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from http://groups.yahoo.com/group/airlinermodelling/


(with hints about the Revell A310)


by Laurent Herjean

for updates or corrections, e-mail lherjean@wanadoo.fr)


A300 variants:


B1 First two prototypes, short fuselage.

B2, B4 First production types, different operating weights.

B2K, B4K B2, B4 with Kreuger flaps - not really visible at 1/144!

-600 Advanced technology,

A310 components,

improved wing,

increased fuselage and cabin length.

-600R Extended-range -600

..C, ..F Combi and Freighter variants

ST Super Transporter "Beluga"

A310 variants:


-200 Basic version

-300 Winglets

Kits available:


A300B2 1/144 Airfix, Air France and Lufthansa.

1/144 US Airfix, Eastern. Same mould as above. Out of


1/144 Daco, City Bird (although this livery should fit a

-600), soon TNT. Limited run based on the Airfix mould.

1/125 Heller, Air France (current livery). Out of production.

A300B4 1/200 Hasegawa.

A310-200 1/144 Revell, KLM. Out of production.

A310-300 1/144 Revell, Balair CTA. Out of production.

1/144 Revell, Interflug.

A300-600 1/144 Bra.Z, resin conversion to mate with the Revell Beluga.

A300-600ST 1/144 Revell. Out of production

1/144 Trumpeter.

A300B2, B2K A300-600

1/1 Dimensions: A300B1 A300B4, B4K A300-600R A300-600ST A310


Wingspan 44.84 m 44.84 m 44.84 m 44.84 m 43.90 m

147" 1' 147" 1' 147" 1' 147" 1' 144"

Overall length 50.97 m 53.62 m 54.08 m 56.16 m 46.66 m

167" 2' 175" 1' 177" 5' 184" 3' 153" 1'

On the -600 and -600R the overall length is the result of the three added frames

1.59 m, 5'3") aft of door number 3 and the shorter tail section (1.13 m, 3'8"


Tailplane span 16.94 m 16.94 m 16.26 m 16.61 m 16.26 m

55"7' 55" 7' 53" 4' 54" 6' 53" 4'



On the A300 one could choose between the CF6 or the JT9D. The Airfix A300B2

and the Beluga have CF6s of different generations - almost interchangeable on

a model, but not *quite*... The alternative powerplant, the JT9D, did not look

very different from the CF6 *except* that it had no visible ejection cone,

slightly longer exhausts, and an adapted pylon trailing edge shaped


Conversion notes:


The scope of this article is not really to deal with the existing A300B2,

A310-200, A310-300 and Beluga kits, their quality is good enough to make for

a convincing model. May I, however, comment a bit: the Beluga shows its modern

technology, with nicely recessed panel lines. The Airfix A300B2 and the two

Revell A310 date back to the Seventies and early Eighties respectively ...

as the raised panel lines attest!

One of the Airfix flaws is that it does not capture the curved shape of the

front doors. If you build your model with closed doors, some fine sanding and

an adequate door outline decal will easily correct it. If you want open doors,

then take your knife and start cutting! The Revell A310 kit has closed doors,

slightly recessed with the correct shape.



The B1 is basically a short B2 (5 sections less). At 1/144, the difference is

18.4 mm, 0.7'. Remove 7.4 mm, 0.3' (two windows) in front of the wing and 11

mm, 0.4' (three windows) aft of the wing but before door number 3. Note that

only Ship 2 (F-WUAC, then OO-TEF) had a door number 3, on Ship One (F-WUAB,

then F-OCAZ) it was replaced by two windows. The B1 had no window aft of door

number 4 (all the others have one single window there). In the early months

two windows showed on the left side, aft of door number 4, one almost at the

tail root, one further aft, but somewhere in the middle of the roof and the

window line continuation. They appear to have been deleted from Ship Two when

it was in commercial use as OO-TEF.

A300B1, B2, B2K, B4, B4K and cargo derivatives


You might want to use the Revell Beluga wing because it offers a lot more

detail than the Airfix one. Changes are as follows: remove the winglets,

scribe an outboard aileron and build a 727-like leading edge wing fence at

approximately 3/5 of the distance between the engine and the wingtip, starting

from the engine.

A300-600, -600R


Until Bra.Z issued a -600 conversion kit (for the Revell Beluga),

all you could do was mating the Airfix fuselage to the Revell

Beluga wings and the Revell A310 stabilizers (and the corresponding

scuff plates). One model for the price of three, bad deal! The

fuselage is longer with three windows added aft of door number

3 (11 mm, 0.4') and a smaller section removed under the tail

(-7.8 mm, -0.3'). When cutting this section you will find yourself

with offset fuselage pieces, you'll need to fill and sand this area.

Note that with the three extra windows the rear door is shifted right

under the tail root.

Note that the A300, A310, A330 and A340 share the same fuselage and

nose section. This comes handy if you have converted a Revell

A330/A340-300 into a -200 (see specific article): the remaining

fuselage bits can theoretically be used to stretch the Airfix B2

into a -600 or -600R.



This is *not* the A300-600ST Beluga. Apparently only the B4 and -600 (and derivatives) exist as

freighters, straight from the factory or converted. In theory nothing prevents a B2 to be

converted but it looks like no one ever did it.

I have *no* idea what the difference is between a C and a F. To me they both look like A300s

with a cargo door and usually no windows. On an A300 freighter with windows, out of the nine

windows between doors 1 and 2, windows 2, 3 and 9 are blanked out where the cargo door edges

are. Windows 4 to 8 are in the cargo door.

On freighters with no windows, only doors number 1 and 4, both sides, are maintained. There is

one window between door 1 and the cargo door, and one window above the wings.

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that just about sums it up....

it's not quite as easy a conversion as you might think,

altho they look more or less the same, apart from obvious differences like the winglets

and completely different engines, there are numerous other changes between the

A300B and the A300-600.

if your not picky at all, just change the engines and add winglets - it will *look* like a -600

but if you want to do right, then it's a fair bit of work

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  • 2 weeks later...

The back end of the 600 is taken from the A310 and is noticeably bulkier when viewed side on. The B2 tapers very quickly towards the tailcone and looks quite pointy. According to Airbus the 600 is 510mm longer than the B4. The stretch is just behind door 3 and then the rest of the fuselage from there back is taken from the A310. I don't know how you can do that though as I bet the Revell 310 and Airfix 300 cross sections don't match! I think the wing is pretty similar apart from the deletion of the outboard low speed ailerons.

I did buy an Aircraft In Miniature A310 many years ago to stretch it into an A300-600 but it would need a complete new wing and and had the old CF6 cowl shape so the project ground to a halt!



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could i take thae wings and engines from the revell beluga?


but that still leaves the length of the fuselage and the tail to sort out

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