Herpa China Southern Airlines Airbus A380-800 1:500
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Wings900 Reviews Commercial Aircraft
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Saturday, 23 February 2008 |
Description
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From Herpa:
In South China, China Southern Airlines with headquarters in Guangzhou, the former Canton predominantly operates on regional routes. With the Olympic Summer Games 2008 in Peking coming up they intend to commission the first of five Airbus A380 mega-jets for China. This could well fall through, because Airbus – as is generally known – has significantly postponed the start of production. At Herpa the first A380 in the livery of the South Chinese airline will be released on schedule.
Keep in mind that this is a fantasy model as the A380 has not yet been delivered in China Southern Airlines livery.
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Model Details
| | Manufacturer:
Airline: China Southern Airlines
Make: Airbus
Model: A380-800
Scale:
1:500
Part Number: 513401
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Model Review
| | Mould and Assembly: A the beginning, Herpa's A380s - both 1:500 and 1:200 scales - were not very accurate. The cockpit area was especially a problem with these models.
This version is much better. We can see the Herpa as corrected the size of the cockpit windows. The mould could use a little sharpening between the two central windows as this model. The front fuselage section is way too sharp as the A380 has a more rounded appearance.
Even if it is 1:500, is the size of larger 1:400 scale models. The sheer size also means that the wing joint is nice and lean, as there is no slotted single wing assembly. But the wing/body joint could be beefed up a bit as it appears to be a little bit too small. There are no visible gaps on this mould.
The tail section also needs to be looked at and the vertical stabilizer looks as if it is sitting on top of the fuselage whereas it is more embedded into the tapering tail section.
The wings are nice and thick with sharp details. the winglets are nicely done as well. The engine pylons look a little thick though.
Livery: As this is a fantasy model, there is no way to judge the accuracy of the livery.
It is well done, with the correct colors and details. The wingtips have the stylized flower as well.
I will give the livery an 8 because it is done well and looks good - but there is no way to check its accuracy.
Details: Being as big as some larger 1:400 scale models, I suppose we could hope for 1:400 scale details.
This model has the standard level of details of any 1:500 scale models, no more and no less. A nice addition to this model is the horizontal stabilizer plates. We also get a nicely detailed APU.
However, we are missing the rain gutters, pitot probes and other details that might be added to a model this size. The pylons are missing some detail and it would be nice to have additional engine details as well.
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Pluses
| | Improved cockpit area
Impressive model
High quality construction and wing assembly
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Minuses
| | Fantasy livery for now
More details needed (engines, pylons, fuselage)
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Photos
Editor review: Looking Much Better But Could Use Some More
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
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| Overall rating |
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7.0 |
| Mould and Assembly
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7.0 |
| Livery
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8.0 |
| Details
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6.0 |
| Overall Impression |
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7.0 |
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