 It was only a couple of weeks ago that I took a look at a new Saab 340 release and the smallest moulds in 400 scale, however there have been a few tiddlers released this year from the JC Wings / Gemini stable and one of those has been the Saab's Canadian contemporary, the DHC-8. Much like the Saab there's a lot to like in these smaller models and I couldn't resist taking a look at this release in more detail. Each review is to split into three key areas:
MOULD  The DHC-8 series 100-300 sold well, with 671 deliveries, compared to the 340's 459, however that doesn't mean it has been popular in 400 scale. There has only been the single diecast mould and a miserly 14 releases. The mould that exists is suitable only for the shorter DHC-8-100 and 200, which share the same fuselage.  The mould dates from the early days of JC Wings, back in 2009, when they went on a spurt of new mould production of unusual regional and classic types. Usage was steady, if not spectacular between 2009 and 2012, but it then almost disappeared as JC moved towards A320s and 777s.  There were single releases in 2013, 2017, and 2020 - all from Gemini. Fortunately, the mould reappeared in 2023 and we've had 3 more including this model. Even so, the output has been largely Canadian or US. There's an incredible range of possibilities for this mould and as with the other JC Wings regional moulds it is deserving of a lot more usage than it has had.  Broadly, this is a nice representation of a DHC-8, although not quite as nice as the Saab. The basic shape of the fuselage, wings and stabilisers is good. The mould has some nice detailing that isn't found on much larger moulds from the period, such as a free lower rudder margin on the vertical stabiliser. It also has small additions such as the tailbumper. As with the Saab, space is somehow found to fit a standhole, although I've no idea why you'd ever use it.  The low pointed nosecone of the aircraft looks good but the subtle angle change at the cockpit isn't as pronounced as it should be. It doesn't stand out especially, because of the small size of the aircraft.  The wings have a lot of nice detailing and fit onto the fuselage over the top, with a small and discrete seam that isn't visible from the side. The shape of the upper portion of the engine nacelles is a little too straight, rather than curving downwards, but once again it is barely noticeable due to the size.  There has been a fair bit of discussion of the tyre sizes on the Saab models, but, unlike them, in the case of the DHC-8s the issue is the other way around. The original releases had excellently sized tyres, with maingear clearly larger than the nosegear. Newer releases have a maingear which has much smaller tyres. This is not an improvement. The aircraft now has a slight downward stance towards the rear due to the smaller tyres. I preferred it the way it was originally. The shape of the maingear doors also appears to be wrong and they should have a straight lower margin.  Something that is lacking entirely, and not surprisingly, are the aerials. The DHC-8 has two rather large aerials ahead of the wing (one dorsally and one ventrally). In theory I suspect they could probably be added but it would be a fiddly task and probably not worth the effort. Overall, this is a good little mould. If it were a larger aircraft I may be harsher on some of the imperfections, but since it has a total length of just over 5cm and a wingspan of about 6.5cm I think some leeway is fair. SCORE - 8 PAINT & LIVERY  _(2).jpg) Maarten Visser from Capelle aan den IJssel, Nederland, CC BY-SA 2.0 Bombardier acquired De Havilland Canada from Boeing in 1992, and this 1995 build aircraft was used as the demonstrator for the Q200 version fitted with cabin noise suppression (the Q standing for quiet). It was reregistered as C-FBCS in 1999 and painted in this lilac colourscheme.  The central motif appears to be rather like a fanblade and is repeated all over the aircraft, including on the tops of the wings and stabilisers. It is given a silver shadowed outline. Considering the tiny size of the printed areas on the model the accuracy and detail is impressive. The colours and positioning of everything seems fine and the assymetrical nature of the scheme, with different sized titling on either side, is captured correctly. SCORE - 10 PRINTING & QUALITY CONTROL  From more than abot 20cm away this model displays beautifully, but in closeup there is one area that annoys me, and that is the cockpit windows. I had similar reservations about the earlier De Havilland house colours version from JC. I think that the cockpit windows are not tall enough and are a little too elongated at the sides. On its own the model looks ok but next to a photo of the real aircraft the cockpit is definitely off. Then again, this isn't anything like as bad as the infamous Aer Lingus ATR.   Fine print detailing, often almost invisible to the naked eye, is surprisingly present and well recreated all over the fuselage. It really shows what can be done when compared to some brands that can't even manage things like nosecone rings on much larger jets. Painting on the wing leading edges, engine exhausts and props is also very good.  Build quality is superb. The gear doesn't roll but the excellent propblades do spin freely. One minor issue with the mould in general is how prone it is to tailsitting, but that isn't uncommon with these small and very light moulds. SCORE - 8 SUMMARY  The DHC-8 is an important regional type and there are plenty of examples that I think would be worth delivering in 400 scale, such as Brymon for example. Despite being 15 years old these regional moulds are still superb little gems, which in this case, with less than one model released a year I can't believe JC Wings have really got their money's worth from. With some revisions to the cockpit print, and a reversion to slightly larger maingear tyres this would be a near perfect little model. I hope to see more like it. 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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