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Thomas Cook "Sunny Heart" A321 in 1/144


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I present the Revell A321 in the current livery of Thomas Cook. I liked the old blue scheme and I wasn’t sure about the yellow/grey when it was first introduced but it has definitely grown on me.

 

The model is OOB apart from BraZ sharklets and a couple of small fairings . White paint is Halfords, Airbus Grey is Holts HL Grey01 and medium grey on the rear fuselage is Humbrol 128. The engines are Revell Aqua 310 Lufthansa Yellow with a tiny spot of 371 Light Grey just to take the “edge” off the yellow. Aeroflex on the wings is Revell Aqua 374 and metallics are by Tamiya and Revell.

 

Decals are by RJS supplemented with detail decals from the kit sheet and the spares box. RJS helpfully provide decals for the yellow fuselage flash and the dark grey sections on the fin, fuselage and sharklets which saves some tricky masking and spraying. You even get a choice of long or short decals for the sharklets. The decals are screen printed except for the actual “hearts” which are laser prints. RJS also thoughtfully provide separate white backings for the hearts in case the modeller prefers to paint the dark grey but I went with the decals. Despite being designed for the Zvezda kit they fitted the Revell fin and fuselage well apart from a tiny gap on the fin leading edge. There was a bit of a mismatch between the decals and the BraZ sharklets (I suspect the sharklets are a fraction narrow) and in hindsight it would definitely have been easier to paint them. However I got there in the end even if it meant using Tamiya Extra Thin Cement (!) as a decal solvent.

 

The only downside of the decals is that the windows and doors are printed across the main titles instead of being separate as on most silkscreen decals. For a consistent appearance I had to apply all the RJS windows then overlay them with Authentic Airliners frameless windows. Inevitably the spacing was fractionally out and I ended up applying the AA windows in pairs, a fiddly job I really could have done without. Anyhow, that minor grump aside the decals are beautifully printed, robust and supported by comprehensive instructions. An excellent product which I heartily recommend; I just wish RJS’s range was bigger.

 

Thanks for looking and as always constructive criticism is welcome.

 

Dave G

 

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Hi Dave,

Another winner from your workbench!

Like you I wasn't sure about the new livery but it's definitely grown on me. I see these all the time here at MAN as well as their A330s one of which I plan to model using the RJS decal. I'm a big fan of RJS decals.

Just a quick query, which colour do you use for your tyres?

Cheers,

Ian

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That is a cracking model Dave, and in a scheme I’d really like to do but wasn’t sure where to get the decals from. Making me want to do more now 👍🏻. Well done again 😃 and thank you for sharing.

 

Alistair

Edited by Scotsman07
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1 hour ago, Turbofan said:

....

Just a quick query, which colour do you use for your tyres?

Cheers,

Ian

 

Thanks Ian. It's a while since I painted the wheels but I almost always use Revell Aqua 78 Panzergrau for tyres.

 

1 hour ago, Scotsman07 said:

... wasn’t sure where to get the decals from. ...

 

Alistair

 

Thanks Alistair. I came across RJS Decals by chance a couple of years ago. This is the second time I've used one of Richard's sheets (the first time was a Flybe Q400) and I really am most impressed. Unfortunately the entire range only extends to six sheets covering three airlines plus a set of corroguard for the A380. If enough of us buy his products I hope he might be tempted to do some more.

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14 minutes ago, Skodadriver said:

 

Thanks Ian. It's a while since I painted the wheels but I almost always use Revell Aqua 78 Panzergrau for tyres.

 

 

Thanks Alistair. I came across RJS Decals by chance a couple of years ago. This is the second time I've used one of Richard's sheets (the first time was a Flybe Q400) and I really am most impressed. Unfortunately the entire range only extends to six sheets covering three airlines plus a set of corroguard for the A380. If enough of us buy his products I hope he might be tempted to do some more.

I had a look at the website, it’s my birthday next week so might get a set of the Flybe E195 decals and make one of those. Where did you find the kit for the Q400 as I’d love to do a model of that? Hopefully he may be tempted to extend his range, as they look like excellent quality decals.

 

Alistair

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That’s a lovely looking A321 (says the Boeing driver😱!). I’m another late convert to this scheme, but like you, it’s really grown on me.

Another vote too, for the excellent RJS decals. I built a Jet2 737-800 using them and it now has pride of place at home.

Richard

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Hello Dave,

 

finally another Airliner model to enjoy! I like the model, I like the livery, I like the window decals! 

 

I was not Aware of the Variety of decals by this brand, I find the ERJ 195 very attractive.

