Jump to content

A319 Airbus. Frontier 'Perry' Puffin


Recommended Posts

1:144 Revel Airbus A319.

Frontier Airlines 'Perry' Puffin by Draw Decals


Perry6_zpsdf0f43ff.jpg

Another addition to my Frontier fleet!
This is 'Perry' the Puffin recently released by Draw Decals, and reviewed Here As soon as i saw it I knew I had to have this sheet.
The A319 kit is the Revell 'British Airways' edition, and makes up fairly easily into a nice littte model. The only changes I made were to cut out from plasticard a pair of slightly larger winglets, as those in the kit are slightly undersized. I also made a 'DirecTV' receiver from plasticard. It's that lump on top of the fuselage above the 'T'. You could still make an accurate model without it, as Perry was delivered without it fitted.

The decals are 'Digital Silk' printed on continuous film, so you need to cut out each design and apply it. I cut the big 'FRONTIER' billboards into two, so I had 'FRONT' and 'IER' and applied them seperately, but at the same time just to ease handling a big decal. Not strictly necessary, but it gave me a little less to concentrate on as they were applied in turn. It is good advice to read Draw's application instructions, and use hot water and a cloth to press the decals down, as the heat helps soften the inks. Perry himself is beautifully printed, very colourful and looks like a photo on the tail.


Perry11_zpsfe1add58.jpg


Perry8_zps878dc910.jpg


Perry15_zpsd0003013.jpg


Perry14_zpsbfe2b1d1.jpg


Perry12_zps5561c01b.jpg


I have a liking for Frontiers livery, and can't stop building them! Each aircraft features a different wildlife subject and has a unique name. So far I have (left to right) A318 'Stu' the rabbit, A319 'Perry' the puffin, and A319 'Chloe' the fawn.

Perry17_zpsc1c2fefd.jpg


Perry16_zps2b7904f1.jpg


Frontier also operate Airbus A320's, but I haven't got one of those............so as soon as Draw Decals release one..... :whistle: .....I can see it being added to the line up!

Thanks for looking

John
  • Like 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice work! Looks really good. Love the animal designs on the tail, I've never really had much interest in civil aircraft but they make me want to buy one :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's a lovely A319 John. I too love Frontier's livery and I'm planning to build one of their minibuses in the future.

I was wondering where did you find dimensions for the LiveTV radome. I'm working on a 739 that needs one but couldn't find the correct dimensions...

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you all for the comments!

That's a lovely A319 John. I too love Frontier's livery and I'm planning to build one of their minibuses in the future.
I was wondering where did you find dimensions for the LiveTV radome. I'm working on a 739 that needs one but couldn't find the correct dimensions...
Any information would be greatly appreciated.


Peter, I struggled to find anything! In the end I have made my best approximation from looking at loads of photos on the net. I concluded that it is a basic teardrop shape, kind of aerofoil in profile, and flattened at the rear end. Length is about 3 windows long.
I made it from 2 roughly shaped plasicard cut-outs, glued one on top of the other and left to dry for a couple of days, then sanded it to a neater shape. I made the underside concave simply by wrapping some fine wet & dry paper around the fuselage and sanding the part on that until it matched. Once firmly glued to the fuselage top, final sanding & shaping was done. I think this one is a touch too tall still, so I might reduce it a little.

One other tip I forgot to mention was cutting out the big 'FRONTIER' billboards. I photocopied the sheet and cut the copies out and Blu tacked them on the fuselage. Then ran a cocktail stick along where they overlapped the top surface of the wing, putting a nice sharp crease in them. This was then cut out with a sharp knife, and the copies placed on top of the actual decal as a template to remove the wing section from them.
You can also ignore this, and just put them on the fuselage and trim them in place, but I think this method is easier.
I still have the paper copies, but didn't take any photos of the process at the time;
Perry18_zps8e37fe5a.jpg

Very good John.

You have to build Mickey Moose next! http://www.shopdrawdecal.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=44-A3N-68

I just looked and they have 35 different A319s, and 19 different A320s. I hope for your sake Draw dont do them all!

Julien


Don't tempt me Julien, I'm easily swayed!

Interestingly they have changed from 'FRONTIER' bilboards to 'FlyFRONTIER.com'. I wonder If I should do one of these?
Frontiers own website shows their current set of tail designs. I don't think I'd have enough shelf space even if Draw produced the whole set!

Cheers

John

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you all for the comments!

Peter, I struggled to find anything! In the end I have made my best approximation from looking at loads of photos on the net. I concluded that it is a basic teardrop shape, kind of aerofoil in profile, and flattened at the rear end. Length is about 3 windows long.

I made it from 2 roughly shaped plasicard cut-outs, glued one on top of the other and left to dry for a couple of days, then sanded it to a neater shape. I made the underside concave simply by wrapping some fine wet & dry paper around the fuselage and sanding the part on that until it matched. Once firmly glued to the fuselage top, final sanding & shaping was done. I think this one is a touch too tall still, so I might reduce it a little.

Cheers

John

Thank you John. I'm using the same method but couldn't find the right proportions yet. Guess I'll have to experiment a bit more.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi John

This model along with the collection look superb - I love them - I have learned something from your post too today. I have flown on a BA 319 down to Gibraltar today from heathrow and while we were boarding using external steps from the coach, a BA 747 400 was being towed past us just about 10 metres away from her wing tips and I noticed a bulge on the top of the fuselage which I did not recognise from my past interest in 747s - so now I know that the bump was the DirecTV blimp - I will log that as today's good learn!!! - top marks again for building, sharing and tweaking to a masterpiece

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...