All Nippon Airways | Boeing 747SR-81 | JA8152 | BigBird Mk3

BigBird Mk3 continued its rebirth recently with a trio of new 747 classics that come with the Ciero stickers and JC Wings inspired box art. It seems there has been renewed interest in 747s recently - I wonder why that can be? With it being fairly well known that Aeroclassics have also acquired another batch of blank 747s from JC Wings it seems we will be seeing quite a bit more from this mould soon, albeit without aerials. So, it seems prudent to take another look at it and this ANA 747SR provides a good opportunity to do so.

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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

This mould appears to be one of several copies of the original Big Bird / Aeroclassics moulds that dated from 2003. The reason I say copy is that the wingtip aerials are definitely different. In most respects it shares the same look and feel as the original Big Bird mould, which is still in 2023 thought of as a great mould. It is, although another related version of it used by Witty Wings / Aviation400 lacks the seam and is superior. Sadly that appears to have vanished.

This mould has filtered through multiple owners into the catalogue of JC Wings and gets used mainly for releases under the Big Bird / Your Craftsman brand, as here, but has also been used in recent years by Aeroclassics and JC Wings themselves.

​The mould has a great fuselage shape, plus comes with very finely done landing gear. The gear doesn't roll but has nice detailing, the rearmost two trucks pivot and it is the right height. Dating from the same time period as the ancient Gemini series 200 this mould has a slightly superior cockpit region and nose. Both the moulds are cradle fit with a resulting wing seam and both solve the problem by having the seam follow the wing join fairing. The seam line isn’t in exactly the same position and is marginally superior on this Big Bird version.

Both moulds also have their biggest failing in the same place i.e., the manner of the engine pylon to wing join. The fit to the wing on both is quite square and untidy but is worse on the Gemini version. Of 747 moulds available in the early 2000s only the Dragon version is better in this area. This Big Bird does have a better connection of the pylons to the engines than the Gemini.

An area that has gained some criticism is the shape of the wingtip HF aerials. Some have described them as ‘broom handles’ since they are quite thick and don’t taper to a point well, unlike the aerials on the Dragon and Gemini moulds. This is the area where the mould differs from the original BigBird mould, which had more accurate tapering aerials. Unfortunately, the original Big Bird aerials are very prone to breakage and these newer thicker versions are a lot sturdier, so honestly the change doesn’t bother me.

Interestingly, this version of the mould has the original tailcone APU exhaust moulded into it, whereas the version provided to Aeroclassics for its versions did not. This version also has had three aerials added to it, which are well shaped but perhaps slightly too tall. The only drawback of these is the one on the belly is right by the standhole, which makes fitting a stand very challenging.

Even in 2023 this remains a very nice mould - primarily because it does something the dreadful Phoenix version can't - it gets the fuselage and wing shape correct. Prioritising vital aspects over ones that, though nice, are hardly as important (like rolling gears) gets this mould a higher score.

There are definitely things that can be improved on this mould (wing seam, engine nacelle shape for the CF6s, engine pylon attachment, wingtip aerial thickness, free rudder for the tail) but arguably they are all quite minor. The addition of aerials and a better formed tailcone also elevates this above the Aeroclassics versions of recent times. It, rather sadly, remains the best active 747-100/200 available in 400 scale. Hopefully that will change in the next year or so but in the meantime I'm more than happy to buy it myself.

​SCORE - 7

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PAINT & LIVERY

This All Nippon scheme has stood the test of time and I still looks modern despite having only minor modifications made to it in over 30 years. It is hardly an unusual scheme to be made as modern All Nippon 777s, 787s etc are fairly common in 400 scale. As an SR this aircraft was used only on high density domestic services and so the aircraft carries no English titles on the fuselage.

I am surprised that the darker blue colour on this model appears a little too light. I have found photos that match it but mostly images I see have a richer darker blue. Certainly in comparison to other All Nippon aircraft in my collection made by both Aeroclassics and NG Models this blue is noticeably lighter.

The model depicts the aircraft as it was in the 1990s and so it doesn't have the Star Alliance logo that it wore towards the end of its days. The model also shows JA8152 with natural metal engine nacelles as it had in the 1980s and early 90s. Most images I found of it show it with the grey painted nacelles it wore from the late 90s onwards until retirement in 2004.

Positioning of the livery elements and titles is all good so I'm just knocking off a point here for the dark blue colour.

SCORE - 9

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PRINTING & QUALITY CONTROL

This old mould benefits from the excellent modern printing that the JC Wings factory is capable of delivering. It's interesting that the cockpit printing on this model is excellent when the newer 747-400s often have rather poorly positioned and shaped windows. There's lots of fine, crisp print detailing  here.

Considering the high standard of print and paint I am a little surprised that the engine fans have been left silver rather than a duller titanium. It gives the model a rather retro feel, which seems applicable considering the mould, but isn't ideal.

As with the Air India 747-300 I reviewed in February this model wasn't cheap and this seems to be largely due to the sticker it comes with - made by a brand called Ciero. Judging by Twitter they are 'an aviation-themed goods design studio'. It is a nice touch, although personally I'd prefer the model to come without it if it meant it was cheaper.

Quality control is good. As is often the case these old solid moulds appear easier to put together than newer ones even when things like aerials are added to them. The cradle fit on the underside isn't as smooth as it might be but it isn't bad enough to detract anything for. 

SCORE - 9

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CONCLUSION

I suspect the majority of informed collectors see these 'new' Big Bird Mk3 747s as stopgaps, albeit ones that are superior to the new Phoenix 747s being produced. As stopgaps go they are excellent and any new 747 mould will have to be very nice to beat the basic structural integrity this mould provides. As I said earlier, Aeroclassics will be releasing some 747s using a version of this mould soon too, but no doubt they won't come with the aerials or quite the same quality of print that JC Wings can provide. The mould here can however hide many sins and I look forward to seeing what they produce.

FINAL SCORE - 25/30