Jump to content

Airbus A300 Aerocondor Colombia ,Airfix kit renovated 1/144


Recommended Posts

This model is in my collection for a very long time.

I built it somewhere back in 1991/1993,not exactly sure what year in Lufthansa livery using the kits decals with punched through windows as per instructions.

All was handpainted and of course looked less than perfect,but I had great fun back then in building this Airbus.

 

Now a good 25+ years later this Airbus was still sitting in my vitrine,looking very worn out and dirty.

I thought for sometime to keep it that way as a reminder of my childhood modelling skills,or throw it away in order to make some space for newer models but I couldn't get over it.

 

So I decided to redo the model and give it some new life.

Carefully remove all the parts,strip off the old paint with Revell's paint remover....a tedious task...but in the end the model was clean enough to start repair and enhancement work.

 

All cracks and seams were refilled and sanded,the wing leading edges got their little fences,as Airfix does not provide them,they were made out of plasticcard.

The landing gear was replaced by a new complete set that I had in my spares box.

The decals are from Flight Path,pretty old but still in perfect condition.

The windows come from the Revell A330 kit as well as some details and the coroguard panels are from DACO.

 

Paints are from Revell (enamels) and Tamyia (acrylics) as I had to patch up some places around the nose and the Tamyia paints had been a perfect match.

 

Aerocondor Colombia was the first Airbus operator in latin america and received their first A300 in 1977.

It was planned to aquire a 2. A300 but due to some financial issues which lead to bankruptcy,only the "Ciudad de Barranquilla" flew in the colourful scheme of Aerocondor.

 

Here she is now in resplended shape.

 

 

spacer.png

 

 

spacer.png

 

spacer.png

 

spacer.png

 

spacer.png

 

Thats what she looked like before.Sorry for the picture quality but I took them on a short notice...

 

 

spacer.png

 

spacer.png

 

Edited by Alex1978
  • Like 30
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The old model looks good, too! 

 

That is an interesting project to rebuild or redo an old model.

 

The result is stunning! I have never heart of these decals before and the livery is very attractive. Nice work!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Absolutely superb result. One of the most colorful A-300's ever. One question: the only decal manufacturer that I am aware of that produced this scheme was Flight Path. Were they actually Flight Path decals?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, Hobo said:

Absolutely superb result. One of the most colorful A-300's ever. One question: the only decal manufacturer that I am aware of that produced this scheme was Flight Path. Were they actually Flight Path decals?

Thank you very much.

Yes,you are correct,these were Flight Path decals.I mixed them up with another set I bought together with them.Thank you

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Turbofan said:

Hi Alex,

Nice makeover! I'm also re-doing some old airliners at the moment so I can appreciate the work involved.

An unusual and colourful livery. 

Cheers,

Ian

 

Thank you very much Ian.

 

I find a redo is much more work than building a kit from start.But I enjoy the process and see a worn out kit coming back to life.

I hope to see your redos on BM soon as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's a beauty Alex. The A300 is one of Airfix's best airliners and it looks great in the Aerocondor livery. I don't think I've ever seen it on a model before.

 

I've done a few renovations over the years and I agree it's often more work than building a new model. I recently used Revell paint remover to strip an A321. I'd never tried it before and I was a bit surprised when the joint between the fuselage halves split apart, something I've never had happen with any other paint remover. I've put the model aside just now while I decide how (or whether) to continue with it.

 

Anyhow, thanks for sharing the A300.  Hope the cats are well. They have been conspicuous by their absence from your recent photos.

 

Dave G

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very nice work, indeed, Alex! I think its marvelous that you "canned" the idea of throwing her out, and decided to breathe new life into her. WOW! She looks absolutely stunning. I am doubly amazed that you didn't have large problems stripping her down, filling her in, sanding, and generally cussing through headaches as you went along. Was the plastic not brittle and did it not break and require repair during the process?? You are to be commended and I certainly have a great admiration for your work here. I had an opportunity a couple weeks ago at the show in Atlanta to buy one of these, still sealed in the box with the wrapping on for $20. Nope. Didn't do it. And I'm still kicking myself in the pants for it. Nice job! Thanks for sharing. Inspiring for sure. :star:

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great job and Aerocondor Colombia's colour scheme is one of the best . Their 720s and 707s in NMF and same stripes look something else too . I  collect 1970s Colombian  postcards by Banco Fotograficas Movifoto , Medellin postcards . five or six out of the 500 plus I've got show HK2057 on it's delivery to Enrique Olaya Herrera Airport , Medellin , Aerocondor's base . You'd never guess this model was a revamp , great job . Thanks for showing it off !

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Skodadriver said:

That's a beauty Alex. The A300 is one of Airfix's best airliners and it looks great in the Aerocondor livery. I don't think I've ever seen it on a model before.

