Iberia A321 in 1/144

[Skodadriver]

I present the Revell A321 in the current colours of Iberia. Apart from replacement winglets and a few small details the build is OOB.

 

I have an ongoing, very long term project to build at least one aircraft from each of the current and former European national carriers and I had intended to finish the A321 in the classic Alitalia green stripe livery. Unfortunately when the F-DCAL decals eventually arrived they turned out to be completely the wrong shade of green, so much so that I considered them unusable. A search on the net failed to find an alternative source of decals for that livery but I noticed that 8A Decs had the new Iberia scheme for the A321. Iberia was also on my national carriers “to do” list so off went my order and it took a lot less time for the 8A decals to arrive from Mexico than the F-DCAL ones had taken from France.

 

The decals went on well.  They needed a bit of trimming around the tail, especially at the base of the fin, and a little adjustment around the rear doors but other than that there were no major fit issues. My only criticisms are the slightly over scale aircraft names and the omission of the nose gear door registrations neither being the end of the world. Stencils and detail decals including wing coroguard and replacement nose gear registrations came from the spares box and Authentic Airliners windows completed the ensemble. Paint is Halfords Appliance White and Holts HL Grey01 with Tamiya and Revell metallics.

 

Although the model didn’t end up as I had planned, I like the new Iberia livery and I think it suits the A321. I might be in a minority of one but I actually prefer it to the previous red, orange and yellow stripe scheme.

 

Thanks for looking and as always constructive criticism is welcome.

 

Dave G

 

 

 

 

[Alpha Delta 210]

Very smart! I like the livery as well - minimalist, but with a splash of colour.

[David Womby]

Very well done indeed.

 

David

[Viking]

Very tidy Dave, although I prefer them with a cheatline that one is quite a nice 'plain' scheme, and an improvement on that horrible scheme they previously used.

The sealing strip around the wing box is good, how did you do that?

 

Cheers

 

John

[RMCS]

Niiiice 

[stringbag]

Hi Dave.

That's very nice indeed even without a cheatline.

If it will help at all, I have some Alitalia decals intended for a DC-10.  The carrier film is a little discoloured, but the green and red areas look good to me.  Using the decals you already have, you could soon cut the required areas for an A320 out of the larger areas on a DC-10.

Drop me a line and I'll pop them in the post for you.

 

Chris.

[Graeme H]

Love that a lot, and another who wants to know how you did the WBF sealing strip

[Skodadriver]

16 hours ago, Viking said:

...

The sealing strip around the wing box is good, how did you do that?

 

 

10 hours ago, Graeme H said:

Love that a lot, and another who wants to know how you did the WBF sealing strip

 

John and Graeme, the sealing strip is a decal from an ancient Liveries Unlimited detail sheet. There used to be a similar and better decal on the detail sheet from DACO but it's out of print and there are no signs of Danny doing another run. I'm down to my last couple of LU sheets so I'll probably end up taking a scan and trying to print my own. PAS seem to be the only decal maker to include the sealing strip but they aren't consistent and it doesn't appear on some of their more recent releases.

 

10 hours ago, stringbag said:

Hi Dave.

That's very nice indeed even without a cheatline.

If it will help at all, I have some Alitalia decals intended for a DC-10.  The carrier film is a little discoloured, but the green and red areas look good to me.  Using the decals you already have, you could soon cut the required areas for an A320 out of the larger areas on a DC-10.

Drop me a line and I'll pop them in the post for you.

 

Chris.

 

That's a very kind offer Chris but I've decided that Alitalia will now be represented in my collection by a Caravelle and I've bought decals from Nick Webb which, needless to say, are the correct colour. I really don't know how F-DCAL got it so wrong - it's not as if Alitalia green stripe is an obscure livery!

 

Thanks everyone else for your comments and support.

 

Dave G

[newvall]

Very nice model Dave, it's a good idea to build "traditonal" companies planes, even I prefer ancient liveries.

About Alitalia,  B727 is the nicest in my opinion.

 

Alain

[Valkyrie]

That looks real!! Great job 

[stringbag]

12 hours ago, Skodadriver said:

That's a very kind offer Chris but I've decided that Alitalia will now be represented in my collection by a Caravelle and I've bought decals from Nick Webb which, needless to say, are the correct colour. I really don't know how F-DCAL got it so wrong - it's not as if Alitalia green stripe is an obscure livery!

 

Dave G

No problem Dave.

 

All the best.

Chris.

[FortyEighter]

Hi Dave

 

You've achieved another great looking airliner!

 

I was going to ask about the wing seals but as I read down the thread I got the answer - they look very realistic.  I wonder if it might be possible to use a very fine "Sharpie" pen to do the seals??

 

Regards

 

Mike

[Challenger350Pilot]

Quite nice, Dave! And you are right, the livery suits the A321 just perfectly. I really like the detail on the wings...did you paint the coroguard, or are the wings decaled?

[Eric B.]

Hi, 

 

That is a seriously sharp model we have here...

That is a very nice A321 you did here, well built, detailed, painted and decaled and to add on this the 3D effect on the windows and windshiels really make it look like real.

