History

Boeing's 767 was designed to compete with the Airbus A-310 and to fill the gap between the 747 and 727 (which was itself being replaced by the 757, which was under development at the same time as the 767). The 767-200 first flew in 1981, and entered airline service in 1982. The lengthened 767-300 first flew in 1986. The 767 soon dominated North American domestic routes, and the -ER (Extended Range) versions became common on international routes. The 767 sold widely and continues in service to this day. Revell's kit was first issued in 1992, and defined the rebirth of airliner modelling. It was the first kit developed to the then-modern standards of detail with engraved panel lines, fine mouldings and exceptional fit. It was the kit that re- set the standard for airliner kits.


First impressions
Crisp and clean. No flash, few sink marks. Fine scribed lines that are out of scale for 1/144 but will still look good under a coat of paint. Panel lines match up very nicely.

Fuselage
The fuselage is two halves from nose to tail. The cabin windows are open, with no clear parts provided for them. Either fill them or Krystal clear/Clearfix them; decal film just won't do it. No interior detail is provided, and the small windows would render any interior redundant anyway. The cockpit windows are the old-fashioned Airfix style strip, which makes getting them to fit properly without either breaking or falling into the fuselage something of a challenge. The panel lines are nicely engraved and match up well. The APU exhaust is left open, which means that one may look right through the fuselage and out the cockpit windows. It should be filled with a small blocked off piece of tube to prevent the see-through effect. If the windows are left open, the interior should be painted black to prevent the model from looking toy-like. There is no cockpit bulkhead to help confine the nose-weight. Revell's instructions do not indicate the need for nose weight, but it will definitely be needed. The nose gear well must be built before the fuselage is closed. Since the nose gear strut must be trapped between the walls, it will be vulnerable to damage while the rest of the construction is done.

Wings
The wings are in two parts each, complete with the flap hinge fairings moulded into the lower surface, and some decent detail in the main gear wells. They fit well enough that they may be left off while painting and attached afterwards.

Empennage
The tailplanes are two piece mouldings that fit so nicely that they don't really need glue. Leave them off until final assembly to facilitate decalling. The elevator is moulded into the upper surface which leaves a bit of a gap to be filled.

Engines
This boxing came with a pair of Rolls Royce RB-211s and a pair of generic engines which are sort of Pratt & Whitney's and sort of GE CF-6s. They may be replaced with aftermarket engines from Bra.Z. The engines consist of cowling halves, intake fans and exhaust detail. The RB-211s have a very nice hot section insert for the rear of the cowl and the GE/Pratt's have a turbine wheel/exhaust cone to fit inside the hot section. Built out of the box they look good, but not totally accurate. The RB-211s both look good and are accurate.

Landing gear
The landing gear struts and wheels are finely moulded and nicely detailed. They could use some brake lines and whatever else the modeller likes, but will look good without. They are still designed to roll, but the holes for the axles are much smaller than in previous kits. The wheels themselves are thicker and the detail moulded into the hubs was amazing for the time.There is no option for raised gear, nor is a stand provided. As with all 1/144 kits, the gear doors are overly thick and may be replaced if the modeller wishes.

Accuracy
I don't compare models to drawings or published measurements. When assembled it looks like a 767

Decals and markings
The decal sheet is a disappointment. It is one of the Revell/Monogram sheets that is utterly impervious to all known setting solutions; it looks as though the decal was printed on vinyl rather than decal paper. The printing was done on an offset print machine, and some of the colours show visible dots. The window frames and rubbing strips around the tailplane mounts are supposed to be bare metal but are grey on the sheet. The kit offers colour schemes for United in its then-current rainbow colours and for American Airlines. The only stencil offered is the wing escape route marking. The blue in the American scheme is slightly off register. There are many different aftermarket sheets available for 767s, so the kit sheet need not stop you from building it. The kit has been offered several different times by Revell Germany, with far superior decal sheets.

Conclusion
This kit is another one which allows for easy conversions. Shortening it to a -200 is a matter of cutting out sections fore and aft of the wings and leaving off the tail bumper. Lengthening it to a -400 will involve cutting 2 kits in the proper places and mating them together, plus adding resin wingtip extensions available from Contrails Models.