1/144 Authentic Airliners Air Europe Boeing 757

[Turbofan]

Like many in the UK I flew on Air Europe 757's a number of times during the 80's so I've always wanted to model one.

It is the excellent Authentic Airliners resin kit with 26 Decals and AA cockpit and cabin windows. Paint is Halfords Appliance White with Racking Grey for the wings. Coroguard is Home Bargains Primer car paint with a mist of silver.

Decals fitted the AA kit fairly well but I did shorten the fuselage stripes a little as I think they were designed for the Minicraft kit. I printed off my own strip around the nose with a little more of a curve to wrap around the AA nose better. 

 

Here's the pics!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here's a view from the tower as she taxies past!

 

 

Thanks for looking, any comments, complaints or criticisms gratefully received. 

 

Cheers,

Ian

[janneman36]

That looks lovely Ian, I do love the light on these pictures!
Great build and paint finish👌
 

cheers, Jan

[Abandoned Project]

That is fantastic!

[Lord Riot]

Superb! Very eye-catching and brilliantly modelled.

[Unfinished project]

  Very nice 757. If only someone would produce a decent Injection moulded kit 

[Graeme H]

Very nice indeed, really captures the lines of a 757 best of all.

[woody37]

They look like photo's of the real thing Ian, what a superb blast from the past. My mate used to be an air steward on 757's for Airtours but got onto the DC10 which was his favourite. Those AA window decals really bring it to life, what a classic scheme

 

[gazza l]

Another stunner, really nicely done.

 

gazza l

[Ijineda]

Very elegant. Love the crisp and clean look of it. 

[Skodadriver]

Beautiful as always Ian. It's nice to see the 757 in a slightly unusual livery, particularly one which suits it as well as Air Europe.

 

I agree with Jan about the light in the photos - it makes them even more attractive and realistic than usual. The close-up of the cockpit (photo 6) is amazing and shows just how good the AA decals are, not that many of us still need to be convinced. I love the last photo - G-BNSF has just left the taxiway and is heading to the terminal for her next turnaround!

 

Thanks for sharing once again. 

 

Dave G

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[stringbag]

Superbly executed as usual Ian.  I hadn't noticed until now, the wrap around of the cheatline at the nose.  I've learned someting new again today.

Edit to say how obvious the error in the Minicraft kit when compared to this little beauty.

Chris.

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Super nice!

If that's not an 80's livery, I don't know what would be!

Cheers

[SAT69]

1 hour ago, Unfinished project said:

  Very nice 757. If only someone would produce a decent Injection moulded kit 

I'll happily second that. Very nice 757 indeed. Any issues with the kit itself?

[RCI]

just awesome!!!! great choice and well built

[Wulfman]

A fabulous build and finish ! I wish I had the skill to build airliners .

 

Wulfman

[Eric Mc]

Lovely model and photos. I could be standing on the old roof terrace at Gatwick again.

[RMCS]

Brilliant 

[Chanex]

Wow that’s lovely Ian-beautifully photographed too. A real touch of nostalgia-when I started work in aviation back in the mid 80’s 757’s were the go to aircraft for expanding operators. Nowadays they’ve all but disappeared from the U.K. aviation scene.😢

[Sent-off]

Beautiful job, Ian.
Looks way bigger than it is on the photos, just took a glance at my 1/144 757 size for a reality check, just wow.

[Turbofan]

Thanks for all the replies everyone, I really appreciate it!

 

12 hours ago, woody37 said:

757's for Airtours

Cheers Neil, I've got another AA 757 and some Airtours decals in the stash so it's a possible contender for the future. Trouble is there's so many great liveries for the 757!

 

12 hours ago, Skodadriver said:

agree with Jan about the light in the photos

Thank you Dave, I always photograph my models outside on a sunny day but sometimes it's just too bright and I get better pics when the sun goes behind a cloud.

