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Revell Airbus A319 British Airways A319 1/144


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I wasn’t planning on doing this until after Christmas but it seemed to be calling me from it’s box under my desk!  Indeed, I seem to have something of an aircraft factory going on with a 1/390 747 and a 1/72 Spitfire also at various stages of construction, although I will go straight to an RFI with those.

 

So far I have filled the windows with Superfine Milliput, installed the cockpit window, glued the two fuselage halves, the wings and a few other tedious things such as the usual filling, sanding, priming...

 

so, what do we have:

 

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Generated from my Apple iPad using tools.rackonly.com

 

Two main sprues and a clear sprue containing the cockpit glazing and lights.  Absolute ton of flash.  Some of it so bad it’s hard to see where the flash ends and the molded part begins.

 

With a lot of tedious cleanup I was ready to begin.  Windows filled with Milliput.  I rolled up some sausages and pushed them through from the inside.  Once cured for an hour I sliced them flush and then sanded further once the Milliput had dried fully overnight.

 

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Generated from my Apple iPad using tools.rackonly.com

 

With that done it was all glued together with some weight in the front courtesy of some bolts.  There was a bit of misalignment in the top part of the fuselage but with a bit of manipulation and gluing in parts with Tamiya Extra Thin I got it close.  Scraping and sanding and a touch of filler has got it nearly right but I’ll need to do a bit more work including rescribing.  Thankfully, I now have a tool for that!

 

Next post will show how she is so far...

 

Edited by BluesModeller
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Now primed and ready for further work. Some spots need extra filler / sanding but not too bad.  Also, some scribing needs doing but I don’t want the panel lines to be too obvious.  Still very new to modelling and my weathering, highlighting shading skills are none existent.  This will be a ‘factory fresh’ aircraft I think!

 

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Generated from my Apple iPad using tools.rackonly.com

 

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Generated from my Apple iPad using tools.rackonly.com

 

I reshaped some of the nose and the area above the cockpit glazing.  The kit has it moulded round and smooth but a quick look at images online shows this not to be the case.

 

It can clearly be seen in this image here:

 

http://www.airliners.net/photo/Lufthansa/Airbus-A319/1695941

 

I’ve also sanded off some of those lines / strips on the radomes which will need to be rebuilt somehow...

 

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Generated from my Apple iPad using tools.rackonly.com

 

39067492132_a2411d3436_z.jpg
Generated from my Apple iPad using tools.rackonly.com

 

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Generated from my Apple iPad using tools.rackonly.com

 

Will do more work tomorrow then hit it with some Halfords appliance white.

 

Oh... Almost forgot...

 

Got rid of the canoe like flap fairing but I believe I need to fill some lines on the wings.  Can anyone fill me in on which ones?

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That's a good start, looks very tidy. I think the Revell A320 family still stands up very well against the recent Zvezda versions.

 

Good catch on the A321 flap fairings, a fair few people miss this even though the instructions highlight the need to remove them. Here's my little guide on the corrections needed to the wing. The same lines should also be filled on the upper surface of the flaps. The upper aileron outline is correct.

 

488550b9-70e1-42ec-b0cf-39dc96409c6b.jpg

 

If you haven't already, I'd also recommend you get a set of the Bra.Z Wing Tip Fences, https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/BZ4063. The kit ones are woefully undersized and should really be replaced (Bra.Z on the left):

 

a1e5a723-4215-4a52-8f64-b107c0bccb9a.jpg

 

Looking forward to your next update.

 

HTH,

 

Jonathan

 

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An alternative to the BraZ winglets, which aren't always available when you need them, is the detail decal set from DACO which includes etched brass winglets.  These can either be used as intended or as templates to make correctly sized winglets from thin plastic sheet.

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Thanks for the replies and info chaps!

 

think I will change those winglets...  May have a go at scratchbuilding them but will look into the aftermarket ones.

 

Just had another look at the fuselage window and cockpit decals.  They are just frames with the glazing section clear.  Thought they were filled in for some reason.  I can create a mask for the cockpit and colour the window or even scrape the primer off and polish up the clear part.  Not sure what to do with the fuselage ones.  They will wind up being white but at this scale that may not be all that bad.

