Introduction

The following introduction is taken from Zvezda:

The Airbus A330-300 is a twin-engined, wide bodied airliner. With the capacity to carry around 300 passengers, it offers a balance between range and efficiency, making it a popular choice for medium to long range flights. The A330 variant are powered by Pratt and Whitney, Rolls Royce and GE engines. With improved engines, the A330-300 is a much more environmentally friendly and quieter than the earlier A330 models. The A330-300 excels with fuel efficiency and releases less CO2 emissions. The first flight of the A330 took place in November 1992, as of today 1,600 aircraft of the various A330 series have been delivered.

Review

This offering from Zvezda arrives in a robust cardboard tray with a flip top lid that does an excellent job of protecting the contents. Inside the [arts for the model are in 2 separate plastic bags, with a stand loose in the box. The decals are protected in a ZipLoc plastic bag, which also contains the clear sprue - which is something that I do not approve of due to the risk of damage to the decal sheet. The instruction sheet is loose in the box, as is the finishing guide. Despite being 1/44th scale, this is a decent sized model with a wingspan of nearly 16 inches, and a length heading towards 18 inches. The number of parts are low in my opinion for a model of this size, but does provide a decent finish. 

You have 2 display options for the model either on its undercarriage or on its stand. Construction is fairly straightforward, with Zvezda providing a reasonable flight deck considering how little can be seen. No interior detail is provided for the passenger area, but you are provided with clear parts for the portholes. A trick I have discovered for painting these models is to add a masking agent to the clear windows insert them into the body and then continue assembly as normal. This allows you to spray paint the model without fear of covering the portholes. The lower wingspan of the model is a single piece moulding with separate upper wing halves, and this provides the model with a positive connection between the wings and fuselage of the model. 

The fuselage once the flight deck and portholes are placed is closed up and the wings ready to be added to it. The method for tackling the wings also provides the modellers with the correct angle in the wing from the root. The tail planes of the aircraft positively locate to the fuselage, but it will be up to you to get the angle of the dangle correct. The 2 engines on the model have good detail at both the  intake and jet exhaust with you only really needing to worry about the seam line on the top and bottom of the engine nacelles. 

The undercarriage for this model is reasonably detailed for the scale, but I have never really been happy with 1/144th scale aircraft under carriages as they unfortunately always look too chunky due to the requirements of the model. That said I do give Zvezda top marks for their efforts in replicating the undercarriage. I am in the process of tackling the build of this release, and I will be mounting it on the provided stand, as I like the look of it, and to my mind displays this model at its best.

There are 2 finishing options provided for this release, which are:

Lion Airplane, Indonesia

Aero Flot Plane, Russia

I myself am going for the Indonesian option, purely because it is more colourful.

Conclusion

Airliners have never really appealed to me from the days of building Concorde from Airfix, which I think was when I was in single figures regarding age!! However, these releases from Zvezda have stirred an interest in myself due to the ease of construction, the quality of the model parts and the final visual effect of the finished item. You are already aware of my preference for the undercarriage, so I am not going to critique Zvezda on what is provided. The trick of using masking fluid on the clear port windows is another reason why airline models no longer make me grit my teeth. With everything considered, I cannot really come up with any negatives for this release.