Viking Posted December 28, 2023 Share Posted December 28, 2023 JetBlue Airbus A321neo - 1/144 Zvezda Decals by Authentic Airliners This one came about because Viking daughter travelled from Gatwick to New York in September, and noting the reg. on flightradar as it crossed the Atlantic I immediately wondered if anyone did a decal sheet. A quick google brought up the Authentic Airliners 'Streamers' sheet for the very aircraft I wanted, so a quick order went in and a week later I had them in my hands. The decals were laser printed on constant carrier film, and that large tail decal was amazing. both sides fitted with absolute precision and met at the leading edge perfectly. You need to check your aircraft on Airliners.net though, as mine had a couple of variations in the window layouts from what was on the sheet. (there were about 4 blanked out, 1 each side in front of the overwing exits and the last one at the back each side - simple enough to cut them off before application and replace with blank outlines). The kit is Zvezda, again an almost faultless kit, but with a fiddly option to have slats & flaps deployed. I did mine all retracted as it was less trouble. As it has a complete flight deck included, I blagged the CRM 'Civil Airliner Pilots with Hat' set that boss man Mike had received for review, in order to try them out. They are great! These are the CRM figures painted up, 2 of which I installed in the cockpit. The poses are great, and really natural. The 2 sets are mirror images of each other. I used artistic license to paint the seats light turquoise in order to make them stand out a bit better against the grey of the cockpit, withe pilots sitting on them. They are hard to photograph, but much easier to see in real life. Thanks for looking, John 34 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armorrich Posted December 28, 2023 Share Posted December 28, 2023 Beautiful job. I like the old prop liners myself but your jet is very realistic. I like the colorful liveries. Painting and decaling the sometimes complicated schemes are my shortcoming so i don't do many. You've done nicely. Cheers...Rich 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex1978 Posted December 28, 2023 Share Posted December 28, 2023 Superb build John. The AA decals sure look great and those pilots give it something extra. The Zvezda Airbus is a great kit. I did an A320 a while ago and was very pleased with the quality. The Revell NEO kit has some flaws,I still think the cockpit windows are too narrow,so I keep to Zvezda for my future A320/321 builds Alex 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skodadriver Posted December 28, 2023 Share Posted December 28, 2023 Gorgeous as always John. That's probably my favourite Jet Blue tail and it just looks perfect. After a disaster with an IL-62 I have avoided the Zvezda "ultimate kits". I build all my models in "gate" condition and I have no interest in gimmicks like dropped flaps so I'm particularly interested to see that you built your model with everything retracted. How did it go and are there any particular pitfalls to watch for? I don't like the Revell Neos and I'm tempted to have a go at a Zvezda A20N but I don't want to risk a repeat of the IL-62! Dave G 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zulu Hotel Alpha Posted December 28, 2023 Share Posted December 28, 2023 (edited) Looks fantastic, and Jetblue should name this aircraft 'Viking's Daughter'. Love the colours and the decals with all the details- the model cockpit crew gives a fun element to the build- as long as they are not fighting each other? Edited December 31, 2023 by Zulu Hotel Alpha grammar 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAT69 Posted December 28, 2023 Share Posted December 28, 2023 A lovely build of a beautiful airplane. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbofan Posted December 29, 2023 Share Posted December 29, 2023 Hi John, Very nice! It's not an airline I would normally model but as I occasionally see them flying overhead these days heading into London I might have to so it's good to know the AA decals are quality. Trouble is I wouldn't know which design to do! Also good to know the CRM pilots are worth getting. You can't resist a detailed flight deck can you! I've said before that I can't understand why Zvezda provide a detailed flight deck and an option for a flying pose but no crew to fly the plane, especially when the windows are so clear. You'll be glad to know you're not far wrong with the seat colours https://youtube.com/shorts/cAKBmC_-thA?si=Au8MdNt0LA1_1kE- Cheers, Ian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mitchem Posted December 30, 2023 Share Posted December 30, 2023 On 12/28/2023 at 11:50 AM, Viking said: Another cracking build, John. 👍👍 Even the crew are "high-fiving" your efforts.....or arm-wrestling to see who is going to fly the plane (before they take their hats off) ? 😁 mike 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha Delta 210 Posted December 30, 2023 Share Posted December 30, 2023 Excellent job! Will you be presenting it to your daughter? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viking Posted December 30, 2023 Author Share Posted December 30, 2023 Thanks for the comments all! On 28/12/2023 at 13:16, Skodadriver said: How did it go and are there any particular pitfalls to watch for? I don't like the Revell Neos and I'm tempted to have a go at a Zvezda A20N but I don't want to risk a repeat of the IL-62! Hi Dave, it was fairly straightforward to do the wings buttoned up, but the leading edge slats needed a little attention to get them to sit flush. They are a bit 'fussy' but overall I much prefer it to the Revell A320 7 hours ago, mitchem said: Even the crew are "high-fiving" your efforts.....or arm-wrestling to see who is going to fly the plane (before they take their hats off) ? 😁 I think the crew are from the film 'The Full Monty'. You know, the song 'You can leave you hat on'! 6 hours ago, Alpha Delta 210 said: Excellent job! Will you be presenting it to your daughter? Yes, she was impressed with it for about 2 seconds when she came home at Christmas. It's just Dad with another of his 'Airfix' kits! Now if I had made it from chocolate.... 😂 John 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted December 30, 2023 Share Posted December 30, 2023 Lovely build John. Great seeing a cockpit in there although it looks like an argument has broke out in the cockpit 🤣 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Challenger350Pilot Posted December 31, 2023 Share Posted December 31, 2023 Another one well done, John! Absolutely beautiful. I do like the detailed interior cockpit, but they are oh so small! My fat fingers are getting a bit old to handle things that small anymore...but then, these fat fingers DO still hold tweezers and small instruments pretty well. Nice attention to detail, too. I'm always drawn to modelers that do their research thoroughly then present it well in a model like this. Nicely done! Thank you for sharing. Cheers! Paul 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCI Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 Hey John! Lovely to see our products on your model and also a fantastic model with lots of details! If you don't mind, i would like to give some tips maybe. We also offer a greenish/blueish toned and polished windshield for the A320 including high quality tamiya masks (unlike any other masks, these really do their job). I would maybe leave the frame decals and just mask the windows, this way you can make sure that the windows really stay clear, and i promise the effect of pilots on the flightdeck will be much more impressive! all the best and thanks again for using our products! CRM 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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