1/144 Cathay Pacific Airbus A350-900 Revell

[Columbia20713]

^^WIP thread for this build~

The Airbus A350 XWB family is a series of wide-body long-range airliners born as the successor of the A340, competing in size, capacity and range with the Boeing 777 family. The aircraft is one of the newest most advanced commercial airliners today, designed with improvements and features that distinguish it from its predecessors, such as greater use of composites, a significantly lower cabin altitude and better passenger comfort overall. It is currently Airbus' flagship aircraft. The A350-900 joined Cathay Pacific in 2016, and it along with their A35Xs and B777s flies their long-range route network. 

The registration of this particular aircraft is B-LRM, an A350 that I've been on on two separate flights now, and so the weathering was based on photos I took of that particular aircraft at the time. This is the finished result of my third 1/144 airliner build, and probably the airliner build I'm happiest with so far. The model was painted up in Tamiya and Gunze lacquers/acrylics, with a final gloss of GX100 (which by the way is a holy nectar when coupled with Mr. Levelling Thinner). The decals are aftermarket from F-DCAL (for the Cathay Pacific titles, registration and tail, as well as some of the stencils) Rocastmodels (for the window lining, some other stencils and details that were missing) and decals I printed on my own (for the CX logo on the nose and winglet decals). Weathering was done with Abt. 502 browns as well as staining with pen inks (which somehow worked?)

Here are the shots -

 

 

 

As for the kit itself - Revell's tooling of the A350 has been showered with praise for being well-engineered and fitting well, and I can definitely echo their sentiments - In the relative scheme of things, this kit was a breeze to build and assemble. The wings fit with the fuselage seamlessly without any glue, and I never had to glue them on. Many of the elements fit together especially well for an airliner, like the wings, engine parts (the fan disk at the front is free to spin too), and the landing gear - to some extent. I heard the fit of the fuselage on the kit was seamless too, but it seemed like the nose of mine was warped somewhat and I had to use a hairdryer to coerce it into fitting. It might've just been the specific copy of the kit I got though. It's not flawless, though - Conventionally and following the build steps, the nose legs would have to be installed near the start of the build, which is really impractical. The main landing gear legs could have used a more stable way of engineering, though - The slot they fit in inside the wing is shallow and getting the angle right for a strong join is a bit of a challenge. The fit on the undercarriage and clear window strips was iffy, too. The undercarriage was certainly rectifiable, but the window strips left shallow dents in, well, the windows. If I were to build it again, I'd either just fill them in or glaze them with Bondic or PVA glue. Overall though, the kit is miles ahead of what you'd usually get, and I'd recommend anyone thinking of building airliners in 1/144 to start with one of these. Make sure to check your references too - If the aircraft you're building has a Wi-Fi dome or the new winglets, you'd have to scratchbuild that or get resin alternatives. 

 

The F-DCAL decals and Rocastmodels decals performed well - The F-DCAL sheet was on the thicker side, but this made it suitable for the major CX logos on the aircraft, and the Rocastmodels sheet was unusually thin. This left little to no film residue visible in the end but it made positioning a little more challenging. I printed some of my own to replace the nose and winglet decals that came with them, as the sizes felt off to me. 

 

Overall, the build does have visible flaws, and there's a lot I still have to improve on, but I'm still especially happy with how it turned out, being one of my biggest and longest successful builds. Somehow I crammed it and finished it in time for the local IPMS Nationals, and I'm happy to say it was able to bring home a third place award with it!~

 

 

Thanks for reading, and any feedback or criticism is appreciated!

 

[Alpha Delta 210]

Stunning  build of this very attractive airliner. 

[Turbofan]

Great job! Congratulations on your third place with only your third 1/144 airliner that's pretty good going!

Although I'm not a fan of the A350 I know a good model when I see one and this is finished very well, in particular the weathering but I am surprised that such a new aircraft has got so grubby so quickly!!

Nice that you added the details to the undercarriage and well done with your home printed decals.

I like the pic with the fan rotating always the sign of a well engineered kit when one can do this.

I'm considering getting one of these Revell A350's as they're becoming more and more common here at MAN.

Looking forward to more airliners from your work bench.

Cheers,

Ian

[stringbag]

Excellent result on this one.  Love the weathering and all of the little extras that have been incorporated.

 

Chris.

[Skodadriver]

Beautiful model, thanks for sharing. As you say, it's a lovely kit and I found it a dream to build without any of the problems you encountered. Looks like you were probably unlucky with your particular example

 

I'm on holiday at the moment with only my phone so I won't see the photos in their full glory until I get back to the iMac later in the week. However I think I detect some subtle weathering around the main door which looks very effective.

