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Zvezda 1:144


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  • 4 weeks later...

The cabin windows look a little too large to me. They appear too rounded compared to photos.

Purely academic if using decals but difficult to rectify if using the glazed option.

Chris.

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I think you're right, judging by the photos, but better too big (within reason) than too small. On the real aircraft, the width of the gap between the windows appears to be approximately the same, or very slightly greater, that the width of the windows. Still, if that's the only niggle, it's hardly a deal-breaker. Looks pretty good, otherwise. :)

Andrew

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On the real aircraft, the width of the gap between the windows appears to be approximately the same, or very slightly greater, that the width of the windows.

Andrew

Thats exactly what I thought Andrew.

Still, not a deal breaker as you say.

Chris.

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The outer wings definitely indicate a Sharklet option is possible. I'm not sure where they plan to make the changeover - there looks as if there's a break between the outboard flap and aileron but there also appears to be one at the real wing tip location. This is the point where the actual Sharklet is fitted.

Putting my professional hat on :smartass:, I also agree about the windows appearing to be too large. There look to be other issues though:

The APU inlet appears to be missing, It has a distinctive lip around it but the whole area under the tail in the photos is smooth. You can see the inlet and surround here:

http://www.airliners.net/photo/Air-France/Airbus-A320-211/0748262/L/&sid=797624512c09d252eefc677feb09d5b2

The prominent fuel pump wiring conduit covers forward of the Main Landing Gear wells are also absent. The V2500 nacelles also don't seem quite right but I'd need to see them first hand to be sure.

From first impressions it looks as if Zvezda spent the budget on the interior, the flaps and slats but overlooked the finer airframe details. Maybe there are extra parts not shown but so far I've a feeling the Revell kit still has life in it. We will have to wait and see...

Jonathan

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  • 5 weeks later...

Good to see an airliner model with everything hanging!! I rather like models in "dirty" configuration. I do wish more manufacturers would include this option. Obviously there would be trade off in respect of price & complexity but, I think the models would be so much more interesting as a result. Although I don't really like 1/144 scale, I'm a realist!! I dabble in airliners occasionally & there is a huge variety of colour schemes for the A320 series. I could certainly live with the minor "faults" noted above. In this small scale, they really aren't worth bothering about (in my view anyway). Now, if you could all excuse my ignorance, what do we mean by sharklets? Are we talking about these humungous winglets? This is the first time I've noticed any of the Airbus A319/320/321s with these

Allan042.jpg

Edited by Albeback52
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Yes, 'Sharklets' is the Airbus marketing name for winglets; they entered service about 18 months ago as a customer option. They're still relatively rare when you consider that of over 6000 A320 family aircraft in service, at the moment about 300 have Sharklets.

Kit instructions are here: http://www.zvezda.org.ru/images/sets/photoes/7003/Page-01.pdf and http://www.zvezda.org.ru/images/sets/photoes/7003/Page-02.pdf.

Definitely no in-kit option to update to Sharklets though. The extended landing gear for the in-flight option is a neat touch. You'll be able to use the unloaded nose leg to do take-off or landing dioramas. While they're nice to have, I think it's somewhat ironic that Zvezda have provided deployed flaps and slats but not the control surfaces that are actually deflected when the aircraft is parked at the gate!

The Aeroflot markings look good but there's one noticeable error on the decal sheet: the door surrounds for the L1 and R1 doors shouldn't be silver but blue, like those of the emergency exits. You can see this here: http://www.airliners.net/photo/Aeroflot---Russian/Airbus-A320-214/2427459/L/&sid=1cf0cec132b54c1cf1ef50523215b708 .

The ~£15 price listed on Zvezda's web site, isn't too bad considering the amount of extras compared to the Revell kit at a RRP of £12-99. Hannants currently are showing it at £19-99, hopefully they'll revise the price closer to Zvezda's level. If not I'm sure we'll be able to find it for less somewhere. It's a bit naughty to use the same code (7003) and nearly identical artwork to the old 1/125 scale Heller A320-100 issue though, someone could catch a cold with that.

It looks like a really nice kit. I'm looking forward to see it first hand.

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Ah yes. Note to self, engage brain before replying...

Just looked on the instruction PDFs again and they're on there too, but greyed out. Hopefully it means that they'll be included in the kit, but just not needed for the Aeroflot version.

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