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1/200 Cathay Pacific Airbus A330-300 (Repainted snap-fit)


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I'm not sure if this can fall under the category of scale modelling in the forum since technically this wasn't built from a kit, but I figure it uses the same subset of skills to do. 

 

The Airbus A330-300 is a twin-aisle airliner designed and built by Airbus. Having first flown in 1992 and developed in parallel with the longer-range Airbus A340, the A330 is a prominent aircraft model in the widebody short-to-long-haul market, and has recently been updated with a successor model, the A330neo.

 

This model depicts an A330-300 of Cathay Pacific Airways, registration B-HLV, in the older Brushwing livery. It's a snap-fit model by Hogan Wings in 1/200 that used to be in the livery of Saudi Arabian Airlines. 

 

Here are the photos:

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For comparison, here's a Before/After:

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I detailed some of the processes in making it in the thread here, although I wasn't really able to update it all the way through:

 

 

This was painted with mostly Tamiya acrylics and MRP lacquers, with Alclad Aqua gloss being the final clearcoat. I designed the decals myself although some of them came from images of decals available online. Various modifications were made like the corrected tail fairing and added antennas and domes. I decided to keep the weathering very light this time around because in my experience it's very easy to overdo it in 1/200 scale. 

 

In terms of this kind of restripping work the model itself made the work very straightforward and easy. The breakdown of parts meant that I could easily paint components separately and leave fragile parts off until the end of the build, much like with actual model kits. And because the model is for the most part pre-built and designed to have a snug fit rather than needing glue, there was little to no body work or sanding and filling involved. The most difficult part of the project was mostly the painstaking work involved with sizing and optimizing the decals over and over again to make sure it fit on this specific model, and so I would definitely recommend this kind of work as an in-between in scale model kit assembly and buying a pre-made kit model, and the possibilities are many with the large quantity of available snap-fit models in 1/200 scale. Although not as finely detailed as injection-molded scale model kits, the detail is sufficient in my opinion to fit in a collection of Hasegawa kits, for example. And with the relative rarity of cheap A330 kits available, Hogan Wings' plastic snap-fits are a very reasonable compromise. And another interesting detail to note with Hogan Wings models in particular is that parts are included to display the model with the wheels up or with landing gear. This means that they can be left off from the model until the end of the build or entirely and it makes painting a lot easier. 

 

Thanks for reading!

 

 

 

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Hi,

I think you've done a brilliant repainting job, very impressive!

To me there isn't a lot of difference between what you've done here and assembling and painting an AA kit. 

I'm not into 1/200 as a rule and have always viewed the Hogan type models as little more than toys, mainly because many are crudely detailed and the tampo printing often leaves a lot to be desired, but what you've achieved with this has taken this type of model to another level especially with the photo real windows and extra detailing you've added. 

I don't know about you but I find designing decals almost as enjoyable as the rest of the modelling!

Well done and thanks for sharing.

Cheers,

Ian

Edited by Turbofan
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Your makeover results in a gorgeous model. I have to say I like your end result better than I do what you started with. The quality of your work is exceptional.

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On 7/3/2020 at 4:32 AM, Turbofan said:

Hi,

I think you've done a brilliant repainting job, very impressive!

To me there isn't a lot of difference between what you've done here and assembling and painting an AA kit. 

I'm not into 1/200 as a rule and have always viewed the Hogan type models as little more than toys, mainly because many are crudely detailed and the tampo printing often leaves a lot to be desired, but what you've achieved with this has taken this type of model to another level especially with the photo real windows and extra detailing you've added. 

I don't know about you but I find designing decals almost as enjoyable as the rest of the modelling!

Well done and thanks for sharing.

Cheers,

Ian

 

On 7/3/2020 at 6:06 AM, Romeo Alpha Yankee said:

I totally agree with Ian, there is a lot of 'modelling' required to achieved what you have done here with a great result.

 

 

 

On 7/3/2020 at 8:03 PM, SAT69 said:

Your makeover results in a gorgeous model. I have to say I like your end result better than I do what you started with. The quality of your work is exceptional.

Thank you everyone for the kind comments! I really appreciate it.

On 7/3/2020 at 4:35 AM, busnproplinerfan said:

Sure is nicely done. No '340's are still flying anymore I guess?

Thanks! Unfortunately not for Cathay. It's a shame, I always thought the hairdryer A340s looked particularly good.

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This is a beautiful re-do. Love the Cathy livery, and the A330 wears it quite well. I would agree whole-heartedly with Ian...that I would consider what you've done here isn't much different than assembling and finishing an AA kit. Nice careful and very good work here. Agree that too much weathering on a 1/200 scale project can easily be overdone, but you've mastered it on this one! Thanks for sharing! 

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