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1/144 Zvezda A350-1000 Aeroflot new livery


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Continuing the lockdown builds with the fresh Zvezda kit of the A350-1000. 
I'm aware that Aeroflot has (and only will have) 350-900 and I initially planned a conversion, but it turned to be way too complicated than just shorting down the fuselage so I went with a kind of 'what if' Aeroflot 350-1000.

Pas decals livery fitted fine but the livery turned out to be not so simple as I expected. I had to copy the decals for the tailcone masking of grey/blue border (second time lucky).

The kit fits very well except for the cockpit windshield which fits horribly wrong. Probably should have gone for the decal one.

Gone through every airliner modeller's trial and error of masking the windows with a silicone masking liquid ended up quite bad. Never again.
Other than that it's an enjoyable build, highly recommended.

 

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*THAT* winglet

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two of my last build together, as a random coincidence they're exactly the same length 1/144 and just 40 cm apart in real life

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Cheers,
Steve

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Frankly, I don't see any issues with your A350 at all. Lovely build. In fact, both builds are quite nice. Of course, we're our own worst critics, aren't we? I know I am. 

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1 minute ago, SAT69 said:

Frankly, I don't see any issues with your A350 at all. Lovely build. In fact, both builds are quite nice. Of course, we're our own worst critics, aren't we? I know I am. 

Thanks! Indeed we are

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43 minutes ago, Abandoned Project said:

Very nice. Never realised it's as big as a 777 (looks like a 777-300). I see that you have gone for an in flight build but without the standard zvezda stand, does it not come with one?

Oh, yes! I was certainly surprised about the size too!
There's a simple story behind the gear up assembly: I have a very tiny apartment and the only reasonable mean of storage is hanging them to the ceiling and I'm still not sure what to to with this big guys. Maybe they'll go to the parents house. 

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21 minutes ago, Shashman said:

As far as 'Euro white' liveries go, this one is actually very attractive.

 

Can I ask what white you used?

 

Good job mate!

Thanks! 
It was a matt white (ral 9003) acrylic spray paint from a local shop, surprisingly good in use and a very nice moderate shine. I believe this brand is not sold outside Russia but anyway it looks like this https://sila-pena.ru/assortiment/69-sila-home-max-paint.
By my estimation the real airplane has some kind of matt or half-matt white to emulate the soviet style former Aeroflot livery.

Edited by Sent-off
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Very good finish there! Excellent outcome, looks top notch!

 

Nice to hear it was a good fit, got one of these in the stash but never tried it, started with the 737 instead, How are the horizontal stabilizer fittings on this? 

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3 hours ago, Shashman said:

Very interesting that you used a matte white!

 

I have just ordered some PAS decals, good to see they are decent.

They are not the best, but they'll do. For example Emirates livery is not metallic, just golden yellow and some color may seem dull. But it is the best option here for me.

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18 minutes ago, Soloturk said:

Very good finish there! Excellent outcome, looks top notch!

 

Nice to hear it was a good fit, got one of these in the stash but never tried it, started with the 737 instead, How are the horizontal stabilizer fittings on this? 

Stabilizer fits fine, maybe requires very little sanding, depending on your build quality standards. The only big concern is the cockpit windows, expect a lot of fitting and sanding, I know it's a common kit problem. But mostly it just snaps into place.

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Hi Steve,

I think you've done an awesome job on this. It is indeed a colourful livery and looks good on the A350.

Your 777 looks great too I'd never have thought they were so similar in size! I might have to get myself one of these kits as, depending on the livery, the A350 is starting to grow on me.

Thanks for sharing, what's next?

Cheers,

Ian

Edited by Turbofan
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9 hours ago, Turbofan said:

Hi Steve,

I think you've done an awesome job on this. It is indeed a colourful livery and looks good on the A350.

Your 777 looks great too I'd never have thought they were so similar in size! I might have to get myself one of these kits as, depending on the livery, the A350 is starting to grow on me.

Thanks for sharing, what's next?

Cheers,

Ian

Hi Ian, thank you very much! I've got a post on the triple seven here in RFI if you are interested
I loved the A350 immediately, first because of the sexy wingtips, second because it is derived from my other favourite aircraft - A330 and third because of comparison to the 787 (at least for me) she looks way sleeker. In fact the Dreamliner looks a bit 'pregnant' to me.

What is next? Well, I've got an Eastern Express MD-90 build on the late stages (God, that was stressful!) It is completely butchered as I ran out of talent and patience somewhere in the middle of the build, but probably I will still publish it for the sake of publishing a rare bird and I've got a Revell A320 Neo in the box, which I may start in Work In Progress any time soon.
 

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  • 1 month later...

I know window masking on airliners can be a challenge. Now, I don't know if this would work well in 1/144 scale, but when I built the Academy 1/72 Boeing 377, I applied masking tape inside the fuselage halves along the window line. After the model was assembled and painted, I used a small brush and applied black paint inside the window cavities. When dry, I applied Krystal Klear window maker inside the cavities and let it dry. Depending on weather conditions, it can dry quickly or could take a day or so or even a bit longer. The end result was nice clear passenger windows and no tedious and difficult masking.

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8 hours ago, SAT69 said:

I know window masking on airliners can be a challenge. Now, I don't know if this would work well in 1/144 scale, but when I built the Academy 1/72 Boeing 377, I applied masking tape inside the fuselage halves along the window line. After the model was assembled and painted, I used a small brush and applied black paint inside the window cavities. When dry, I applied Krystal Klear window maker inside the cavities and let it dry. Depending on weather conditions, it can dry quickly or could take a day or so or even a bit longer. The end result was nice clear passenger windows and no tedious and difficult masking.

Thanks! Yes, this technique exists for 1/144 as well! Although I've never tried anything like that and the most annoying is that Krystal Klear is definitely out of reach right now. 

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Not sure how I missed this first time round but I'm glad to be able to catch up now.

 

I like both the A350 and the new Aeroflot livery so that's two for the price of one in my book! Well done and thanks for posting.

 

Reading about other people's ways of doing windows makes me very glad I'm a dedicated window decal user -  life is much less complicated! When I did my Air China A350 last year I used the excellent Authentic Airliners window decals and I was very happy with the result. Maybe something to think about for your next build?

 

All the best

 

Dave G

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50 minutes ago, Skodadriver said:

Not sure how I missed this first time round but I'm glad to be able to catch up now.

 

I like both the A350 and the new Aeroflot livery so that's two for the price of one in my book! Well done and thanks for posting.

 

Reading about other people's ways of doing windows makes me very glad I'm a dedicated window decal user -  life is much less complicated! When I did my Air China A350 last year I used the excellent Authentic Airliners window decals and I was very happy with the result. Maybe something to think about for your next build?

 

All the best

 

Dave G

Dave, I love the new 'old' Aeroflot livery, but for some reason it is on A350s only, brand new triple sevens still have silver body and no current fleet is being repainted. Knowing Aeroflot policy 'you will not know until you need to know' we will find out what is the deal with the white livery eventually, but not now.
Indeed, decal windows for life! After I used plotter cut masks for a Tu-134 with a less than satisfactory results (and much huffing putting them masks on!) I decided to go with a decal windows, more accuracy, less effort, easy.
Thank you for an advice about authentic airliners I'm their fan already! I use their windows and boeing landing lights
Here's a sneak peek on my MD-90 (waiting for SAS decals since the April :()
IMG-20200428-203637.jpg

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