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Hi,

Your build is looking good so far. With respect to the windows I must recommend these

https://www.authentic-airliner-decals.de/epages/17895661.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/17895661/Products/D144-A4 they really will give your model the most realistic look, failing that I have plenty of grey windows I can send you if you pm me your address. Just white behind the frames will be very noticeable even at this scale

Cheers,

Ian

 

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5 hours ago, Turbofan said:

Hi,

Your build is looking good so far. With respect to the windows I must recommend these

https://www.authentic-airliner-decals.de/epages/17895661.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/17895661/Products/D144-A4 they really will give your model the most realistic look, failing that I have plenty of grey windows I can send you if you pm me your address. Just white behind the frames will be very noticeable even at this scale

Cheers,

Ian

 

I like the look of those...  Probably going to be after Christmas / New Year before I get to that stage now...  Not sure i’d trust these kind of things in the post right now.

 

Will have a think as there is (thankfully) a number of options.

 

In other news I have started re-modelling the rear exhaust / APU / Backside thingy and have filled a few areas with Tippex.  Never used it before so I’ll later find out whether that was a dumb move or not!

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Filling areas with Tipp-Ex worked ok but it’s not great to scribe into.  Also tried rebuilding the raised lines on the nose cone but proved too much of a challenge on that shape.  Scribed them instead.  Halfords Appliance White seems quite thick so the grooves shouldn’t stand out too much.

 

So lots of sanding, shaping, filling, micro-meshing, scribing...  I can still see some tiny errors but once the paint and decals are on they shouldn’t stand out too much.  Hopefully!

 

The rear exhaust has been rebuilt by showing a small piece of sprue into the rear and then drilling it out.  Not perfect but better than the weird mess that existed there before.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Haven’t given up on this....

 

Christmas and waiting for decals have meant this bird has sat on the production line for a couple of weeks.

 

Last night I did some more sanding and making sure everything looks right.  I’ll give it a final coat of primer later and am hoping it doesn’t show up any other flaws that can’t be hidden by a coat of paint.

 

The decals have arrived today for this and my A380.  They look great, so big thanks to 26 Decals!

 

Going to fashion the winglets myself.  While away from that stage though.

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  • 5 weeks later...

Well this went to sh.....!

 

Had the fuselage painted and the blue bottom looking pretty good. Pleased as punch.

 

Tiny bit of blue seeped under the tape at the front so I decided to carefully scrape it off.  Not carefully enough as it happens and I took some white with it exposing the grey primer.  What followed was a comedy of errors leading from a tiny spot no one would notice to a ruined kit.

 

biggest issue was when re spraying I masked off the now resprayed Halfords Appliance White for the blue.  When I peeled the tape away the tape had reacted with the white paint destroying the finish!

 

Why, why, why!!?!?!

 

the paint had days to dry and it didn’t do it first time around so what changed?

 

Had it soak in various solutions for a while but the paint is bomb proof.  I have another one on order from Amazon.  Thankfully it’s cheap!

 

Think i’ll turn this into a freight carrier or something.  Or bin it!

 

So much for a stress free hobby... I can’t seem to get anything done right since completing the Titanic.

 

Sorry for the rant... I know it’s all part of the learning curve...

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25 minutes ago, Romeo Alpha Yankee said:

Mate, this happens to me all the time :D

 

:)

 

I’m still confused as to why my girlfriend didn’t tut, raise her eyebrows and complain about money down the drain when I told her i’m ordering a new kit...  She must be getting used to it!

 

After a lot of reading it looks like I didn’t leave the paint to cure long enough.  Next time i’ll do the white and leave it fo at least a week.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Starting work on my second attempt.

 

the lines on the front of the nose cone are poorly moulded, resulting in some of them being barely visible.

 

I managed to sand them off on the first one and tried to scribe them back in.  The results weren’t great.

 

so...  Should I leave them as is, sand them away or try to repair them, and if so, how?

