1/144 British Airways A380 (Utopia "Hong Kong" Livery)

[Back in the Saddle]

The backstory, which is a shameless copy and paste from a previous RFI...!

 

As you may know, I quite like the 'Utopia' or 'World Image' liveries introduced by British Airways from 1997. However, these liveries were not universally popular and were quietly dropped in 2001, with all aircraft receiving the current 'Chatham' tail fin design from that year onwards.

 

The A380 entered service over a decade later in 2013. I couldn't help wondering what this aircraft would have looked like with that massive tail covered in one of the ‘Utopia' designs. This build is just one result of my pondering and represents "Hong Kong", with a design called 'Rendezvous'. This design was usually applied with a white background, but one aircraft (G-BMRG) had a creamy colour instead. I intended to replicate this colour, but went a bit too yellow. However, I think it still works...

 

The build thread for this particular model is on a longish thread but the relevant part can be seen here if you want to watch it come together, complete with the production of the custom decals I used on this model.

 

As ever, comments and criticisms are welcomed!

 

 

 

 

The design is deliberately NOT symmetrical, with the left side looking like this:

 

 

Thanks for looking and I hope you like the outcome of this particular flight of fancy!

 

[Alex1978]

Absolutely gorgeous.

The A380 looks really great with this livery.

As a fan of Hongkong...an extra 👍👍

 

Thanks for sharing

Alex

[AlxBNE]

That looks fabulous and I think the yellow is a definite improvement on a creamy colour.

[Viking]

 

Certainly looks good, It's a bit of a shame that the 380 came too late to wear any of the World schemes! 

 

Cheers

 

John

[Charles68]

Although not a genre I probably would build I really enjoy seeing all manner of commercial airliners. I go to a lot of airshows and have flown quite a bit and large jets fascinate me. To stand under the wing of a C17 or a A380 i cant believe they can get of the ground lol.  Keep them coming! 

[Back in the Saddle]

17 hours ago, Alex1978 said:

Absolutely gorgeous.

The A380 looks really great with this livery.

As a fan of Hongkong...an extra 👍👍

 

Thanks for sharing

Cheers Alex, glad you like it! I’ve just taken delivery of another of these kits, so will now have seven Utopia A380’s, not the six originally planned! 😁

 

14 hours ago, AlxBNE said:

That looks fabulous and I think the yellow is a definite improvement on a creamy colour.

Thank you. It looked a bit lighter before the gloss coat was applied. At that stage I decided to live with - I think it works…

 

13 hours ago, Viking said:

Certainly looks good, It's a bit of a shame that the 380 came too late to wear any of the World schemes!

Thanks John. I agree, they would have looked impressive!

 

11 hours ago, Charles68 said:

Although not a genre I probably would build I really enjoy seeing all manner of commercial airliners. I go to a lot of airshows and have flown quite a bit and large jets fascinate me. To stand under the wing of a C17 or a A380 i cant believe they can get of the ground lol.  Keep them coming!

Will do! 👍

[mitchem]

Cracking build Matt.

 

The A380 is an absolute monster 😁

 

mike

[Olly Tindall]

Wow fantastic job on that & love the fact you made something different. Amazing job on the custom decals as well 👏 

[phildagreek]

Looks good from here!

[Paulaero]

Very nice Matt, not tempting you into another rating with all those 380's to build...... ??

[Mark]

Insomnia has resulted in me surfing pages here and found this. Simply superb!

[Back in the Saddle]

On 08/03/2024 at 18:17, mitchem said:

Cracking build Matt.

 

The A380 is an absolute monster 😁

Cheers Mike! 😁

 

On 08/03/2024 at 18:23, Olly Tindall said:

Wow fantastic job on that & love the fact you made something different. Amazing job on the custom decals as well 👏

Thanks Olly, I’ve had a bit of practice now at making custom decals - still learning though!

 

20 hours ago, phildagreek said:

Looks good from here!

Thank you!👍

 

20 hours ago, Paulaero said:

Very nice Matt, not tempting you into another rating with all those 380's to build...... ??

Thanks but no, I’ll stick with flying Boeings! 😁

 

15 hours ago, Mark said:

Insomnia has resulted in me surfing pages here and found this. Simply superb!

Thanks Mark! 👍

[Mark]

I was one of the few pilots at that time that really loved the 'World Image' liveries. The Chatham tail on Concorde was superb! But the 'lesser' fleets were far more interesting with my particular favourite being the Tartan-tailed B757s and the English Rose on the fin of the B747.

 

However, some people were far from amused...

 

[Glen]

Nice job Matt. I enjoy watching your decal making skills even though I am a confirmed Chatham supporter!

[Back in the Saddle]

Cheers Glen. Are you on the 380 now…? Just noticed your avatar has changed!😁

[Glen]

Hi Matt. Yes I am. Converted back in the summer. Great aeroplane. How’s life on the 78?

[Back in the Saddle]

On 12/03/2024 at 12:44, Glen said:

How’s life on the 78?

Busy!

 

Hope you enjoy the A380, maybe see you at work one day!

[Glen]

I’ve been off LTS since breaking my ankle at Christmas so had a very quiet couple of months. Off to the sim next week so time to get my head in the books again. The it will be back to the melee. …

 

 

[Back in the Saddle]

Good luck!