 

Excellent work and I'm looking forward to seeing airliner number four. Any plans yet?

 

Dave G

[Abandoned Project]

That weathering! Amazing! A beauty indeed.

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Good rendering of a well-worn machine.

Congratulations.

 

[Challenger350Pilot]

This one is absolutely beautiful. Nice work indeed. I especially am drawn to the detail work you've done on the landing gear and the really nice and realistic weathering. Not too much, and certainly not too little. Congratulations. Really brings out the beautiful lines of the A350. 

[Columbia20713]

On 9/8/2019 at 3:33 AM, Alpha Delta 210 said:

Stunning  build of this very attractive airliner. 

 

On 9/8/2019 at 5:51 AM, stringbag said:

Excellent result on this one.  Love the weathering and all of the little extras that have been incorporated.

 

Chris.

 

16 hours ago, Abandoned Project said:

That weathering! Amazing! A beauty indeed.

 

13 hours ago, Moa said:

Good rendering of a well-worn machine.

Congratulations.

 

 

13 hours ago, Challenger350Pilot said:

This one is absolutely beautiful. Nice work indeed. I especially am drawn to the detail work you've done on the landing gear and the really nice and realistic weathering. Not too much, and certainly not too little. Congratulations. Really brings out the beautiful lines of the A350. 

Thanks for the compliments guys! They're appreciated. The weathering here was a bit experimental for me and I'm happy it turned out for the best.

On 9/8/2019 at 3:59 AM, Turbofan said:

Great job! Congratulations on your third place with only your third 1/144 airliner that's pretty good going!

Although I'm not a fan of the A350 I know a good model when I see one and this is finished very well, in particular the weathering but I am surprised that such a new aircraft has got so grubby so quickly!!

Nice that you added the details to the undercarriage and well done with your home printed decals.

I like the pic with the fan rotating always the sign of a well engineered kit when one can do this.

I'm considering getting one of these Revell A350's as they're becoming more and more common here at MAN.

Looking forward to more airliners from your work bench.

Cheers,

Ian

Thank you! I agree, it's surprising how fast new airliners can get dirty. The type of staining on B-LRM was definitely not exclusive to it, the entire Cathay fleet seemed to be dirty one way or another!

If you want to get it, I'd definitely say it's worth the buy. The build experience was enjoyable all throughout, and you can (to an extent) never have too many!

 

On 9/8/2019 at 7:25 AM, Skodadriver said:

Beautiful model, thanks for sharing. As you say, it's a lovely kit and I found it a dream to build without any of the problems you encountered. Looks like you were probably unlucky with your particular example

 

I'm on holiday at the moment with only my phone so I won't see the photos in their full glory until I get back to the iMac later in the week. However I think I detect some subtle weathering around the main door which looks very effective.

 

Excellent work and I'm looking forward to seeing airliner number four. Any plans yet?

 

Dave G

Thanks a lot! I agree about the kit, it definitely seems like it was engineered well, I've been looking at repainting Hogan's 1/200 A330 into CX colors but I think that kind of work's already outside the scope of this hobby. I'd want to get my hands on Revell's 1/144 A330 but they're damn near extinct and difficult to find. Maybe when I'm skilled enough to work with resin or some other manufacturer develops one.

[phildagreek]

That is quite beautiful, well done.

[Turbofan]

3 hours ago, Columbia20713 said:

Maybe when I'm skilled enough to work with resin

If you're talking about the Authentic Airliners A330 kit fear not, you have the skills!

Cheers,

Ian

[Columbia20713]

On 9/10/2019 at 1:21 AM, Turbofan said:

If you're talking about the Authentic Airliners A330 kit fear not, you have the skills!

Cheers,

Ian

Yeah, that one. I'd want to come back to it maybe when I can sell a kidney or two for it too!

On 9/9/2019 at 9:30 PM, phildagreek said:

That is quite beautiful, well done.

Thanks! Not everyone likes the lines of the A350, but I'm glad that somehow it seems like I've been able to do it justice.

[ThreeHoler]

You really overdid the weathering.  Show me a real CX A350 that's this dirty...

[AV O]

42 minutes ago, ThreeHoler said:

You really overdid the weathering.  Show me a real CX A350 that's this dirty...

Well, Columbia 20713  said in post #1 :

 

The registration of this particular aircraft is B-LRM, an A350 that I've been on on two separate flights now, and so the weathering was based on photos I took of that particular aircraft at the time.

