The model of the Tupolew Tu134 was my first scale model after a break of several years. The kit was made by Mastermodell, a company from the former GDR, using the old molds back from GDR times. It is a quite simple model (good to come back to scale modeling <g>) and was not too difficult to built. The plastic used for this kit seemed to be much "harder" than the one I know from all prevous models I made. I found this model at Intermodellbau 2003 fair for a quite cheap price, and bought it since I think the design of the older Russian jet aircraft is quite intersting.

The Tu-134 was a mid range jet aircraft, first flown in 1963. This aircraft was developed from the previous Tu-104 and Tu-124 models, the most important difference were the two jet engines mounted at the back of the aircraft and the "T" shaped tail.

About 700 aircraft of this model were build between 1963 and 1978, around 100 of them were used outside the Soviet Union, including the former GDR airline "Interflug".
As most Russian aircraft of that time, the Tu-134 could not compete against western models because of the inefficiant engines. This model is still used by several Eastern European and Russian airlines in small numbers, but the days of this aircraft are coming to its end even there.