 

btw, I did not know that Panzergrau is allowed to be used on Aircraft models...tz tz tz..(german Humor, sorry)

 

Thanks for sharing!

 

Norbert

 

 

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That's a real stunner Dave.  The amount of "sheen" that you've applied looks just perfect in the pictures.

I'm another convert to that particular scheme too as it happens.

 

Great result.

 

Chris.

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Fantastic Dave. Great minds think alike - my Sunny Heart A321 is in the final stages of painting and virtually everything is the same as yours from paint decals and Braz sharklets but Zvezda kit. I hope mine looks even half a neat as yours. Great inspiration, thanks for sharing your work. 

 

Jeff

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Count me in as another who likes that scheme! Like Ian, this just says 'Manchester' to me,.

Superb finish as usual Dave, another beautiful build.

 

Cheers

 

John

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That's fantastic!

I love civil airliners - they are after all, among the most commonly seen aircraft, to most of us.

Your model is excellent and well worthy of the effort you went to, especially with the tricky decals.

Beautiful!

:clap:

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  • 3 weeks later...

This is very nice for my eyes, for 2 reasons. One, I have not seen an 1/144 A321 built for a good while and secondly, its great to see the latest livery used as I think it is really good on the eyes.

 

Very nice work, and it reminds me to get on and finish my half started BEA A319 which has been collecting dust for 4 weeks

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  • 1 month later...
On 30/07/2019 at 10:43, Skodadriver said:

I present the Revell A321 in the current livery of Thomas Cook. I liked the old blue scheme and I wasn’t sure about the yellow/grey when it was first introduced but it has definitely grown on me.

 

The model is OOB apart from BraZ sharklets and a couple of small fairings . White paint is Halfords, Airbus Grey is Holts HL Grey01 and medium grey on the rear fuselage is Humbrol 128. The engines are Revell Aqua 310 Lufthansa Yellow with a tiny spot of 371 Light Grey just to take the “edge” off the yellow. Aeroflex on the wings is Revell Aqua 374 and metallics are by Tamiya and Revell.

 

Decals are by RJS supplemented with detail decals from the kit sheet and the spares box. RJS helpfully provide decals for the yellow fuselage flash and the dark grey sections on the fin, fuselage and sharklets which saves some tricky masking and spraying. You even get a choice of long or short decals for the sharklets. The decals are screen printed except for the actual “hearts” which are laser prints. RJS also thoughtfully provide separate white backings for the hearts in case the modeller prefers to paint the dark grey but I went with the decals. Despite being designed for the Zvezda kit they fitted the Revell fin and fuselage well apart from a tiny gap on the fin leading edge. There was a bit of a mismatch between the decals and the BraZ sharklets (I suspect the sharklets are a fraction narrow) and in hindsight it would definitely have been easier to paint them. However I got there in the end even if it meant using Tamiya Extra Thin Cement (!) as a decal solvent.

 

The only downside of the decals is that the windows and doors are printed across the main titles instead of being separate as on most silkscreen decals. For a consistent appearance I had to apply all the RJS windows then overlay them with Authentic Airliners frameless windows. Inevitably the spacing was fractionally out and I ended up applying the AA windows in pairs, a fiddly job I really could have done without. Anyhow, that minor grump aside the decals are beautifully printed, robust and supported by comprehensive instructions. An excellent product which I heartily recommend; I just wish RJS’s range was bigger.

 

Thanks for looking and as always constructive criticism is welcome.

 

Dave G

 

48420982711_eb8e9f1572_b.jpg

 

48412522097_47d37c8a65_b.jpg

 

48412451756_af22ed9fb6_b.jpg

 

48412521392_3a14130f5c_b.jpg

That is very very nice and sadly another scheme gone. I saw a picture of an ex Monarch Jet with Thomas Cook Titles on, would be a great way of doing a tribute to both Airlines.

 

Am off to the AA website now 

 

Cheers

 

Paul.

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7 hours ago, RCI said:

awesome build! very sharp stuff you do there... i guess no chance for you to go with clear windows?

Thanks RCI.

 

No chance at all, certainly not as long as good "photo real" windows are available. For this particular model there wasn't a choice as RJS Decals had printed plain grey windows across the titles. For some reason this seems to be a growing trend with screen printed decals and personally I dislike it. As I said at the start of the thread, I had to apply the Authentic Airliners windows on top of the RJS ones which was fiddly and annoying and more difficult than applying them directly. If you want clear windows you're screwed. I understand why laser decals have to be printed this way but there is no need for it with screen printing and I wish manufacturers would stop doing it.:hobbyhorse:

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