AV O Posted March 14, 2021 Share Posted March 14, 2021 (edited) As shown on the picture, not quite closed : https://www.qwant.com/?q=A380 Body Gear&t=videos&o=0:7e53086c75d5a29963bf5e31a68c0893 https://www.qwant.com/?q=A380 Body Gear&t=videos&o=0:beadd609e73368fd6518a03e68c8c4aa https://www.qwant.com/?q=A380 Body Gear Operation Check&t=videos&o=0:fb5f698d2485cfae0d7edf83206699be Edited March 14, 2021 by AV O 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex1978 Posted March 14, 2021 Share Posted March 14, 2021 11 hours ago, neilg said: I was just wondering if you had any printing issues with your decal sheet? The frames of the windows, landing lights, and door frames do not appear to be in registration on my kit: Thats unusual for recent Revell airliner decals. I will check my decal spares later,maybe I have a leftover set from the demonstrator version. This has windowframes only but maybe these help. I let you know later this evening. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desert falcon Posted March 14, 2021 Share Posted March 14, 2021 Hi Matt, If I downloaded the correct instructions from the Revell homepage, and as per the box art, it appears to me as if Revell has been a bit generous on the antenna layout. Though the antenna layout does vary from operator to operator, there seem to be a couple of antennas to much. If it’s important to you, you might want to correct this? Your best reference I believe would be to do a search for BA A380 on airliners.net. There are some very good top-down photos showing the correct antenna configuration and also some showing the lower antennas (don’t think we are allowed to link directly to photos on airliners.net). To guide you on your way, I have tried mark the standard A380 antenna configuration on the below photo. As can be seen there should be a minimum of a VHF (1), SATCOM, VHF (3) and ELT antenna (in order of appearance) on the top and a single VHF (2) antenna at the bottom (difficult to see on the illustration). Note that the ELT (Emergency Locator Transmitter) antenna is smaller in size than the VHF antennas. There are several more standard antennas both on the top (GPS, ATC/TCAS, WIFI) and bottom (ATC/TCAS, DME, Marker, Radio Altimeter), but given the scale I don’t think I would bother. On the photo below you can clearly see the two smaller GPS antennas closest to the camera, followed by the two larger ATC/TCAS antennas, then followed by the VHF (1), SATCOM, VHF (3) and if you look carefully the ELT antenna just forward of the vertical stabilizer. On the A380, ADF (Automatic Direction Finder) was optional, but from the photos on airliners.net, ADF doesn’t appear to be installed on BA A380 (EK A380 doesn’t have ADF either). Another optional system would be the GCS (Global Communication Suite) (might have another name on BA A380?) used in connection with the passenger In-Flight Entertainment System. As per airliners.net some BA A380 seems to have a huge GCS antenna at the rear, some not. It might be like with Emirates, where some A380’s where modified in service? The GCS antenna is of the same "whale" type as the SATCOM antenna, only considerable larger and not a very pretty sight on any aircraft! I think the box art are showing the ADF and GCS antennas as per the below illustration? Hopefully this made some sense but in summary if you take a look at airliners.net, it should guide you in the right direction (you let me know if this is getting to nerded now and I’ll just lean back and enjoy your build 🤓) Cheers Johnny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex1978 Posted March 14, 2021 Share Posted March 14, 2021 20 hours ago, neilg said: I was just wondering if you had any printing issues with your decal sheet? The frames of the windows, landing lights, and door frames do not appear to be in registration on my kit: Hi Here some photos of my 2 demonstrator decal sheets. They are not fully complete but include landing lights and window frames. If these are of interest and useful for your build,PM me your adress and I have them post mailed to you. Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AV O Posted March 15, 2021 Share Posted March 15, 2021 (edited) On 11/03/2021 at 20:09, Back in the Saddle said: Just a quick update. I had the chrome Alclad out today, painting the struts on my Lightning F.2A, so it seemed like a good time to work on this beast too: I will mask the chrome sections later then get the rest of the undercarriage painted. A nice "walk around" the gears : hrttps://www.qwant.com/?q=A380 Body Gear&t=videos&o=0:8e1e57a4dccc8e1267e9a4e13237248e https://www.qwant.com/?q=A380 Body Gear&t=videos&overlay=open&o=0:2252f5eeb64fb9062924fe71d359d0ed Donn't forget as it has been said that the steerable rear wheels of the Body Gears do not have breaking devices. Edited March 15, 2021 by AV O Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back in the Saddle Posted March 25, 2021 Author Share Posted March 25, 2021 On 13/03/2021 at 22:06, neilg said: I was just wondering if you had any printing issues with your decal sheet? Hi Neil. The registration is perfect on my sheet. You’re welcome to any surplus decals once I’ve finished with them - it might take a few more weeks though until I get to that stage! On 13/03/2021 at 22:15, neilg said: The instructions still show that the body gear doors should be open, but the box art shows that Revell modified the model that they photographed to show the correct position of the gear doors - i.e., closed when the main landing gear is extended, as shown on their website: Thanks very much for that. I was aware of a few accuracy issues in this area, so that has saved me from having to dig out the correct information.👍 My initial spreader bar was placed right in the way of the body gear bays, so I’m pleased that these will be closed over! