Fernando N's Revell 1/144 Airbus A300-600 ST Beluga

[Fernando N]

Hi everyone,

Bought this one a year ago, since when I was a kid it was too pricey for me then and sometimes when I see a nostalgia kit it has to bought and built.
Good thing Steve and Si launched this GB, so this one will built a lot sooner .

Originally this plane was called the Super Transporter ‘’ST’’ but the name ‘’Beluga” stayed and became official, means white whale btw.
These planes are in service of Airbus, transporting major aircraft components for final assembly around Europe.

What’s inside:




Not the latest of kits, a stamp inside the fuselage reads Revell ag 1991 and some clean-up is needed around the smaller bits but the decals are nice and sharp.

Made a start at the two fuselage halves and added some lead chunks as the recommended 30 grams seems appropriate:

Thanks for looking in.
Fernando

 

[Dave Ward]

Fernando,
the latest colour scheme for this

The smiley face would be a real eyecatcher!
Dave

 

[Jim R]

Hi Fernando
Interesting and unusual. We see these flying over when visiting family near Chester.
Jim

 

[Allen Dewire]

Wow Fernando,

Nice kit and I think Dave has a good idea if you are up to doing it. I'm in and if pigs can fly*, why not whales too!!!

Prost
Allen

*(The world according to an 80's Pink Floyd concert on the Platz der Republik in Berlin)

 

[Mini Me]

Seriously? A smiley face porpoise? This I gotta see!
Cheers, Rick H.

 

[Si Benson]

Morning Fernando,
Well this is a bizarre looking beast if ever I saw one!
thanks for joining in the GB and good luck

 

[Dave Ward]

A few more pictures for discussion purposes..............
Just a few miles away from me - over the second Severn Bridge

Dave

 

[JR]

Love the look , that last photo from Dave is brilliant.
Looking fwd to seeing what you come up with, something special no doubt Fernando .

 

[yak face]

Fantastic choice fernando , ive wanted one of these for a while but they can go for silly money . I regularly see them flying over my house at height , on the way from chester to hamburg , even when youre looking at it at 20000feet you cant mistake the outline

 

[flyjoe180]

Interesting subject Fernando. But that aircraft is one UGLY mofo!

 

[Fernando N]

Evening all, sorry for the radio silence of late the other hobbies have kept me from posting.

Thanks everyone for the interest in this flying whale and many thanks to Dave for supplying those nice photo’s .

Looking at my kits decals the tail ones seem the same, the smile and XL can be masked, the eye and Airbus Beluga text too as these are bigger than the kits.
All seems pretty plausible to use this finish, only one problem the Beluga XL is based on the Airbus A330-743L a bigger plane…

So back to the original plan, made some good progress the last weeks on assembling the main parts of her.
First painted the inside of the cockpit glazing black, nothing to see anyway:

Filler was really needed for the fuselage halves but with some careful clean-up the wings have a good fit making life easier during painting as I can attach them later on:





Apart from the general clean-up no real problems building the wings.
Hopefully the engines are as good to build as the rest.

Thanks for looking in.
Fernando

 

[Jim R]

Hi Fernando
It certainly is an odd looking beast. Maybe just me but the wings look too small to support that big body. Glad the wings fit well as wing joins can be a pain. I'm sure you're right to consider masking some of the markings as they would be a bit big as decals.
Jim

 

[Fernando N]

Hi Fernando
It certainly is an odd looking beast. Maybe just me but the wings look too small to support that big body. Glad the wings fit well as wing joins can be a pain. I'm sure you're right to consider masking some of the markings as they would be a bit big as decals.
Jim

Thanks Jim, if I ever get my hands on a XL version kit I’ll be going that route.

I had the same feeling when attaching the wings for a fit, in sheer volume the Beluga is second to none but the weight it can carry is lower than other big cargo planes like the C-5 or An-124.

 

[papa 695]

Looking good

 

[JR]

Well I appear to be the only one that likes the look of it, but there again I like the creature itself. Has one of the most social groups in the wild.

 

[Fernando N]

Hi everyone,

Ian and John, thanks guys.
You’re not the only one who likes the look John, the double hull shape like the Super-Guppy or Nimrod is quite appealing in my eyes too.

Well this one has been left to the back-ground a bit too long due to other stuff taking up the time…
Even had to dust off the model before starting again.

Having some time off does wonders for ones build-que, like this whale getting its engines and landing gear on.
Just like the rest, some flash to clean-up and some seams to fill, only fixed the nacelles with tape to show the shape of her:



Started the paint work, white primer and white paint (VJ 71.001) doesn’t show much difference on pics, hopefully the decals and gloss coats can hide some of the top seam.
A point of attention for future builds is to invest a bit more time in the seam inspections…:

Wings got a coat of VJ 71.276 USAF light grey instead of the Revell 371, hopefully that is dry soon so the others can follow shortly.

Thanks for looking in.
Fernando

 

[adt70hk]

Very cool!!

 

[Fernando N]

Hi everyone,

Thanks Andrew.

Well this white whale has survived Christmas and the masking/paintwork in the past week.

After the basecoat of the wings dried, the leading edges were sprayed VJ 71.062 aluminium and the centre of the main wings VJ 71.050 light grey, made the last 71.051 neutral grey at first but that was way too dark…:


The two engines were a masking enterprise too with colours going from (front till back)71.062 aluminium, 71.001 white, 71.065 steel to 71.072 gunmetal:

Even though it was a smart call paint wise to leave the wings off, in the end main wings did have a gap on the topside…
Good thing it is not so visible as are the various dust bits on the gloss coat, seems to attract dust each time I clean it.

Only the wheels to fit and then decal time!

Thanks for looking in.
Fernando

 

[JR]

Fernando looking good .
Watched a programe recently about this plane and where it's being built, and its role. Interesting to see it in action loading a wing section for the Airbus .

 

[Jim R]

Hi Fernando
Glad to see this on the go. Masking seems to have worked well. Looking good and not far to go now.
Jim