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, underdevelopment 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. Zvezda issued this kit in 2008 and it immediately filled the void that Revell's out of production kit had left.


First impressions
Crisp and clean. Very little 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. The plastic has Zvezda's trademark slightly pebbly texture which can be polished out, but which will disappear under the primer paint. I was in such a rush to build it that I immediately started gluing together sub assemblies, so I'll have to borrow the sprue pictures from Zvezda's website.

Fuselage
The fuselage is two halves from nose to tail. The cabin windows are open, with clear parts provided for them. 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's under scale and does not line up properly so it will need drilling out anyway. 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. Zvezda calls for 20g of nose weight. The nose gear well must be inserted before the fuselage is closed.

Wings
The wings have a one piece lower half with two uppers. The trailing edge of the flaps is moulded into the upper wing halves. They will need a little work to ensure that there is not a step in the surface of the flaps. The flap hinge fairings are moulded into the lower wing. They are a little too square on cross-section and will benefit from sanding down a little. There is some structural detail in the wheel wells but more may be added if you wish.

Empennage
The tailplanes are two piece mouldings that have two very small stubs as mounting surfaces. They may benefit from drilling out and replacing them with pins. 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
The engines have a two piece hot section that traps the exhaust cone between them, a two piece cold section with pylon that traps the intake fan and hot section, plus a separate intake ring which fits on the front of the cowling.

Landing gear
The landing gear struts and wheels are finely moulded and nicely detailed. The main struts have brake drum detail which mounts onto the struts before the wheels are installed. The nose strut has separate shimmy dampers and landing lights. They could use some brake lines and whatever else the modeller likes, but will look good without. The wheels themselves are properly thick and the detail moulded into the hubs is very good.There is an option for raised gear, and a stand is provided. As with all 1/144 kits, the gear doors are overly thick and may be replaced if the modeller wishes although Zvezda made an effort to get the edges thin.

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 in Zvezda's typical matte finish. There is an option for an Aeroflot aircraft in their blue and silver, or a Boeing prototype in the “Dreamliner” scheme. None of the fine white pin striping is provided for the Boeing scheme. No window decals are provided. There are many different aftermarket sheets available for 767s, so the kit sheet need not stop you from building it. Zvezda's colour call outs are questionable; Boeing grey labelled as light gull grey, Coroguard as chrome silver, etc. They will be good enough for kids, but enthusiasts should research the colours of the aircraft they wish to model to ensure the colours will be representative of the real aircraft.


Conversions
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.