 

12 hours ago, stringbag said:

how obvious the error in the Minicraft kit when compared to this little beauty

I know Chris, apart from the awful nose shape and engines everything just seems too thick and heavy plus, of course, it's too long behind the wings. As others have mentioned we really need a new injection moulded kit. Zvezda would be nice but my money is on EE.

 

11 hours ago, Moa said:

 

If that's not an 80's livery, I don't know what would be!

Thanks Moa! I'm thinking about one of these in the near future

http://www.26decals.com/epages/62035508.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/62035508/Products/144-970

What do you think? Definitely a classic 80's livery!

 

11 hours ago, SAT69 said:

Any issues with the kit itself?

Hi,

No not really, there is very little cleaning up to do and if you're familiar with AA kits you'll know everything fits together so well there's no need for filler.

 

7 hours ago, Wulfman said:

I wish I had the skill to build airliners

You need to get yourself an AA kit!

 

3 hours ago, Chanex said:

Nowadays they’ve all but disappeared from the U.K. aviation scene.😢

I know Nick, I was so pleased when a 757 was substituted for our flight to Gran Canaria it might be the last chance I get.

 

2 hours ago, Sent-off said:

Beautiful job, Ian.
Looks way bigger than it is on the photos, just took a glance at my 1/144 757 size for a reality check, just wow.

Thank you, yes the 757 is just the right size wide bodies are so much more cumbersome!

 

Cheers,

Ian

Edited June 2, 2020 by Turbofan

[stever219]

3 hours ago, Chanex said:

Nowadays they’ve all but disappeared from the U.K. aviation scene.😢

We flew in Tui’s G-OOBN to and from Cyprus last year.  Biggest disappointment was that the “pick your seat” tool on the company’s website didn’t show you that rows 15 and 17 didn’t have windows; guess which row we picked?  We were late off from Luton but caught up a bit en route.  The crew must have been getting close to their duty hours limit because when we arrived at Paphos the landing was almost like arriving on a carrier; very firm touchdown, spoilers out, full braking, full reverse thrust and turn off at the taxiway just after half way along the runway.  The Captain did apologise for it on the PA, saying that it’d saved us ten minutes taxiing time (which I then squandered trying to make sense of the automatic passport scanner in the terminal!).

 

My daughter won the impromptu “keep the pilots entertained and amused” competition on the outward leg with a drawing of a 757 over the Eiffel Tower and a joke involving reindeer and a CAA examiner.😀😀🙄

 

Other 757sI’ve flown in:

G-OOOC, G-OOOM, G-OOOS (Air 2000, another real 80s livery),

G-JMAB (JMC).

[Terry1954]

Another superbly stunning airliner Ian.

 

Great stuff.

 

Terry

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

4 hours ago, Turbofan said:

Thanks Moa! I'm thinking about one of these in the near future

http://www.26decals.com/epages/62035508.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/62035508/Products/144-970

What do you think? Definitely a classic 80's livery!

😁 Great idea

 

 

 

[woody37]

7 hours ago, Turbofan said:

Thanks for all the replies everyone, I really appreciate it!

 

Cheers Neil, I've got another AA 757 and some Airtours decals in the stash so it's a possible contender for the future. Trouble is there's so many great liveries for the 757!

 

 

It should keep you, Kurt and Ray busy then, just do them all 😂

[Challenger350Pilot]

Hi Ian;

 

How does one improve an Authentic Airliners 757?? Like THIS of course!! Simply stunning, and inspiring, as always. But this time, you've gone a bit over the top. This HAS to be one of the most beautiful builds of the 757 I've seen. The livery you've chosen just makes a beautiful bird more beautiful. Love the detail of the nose gear; in fact, the nose shot gives a perfect close up of placement of the windows, and the superiority of the life like decals. Great photos, too...looks as if you've got the knack for choosing when the sun is just right to light her up beautifully. I have an AA 757 still in the box, unopened. She's reserved for the retro American Airlines livery...someday. I'm inspired to just go on and open the box and inspect the whole thing...and possibly get started! Really really REALLY nice build, Ian. Thanks for sharing.