Airbus A380

Robert Jackson

• Publisher: Air World
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781526774071
• Topic: Technik & Maschinenbau
• Subtopic: Luftfahrt

On 27 April 2005, an aircraft lifted away from the runway of Toulouse-Blagnac Airport under the power of six massive Rolls-Royce Trent 900 turbofan engines. It carried a six-man crew, it was making its first flight, and it was making history. For this was the Airbus A380, the largest passenger aircraft in the world. Airbus Industrie was a latecomer to the commercial airliner market, and initially struggled to win orders away from the well-established US giants, Boeing and McDonnell Douglas. Part of Airbus’s strategy for success was to offer customers distinct families of aircraft that could be tailored to meet a wide range of performance and capacity demands. Before 2005, the largest and arguably most important members of this family strategy were the Airbus A330 and 340 high-capacity airliners; then along came the A380. With air traffic continuing to double every 15 years, the A380 was designed to meet the needs of the passengers and airports, while also delivering the level of efficiency necessary to protect the environment for future generations. The design incorporated two full-length decks with wide-body dimensions, meaning its two passenger levels offered an entire deck’s worth of additional space compared to the next largest twin-engine jetliner. With more seats than any other aircraft, the A380 offered solutions to overcrowding; needing fewer journeys to carry 60 percent more passengers, making it the perfect solution to airport congestion, fleet planning optimization and traffic growth. Typical seating capacity was 525, although the aircraft was certified to carry up to 853 passengers. By mid-2019, fifteen airlines were operating 238 aircraft throughout the world, the original customer being Singapore Airlines, which launched its first A380 service in October 2007. Production of the A380 peaked at 30 aircraft per year in 2012 and 2014. Then, in February 2019, the biggest customer, Emirates, announced that it was to reduce its latest order by 39 aircraft in favour of two other Airbus Models, the A350 and A330neo, a version using the same engines as the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. For Airbus, it was the last act. The Company announced that production of the A380 would cease by 2021.

Modelling the A380

Airbus A380-800

Revell 1/144

Modelled by Glenn Ashley

The 1/144 Revell kit is the most accessible option for modellers wishing to build an A380. This kit has been issued in several boxings with markings for various airlines. My initial boxing was a British Airways one but shortly after construction disaster struck at the painting stage. When the white was applied from an aerosol can it reacted with the plastic and everything simply bubbled up. That kit was scrapped and a second version was purchased. This time I went for the Emirates version that features wildlife artwork along both sides of the fuselage.

The original boxing of the Revell 1/144-scale A380 I intended to build, with its British Airways decals. This was replaced with boxing featuring an Emirates aircraft.

The completed undercarriage assemblies, minus wheels, at an early stage of the construction. As can be seen these are quite complicated and fragile, being moulded to scale.

Construction started with the cavernous fuselage. First I assembled the cockpit interior but soon decided I would paint over the windows and use the decals to represent these. I noticed, that with the relatively thin plastic used, there could possibly be issues with the fuselage flexing during construction due simply to the size of the fuselage and the total lack of any bulkheads included to help keep the full assembly rigid. Before the two halves were put together I had to assemble the nose-wheel bay. I opted to add the main undercarriage bays until I had sorted the fuselage out. In order to get as strong a fuselage joint as possible, I used tube cement and held the fuselage halves together using tape. This was left aside to dry for a couple of days.

With the fuselage drying I turned to assembling the main undercarriage bays and gear. This is one part of the kit where you could really do with an extra set of hands, or two. The legs are moulded to scale, making them quite fragile so take your time when assembling these. I took time assembling the basic legs as each comprises four separate pieces, and are obviously quite small and fiddly. I used Tamiya Extra Thin quick-setting cement for all assemblies such as this. Fitting the assembled legs into their respective bays is a feat that will test your patience, unless you have three hands and work in keyhole surgery. Yes, it is small and complex, and trying to line everything up will have you pushed to the limits at times. Even once it is all assembled the main gear assembly still has a very fragile feel to it. So be warned, it is very easily broken. I left these assemblies out until I had sanded down the fuselage joints. When I added them, I used Revell Contacta cement to get a good strong construction. I left the wheels themselves off at this stage with the plan to add them later in the build.

This was all left aside to set completely. Next I turned to assembling the main wings. These are a simple two-part assembly done with Contacta and the halves were held together with strips of Tamiya masking tape.

Once the wings were offered up to the fuselage it was found they weren’t a great fit. They needed a little trimming in order to get a reasonable fit. This could be due to mould wear. After all, the kit has been out for a few years now and in various boxings. Be careful not to try and force the fit of the wings or you may pop the upper fuselage joint. This is where some dece...