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back in the Saddle Posted March 25, 2021 Author Share Posted March 25, 2021 To illustrate my mistake with the spreader bar, here's a picture: The one on the left is exactly where the gear bays are located! Easily fixed, but a silly mistake... On 14/03/2021 at 17:19, desert falcon said: If I downloaded the correct instructions from the Revell homepage, and as per the box art, it appears to me as if Revell has been a bit generous on the antenna layout. Though the antenna layout does vary from operator to operator, there seem to be a couple of antennas to much. If it’s important to you, you might want to correct this? Thanks very much for that Johnny.👍 This is the kit offering: I will need to do a little tweaking here - nothing too serious though! On 15/03/2021 at 15:38, AV O said: A nice "walk around" the gears : Thank you! That shows them very well.👍 Right, off to fix the gear bays and antenna layout... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhantomBigStu Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 Looking good so far, almost making want to switch my aborted build to BA example, though I won't as it will mean buying that edition of the kit as I've built the engines as GP7200's. Looking forwards to the main paintwork once you've finished fiddling with the gear and internals 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesModeller Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 2 hours ago, Back in the Saddle said: To illustrate my mistake with the spreader bar, here's a picture: The one on the left is exactly where the gear bays are located! Easily fixed, but a silly mistake... Thanks very much for that Johnny.👍 This is the kit offering: I will need to do a little tweaking here - nothing too serious though! Thank you! That shows them very well.👍 Right, off to fix the gear bays and antenna layout... At this stage with the 777-300. Wish the kit makers included extra parts to strengthen the fuselage and wings on the bigger models like they do with the ships. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back in the Saddle Posted April 12, 2021 Author Share Posted April 12, 2021 It's all been a bit busy at home again recently, so not much bench time - until yesterday... My first job was hacking away at the body gear bays, so they fitted over the badly positioned spreader bar: Once built, the undercarriage doors will hide that mess! I also marked up the various aerials that were surplus to requirements and then removed them: I masked the windscreens: Then the whole model had a coat of grey primer to see where filler would be needed. Around the windscreens was (unsurprisingly!) the worst area: The tailplanes have also been glued together: These will be the next sections to get primer, along with the wings. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back in the Saddle Posted April 17, 2021 Author Share Posted April 17, 2021 A had another session of filling and sanding today, but was still not happy with the result - the windscreens in particular need more work... They are masked to protect them, so more plastic putty was liberally dabbed around the frames: The yellow primer is a filling primer from Halfords - it does a decent job if used with caution! It only gets used on my more troublesome models - three of them were attacked with this primer today...! 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back in the Saddle Posted April 26, 2021 Author Share Posted April 26, 2021 Preparation work on the fuselage is almost complete and the top coat beckons: A final sanding around the windscreen is needed, along with the addition of some aerials, but apart from that I'm ready to paint the white. Now the fuselage is almost done, I thought I should start work on some other areas. The engine cores were the first to get some attention. Here are the pieces on the sprue: Which built together to make these: These sections are all heading outside for priming and then painting with Alclad, then I can encase them inside the cowlings. The wing sections have also been prepped and are currently awaiting the flap fairings: These were built up this morning and are currently setting: I have numbered each one to prevent confusion at a later stage! The tailplanes are also ready for painting, so as soon as I get a decent day this one should start to progress quickly. 7 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back in the Saddle Posted April 29, 2021 Author Share Posted April 29, 2021 The flap track fairings are now in place: A coat of primer next to show the blemishes, then onto painting! 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desert falcon Posted April 29, 2021 Share Posted April 29, 2021 Looking good !! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Team Aer Lingus Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 Beautiful work on the fairings Matt impressive relly enjoying this build thanks for sharing Eamonn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back in the Saddle Posted May 14, 2021 Author Share Posted May 14, 2021 On 29/04/2021 at 20:10, desert falcon said: Looking good !! Thank you! 4 hours ago, Team Aer Lingus said: Beautiful work on the fairings Matt impressive relly enjoying this build thanks for sharing Cheers Eamonn. 👍 I've been neglecting this build a bit recently - partly as I was so wrapped up in making the decals for the 747 and also because I needed to spray some Alclad and was waiting for a good weather day... Yesterday the airbrush came out and several models received some attention! Before I go any further I should mention that I've just bought a few more of these kits. Somebody on eBay is selling them at £14.99 each with free postage. Too good to miss at that price, so I grabbed a couple.😇 Anyway, back to this build. I sprayed the base coat of gloss black on the engine sections: And also the wing slats and engine cowling interiors: The flap track fairings still need a bit of blending...! Once this had dried, the metal sprays came out. Here's the tailplane: The attachment tab with the green ink on it is for the starboard side; the other tab has some red ink on it. Just in case I ever get confused and try to glue them on the wrong sides...