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Heller 1/125th Airbus A380 build thread

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  • Member since
    February 2006
  • From: Boston
Heller 1/125th Airbus A380 build thread
Posted by Wilbur Wright on Tuesday, March 16, 2010 6:28 PM

I have started this model and thought I would write down my experience for any others that may build this kit.

I have in the past built the Revell B-36 so this kit while quite big, is smaller than that.

The seams are a challenge here as unlike 1/144th kits this one is built in  sections like the real manufacturing process so there are five seams that go all the way around the fuselage. These did not line up perfectly, and I've heard that some that have built this kit have glued the halves pieces together 1st (not as in instructions) to make the fit more like a revell 144th plane.

 

I first replaced the windscreen with evergreen clear styrene as the kit supplied one looked awful. Then glued the fuselage cylinder pieces together with Tenax. Once done I assembled the plane as per instructions and had the five seams to deal with. The cockpit piece fit particularly bad on the entire fuselage.

I had to sand so much using 150-then wet sand 220-320-400 that the seam areas indented somewhat  from the sanding which I tried to remedy with putty and more broader sanding. I re-scribed the nice detail lines with dymo tape and the back of a #11 blade as always.

The wings fit better. Very little problem with them.

I'm getting ready to prime in order to better see defects. The decal sheet was badly scratched from the way the styrene was boxed and they are sending me another sheet. The tail decal which is for the whole tail seams faded or not bright enough for Lufthansa. I am going to paint the tail blue instead of using the whole decal and cut out the circular logo to apply onto the lufthansa blue colored paint.

No digital camera here but will photograph with film when done, and I will updtae this thread as I progress.

 

Have any of you sanded too far before on a seam and had to deal with that type of indentation?

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