 I'm a massive collector of US jets from the 1980s and a few years ago I'd have bitten your hand off for MD-80s from the era from Gemini Jets. Times have changed somewhat with NG Models now also having a Super 80 and I admit when this model was announced I didn't rush to get it despite it being near the top of my all time Mad Dogs. Fortunately, I have been given the opportunity to review it by YankeeVictor400 so how does it fare in the 2020s? Let's find out. Each review is to split into three key areas:
This review is sponsored by YankeeVictor400. Check out their store for 3D Design Deck, Gemini Jets, Inflight200, JC Wings, Panda Models,Patriot Models & Phoenix Models and get 13% off!  MOULD  The last time I reviewed this mould was back in 2023 when it was the only MD-80 on the market. The situation has definitely become complicated since then! As well as this Gemini Jets / JC Wings mould there is the new NG Models mould, plus the old Phoenix mould has also reappeared (and will get a model review in the next month or so). Additionally, the most recent JC Wings MD-80UDF I reviewed seemed to use the Jet-X mould.  This new competition has coincided with a lot more usage of the GJ/JC mould, which itself dates originally from 2014. It had typically only received 1 or 2 releases a year between 2014 and 2021 across both brands, but in 2023 it was used by Gemini 5 times alone, with 4 more (2 GJ and 2 JC) in 2024 and 2 already in 2025 (as well as 3 Wings Air examples made for Airshop Diecast).  It's hard to know why this pick-up in releases has happened, but the fact the box for this model still has the Gemini 25th anniversary 1998-2023 logo on it suggests this has been in the warehouse for a while. Certainly there have been no modifications to improve this mould, even though NG have already updated their 2024 mould with better placed noseside strakes.  This mould remains distinctly middling, but reliable enough when there are no better alternatives about. Gemini have both versions of the basic MD-80 bauplan available - the pointy tailcone and the screwdriver tail. The former is better and this being a 1981 build aircraft that is the tailcone it is equipped with.  Indeed, it is at the backend where this mould is best. The downward angle of the horizontal stabilizers at the top of the T tail is well finished, however the top of the tail is too angular and flat topped. The rest of the tail is nice and importantly the engines are suitably chunky and well sized, possibly oversized. The engines also lack the side strake as a moulded in element.  The wings and maingear are excellent and the mould is seamless, with slot in wings rather than a cradle mount. This model does has the rooftop aerial but lacks the forward belly aerial, even though it has been present on older Gemini versions (the Aeromexico and FAT versions from 2019 and 2020 respectively) and is still used on the JC Wings equivalents. This is another example of Gemini cutting costs - something I've heard about from various sources. Each aerial added costs a few cents more.  The front end of the mould is the weakest area. The nose region is just not the correct shape. I don't think any of the lines are really correct but then again they aren't appalling either. Even so, compared to the excellent new NG Models mould there is no competition. I recently compared the JC Wings and NG Models CAAC versions side by side and annotated the image.  Clearly there are quite a few issues when compared directly to the NG model, several of which impact the front-end. Ultimately this still looks like an MD-80 and for the right material I will still happily buy it, but if NG was using its own MD-80 mould correctly this one wouldn't be in the running. SCORE - 6 PAINT & LIVERY  The Frontier Saul Bass scheme was a masterpiece of 1970s design. Introduced in 1978 it was a shame that Frontier really struggled in the deregulated era. The airline acquired its first 5 MD-80s in 1982 and added 11 more as the situation at the airline worsened in early 1986. These included 4 ex-Hawaiian Airlines DC-9-81s, of which N859HA arrived in January. Frontier was taken over by Continental in August so her service with FL was very short.  This is a really odd registration to choose when they could have selected one of the original 5 (N9801F-5F). In fact, I can only find a single image of this particular aircraft in this scheme - see here.  Fortunately, aside from the reg the aircraft seems to match the other FL MD-80s and the livery is reproduced here near perfectly. The colours are rich and the cheatline positioning spot on. Could the orange in the tail logo be darker? Maybe a little, but I'm not sure. It isn't enough to drop any points. SCORE - 10  PRINTING & QUALITY CONTROL  Print detailing isn't usually an issue on Gemini models aside from a tendency to drop some small details here and there. Certainly from anymore than a few centimetres away the model looks great. The silver belly shines wonderfully and small print details such as the 859 fleet number on the tiny nosegear doors is printed on.  With macro-photography a few small issues arise. The middle cheatline line appears to run through the windows, which are presumably printed over the cheatlines. On the right side at the nose there is also a small smudge.  Quality wise once again nothing stands out as a problem until macro photography intervenes. The thickness around the engine rims is a little variable and untidy in close-up. No biggie. SCORE - 8  SUMMARY  As the score denotes this is a decent model, only really let down by the central weakness of the mould, which could do with a new front-end. That doesn't stop the model looking good and I've seen it in a variety of airport model shots looking very nice. Even so, there is no doubting this is very much a second option, and if only NG could get their MD-80 house in order I wouldn't be acquiring this model. If NG do make a Frontier Super 80 I'll likely be replacing this, but it is still a perfectly ok model. FINAL SCORE - 24/30 
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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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