😁 The engine sections were then painted, using this picture from a BA YouTube video for reference: I used jet exhaust on the exhaust cone, stainless steel on the core/support and aluminium on the fan and cowl inlet. I also hand-painted the silver ring on the engine cores: I need to apply a dirty wash to the fans, paint the spinner black and apply the yellow spirals as shown on this image: I also need to work out how to paint the inside of the engine intake, as the kit part will need masking... A job for another day! 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex1978 Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 (edited) Very nice progress on the A380.You had been very productive these days,and I thought am the only one working on several kits at the same time😊😉. As for the intakes...you can paint them completely before glueing them to the engines.I did that on my build and it worked quite well as the parts fit neatly . This way the masking is a lot easier for the intake rings Here the link to my RFI of the A380 Edited May 15, 2021 by Alex1978 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back in the Saddle Posted May 21, 2021 Author Share Posted May 21, 2021 On 14/05/2021 at 15:39, Alex1978 said: Very nice progress on the A380.You had been very productive these days,and I thought am the only one working on several kits at the same time😊😉. As for the intakes...you can paint them completely before glueing them to the engines.I did that on my build and it worked quite well as the parts fit neatly . This way the masking is a lot easier for the intake rings Thanks Alex. 👍 I like the way the front of the cowl slots into the main engine assembly and it will definitely make masking easier. However, I still haven't tackled that challenge yet! 😆 Today's job was working on the fans. First they had a dirty wash, then I painted the spinners and attempted to add the yellow spiral decal - not my best work...! I will glue these into place strategically, so the best bits are at the top! Now the fan discs are finished I can start to assemble the engines. 👍 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex1978 Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 Very neat looking fans Matt.Nice progress there. I'm looking forward to the finished engines 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(ex)Sgtrafman Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 Not your best work? Matt seriously great skills buddy! Great job mate loving what your doing, and airliners really aren’t my thing 😱 Iain 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back in the Saddle Posted May 25, 2021 Author Share Posted May 25, 2021 On 21/05/2021 at 21:49, Alex1978 said: Very neat looking fans Matt.Nice progress there. I'm looking forward to the finished engines Thanks Alex! 👍 On 21/05/2021 at 22:32, (ex)Sgtrafman said: Not your best work? Matt seriously great skills buddy! Great job mate loving what your doing, and airliners really aren’t my thing 😱 Cheers Iain, you're too kind! Glad I'm converting you over to airliners... 😁 I've had a minor change of plan with this one. I have been unable to obtain permission to use the livery I had intended, so am going to represent this A380 in another 'Utopia' livery instead. One of the 30+ world image designs that made it onto the aircraft was a scheme called 'Water Dreaming', depicting Australian Aboriginal artwork. This design which was only applied to five aircraft. Four aircraft received the phase 1 'Water Dreaming' variant, which looked like this: My thanks to the photographer, Toni Marimon, for allowing me to use his image. One aircraft received the phase 2 design (G-BUSJ), which had a few variations from the original. This is the scheme I will be using on this model. My first task was to source a decent image from the internet, showing the required tail fin. A well known website came to the rescue and I scaled the image to fit: It clearly needs a lot more work, but I've had plenty of practice recently with the 747 build...! I will have a dabble on Photoshop over the next few days and see if I can produce something suitable. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back in the Saddle Posted May 25, 2021 Author Share Posted May 25, 2021 1 hour ago, Back in the Saddle said: I will have a dabble on Photoshop over the next few days and see if I can produce something suitable. I couldn't resist so had a little dabble just now! I am trying to get the basic shape/layout correct at this stage of the process: I'm using the image in the top right corner as my reference and attempting to rebuild the livery without the fuselage curvature... It will take a while, but it should get there in the end! At least the fin was straightforward, as there was no curve to correct. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desert falcon Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 Cool idea Matt, I admire your creativity! That will indeed be an exclusive looking A380. I think the airlines found inspiration in you, they are all queuing up to get the A380 back into operation again 😁 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back in the Saddle Posted June 3, 2021 Author Share Posted June 3, 2021 On 25/05/2021 at 22:15, desert falcon said: Cool idea Matt, I admire your creativity! That will indeed be an exclusive looking A380. I hope so! As you may have gathered, I quite liked the 'Utopia' schemes - I'm curious as to how this will look on an A380... The basic design is now finished: It needs a little more tweaking, but that is essentially how it will appear. Incidentally, those pegs are tiny, just in case you were wondering how big the model is! 😁 7 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry1954 Posted June 7, 2021 Share Posted June 7, 2021 Wow, just had a massive catch up. Very impressive build Matt. A true giant even in this scale. Terry 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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