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I seem to remember building a very small model of the "Atlantique" many years ago and I was suitably impressed with it, so when Revell announced the same thing in 1/72nd scale I just had to get one and on opening the box I was very impressed with what I saw. The mouldings were all in white plastic, very usefull as 50% of the aircraft is white, they are crisp and as expected today there is no flash anywhere. there are ten frames and a clear sprue with the canopies on which are crystal clear, unfortunately the main canopy comes in two halves due to moulding limitations, but this is not too much of a problem as it extends way past the "glass" area making it easy to eliminate the fuselage and "roof" join leaving only a centre post, two windows deep, to clean up, I applied my liquid cement with care and even that problem was non existent. There is a 20 page instruction booklet which you should READ FIRST and take in as the giant decal sheet provides markings for 3 different airforces German, French and Dutch and a number of choices have to be made during construction so be warned. I found a number of parts left over when finished and I believe some of these are for the Italian version but do your own research on this.
Any Problems? well not really but
be prepared for a big job as there are heaps of tiny tiny parts to add on ie.
tiny intakes on the engine nacelles which are themselves made up from four
separate cowlings much as the real one is (see pic). Step 21/22 there were some ejector pin marks on the tail plane halves and these needed sanding off before the halves would fit properly. Step 28 when the plane is on the ground the forward pair of main gear doors (parts 105/106) are normally closed so you may wish to adjust parts 63/64 by removing the front linkages if you want this to be depicted. Step 32 the nacelle side panels are a simple butt join so when together and the front plate (part 80/81) is engaged, slip an elastic band around to tighten the joint and to exert equal pressure all the way round to avoid distortion. leave the props till last thing you do, as they are quite fragile.
The remainder of the construction
is all straight forward with only choices of parts to decide upon, I added my
arials using Lycra elastic thread attached with CA glue. I think you might just
enjoy this one if you are into this type aircraft, it makes an excellent model.
Drop by Ted's Website to see more of his models. Ted Taylor's Modelworks
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Photos and text © by Ted Taylor
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