Revell 1/144 TWA L-1011 Tristar Cutaway

And here we go: this is a rare kit in our days.

The L-1011 could have been a very sucessfull aircraft. Airliners asked for Lockheed to make them an airplane, something smaller than the 747, but still carrying 200-300 passengers. And Lockheed advanced with the L-1011 Whisperliner. McDonnald Douglas was releasing its DC10 (which was good, but became famous for incidents with its cargo doors...), and they were meant to compete. The big visual difference was that the DC-10 had the engine simply placed over the fuselage, while L-1011 had an S-duct, which would make it more aerodynamic... But would also mean that the engine would have to be chosen before the project being completed. And they placed their bet on the new Rolls Royce RB211, a revolutionary triple spool turbofan engine. This was a good bet, but the development was delayed... In fact, Rolls Royce almost became bankrupt because of it, even if later one it prooved to be really good. But the delay of the engine delayed its first flight and certification... and as the plane would have to be fully redesigned if they wanted to fit other engine, they had to wait... But the DC-10 was ready, and they eventually lost some orders, as airliners wanted the airplanes so that they could start making money and compete amongst themselfs...
There are some other kits of this airplane, but the cutaway version is the most beautyfull... Just don't know why Revell doesn't use the moulds to make a few more. Now, this is a sixties kit, so not everything is perfect...
One of the things, its the seating, that is not that accurate.

I have 2 kits of these: one that was cheap because it was incomplete, without interior, and another one complete. This one is with the scratch built interior. A bad thing about the original, is that it has no celing! On the rear, if you do the S-duct, the difference is enormous. The kit has just a "wall" covering it...

The landing gear is a little thick and detailless... But if we bear in mind that its from the sixties, its not that bad... The fuselage is sleek, with only the doors engraved. Lack of detail may not be that bad!

Scratch building all of the seats can be... Mentally challenging!

But in the end, it is worth it... Even when you use the original parts and paint by hand each seat... one by one...

But, even with the drawbacks it has, all the extra work it may need, it is a nice model. It allways looks good, it can be a show stopper, even if it is simple.