China Eastern | Airbus A320-214SL | B-8393 | NG Models

It is almost impossible to collect 400 scale models and not own quite a few Airbus A320s as the family has become so dominant in the industry over the past 35 years. There have now been over 2,125 A32x releases in the scale, which equates to nearly 10% of all 400 scale models. Despite the heavy classics slant to my collection I own 156 A320s myself (plus 45 A319s and 66 A321s), so there is clearly much to play for in terms of sales of the Airbus narrowbodies between different brands. Even so, the A320 doesn't get as many reviews here at the site as you might think and it has been nearly two years since an NG example got the review treatment.

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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

There are a lot of A320 moulds available nowadays, but with quite a variance in quality, especially if you're looking at the NEOs. In my collection 46 are by Aeroclassics, but only 7 of those post-date 2020. Of the 33 A320s I own made after 2020 six moulds are present (Aeroclassics, Aviation400, JC Wings / Gemini, NG Models, Panda Models and Phoenix).

This illustrates my willingness to buy all the moulds when necessary, but the fact that 13 of the 33 are using the Panda mould and 5 the NG mould (despite its relative newness), while only 2 use the Phoenix and JC Wings castings combined, shows my general views on the moulds available for the type. I also own a pair of Aviation400 A320s, but that mould has only been used 4 times in total.

The A320 has received attention here at the site before so check out the following review for deeper comparisons of other moulds:

2022 Detailed Mould Scoring Comparison of 5 A320 Moulds

My last A320 reviews here were of a Phoenix Caledonian example in November 2024 and an Airshop Diecast Super Air Jet using the Panda mould in July 2024. Suffice to say it is the latter that provides the primary competition, in terms of quality to this NG Models mould.

Since I last reviewed an NG A320 in July 2023 the mould has had plenty of usage with there now being 47 releases, albeit with a fair amount of duplication. Unlike that model this example is fitted with the CFM56 engines and Sharklets.

This A320 matches the Panda A320 blow for blow in most respects. They are both excellent castings. The primary differencs relate to a lot more etched panel line detailing on the NG's vertical stabiliser and moulded in maingear door detailing on the underside.

There is really nothing to criticise about the NG A320, which is streets ahead of the JC Wings and Phoenix offerings in relation to most factors (but certainly nose shape, nosegear detail, engine shape and size, Sharklet form and for the Phoenix also wing fairing shape). Against the Panda offering it is neck and neck. Against the barely used Aviation400 mould I would say this one has the edge, but not by a lot.

SCORE - 10

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PAINT & LIVERY

I've been reviewing quite a few Chinese airlines recently, but that talks to what is being made I guess. At least this model doesn't have the base 2014 China Eastern scheme, but has a rather nice special livery extolling the 2025 9th Asian Winter Games that was held from February 7th-14th. 

B-8393 was painted into this scheme in October 2024. It features shades of wintery blues and giant snowflakes, with the games Siberian Tiger mascots, Binbin and Nini, only present on the rear starboard side.

Below: Binbin and Nini join the pantheon of stupidly cutesy event mascots!

It's a complex scheme to reproduce and NG do a good job. As always if you look super close you can find issues. On the portside there is some small misalignment between some of the curving lines (mostly at the rear). On the starboard side in high magnification you can see some dotting - probably hard to avoid at this scale.

I don't see any issues with colours etc and the complex underside print is very nice.

SCORE - 9

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PRINTING & QUALITY CONTROL

I have heard a lot of complaints about the height of the windowline on NG A320s, but never with much corresponding evidence attached. Whenever I look at it the windowline height is ok. I think it is accentuated by the lack of printing of the line around the wing to body fairing edge, but on this scheme that is more obvious due to the way the livery has been painted.

Below are two examples of where I've compared the windowline to the real thing on NG A320s:

I'm not saying there isn't an issue but I don't think it is the windowline height. I think the windows themselves on the windowline are a little too small. It really doesn't bother me that much, but I bet if they increased the window and emergency exit size a bit this problem would go away.

From a QC perspective the model looks fine and a small issue only appears once again at high magnification. That is that the port maingear leg has some cracks in it. Doesn't impact the gear itself and it isn't visible at 1:1.

SCORE - 9

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CONCLUSION

NG love a special scheme! There are almost as many special liveried NG A320s as there are standard colours. I'm all in for Chinese A320s myself so NG's movement towards more Chinese material (partly due to tariffs I suspect) isn't an issue for me. I see lots of criticism of NG and much of it is warranted, but ultimately they're still producing a lot of great models. Even when their models have issues they're usually as good or better than the competition, and despite the mis-steps the reason they attract the amount of attention they do is because they are still considered up there with the highest quality. This is another great model.

FINAL SCORE - 28/30