F-RSIN Trident 3B - CAAC - 1:144

[Mike]

Trident 3B - CAAC
1:144 F-RSIN

British European Airways, in the latter part of the 1960s saw the need for an aircraft capable of greater capacity and range than its existing fleet for the European and domestic routes. The Hawker Siddeley Trident 1 and 2 currently in operation were proving to be too small which ironically was the result of the same airlines insistence that the original design be reduced in size to meet their requirements only a few years earlier. Regarded as a stop-gap until the arrival of the wide body airbus expected in the early 70s, Boeings B727 and the Douglas DC-9 were carefully considered however the possibility that non-British built aircraft were to be used resulted in Hawker Siddeley putting forward designs to meet the new requirement. Initially twin engine designs were submitted which would be powered by the then new high-bypass engines currently under development. Eventually however, following assurances that the design and development costs would be met by the government, a stretched Trident was selected.

The Trident 2E formed the basis of the new Trident 3B. With a total fuselage stretch of 165 split ahead of and behind the wing being the most obvious difference when compared to the earlier versions. The wingspan remained unchanged however, the outer wing panels were increased in chord to give a 32sq. ft. increase to the wing area. Larger span outboard flaps and the installation of the RB162-86 booster engine in the base of the fin ensured that the thrust and lift were sufficient to overcome the weight of the new design. The wing was further modified by a 2.5 degree sweep increase to allow the same rotation angle on tale-off as previous models even with the rear fuselage extension.

The first Trident 3B was rolled out at Hatfield in November 1969 painted in what was the then new BEA Speedjack colour scheme and was test flown on December of that year by John Cunningham. A total of 26 Trident 3B-101s were built and all delivered to BEA/BA, although by 1986, with the introduction of new noise regulations, all were withdrawn from service.

Two additional airframes were built as the Trident 3B-104. Dubbed Super Tridents, the two examples featured additional fuel tanks for long range operations by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) and were registered as B-268 and B-270, and these provide the modeller with one of the more obscure options to the Trident range currently available from F-RSIN

The Kit
The kit arrives in a large flat box of the end-opening variety, with a profile of the aircraft on the front. As is fairly standard for most of the F-RSIN range of kits, the parts are all contained within a single sprue that is moulded in pale grey plastic. A large decal sheet and a single page instruction sheet are also included, the latter providing an exploded diagram of the kit to guide the builder. The parts are attached by fairly large sprue gates and will be better separated by razor saw, to prevent damage to some of the smaller items during removal and the slightly textured finish to the larger components will require some light sanding prior to assembly. Both are common features of short-run kits and require little work to remedy, as are the ejector pin marks on the mating surfaces, although a few have pushed through onto the wing outer surface. Very little work will be required to eradicate these and a little sanding will render them flush with the surrounding plastic. There is a little flash around the majority of the smaller parts, which is again a feature of short-run moulding, and easily removed. The panel lines are provided for the main control surfaces and door outlines which provides adequate detail on a model of this type and scale. If however, you feel the need to add some more you will need to study your references, but in 1:144 they would be very fine indeed and hardly visible from scale distance. Breakdown of parts is straight forward as you would expect, with a vertically split fuselage, into which you are advised to place 20g of nose weight to ensure all the wheels remain on the ground. The wings are moulded to achieve seams which coincide with prominent panel lines on the wing underside thereby avoiding joint lines on the extreme trailing edges which are commendably sharp. Separate wing fences are included, which fit into well-defined recesses in the upper wing surfaces. On the sprues, the wings appear to have the correct change in dihedral from the inner to the outer sections, but a proper conclusion can only be drawn once the parts are removed from the sprues and fitted to the fuselage. It is possible that the trailing edges of the lower wing parts will need thinning to ensure a flush joint with the underside leading edge of the ailerons and flaps.

The T-tail has been moulded in similar fashion with the lower surface stopping at the hinge-line and which will result in minimal surface clean up, but you will need to thin the trailing edge of the lower part to get a good flush joint before applying glue, in much the same way as the wings.

A nose gear bay is provided to fit behind the opening in the fuselage, but detail is limited, which is the norm for airliner models. The main bays in the wing are similarly blank, but are small due to the main doors being closed when the landing gear is deployed. The unusual landing gear arrangement of the Trident featuring four wheels mounted transversely on a single axle with two wheels either side of the main gear strut, and the offset twin wheel nose gear are well moulded, with separate retraction struts on the main legs. The open bay doors are all provided as separate parts, but youll need to check your references for the correct angles.

The engines on either side of the rear fuselage are made up of horizontally split nacelles with fan detail to the front, separate exhaust nozzle and thrust reverser detail on the top and bottom just forward of the exhausts. The central Number 2 engine embedded in the tail has a separate intake lip, incorporating a short duct that extends within the fuselage. Slight adjustment will be required to reduce the triangular shape of the intake lip, which appears to be too narrow at the top as depicted. The booster engine is moulded into the base of the fin, just above the exhaust of the Number 2 engine, which has a separate nozzle part. There are no clear parts provided as both the flight deck and cabin windows are provided as decals.

Markings
The decals are provided on a single sheet with markings included for both of the Trident 3Bs that were supplied to the Chinese carrier. A continuous carrier film will require that each item is carefully cut from the sheet and trimmed closely to the individual designs in order to avoid excess carrier film. Registration, colour density and sharpness appear to be up to the usual standard we have come to expect from this manufacturer.

Commendably, the decal sheet provides both styles of door outline and window arrangement within the full-length cheat line, with two different anti-glare panels to cover the differences between the two airframes. Both British delivery registration marks and Chinese wing and fuselage serial numbers are provided and additional detail such as thrust reverser grille and cockpit window decals are included to add a little realism. A pair of bright red Communist Chinese flags for either side of the fin help to brighten up an otherwise muted scheme.

Conclusion
For decades now, the only kit of the Trident in this scale has been the 1C by Airfix. Thankfully, F-RSIN have come to the rescue of airliner modellers wanting to build the later 3B variant of the Trident and are to be commended on the release of very good kit. Lets hope that they continue adding to their growing range of airliners which will fill the gaps in many of our collections and, regardless of the minor issues mentioned above, I would recommend this kit to anyone wanting a Trident 3 in their fleet of classic airliners.

Review sample courtesy of Laurent at
F-RSIN


Text courtesy of Stringbag

[Viking]

Ah, no longer do we need to take 2 Airfix kits and start chopping them up!

I'm getting to quite like Laurents kits, like you say he does some great subjects that fill collection gaps. When I think back to Heathrow in the 70's it was always lines and lines of BEA Trident 1s, 2,s and 3's. Nostalgia eh?

[MikeW]

One of the few F-RSIN plastic kits I haven't built. They suit me, and my less than perfect skills well. One can't just shake the box and have it fall together, but one also doesn't have to scratch build a ton of stuff either to end up with a very nice looking 1/144 airliner.

Mike, you just cost me $35 - I think I need this one too.

Cheers,

Mike

[avro683]

Thanks for an excellent review chaps. I bought one recently but regrettably the lower tailplane was broken (i got a refund) but I would still like to own one. Hopefully the situation will be remedied soon. I didn't initially notice the age of the thread!

Edited March 22, 2015 by avro683