#174 Trident 1C

Building the Hawker Siddeley HS-121 Trident 1C from X-Scale in 1:144 scale. Depicts G-ARPA in service with British European Airways (BEA) in 1966.

Notes

The Hawker Siddeley HS-121 Trident (originally the de Havilland DH.121 and briefly the Airco DH.121) is a British airliner produced by Hawker Siddeley. In 1957, de Havilland proposed its DH.121 trijet design to a British European Airways (BEA) request. By 1960, de Havilland had been acquired by Hawker Siddeley. The Trident’s maiden flight happened on 9 January 1962, and it was introduced on 1 April 1964, two months after its main competitor, the Boeing 727. By the end of the programme in 1978, 117 Tridents had been produced. The Trident was withdrawn from service in 1995.

The jetliner is powered by three rear-mounted Rolls-Royce Spey low-bypass turbofans, it has a low swept wing and a T-tail. Advanced avionics allowed it to be the first airliner to make a blind landing in revenue service in 1965. The initial Trident 1/2 could seat 101-115 passengers over up to 2,350 nmi (4,350 km). The Trident 3 was stretched by 5 m (16 ft) to seat 180 over 1,940 nmi (3,590 km; 2,230 mi), and had an additional RB.162 booster engine in the tail.

The Kit

Airliner Trident 1C X-Scale No. X144003 1:144 is the first release of the kit under the Ukrainian brand X-Scale in 2023. I gather X-Scale originally designed the kit for Eastern Express but after the invasion by Russia, the business relationship obviously blew up, and X-Scale have since established their own production.

The kit includes four decal options for the same airframe/registration G-ARPA at different stages of its life:

• Variant 1: British European Airways (BEA) 1966 (the variant I’ll be building)
• Variant 2: British Airways 1974
• Variant 3: British European Airways (BEA) 1968
• Variant 4: British European Airways (BEA) 1964

Paint Scheme

Build Log

I purchased the from hobby.dn.ua for €35.78 (Oct-2023).

I repurposed some 1:150 beach(!) figures to crew the plane…

In-flight conversion was not too hard, using kit parts with a bit of fettling..

A couple of fit issues became apparent when it came to closing the fuselage:

• internal air intake part seems just a tad too large, making it difficult for the two halves of the tail-mounted cowling to meet without a gap
• clear cockpit insert does not mate cleanly with the fuselage. Used some hot water to reform it slightly, but still had some overhang to try and clean up (not very successfully)

Final Gallery - Unmounted

Final Gallery - Mounted

Mounted with some 3.5mm clear acrylic rod into all three of the engines.

Credits and References

• this project on scalemates
• Airliner Trident 1C X-Scale No. X144003 1:144
  • on scalemates
  • instructions
  • Purchased from hobby.dn.ua for €35.78 (Oct-2023).
• “20Pcs 1:150 Scale Painted Model Beach People Figures for Model Building Park Layout Landscape Children Toys” (aliexpress listing)
  • Purchased from Topfactorydirect Store (aliexpress) for SG$2.77 (Feb-2023).

Research References

• Hawker Siddeley Trident
• https://www.planespotters.net/airframe/hawker-siddeley-trident-1-g-arpa-british-airways/e9qmp8

Hawker Siddeley HS121 Trident 1C G-ARPP

YouTube by Solway Aviation

Hawker Siddeley Trident: The Revolutionary Jet That BEA Downsized Into Oblivion

YouTube by Vector 1945

Build References

Unboxing X-SCALE 144003 1/144 HS 121 Trident 1C Narrow Body Passenger Airliner Scale Model Kit

YouTube by Plastic Models Store from Ukraine