Edited September 16, 2019 by AV O

[ThreeHoler]

28 minutes ago, AV O said:

Well, Columbia 20713  said in post #1 :

 

The registration of this particular aircraft is B-LRM, an A350 that I've been on on two separate flights now, and so the weathering was based on photos I took of that particular aircraft at the time.

And I still maintain he overdid the weathering.  Hence my request for photos showing the 1:1 in as dirty a fashion as his model depicts.  Please, OP, post the photos you took.

Edited September 16, 2019 by ThreeHoler

[AV O]

Reminds me of an argument :

 

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/28962-airliners-jumbo-landing/&do=findComment&comment=2128657

 

Edited September 16, 2019 by AV O

[ThreeHoler]

9 minutes ago, AV O said:

Reminds me of an argument :

 

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/28962-airliners-jumbo-landing/&do=findComment&comment=2128657

 

Oh good lord, why did you alert me to these abominations?  I need some eye bleach now. ☹️

[Columbia20713]

 

7 hours ago, ThreeHoler said:

And I still maintain he overdid the weathering.  Hence my request for photos showing the 1:1 in as dirty a fashion as his model depicts.  Please, OP, post the photos you took.

I talked about the weathering in the WIP thread I linked at the top of the thread and provided the pictures that I based the weathering off of there. But, anyway;

These are all pictures I took myself; I wouldn't post these on a normal basis as many of them are awful pictures, but they were my basis, so:

 

First, B-LRM itself, the aircraft depicted:

Note the direction of window staining and those streaks along the door.





Especially important in these ones is the downward staining of the windows and large streaks coming from the doors, wing roots and tailplanes.



Also B-LRM, but taken 10 months earlier:

Now, these ones aren't B-LRM but they're still CX A350s:






I get what you mean - CX A350s certainly aren't always this dirty, and I admit my depiction of it is an extreme of all these elements of weathering on an airliner. I came across maybe 2 to 3 examples that were sparkling clean for every one that was weathered, so the model isn't representative of how all airliners are supposed to weather. But I think the weathering's certainly worth depicting even if it's a little too heavy. Airliners aren't spared from this kind of thing and in my opinion it adds a bit of character. 

Edited September 16, 2019 by Columbia20713

[baldwin8]

Great completion @Columbia20713Yes airliners do get dirty. I've even seen a couple of Lufthansa airliners with a lot of dirt on them pass through our airport. 

[AV O]

void

Edited September 23, 2019 by AV O

[AV O]

On 16/09/2019 at 09:17, ThreeHoler said:

You really overdid the weathering.  Show me a real CX A350 that's this dirty...

On 16/09/2019 at 10:26, ThreeHoler said:

And I still maintain he overdid the weathering.  Hence my request for photos showing the 1:1 in as dirty a fashion as his model depicts.  Please, OP, post the photos you took.

Brilliant, terrific self introduction. Welcome on the forum !

 

No doubt Columbia20713 (the OP as you name him), himself a Newbie, was shocked and offended.

 

 

Besides, a question arises that some members might shed a light on :

 

On 16/09/2019 at 11:09, ThreeHoler said:

Oh good lord, why did you alert me to these abominations?  I need some eye bleach now. ☹️

Bleach ?

Could a nurse be demoted from patient care down to laundry room ?

 

Cheers.

AV O

[stringbag]

 

On 9/16/2019 at 8:17 AM, ThreeHoler said:

You really overdid the weathering.  Show me a real CX A350 that's this dirty...

WOW !!! That's a great first post for a new forum member.

On 9/16/2019 at 9:26 AM, ThreeHoler said:

And I still maintain he overdid the weathering.  Hence my request for photos showing the 1:1 in as dirty a fashion as his model depicts.  Please, OP, post the photos you took.

 

Personally I think the weathering is very restrained based on the pictures that Columbia20713 has posted.

I'm sure ThreeHoler will be along soon.  Currently choking on a big slice of that humble pie.

 

Chris.

[Skodadriver]

Well said AV O and Chris.

 

ThreeHoler seems to have gone quiet which may be no bad thing.

 

Columbia 20713 should feel very proud indeed of his magnificent A350. Having now seen the photos properly I am seriously impressed and I hope the unhelpful intervention of our transatlantic friend doesn't discourage him.

 

Dave G

[Adam Poultney]

Beautiful, are your sure that's a model not the real thing shrunk by 144 times?

[Mike]

Nice job - I think you may have inadvertently underdone the weathering

 

As for new member @ThreeHoler, what a great way to win friends and influence people.  It's rare I've seen such a lack of social skills from a "new" member, and you've really put yourself on our radar as a result.  oopsie!