There has been massive change in 400 scale in the past few years, but one change that hasn't really filtered through to Western markets yet is the rise of true high quality budget options. While outside China model prices continue to skyrocket, inside there are a range of new contender brands producing models at increasingly sophisticated quality, but also at rock-bottom prices. Forefront of these is JET Model whose roots lie within the JAL Collection models and their former brand name JET HUT, both of which I covered in some detail back in 2021. I recently acquired one of their Airbus A319s and it illustrates how far they have come.
I looked at Jet Hut in video in 2021 as well:
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
Jet Hut started making models under their own brand in 2022 and I reviewed one of the first here at the site - see:
It was rather rudimentary, but since then they have rebranded as JET Models and improved their product line. Most of their output has been for the Chinese market but as well as their own ex-JAL Collection castings they have started to leverage other brands moulds in simplified form. That means they now have well-shaped moulds for types such as the 777-300, 737-800 and Airbus A319/320/321 with rolling gears and aerials.
Their first Airbus narrowbodies appeared in December 2025 and are using a version of the Kylin Models A320s. A recent Kylin A320 I reviewed got a mould score of 8/10 so that suggests JET have found a way to access high quality moulds and sell the models at a fraction of the price. This model cost me only 168rmb from Taobao, which is the equivalent of $24!
Originally I had heard that JET had acquired its own version of this mould, but I am now told that actually these models were made on the Kylin production line (in the same way that JET's new 737-800s are made by Panda). By substantially increasing the minimum order quantity and limiting some detailing the unit price can be heavily reduced.
How does this impact the mould? It doesn't dramatically, although there is one small compromise. Fundamentally, this A319 is largely the same as the Kylin A319 (and those made for Geministar). That means that it is a better casting than the equivalents from JC Wings / Gemini, Aeroclassics and Phoenix.
The overall shape of the fuselage barrel, nose region, wings and stabilisers is good. Mould detailing is excellent and if anything the mould looks more refined at the engines and tail than the A320 I reviewed back in December.
The undercarriage is excellent, the wheels roll and the model is fitted with 4 very well sized aerials. The only compromise I can see, compared to other A319/320s I have using the usual Kylin mould, is at the engines. The CFMs lack the nacelle strakes / vortex generators that should be on both sides of the nacelles and are on the usual Kylin - see below photo comparison:
The small criticisms levelled in the previous review can be levelled here too. Small refinements of the vertical stabiliser, wingbox and engine pylons could be made, but aren't a necessity in my eyes. The nosegear tyre axle could be a little less chunky too.
Basically, what has been achieved here is an excellent standard of A319 at a fraction of the price of inferior versions from existing major brands.
SCORE - 8
PAINT & LIVERY
I've reviewed plenty of China Southern liveried models in the past and that means I can quickly see that there aren't any real compromises or issues with the livery here. The colours are good, the details are good.
In fact the positioning of livery elements and the fidelity of them is excellent across the board. There is no skimping on details. This may be a cheap model but the reg is present on the nosegear doors - a feature commonly missed by some other standard brands.
I simply can't see any faults other than the cheatline on the portside being very fractionally lower than that on the starboard.
SCORE - 9 
PRINTING & QUALITY CONTROL
I have been told that the two other ways to decrease price aside from increasing MOQ are to limit print detailing (and so save on Tampo costs) and to remove some quality checks. However, when it comes to print detail on this model the differences between it and a standard Geministar A319 using the same mould are very slight.
SPOT THE DIFFERENCE
Above and below: A standard A319 on the left and the JET on the right 
The printwork here is far superior to that from a brand like Aeroclassics and there is plenty of it. There is definitely less printing on the underside, but only of things you don't actually miss. Printing of more obvious areas, like doors, is no different and of a very high quality.
From a quality control perspective the model has no issues - it's really that simple.
SCORE - 9 
CONCLUSION
A model costing $24 in 2026 has absolutely no right to be scoring a 26/30 grade when your standard narrowbody from a brand like Gemini Jets would struggle to get to that value, due to mould and QC issues, while costing twice as much! Clearly JET have found a workable mechanism to produce high quality 400 scale models at very low prices. Of course this won't work for a large amount of liveries that can't support the increased MOQ, BUT I'm sure it could for say US majors like United, Delta and American that brands like Gemini typically produce. The fact that costs outside China continue to rise sharply, but this level of quality can be achieved inside China illustrates a real lack of innovation from traditional brands. What's to stop JET from flooding the US market with $30 A320s and 737s superior to those of Gemini? Obviously shipping costs are a factor, but even so these cheap models are something of a revelation and I feel a brand with some vision could really take advantage of this if they wanted to.
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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