraft are really hugeee!!

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You can just see the brakes at the front of this image:

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And the front nose gear:

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The wing spraying is now finished, I'm keeping the leading edge slats the same colour as they pretty much look the same colour on a photo, I am really happy with how the colours have come out. The lighter grey is a simple light grey Tamiya primer, and did a perfect job, had to cut the masking tape to include the curve at the back of the wing as referenced from photos.

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The spray booth:

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The wings with the under coat, final colour:

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Hydraulic Actuator Covers for the flaps, again sprayed in the same colour:

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And the engines, now these are difficult, I've decided i'm spraying these as the paint runs up the small gaps by the masking tape, even though I am pressing it down. Spraying work's better! Here is the first blue bit of the new BA Livery I am now deciding to paint it in!

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Edited by TLMarchent
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Great start, Your detail painting is very good.

Looking forward to this one. I have a couple of these kits in the stash and want to start one soon.

The BA livery is very nice, perhaps I will do one in those colours.

Do you have decals for your scheme yet?

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Awesome! Can't wait to follow this build! Which colour did you use for the BA blue??

Robin

Thanks everyone! Thanks Rob,

I am using Revell little tin paints, Enamel paints I believe. The engines are sprayed in Revell Acrylic Model & Craft Hobby Spray and the colour for that is Midnight Blue - 15.

The small tin I have is Humbrol Enamel Gloss - Number 15.

Thanks everyone, this is a slow build as you will understand why when I do say my hello a little later today, actually studying to become a commercial pilot to fly one of these! The real one, wouldn't be able to fit in THIS one... :banghead:

Edited by TLMarchent
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nice start bro! Do BA actually have one of these or is this a WIF? Please excuse my lack of knowledge on BA aircraft. If it's a WIF (what-if) then where did you find decals big enough?

Look forward to seeing more of this. I hadn't realised how big the kit actually is until I saw it on the table top!

MH

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I will be watching this as it my fav aircraft. Make sure you put enough weight in the nose and the main gear doors are wrong in the instructions. They need to be closed with the U/C down like this

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Don't forget you may need some filler on the join lines, as for decals, you have

Twosix

Tony bay

Gio

I know what decals I would have..... Ray lol

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Madhatter

The first BA machine was at Paris Air Show last week, and looks super..........possibly the best looking A380 (that or China Southern) - delivery to LHR very soon (the first B787 is due tomorrow - was due today but went tech, I believe)

Nice build - keep it up - should look good..........

SD

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Excellent looking work! Your BA blue looks good. Are you filling the windows & decalling or staying clear?

I'm not sure, I think to stay safe, I might stay clear :)

I will be watching this as it my fav aircraft. Make sure you put enough weight in the nose and the main gear doors are wrong in the instructions. They need to be closed with the U/C down like this

39E460E7-989D-4DBD-BD63-820D6C9E8007-746

Don't forget you may need some filler on the join lines, as for decals, you have

Twosix

Tony bay

Gio

I know what decals I would have..... Ray lol

Ok, how can I put more weight on the nose gear? And thanks for the advice, I will implement this.

Did you mean Tony Bay decals you would prefer? I think I saw Twosix decals :) But I haven't made a purchase yet.

nice start bro! Do BA actually have one of these or is this a WIF? Please excuse my lack of knowledge on BA aircraft. If it's a WIF (what-if) then where did you find decals big enough?

Look forward to seeing more of this. I hadn't realised how big the kit actually is until I saw it on the table top!

MH

British Airways have actually put an order for a number of these, to be precise 12. It looks amazing! It is a pretty big kit.

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Hi, put extra weight in the nose, not nose gear lol. I was saying the main gear doors are wrong and they should be up like in the pic. As for the decals, I said Ray lol because that is who's decals I would have all day long, Ray owns twosix decals

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I intend to do mine in BA colours but, not the current dull scheme with that silly squashed looking Union flag on the tail. No, it deserves the smartest BA scheme - namely the Landor scheme! :D . By sheer good fortune, I just happen to have a tin of Halford's Ford Polar Grey - a very good match for the BA Pearl Grey!

Allan

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Small update everyone, progress is ongoing but slow.

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Really liking the red bits! :D

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Moreee Red!

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Engine intake front cowlings with darker inside area.

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And this is how I made that fine circle line inside. Not the best, but it did the job!

Thanks for your patience everyone!

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Little update for y'all!

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Currently doing a test fit of the under belly part under where the wing roots are fitted and the landing gear, a bit of sanding down needed, still going at it (Whilst switching between watching the tennis of course ;) )

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Close up shot, you can see some sanding dust also! I intend to then mask up the fuselage ready for the blue coat on it. Classic BA Blue!

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These are pretty much finished now, paint wise, I have two left to do then it's tweaking them and making them looking as good as I can get them to look :)

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These really were fiddly to do, and they aren't finished 100% yet but I'm happy with the outcome!

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Winglets getting coloured up! Red will go partly on at the bottom as per usual.

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Winglet

Many thanks guys!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Any more work?

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Looking good so far, I will try to get pictures of the real thing on saturday as it is doing a flypast in formation with The Red Arrows at RIAT.

Mick

Thankyou! I soooo wish I was going!!

Any more work?

Not really, just soo hot in the days and I'm very busy with other things. Plan to restart soon though :)

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