Welsh 1/72 A320 Alitalia

In this review I want to show you the box contents of the big Welsh 1:72 Airbus A320 with decals for Alitalia and CFM Engines. Further I will show some details of the kit which I find good or even not so good. First of all I’m very glad that Welsh had realized this modern airliner in this big scale. The only other modern airliner in this scale is the 737NG series also released from Welsh. The other airliner kits available in this scale are older planes which flew before the 80’s. Oh and I remember there is a conversion kit that converts the AIM 747-200 into a -400.

However, if you want to build an airliner in this very big scale you need a lot of space in your cupboard and you have to rob a bank for each kit. The Heller kits make an exception because you can get them under 50€. I want to mention that aftermarket products are very rare. Decals for a livery of your choice are only possible from self printing manufacturers like Draw, Nazca or TwoSix for example. In this review I don’t want to investigate if the dimensions of each part are right or not.

But now to the kit:

Fuselage

The vacuum fuselage parts are scribed with some fine engraved panel lines and very deep passenger and cockpit windows. Nose and tail shapes look good to me. Also there is a vacuum formed clear part for the cockpit. It is very thin.

Wings

The Wings are casted in resin and are well detailed with fine engravings. Identical level of detail is for the horizontal stabs, the rudder and the wingroot. The positioning pins for the wing-root joint have to be built on your own. Left and right stabs are indicated by the space between the pins as in the fuselage parts.

Gear

The gear is made out of white metal with minimal detail. The gear bays are very bare and have no detail.

Engines

The Engines are made of resin. There is a fan visible from behind, too. There are uncharacteristic grooves in the intake behind the lip. The mounts look good.

The Cockpit

If you build the kit with clear windows you have the choice to build a cockpit in the plane. The seats are from white metal the rest is casted in resin.

The Instruction and Decals

The decals are printed in a nice shape. They contain the Alitalia markings and allow to build eleven possible registrations, as well as a few details are included. I think they are laser printed. The instruction is not illustrated. A second sheet with windows is include, too.

Conclusion

If you like airliners from this era in this big scale I think that this A320 Kit is a must have. Built straight from the box it will be an impressive model with a good representation of an Airbus A320 as well. If you take care of adding some details like gear and gearbox details, antennas, a decal sheet for details and some work on the engines, this kit will turn into a very nice model and definitely be an eye catcher.

Marcel Möller

Member Comments :

comment by: Flaptrack posted on 03-12-2012 #14709 Never seen such a horrible representation of this aircraft. One example: airliners.net provides tons of cockpit pictures. Is it so hard to count the displays? its allways the same with the welsh 1:72 stuff, inaccurate, plump, no details.

comment by: aro757 posted on 03-14-2012 #14712 I can overlook the cockpit issue as it will be mostly hidden or easily fixed, but for the landing gear bay to be so plain in this scale leaves a lot to be desired for. -ahmed

comment by: Metropolitan2 posted on 07-18-2012 #15368 Flaptrack, I do NOT agree at all in your condemning of Welsh´1/72 kits! I have built their DC-9, B737-200 and -800 and they all make very good basis for further detailing. Being the only offerings of several modern, generic airliners in this highly neglected scale, I find them very valuable, indeed! - Harry B.