CyberHobby 1/400 Air China A.321

The A321 is stretch and first derivative of the standard A320. The variant was launched in 1988, when the A320 began operations. Compared with the A320, the A321's major change is the stretched fuselage, which is lengthened by 6.94 metres (22 ft 9 in) which makes the A321 the largest among the A320 Family. This is achieved by adding a front plug immediately forward of wing 4.27 m (14 ft 0 in), and a 2.67 m (8 ft 9 in) rear plug. To maintain performance, double-slotted flaps were included, in addition to increasing the wing area by 4 m² (43 sq ft), to 128 m² (1,380 sq ft). Other minor modifications were made to accommodate the A321's 9,600 kg (21,200 lb) increase in maximum takeoff weight, taking the MTOW to 83,000 kg (183,000 lb).The maiden flight of the first of two prototypes came on 11 March 1993. The A321 entered service in 1994.

This is the first I've seen of CyberHobby's 1/400 airliner series. The kit comes with two complete airframes and as you'd expect, they are not what one would call huge. For each aircraft there are three white sprues and a bag of very small tires. Yep, the tires for this are separate items and no need to paint them, either. Sharp eyed readers will notice that there are two separate engine bits. Actually, the upper ones appear to be redundant. Though both sections are marked as CFM 56s, only the lower set and pylons are needed.

The fuselage is split horizontally and much of the rest of the airframe seems to pretty much snap into place. The kit comes with a very large stand, but only one so one of your models will need to be built on its gear. No nose weight is provided, but there is room for it. 'Gear up' doors are also given for the stand model. I have no clue what the large arrow shaped piece is above the tail as it is not shown in the instructions.

Markings are for two planes as shown on the box art. One is a special scheme, while the other is a standard China Airlines livery. All of the grey areas, including those darker ones on the upper wings will need to be painted. It would have been nice to have the wing and tail plane walk areas provided as decals, but you are on your own in that regard. Decals are very nicely printed and should produce a pair of very nice models. 

If you are really hard up for room or just want something smaller than the norm for airliner kits, this is one you should seriously consider.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_A321#A321

July 2011

Thanks to www.dragonmodelsusa.com for the preview kit. Get yours at your local shop or have them order it for you.