Flyglobespan | Boeing 737-683 | G-CDRB | NG Models

It is no secret that I have been finding much of NG's recent output a little boring, however overall the models still look great and they still do release a reasonable number of unusual models. Their 737-600 had a rather lengthy gestation but is now out and about. The releases using it have been quite unusual since they have eskewed some of the more obvious choices and focused on unrepresented airlines. July's announced series 600s included 3 variations on the Flyglobespan scheme of which the standard colours appealed to me most and will be investigated here.

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FORMAT

​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

As of October 2022 NG Models has made 7 737-600s spread across the June-August release announcements. For a long time it looked like they had forgotten altogether about the type, since it was way back in January 2021 that I reviewed the initial samples, which came with the series 700s and 900s. At that time they needed to make a version without blended winglets and remove the tail bumper. For the original review see:

Boeing 737-600/700/900 1:400 Scale New Mould Samples

I suspect that other priorities just got in the way and it wasn't until May 2022 that they sent me an updated sample mould. For the updated sample review see:

Refreshed Boeing 737-600 1:400 Scale Mould Sample

The only competition for this mould in 400 scale is the Herpa version, dating from 2000 and woefully obsolete, and the much newer 2018 Panda Models version, which hasn't been seen since the Prairie Diecast exclusive WestJet version in 2020. Obviously since this NG version is based on the excellent NG Models 737-800 it too is impressive.

There are no real criticisms that can be aimed at this since it incorporates the gradual improvements NG have made to their series 800. The fuselage is excellent and the offending tail bumper from the original samples removed.

Compared to the Panda version the mould has less of a nose-down stance and a superior set of undercarriage, especially in terms of the nosegear door shape. These doors are the right size, angled properly, fit tightly to the fuselage and are not inset into it. They even have rounded upper corners like the real thing.

One obvious plus point is the good ground clearance for the engines thanks to the excellent nacelles and pylons. The engine hot section exhaust shape is also better than on the Panda mould. The wings, now correctly lacking winglets, have great detail, fineness and tightly fit to the fuselage.

As with the other versions of the mould all 5 aerials are present and the overall package is a fabulous looking baby Boeing.

SCORE - 10

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PAINT & LIVERY

Flyglobespan operated for six years as a low-cost airline, flying mainly from Scottish airports. The fleet consisted of the usual range of Boeing types - 737NGs, 757 and 767-300ERs. Four of the fleet were 737-683s, all originally delivered to SAS in 1999 and leased by Flyglobespan in 2005. Thanks to a colourful interesting tail design and a classy flowing red belly the Flyglobespan scheme avoided a lot of the blandness many airline schemes have nowadays, and due to the short body worked tremendously well on the series 600.

From a colour perspective I have no complaints with the red. Could the grey of 'fly' be a touch darker? Maybe but it isn't enough to drop points over.The long flyglobespan.com titles barely fit on the aircraft but are replicated here well. They also appear correctly on the engine nacelles.

The flowing red belly line is well placed and looks great. It is only on the vertical stabiliser that I would question the livery accuracy. The Flyglobespan tail is a mess of letter gs of differing size and form, but all using the same font. Positionally everything is in the right place - at least on the left side anyway, however the nuance of the real tail is rather lost.

The white letters on the tail should be rather fuzzy, almost ghostly, but on the model are block white. Similarly on the real aircraft the outline of the other letters varies in brightness, with the smaller versions standing out more. On the model all the gs that aren't block white are the same. Worse on the right side of the tail 3 of the smaller gs are missing entirely, which is a weord mistake to make as it is ok on the other side.

SCORE - 8 

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PRINTING & QUALITY CONTROL

If you want fine print detail and lots of it, even on a small model, NG are the brand for you. The print detailing is superfine and accurate down to the smallest detail. Other paint detailing is also great - such as the dark inners to the maingear wheel wells and the exceptional painting of the fan blades. They are dark but you can still see the outline of each blade.

The model presents with the usual good quality control. I know that people have been moaning a lot about supposed NG quality issues but I haven't seen a lot of them myself and I think the issue has been overstated. Certainly this model is unaffected.

SCORE - 10

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CONCLUSION

NG Models used to make a lot more G-reg aircraft back when they first started. We certainly had it good for a few years before they expanded their mould range and audience. Nonetheless, models like this, which may be apocryphylly thought of by some as classics, are still a part of the release cycle amongst a sea of contemporary releases. There probably aren't a lot of other 737-600s I need for my fleet, since I have several Panda versions already, but there is no denying the quality of the mould or this model even if NG like everyone are not above making the odd mistake.

FINAL SCORE - 28/30