Air Gabon | Boeing 767-266ER | TR-LFH | Aeroclassics

Aeroclassics has had, and continues to have, some well publicised QC issues with production over the past few years but they also are still the source for a huge amount of the diversity in 400 scale and when it comes to pre-2010 airliners they make up a disturbingly high % of the releases. I'm not saying that the issues should be ignored, far from it, but there is still plenty of potential every month from Aeroclassics. This Gabonese 767 is a great example of that. African airlines are largely forgotten in 400 scale, certainly from the less well known nations. Of the 407 that have been made 164 are from Aeroclassics and nowadays there are few options if you're not looking for SAA, Ethiopian or Egyptair. 

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Each review is to split into three key areas:

• The model mould
• The paint and livery reproduction
• Printing and quality control

Each section can get a maximum score of 10 for a maximum combined score of 30

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MOULD

Dating originally from 2018 this is a relatively new mould and one of the last new moulds Aeroclassics have made. Even so, it still has that distinctly retro feel that a lot of Aeroclassics output has. This is both a good and bad thing, for although the mould is certainly not perfect it hits the more important marks and makes a decent series 200.

Aeroclassics has, as they usually are, been prolific with this mould. They have now made over 80 767-200s in the usual pattern of several models coming out within a few months of each other and then production going quiet for six months to a year.

​Most pleasingly the Aeroclassics 767 has an excellent fuselage. There are no issues with the entire length and especially at the nose things are very 767 like. The wings attach firmly to the fuselage, as slot in elements, and are nicely shaped and detailed. Likewise, the vertical stabilizer has the tall angular shape befitting the type. So, from a general body shape and plan form this mould is scoring top marks.

​It is in the details that Aeroclassics struggle and there are several inaccuracies. The Aeroclassics’ engine pylons under the wing are inaccurate. They do not reach far enough to the rear and the shape is wrong. 

This mould also comes with a generic one-size fits all engine, especially obvious at the rear. The exhaust portions are not at all accurate for the Pratt & Whitney JT9Ds the aircraft was fitted with.

​The landing gear is also a weak area. The nosegear tyres are a little large but the maingear is weaker. The maingear doors are odd chunks attached directly to the gearleg, which don't seem to reach the correct attachment point. 

Aeroclassics famously refuses to look at the addition of aerials to its models so this 767 lacks all three but it wasn’t fitted with any domes or bumps along the roofline. Aerials would be nice but it's not a massive loss here.

Overall this is a strong casting with weak component parts (engine pylons, engine exhausts and undercarriage). Those things could be relatively easily modified you'd have thought, but Aeroclassics haven't shown any interest in doing so.

SCORE - 7

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PAINT & LIVERY

I've written about Air Gabon previously at the blog in relation to the Magic Models 747 I own. There's nothing better than an African national flag carrier. They had a great, slightly weird, parrot logo on the tail and a colourful low cheatline. 

Looking at photos of the small number of Air Gabon 767s and the size and position of the parrot on the tail definitely changes. TR-LFH had a small higher version at one point but also wore the larger lower version shown on the model here. This larger parrot was also seemingly a brighter green than the smaller one and the model looks good.

Likewise, there appears to have been a difference in titles between the two livery variants. The model correctly has the dark blue titles rather than the black titles of the smaller parrot variant.

There are no problems with the cheatline shape, colour and position, which leaves only one error I can see - the absence of the FH on the nosegear doors. 

SCORE - 9

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PRINTING & QUALITY CONTROL

When it comes to Aeroclassics the printing is usually solid but unspectacular. This model demonstrates the principle well. The basic template is nice enough: with windows, cockpit, cargo doors and passenger doors all fine. Smaller details like nosecone ring and wingroot lights are absent.

The engines are once again an area of concern. The finish around the engine rims is uneven and the entire inner engines and fans are incredibly silvery and shiny. Sometimes Aeroclassics paints engines inners grey, sometimes black, sometimes silver and on smaller moulds, like the DC-9, sometimes they're not painted at all. It's all a bit lazy really.

Above the engines, where the engine pylons meet the wing, the corroguard stops for some reason too. This is also the case on the recent 747s.

On the quality front broadly the model looks solid but in detail the maingear isn't well fitted, especially the starboard gear. Not all the tyres fully touch the ground and there's some clag between the gear leg struts. The right wing is also marginally higher than the left, which may be a factor.

SCORE - 7

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SUMMARY

There is a new 767-200 mould in the pipeline from NG Models and having seen and reviewed the mould there's no doubting its superiority to this one, however I would suggest the chances of NG Models making an Air Gabon example to be near zero. As an entire model it presents well and I like it. It is only damned with feint praise when you look in close-up or compare against others' outputs. Even so, the final score illustrates that it is a decent model and one I'm glad to own.

FINAL SCORE - 23/30