 

I've done a few renovations over the years and I agree it's often more work than building a new model. I recently used Revell paint remover to strip an A321. I'd never tried it before and I was a bit surprised when the joint between the fuselage halves split apart, something I've never had happen with any other paint remover. I've put the model aside just now while I decide how (or whether) to continue with it.

 

Anyhow, thanks for sharing the A300.  Hope the cats are well. They have been conspicuous by their absence from your recent photos.

 

Dave G

Thank you very much Dave.Yes,I experienced the same problems with the Revell paint remover with other kits i had stripped.Some parts were not affected,some had become brittle as well or ,as you said,the glue didnt hold anymore.Apart from that,its ok and after a good wash,the pieces can ve glued together again.

The cats are fine and happy,thank you.I just cant get them interested anymore to take part in the photoshoots I guess.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, bzn20 said:

Great job and Aerocondor Colombia's colour scheme is one of the best . Their 720s and 707s in NMF and same stripes look something else too . I  collect 1970s Colombian  postcards by Banco Fotograficas Movifoto , Medellin postcards . five or six out of the 500 plus I've got show HK2057 on it's delivery to Enrique Olaya Herrera Airport , Medellin , Aerocondor's base . You'd never guess this model was a revamp , great job . Thanks for showing it off !

Thank you very much.I too like those Colombian airlines.They have/had such great schemes and also aircraft in service.Some of them still do.I wish I could visit that country once to take pics of those classics still flying

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Challenger350Pilot said:

Very nice work, indeed, Alex! I think its marvelous that you "canned" the idea of throwing her out, and decided to breathe new life into her. WOW! She looks absolutely stunning. I am doubly amazed that you didn't have large problems stripping her down, filling her in, sanding, and generally cussing through headaches as you went along. Was the plastic not brittle and did it not break and require repair during the process?? You are to be commended and I certainly have a great admiration for your work here. I had an opportunity a couple weeks ago at the show in Atlanta to buy one of these, still sealed in the box with the wrapping on for $20. Nope. Didn't do it. And I'm still kicking myself in the pants for it. Nice job! Thanks for sharing. Inspiring for sure. :star:

Thank you very much.I had absolutely no trouble with this one.The plastic held through the whole process.I had other experiences however with other kits though.This went well and the repaint was,apart from the masking process,nice n' easy.Too bad you didnt pick this kit up back then.But they show up sometimes on ebay and DACO has it still available on their website together with Garuda and TNT decals.Well worth a catch

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That is a great refurb Alex, it looks brand new. The way the decal has gone around the nose looks perfect, it's never easy to achieve that,

I've yet to build an Airfix A300 although I do have one in the stash along with some Flightpath Dan-Air decals. Could be coming out for building after seeing this beauty.

 

On 12/07/2019 at 22:31, Alex1978 said:

Now a good 25+ years later this Airbus was still sitting in my vitrine

(Wait till Mr Stringbag sees this, he's building one, and I think is planning to take 25+ years over it. :rofl2: )

 

Cheers

 

John

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 hours ago, Moa said:

So how many apartments do you have to store all those models?

Unfortunately only one...😉

But I still have display space in my cellar,which I changed into a hobbyroom.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Viking said:

That is a great refurb Alex, it looks brand new. The way the decal has gone around the nose looks perfect, it's never easy to achieve that,

I've yet to build an Airfix A300 although I do have one in the stash along with some Flightpath Dan-Air decals. Could be coming out for building after seeing this beauty.

 

(Wait till Mr Stringbag sees this, he's building one, and I think is planning to take 25+ years over it. :rofl2: )

 

Cheers

 

John

Thank you very much John.

I hope to see your Dan Air A300 here on BM ?

Ohh...😄 I hope Mr Stringbag will build it earlier than that.There are too few Airfix A300s here on BM

I have another unbuild in my stash,the US-Airfix issue with Eastern Airlines decals

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, Viking said:

(Wait till Mr Stringbag sees this, he's building one, and I think is planning to take 25+ years over it. :rofl2: )

Cheers

John

Very nicely done Alex.  Such a pretty colour scheme and I'm glad you took your time over it.

Don't take any notice of that nasty Viking fellow.  I hope his long-boat springs a leak next time he buggers off up a fjord.

 

Chris.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 years later...

I thought I would ressurect this thread after four years, purely to say that looking at it and this particular model was what persuaded me to get back into airliner modelling after 40 years.

 

Stunning model, stunning livery, just lovely.  If only I could get hold of a copy of these presumably long-deleted decals I'd have a go myself!

 

 

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Carlo1963 said:

I thought I would ressurect this thread after four years, purely to say that looking at it and this particular model was what persuaded me to get back into airliner modelling after 40 years.

 

Stunning model, stunning livery, just lovely.  If only I could get hold of a copy of these presumably long-deleted decals I'd have a go myself!

 

 

Thank you very much for your nice comment.

Glad this Airbus persuaded you to pick up modelling again😊

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...