 

Great job. 

 

Eric B.

[Skodadriver]

7 hours ago, FortyEighter said:

Hi Dave

 

You've achieved another great looking airliner!

 

I was going to ask about the wing seals but as I read down the thread I got the answer - they look very realistic.  I wonder if it might be possible to use a very fine "Sharpie" pen to do the seals??

 

Regards

 

Mike

 

Thanks Mike. I did wonder about some kind of "sharpie" but I think a very sharp lead pencil might be better. The Liveries Unlimited decal is actually a little "heavy" (look at a photo of the real aircraft and you'll see what I mean) and the DACO one was finer and neater. I really wish Danny would print another run but there's no sign of that. I have another A321 about to go into the paint shop and when it eventually emerges I'll probably do a bit of experimentation.

 

6 hours ago, Challenger350Pilot said:

Quite nice, Dave! And you are right, the livery suits the A321 just perfectly. I really like the detail on the wings...did you paint the coroguard, or are the wings decaled?

 

Thanks. The coroguard on this model is a decal from an ancient Brazil Decals sheet which I'd forgotten I had until I came across it when I was looking for something else. The A320/1 coroguard decals from DACO, Liveries Unlimited and Scaleliners are all a poor fit on the Revell kit. Masking and spraying is less bother than trying to make them fit. However apart from needing a little bit shaved off the inboard and outboard edges the Brazil Decals coroguard fitted well. I don't know when they changed but Airbus no longer use coroguard - they now use a product called Aeroflex which is RAL 7004 (Signal Grey) in colour. For a model of a newer prototype I would mask and spray with Revell 374 but the real EC-IXD is 15 years old and I was quite happy to use the coroguard decal.

[Turbofan]

Hi Dave,

Wow this really is a top result! I love the sheen you've achieved on the fuselage, is it Johnson's Klear? And is that a little subtle weathering highlighting the panel lines on the belly I can see?

To begin with I didn't like the current Iberia livery but having seen an Iberia Express A320 at Las Palmas for the first time yesterday I'd say it's growing on me. They should've added some red and yellow on the winglets though. I'm considering modelling one too.

I'd agree with you about the use of a sharp pencil rather than a fine  sharpie  marker which I don't think would be fine enough.

I know you have decided to model a Caravelle in the wide green cheatline Alitalia livery but if you change your mind I can recommend the Welsh Models A321 decal if you can find one. It was a custom print by Liveries Unlimited and is, IMHO, spot on.

Cheers,

Ian

[Skodadriver]

11 hours ago, Turbofan said:

Hi Dave,

Wow this really is a top result! I love the sheen you've achieved on the fuselage, is it Johnson's Klear? And is that a little subtle weathering highlighting the panel lines on the belly I can see?

.....

I know you have decided to model a Caravelle in the wide green cheatline Alitalia livery but if you change your mind I can recommend the Welsh Models A321 decal if you can find one. It was a custom print by Liveries Unlimited and is, IMHO, spot on.

Cheers,

Ian

Thanks for your generous comments Ian

 

I almost never use Klear or any other top coat. The A321 is just plain Appliance White buffed up with Micromesh. I did try a little weathering but as I've said before I adhere to the "less is more" school and I'm surprised and gratified that you've picked it up!

 

I remember building the Welsh Models A321 in the dim and distant past and using that sheet but it's a very long time since I saw it. It was lovely as I remember it. If for any reason the Caravelle doesn't work out I have a couple of sets of Alitalia decals in the stash so the classic green stripe will be represented in one form or other. 

 

Dave

[Gimme Shelter]

What a fantastic and nicely presented 321. The 3D front decals really do help transform a model and help the imagination bring the model to life

[Alex1978]

Superb build and finish Dave.

The A321 really looks great in that simple but effective livery.

I recently started on some Revell Airbuses and I found them quite worn out with lots of excess plastic and sinkmarks.I was a bit shocked as I must admit,so I if they will turn out only half as good as your example I will be satisfied.

 

Alex

[Skodadriver]

On 4/9/2019 at 10:21 PM, Alex1978 said:

Superb build and finish Dave.

The A321 really looks great in that simple but effective livery.

I recently started on some Revell Airbuses and I found them quite worn out with lots of excess plastic and sinkmarks.I was a bit shocked as I must admit,so I if they will turn out only half as good as your example I will be satisfied.

 

Alex

 

Thanks Alex. I know what you mean about the worn moulds but I'd rather have the Revell Airbuses with a bit of flash and a few sink marks than not have them at all. The A321 kit I used was the original Lufthansa issue which came out in 1999. It had probably been in my stash for about 17-18 years so the moulds were still in good condition!

[Rb277170]

Saw it in the flesh at Perth, terrific , along with the rest of Dave’s collection. Really outstanding . Bristol Freighter to A350 . Superb. Thanks for the tips on navigating website looking for airliners. As you can see i’m Using it to good effect. 

Edited April 28, 2019 by Rb277170

[Kingswear1]

Just like the real thing!!

[Roman Schilhart]

Ouh, that turned out really nice.

I like the different metal shades on the wings!