Airfix Last Flight of Concorde 1:144 Airfix Gift Set A50189

[Julien]

Last Flight of Concorde

1:144 Airfix  Gift Set A50189

 

 

The Concorde was the pinnacle of Civil Aircraft design when it was designed. Concorde was jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation (later Aérospatiale) and the British Aircraft Corporation under an Anglo-French treaty. Originally the UK sought American partners for the development of an SST however it was felt the US Government would not be favourable to the sharing of the technology. Eventually a 100 seat Mach 2 aircraft was decided on. Construction of the French prototype 001, and the UK prototype 002 was begun. 001 fist flew in March 1969 with 002 in in April 1969. Despite advanced orders for more than 100 aircraft only 20 were built. The oil crisis of the 1970's and major US concerns and a flight ban (due to citizen protests over sonic booms and no doubt bitterness after the US SST programme was shelved) lead to increasing operating costs and doubt about the aircraft continuing in service. In 1981 British Airways purchased its aircraft from the Govt in a deal later termed "the worst deal ever negotiated by a government minister". BA continued to operate the aircraft alongside Air France for many years. However they both announced the retirement of the the aircraft in 2003, citing high maintenance costs, low passenger numbers following the fatal crash of the Air France Concorde in 2000 and the post 911 slump to Air Travel. 

 

The Kit

This is Airfix's own tool dating back to 1977 which has enjoyed many re-releases over the years. Its worth noting that this is not the same kit as the recently re-released Vintage Classics Concorde, that one if the original Airfix tooling from 1966, There are differences between the kits, most notably this one has a longer fuselage and more parts (though not that many). The kit is still a product of its time and not upto the modern standards we see today.  Construction of the kit starts with putting the doors into both fuselage sides as well as the side glazing in the cockpit. It is worth noting that the kit provides no glazing for the cabin windows. Next up the the engine pods get a front fan wall and intake vanes. The main fuselage can then be joined up and the two part wings attached to each side. The frontal glazing can now be attached. The nose is moulded in the up position and there is no way to lower it in this kit. If making the kit "in flight" then its a simple matter of adding the landing gear doors. If doing the model on its undercarriage then this needs to be built up. There is a nose leg with its twin wheels and two main gear legs with 4 wheels each side. The last item is the small tail bumper wheel. The engine pods can now be fitted, then the exhausts are added, this finished of the model. 

 

 

 

Markings

A small decal sheet from Cartograf provides markings for only one aircraft, the one flown to Filton on 26th November 2003, and now preserved there. 

 

 

 

Conclusion

Airfix seem to be releasing their back catalog now this gives a chance to re-build the models you did many years ago. Recommended if you want a bit of nostalgia modelling of an iconic aircraft.

 

 

 

Review sample courtesy of 

 

 

[bentwaters81tfw]

Looks a bit easier than the 1/72 offering.

[exdraken]

thanks!

 

will the tail decals actually fit the rudder acuators as well? see the discrepancy in box art and airfox model in this respect!

https://www.concordesst.com/216.html

 

the blue band seems to interact with the actuator fairing on the real plane on starboard

the lower red band actually seems to be desigend to wrap around something...

the port fairing sits much lower... maybe the just copied left to right?