 

Your thoughts are greatly appreciated!

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6 hours ago, BluesModeller said:

Should I leave them as is, sand them away or try to repair them, and if so, how?

You could sand them off completely then reconstruct them with some stretched sprue. I think the moulded ones are over scale anyway.

Cheers,

Ian

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  • 4 months later...
On 04/07/2018 at 02:12, Romeo Alpha Yankee said:

How's this build going, did you finish it?

Good timing...!

 

Haven’t had much time for model making or anything else for a while but i’m finally getting back into it.

 

The A319 is at the stage where I have done the white on the fuselage.  Halfords gloss appliance and I made sure to be patient and build it up with thin coats rather than blast it.

 

It’s been three days since I sprayed it but the paint still feels slightly tacky.  Going to micromesh it when it’s cured.  The question is how long to leave it?  Can says upto 2 weeks before rubbing it down but I don’t want to wait that long.  Hoping to do it Friday or Saturday so I can get on with airbrushing the wings and underbelly.

 

Not looking forward to masking for the blue again.  That is as far as I got last time.

 

Meanwhile, whilst waiting for the paint to cure i’ve started a 1/700 Bismarck I got for Fathers Day and am making progress on a Spitfire.

 

Plenty to do... So little time...

Edited by BluesModeller
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Nice to hear you are back into all forms of the modelling. I am not sure how long to leave the white, if it is still tacky maybe leave it the 2 weeks to be sure. I have made a mess when not leaving paint to cure long enough. Best to be better safe than sorry.

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10 hours ago, Romeo Alpha Yankee said:

Nice to hear you are back into all forms of the modelling. I am not sure how long to leave the white, if it is still tacky maybe leave it the 2 weeks to be sure. I have made a mess when not leaving paint to cure long enough. Best to be better safe than sorry.

Decided to brave it yesterday.  Seems to have dried pretty quick in this heat.  Need to decant a little for touch ups.  Was a bit vigorous micromeshing the underbelly but that will have blue paint on it so I got away with that.

 

May do the  wings today and post a pic...

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  • 1 year later...

Finally, an update!
 

On the final stretch and applying decals.  A lot of errors - many my own and many with this particular kit - but I’m still Fairly happy with how it’s turning out.

 

A319 Build

 

A319 Build

 

A319 Build

 

A319 Build


The blue is Vallejo Model Air French Blue.  The wings are a mix of Model Air colours but can’t remember which ones off the top of my head.  revell Aqua Color is also used and the white is Halfords Appliance White.

 

May be decalling for a while and then there’s the undercarriage but not far off now...

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Hi,

Yes I agree it is a nice shade of blue, I shall have to remember that one in case I do any current BA planes in the future.

With your first aborted kit I recommend using this from B&Q it's great stuff and so quick and easy to use and yes it works on car paint!

https://www.diy.com/departments/home-strip-paint-stripper-0-5l/254572_bq.prd

Seems expensive but it'll do loads of models!

Cheers,

Ian

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58 minutes ago, Back in the Saddle said:

Looking great! I’m making a note of that paint; it looks spot on for BA blue...👍

Thank you!  It sprays great and goes on smooth.  Good for an airbrush novice like me!

1 hour ago, phildagreek said:

Looks good, nice shade of blue.

Thank you!

1 hour ago, Turbofan said:

Hi,

Yes I agree it is a nice shade of blue, I shall have to remember that one in case I do any current BA planes in the future.

With your first aborted kit I recommend using this from B&Q it's great stuff and so quick and easy to use and yes it works on car paint!

https://www.diy.com/departments/home-strip-paint-stripper-0-5l/254572_bq.prd

Seems expensive but it'll do loads of models!

Cheers,

Ian

I’ll have to remember that one.  I still have the model so I’m tempted to strip it down and do another in time.  But, it will have to be one with the CF!-56 engines as I used both of the V5200’s. Don’t ask!!!
 

Got the tail decals done on one side.  Now just trying to get it to conform to the shape of the rear cone.  Liberal amounts of Micro Sol don’t seem to be helping.

 

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