Jump to content

1/144 Trident 3B British Airways


Recommended Posts

The generous response to my Lao Central SSJ-100 has encouraged me to post another RFI, this time the F-RSIN Trident 3B. I usually have five or six builds at different stages but for some reason I tend to finish them in pairs. The Trident was the other half of the pair with the SSJ.

 

I used the plastic version of the kit which went together well. F-RSIN have really caught the character of the aircraft, particularly the kink in the wing and the various lumps and bumps underneath. The only accuracy point I picked up was the shape of the centre intake which was too sharply triangular compared to photographs. Plastic strip, superglue and Milliput plus a few minutes of carving and filing took care of that.

 

To my eyes the cabin window decals look slightly too big but unless you take the expensive option of sacrificing a TwoSix sheet there really isn’t a suitable replacement. I sourced alternative “British” titles to align better with the windows but I'm still not 100% happy. They came from an old Flightpath sheet intended (I think) for a Tristar.

 

The registration had to be G-AWZJ on which I had my one and only Trident flight (GLA-LHR) shortly before she retired in 1985. It’s also the only time I’ve flown in a rear-facing seat, a strange experience rather like being on an airborne train. Since I’d never previously been on a Trident I was unfamiliar with the aircraft’s idiosyncrasies and I still remember getting slightly concerned by the length of the take-off run at Glasgow and the looming possibility of a very large splash in the Black Cart Water. Needless to say Zulu Juliet unstuck in her own good time and the rest of the short flight was great. Happy memories!

 

Thanks for looking and as always constructive criticism is welcome.

 

http://35795826282_c62168d6f4_k.jpgSAM_0127 by David Griffiths, on Flickr

 

http://35577518890_51fe253115_k.jpgSAM_0130 by David Griffiths, on Flickr

 

http://35577517680_9e7d5dd2ba_k.jpgSAM_0122 by David Griffiths, on Flickr

 

http://35577516270_d939243fbe_k.jpgSAM_0124 by David Griffiths, on Flickr

Edited by Skodadriver
F'n' Photobucket!
  • Like 30
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can't remeber much of my last Trident flight, from Heathrow to Glasgow. What I do remember is sitting at the rear of the plane with my mate and helping the staff reduce their stock of miniatures, My carry-on luggage was much heavier leaving the aircraft! Thank god I had transport picking me up.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice work, great to see it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice Gripper, don't see many of these built.

Like you, I thought the center intake was too triangular on mine, and used plastic strip & milliput to reshape it. Looks like you got it spot on,

Cheers

John

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I really enjoy F-Rsin, although I have never built their Trident. Awesome job here. Nice exhaust stains too, very subtle.

I build the same way you do - multiple on the go, then suddenly three to six all finished in the same fortnight. Glad to see I'm not the only one doing it that way.

Cheers,

Mike

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks everybody for your kind comments which I really appreciate. If nothing else I hope I can encourage more people to have a shot at F-RSIN kits. They've come a long way in the last few years and offer some subjects (like the Trident 3) which aren't available anywhere else.

Can't remeber much of my last Trident flight, from Heathrow to Glasgow. What I do remember is sitting at the rear of the plane with my mate and helping the staff reduce their stock of miniatures, My carry-on luggage was much heavier leaving the aircraft! Thank god I had transport picking me up.

:thumbsup: The good old days of the Shuttle!

Very nice! I am half way through my first civil aircraft, a BAC 1-11 and it's given me a new appreciation of theses old lovely aircraft.

Good luck with the 1-11. Which kit are you using?

Nice model! This airframe has been preserved at the Dumfries and Galloway Aviation Museum since 1999... but it's only half a fuselage.

I suppose it's a better fate than being ripped apart at Heathrow as happened to most of the fleet. I remember Zulu Juliet as the Prestwick fire trainer but I haven't seen her at Dumfries. Must make a trip sometime.

Edited by Skodadriver
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I really enjoy F-Rsin, although I have never built their Trident. Awesome job here. Nice exhaust stains too, very subtle.

I build the same way you do - multiple on the go, then suddenly three to six all finished in the same fortnight. Glad to see I'm not the only one doing it that way.

Cheers,

Mike

Thank Mike. Tridents were, of course, notoriously dirty towards the end and I had to fight down the temptation to overdo the exhaust staining. In my experience less is usually more when it comes to weathering and I'm glad you approve!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I suppose it's a better fate than being ripped apart at Heathrow as happened to most of the fleet. I remember Zulu Juliet as the Prestwick fire trainer but I haven't seen her at Dumfries. Must make a trip sometime.

You mean like this... I remember as a kid being picked up by my dad, being held up to the fence and being asked how many I could count so he could log them for me. This is his photo too..

15268085936_938c90f6a6_c.jpgG-AWZK AND G-AWZO by stage1uk, on Flickr

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

You mean like this... I remember as a kid being picked up by my dad, being held up to the fence and being asked how many I could count so he could log them for me. This is his photo too..

Poor things .... :( I like your dad's photo and at least it shows them still intact.

They nearly all ended up like this: http://www.airteamimages.com/hawker-siddeley-trident_G-AWYZ_british-airways_199141_large.html

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very nice model, of an interesting aircraft.

Jet Age Museum, Staverton has the cockpit section of G-AWZU another BA Trident 3,

formerly long term resident of Stanstead Fire Dump.

https://www.facebook.com/100374323379961/photos/ms.c.eJwzNTU3NzAwMzWwtACS5nqmEL6JORAZG5nA~_KYmxobGlpYGAOaUCZY~-.bps.a.554898011260921/557700647647324/?type=1&theater

To show people what a Trident actually looks like, I've got an Airfix model,

and applied a thin black lacquer everywhere except the bit we've actually got.

Edited by theplasticsurgeon
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interesting detail on the top of G-AWYZ tailplane. Wouldn't normally see that.

Yes indeed. I tried to replicate it on the model with plain white decal stripe but it looked wrong so I just left it off. If somebody comes up with a source for white dotted decal lines please let me know!

I don't like to dwell on crashes or other mishaps but it does sometimes happen that you pick up useful details from pictures of aircraft that have had bad things happen to them.

Edited by Skodadriver
Link to comment
Share on other sites

thats a lovely job you have done there, nice to see a trident on here, can just hear the wonderful rasping crackle of those speys climbing out of heathrow. what great times they were.

Having never flown in one the crackle's what I most associate with the Trident. It seems to have been characteristic of the type. I wonder what caused it.

I recall (I think) the 1Cs at Dublin in those days, when you could still see the odd HP Herald, as well as an engineless Bahamas World 707.

Edited by JosephLalor
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks again to everyone who has commented so generously.

thats a lovely job you have done there, nice to see a trident on here, can just hear the wonderful rasping crackle of those speys climbing out of heathrow. what great times they were.

Having never flown in one the crackle's what I most associate with the Trident. It seems to have been characteristic of the type. I wonder what caused it.

I recall (I think) the 1Cs at Dublin in those days, when you could still see the odd HP Herald, as well as an engineless Bahamas World 707.

One thing I remember from my single Trident flight was how quiet the aircraft was inside. It was also very comfortable and stable on what was a rather gusty and turbulent day.

In the early 1980s I used to spot quite regularly at Glasgow Airport, usually in a car park just off Greenock Road beside the bridge over the Black Cart Water and near the north end of the main runway. When aircraft were taking off towards the north they passed almost directly overhead and a fully laden Trident 3B with all three and a half engines at full cry was quite an experience. I also remember the crackle - it was unique to the Trident which sounded completely different from the pre-hushkit 1-11s even though they both used the Spey.

  • Like 1
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...