The 727 is one of the more important jet airliners to come down the pike. It ushered in two innovations; one was the T-tail and the other was the three engine layout, a first for jet aircraft. A total of 1,832 were built between 1963 and 1982. There were two basic versions of the 727 built. First was the -100 series followed by the longer -200 series. Most of the aircraft built were the longer -200 airframe, which was stretched by 20 feet over the earlier version by inserting two 10 foot sections just ahead of and just aft of the wings.

The first 727-200 flew in 1967, four years after the first prototype 727-100. This aircraft went to American Airlines. The last 727 was delivered in 1984 and went to Allegheny Airlines which was later taken over by US Air, which is now in the works to be taken over by United Airlines!. There are still a large number of 727s flying here in the US and with overseas airlines.

This is KMC's first full kit and frankly, it is quite an impressive aircraft for a first one. The box is huge because of the length of the fuselage. If it isn't two feet long, it's darn close! Initial opening of the box brings a bit of a disappointment, especially after forking out $69.00 for it, however that is just because of the way things are laid out. The only injected plastic bits are the major airframe parts (fuselage halves, wings, tail, engine nacelles and main outer gear doors) and the clear bits. 

All of the rest of the kit parts (including landing gear) are in resin.  As you can see from the examples and the resin parts list (shown to right), there are a lot of these bits and pieces in resin. The resin itself is the same high-quality stuff that you have come to expect from KMC. It is molded in that typical light buff resin and is free of blemishes and bubbles. These parts are for the landing gear, smaller gear doors, wheels, nose wheel well, engine intakes (the fuselage podded engines only), exhaust with thrust reversers, and the flap fairings. I think that covers everything. All the resin bits are packed together in one bag. I have taken a cursory look and it doesn't seem like anything is broken, but this kind of packing usually results in some of the more fragile bits being trashed. Most of the parts are still on the resin carriers so that affords some protection from damage. I am somewhat concerned as to the use of resin landing gear, but time will tell if this is a problem. The parts are commendably thick so perhaps they will be able to hold up the weight of the kit OK.

Getting back to the injected bits for a moment. These are all engraved and are reminiscent of the latest Airfix moldings. Except for the fuselage, there are no sink marks, however the fuselage has three very large ones.

As you can see from the image above, the sink marks are limited to the aft portion of the fuselage. Two of them are circled. They shouldn't be difficult to remove and are on both fuselage halves. The third one is in the inside of the fuselage intake. That is a thick molding and has a large sink mark running the entire diameter of the intake. Again, it should be easy to repair, but will probably take several sessions as it, like the other two, are deep.

There is no interior at all. Now this seems to me to be a bit of an oversight. I would have thought that at least a cockpit of some sort would be offered for a kit in this scale, but none is provided. Perhaps this is a weight-saving measure to alleviate any additional stress on the resin landing gear. Each of the window transparencies is a separate part, so it will take some time to get them all glued in. The cockpit transparency is a wrap around type and looks like it should fit well. Other clear bits are offered for the wing tip lights.

The instruction sheet is quite adequate for a kit of this size. When one gets down to it, there really are not that many parts to the kit. Unlike a modern jet, say an F-18, in this scale, there are no weapons, no complicated bang seats, no weapons racks, or any other unnecessary accoutrements; just basic airplane. The instructions are diagrams showing where all the bits go and in several construction steps. All the painting information is given on the back sheet. That information is quite detailed as to general color and FS numbers are given where applicable. No interior color is given and I am left wondering if perhaps it is meant to be painted flat black, seeing as how it is empty.

The decal sheet is very well done. All of the markings are in register and the colors look to be correct. There is only one aircraft on the sheet and that is for an American Airlines bird. The serial number block needs to have the individual letters cut out to make the aircraft of your choice. There are no blacked out window decals as is often found on smaller scale airliners, however, the decal film seems to cover the window areas, leaving this reviewer to wonder if it is necessary to install all those cabin windows. Mayhap the decal will suffice! In addition, there are wing emergency walkways given as well.

Overall a very impressive kit with a very impressive decal sheet. I was initially taken aback by the large amount of empty space in the box, but on further reflection it seems proper for the way the kit was designed. I am not sure if any other decal company will be willing to produce any additional liveries for a kit that is admittedly a short run enterprise as I, for one, would rather do another scheme besides American Airlines. 

January 1997

Review copy courtesy of me and my wallet! 

2008 Note: KMC is out of business and has been for a very long time. They sold everything to Squadron. I've not seen this kit offered anywhere outside of the auction sites and it often sells for over $1,000 when it is offered. Please do not ask me if I know where one is as I don't. 

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