 The Chinese airliner business gets few plaudits from the West, but is clearly growing into a substantial contender, at least within its massive home market. You suspect that the tariff situation is only going to help it get stronger and at least with the C919 they appear to have an aircraft that, whilst not as good as the competing A320NEO and 737MAX, is not a million miles away. This is of course helped by the use of the CFM LEAP engine. The Chinese are clearly proud of the aircraft and given the fact the majority of 400 scale brands are China-based it is not surprising that the type has been well covered, with 42 releases even though there are less than 20 airframes delivered. Each review is to split into three key areas:
This review is sponsored by Northeast Diecast. Check out their store for an excellent range of hard to find 200 and 400 scale collection sale models and get 15% off!  MOULD  If you believe the orderbooks there are over 1,000 C919s on order so if you're a China based manufacturer it makes sense to get a mould made for the type in 400 scale. Indeed there are now multiple 100 and 200 scale C919 versions as well. As of mid-2025 four manufacturers have obliged in 400 scale, with moulds available from JC Wings, NG Models, Panda Models and Phoenix Models.  The oldest of these is these is the NG mould (which appeared under the Skywings brand in 2017), followed by the JC Wings version in 2018. Phoenix and Panda didn't announce their versions until late 2024, once the aircraft had entered revenue service with more than just initial operator China Eastern.  The C919 is of course a twin underwing engine design, so not dramatically different to Airbus and Boeing narrowbodies, but it does have a very different noseform - being very blunt with massive cockpit windows. The Panda Models version captures this very well. It is a tad blunter than the NG and JC, but it isn't noticeable in the hand (cockpit printing on the other hand is quite different). The rest of the fuselage barrel is also very accurate. It is very difficult to tell this mould from the NG or JC wings versions by just looking at the fuselage itself.   That intense similarity continues at the wing, which is photo-realistic on those three moulds too (I don't have enough good images of the Phoenix to include it). At the engines both the Panda and NG castings have solid core fans, unlike the Phoenix and JC Wings C919 (which have hollowcore engines). There are some very minor differences in the thickness of the inner engine strakes and flatness of the bottom of the nacelle but these are so small as to be almost indistinguishable with the naked eye.   Arguably, the shape of the leading edge of the vertical stabiliser near its top, is not as rounded as the real aircraft and there isn't any rudder detailing (printed or moulded).  The only other differences between this Panda version and the NG Models mould relate to add-on components. The rear upper and lower torque links are slightly larger on the nosegear of the Panda mould and the size and angle of the aerials a little different. The JC Wings casting has slightly chunkier undercarriage and the pictures I have seen of the Phoenix edition suggest the undercarriage is inferior too.  I only currently own the NG and Panda versions of this mould, although I've seen close up shots of the JC Wings mould as well. They are all very good and largely similar to each other. The Phoenix version, of which I have only seen a few images, looks good too, but a little less well defined. I don't think you can go far wrong with any of the moulds, but at this point I'd probably place the NG top with this Panda version only slightly behind. SCORE - 9 PAINT & LIVERY  There aren't many cheatlines still in use with today's airlines so you've got to thank the inate conservatism of Chinese airlines that Air China persists with what is in effect exactly the same livery as when it was formed in the late 80s.  It is of course a livery that every major brand has made many times in 400 scale and there is little chance that Panda will muck it up. I can't see any issues with the livery itself.  SCORE - 10 PRINTING & QUALITY CONTROL  Panda Models usually have some of the best and finest printing in the scale and the cockpit window size is better than I'm seeing on NG and JC releases, but while the detail is present on this model there are a couple of quality issues that show up in magnification. These relate to a couple of smudges of the blue pinstripe cheatline.  On the port side forward cheatline, under the A of Air, and on the starboard side in the R2 door there is some small smudging. Barely noticeable with the mk1 eyeball it is more obvious in photographs.  Another recurring theme with Panda models releases on multiple moulds is that the engines don't always hang level. Both the engines on this C919 point slightly towards the ground.   SCORE - 7 CONCLUSION At present the C919 is only likely to be part of your collection if, like me, you collect Chinese airlines - but its importance as a type for the 400 scale manufacturers is clear. All the moulds available speak to the precision 400 scale moulds can now be produced to in that they can prove difficult to tell apart. This is a bonus to the collector as it enables them to focus on livery over mould. Certainly, for the C919 the competition is strong and it will no doubt only get stronger if even a fraction of the 1,000+ orders are delivered. FINAL SCORE - 26/30 
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AuthorI'm Richard Stretton an aviation enthusiast and major collector of 400 scale models. On this page I take a detailed look at new releases. This site is free. Please donate to keep it going.
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