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Herpa Aeroflot-Nord TU-134A-3 1/500
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Wings900 Reviews Commercial Aircraft
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Tuesday, 18 November 2008 |
Description
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Our small russian friend was born in 1978, and worked for the soviet national company until 2001. In the nineties, newborn russian companies used to buy old Aeroflot planes which were often awaiting unpleasant fates on different airports across the country. RA-65103 started a new career with Arkhangelsk Airlines, a regional airline based in the northern city with the same name. After Aeroflot got much better, thank you, it gained control over several small companies, including Arkhangelsk Airlines (51%), which became Aeroflot-Nord in 2004. Aeroflot-Nord has a fleet of 40 birds, the majority being TU-134s, 737-300s and 737-500s. In September 2008, the company lost a 737-500 along with 88 lives. The tragedy revealed serious safety problems, and Aeroflot issued a communique announcing that the company is not allowed to use it's name nor it's paintscheme anymore. At the moment of writing these lines, Aeroflot-Nord is not complying. Spotters should enjoy seeing our RA-65103 passing by, because it is a plane flying towards history, for a company that struggles for survival. Enjoy the review.
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Model Details
| | Manufacturer:
Airline: Aeroflot-Nord
Make: Tupolev
Model: Tu-134A-3
Scale:
1:500
Part Number: 505086
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Model Review
| | Mould and Assembly: Surprisingly well made mould, given the size. No major flaws to report, and the model is a delight to examine from nose to tail. Even the front joint between the fuselage and the wings doesn't affect the overall look. It's too small and too low. The only thing that bothers me is that the bulbs on the wings (where the main gear retracts) should be thicker.
I particularly like the aft section, as it is realistic and it's components seamlessly fit together. The tail and stabilizers are nicely done.
Usually, the smaller the model, the uglier the gear. Tu-134's could be better, but it is acceptable. Just don't look at the model strictly from the front, and if you do, don't look at the front gear. Off course,Herpa's new models (Herpa's NGII A318, as an example of a model of similar dimensions) have much better gear, but I doubt that there will be a NGII Tu-134 mould. And what about painting the gear in a darker gray like on the Aeroflot's Tu-134 model?
Livery: The livery is 95% Aeroflot's, the main differences being the airline inscription and the "starry blizzard" (my review, my names) instead of the russian floating flag on the tail.
This livery is very nice and very colorful. We are far from eurowhite here, and the tail logo is a beauty.
Herpa's Tu-134s have a weird history of bad done liveries (Malev, Interflug). Even the relatively new release of the silver Aeroflot Tu-134 has a major annoying defect. This release seems free from major errors. The blue and orange colors are of the right shade, the inscriptions are well placed and the polices are the same. The frames of the round windows are also very nice. The cockpit windows are correctly placed. Well done, as they are of a rather complex geometry and configuration.
I have a small problem with the "silver" color. Too glittery. A model of this size has to be looked at from a close distance, and at this distance the silver paint is grainy and a little toy-like. I didn't mind this type of paint on bigger aircraft, though. On the real plane, the difference between the color of the fuselage and the wings is less pronounced than on the model. I wonder if the model would look better if painted with standard gray.
I don't know if the glass nose cone could be represented better. It's in the same colors that the cockpit windows, but it doesn't make you believe that it's made of glass. I'm sure Herpa tried several shades before the release, so I have no complaints here.
Details: Standard Herpa detail level here. The front section of the fuselage seems, as usual, a little nude, but again, it's a tiny model, and the real bird is no Nalanji Dreaming either.
The window frames are a very good decision. We can tell because the Aeroflot model didn't have them.
The aft section, already praised in the mould section, has a good level of details. I'm sorry for not knowing what these round elements at the root of the tail are for, but they are present on the model, even if they are a little bit too low.
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Pluses
| | Exotic eastern bird
Nice mould
Exotic livery
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Minuses
| | Minimalistic front gear
Silver color too glittery (especially vs. wings color)
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Photos
Editor review: Welcome another eastern bird
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
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| Overall rating |
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7.5 |
| Mould and Assembly
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8.0 |
| Livery
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7.0 |
| Details
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7.0 |
| Overall Impression |
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8.0 |
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