Pan Am | Boeing 707-321B Adv | N435PA | BigBird Mk3

Classic four-holer jets are a real rarity in 400 scale aside from the output of Aeroclassics. Of over 350 707-320s that have been made to date, over 270 of them are from Aeroclassics and since 2014 only one has been made that hasn't been by them. That is, until just recently, and it is great to see a little bit of competition in this area, especially given the quality issues Aeroclassics models nowadays often have. This Pan Am release is one of a pair of releases made by BigBird Mk3 that released in May and deserve some closer attention.

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This review is sponsored by:

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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

Given what I said in the introduction you might be forgiven for thinking that this mould is new. It isn't. It actually dates from 2008 when Witty Wings made a seamless copy of the Aeroclassics 707 and began releasing under the Aviation400 brand. Later it transitioned to the Witty Wings and Apollo brands before Witty went bankrupt in 2014. It was only used 23 times during this 6 year period. 

The Aeroclassics 707-320B/C dates from 2003, but remains one of the finest moulds they have ever created. It has been used widely and was, in 2007, updated with rolling gear. The Aeroclassics mould has been used regularly, with most years seeing releases on it. It doesn't really have any major faults, aside from the fact that it is a cradle mounted mould so has a seam that runs along the shape of the fuselage/wing join fairing.

The Witty Wings copy of this 707 matches the Aeroclassics almost exactly, but Witty created their version as a seamless mould with slot in wings, thereby avoiding the seamline and removing the one issue the Aeroclassics mould has. When Witty went bankrupt in 2014 their entire mould catalogue was purchased by JC Wings and that included the 707 mould. Unfortunately, it vanished into obscurity for 5 years.

It reappeared in 2019 with a single Shanghai Airlines release but also some extra mould updates that this Pan Am example also sports. These are new rolling landing gear and the addition of two aerials (one dorsal and one ventral, both forward). As is fairly common with JC Wings' moulds you could argue that the aerials are slightly oversized here, but it isn't by a large amount and having them is definitely better than there being absent (as they are on Aeroclassics versions).

The new rolling landing gear looks good but is the one weakness of the updated mould. The issue is mainly to do with the nosegear door. It is too large and completely hides the gear leg. It rather gives the 707 a more modern appearance and does look a little odd. The bright grey wheelhubs being used here are also a little out of keeping with a 707. They'd be much better if they were darker.

I should mention that the landing gear configuration (with this style of nosegear door) makes this suitable for only a Boeing 707-320C or, as in this case, a 320B Advanced version. It is well worth having a look at David Hingtgen's masterful article on 707 differences to understand the huge range of variant differences for the 707 in general:

Ultimate Boeing 707 Guide

Other major areas of variation across 707s are the form of the wings and disposition of ventral fins. This mould once again has the double-kinked rear margin, with straight join to fuselage, and the extended flared wingtip of a 707-320B/BAdv/C model. That does mean, that as with the Aeroclassics version, it is unsuitable to be used for a standard 707-320 or 420.

The engines and engine pylons are nicely shaped and the turbocompressors are accurately depicted only on engines 2, 3 and 4 - as they ought to be on a 707-320B/C. Altogether the seamless nature of this mould and addition of aerials means it just pips the seamed Aeroclassics mould for me, however I prefer the nosegear on the Aeroclassics version so perhaps it is more like a draw? They are both excellent renditions of a late model 707.

SCORE - 9

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PAINT & LIVERY

Even today Pan Am has an iconic branding that remains fairly well known, however as with a lot of airlines in the US with iconic brands (Eastern and United spring to mind) they had several livery variants without changing the overall scheme that make it somewhat confusing for people and 400 scale manufacturers. For example, this 707 wears the last livery worn by the type in PA service. This was applied only from 1973, by which time the 707s were on their way out. The last Pan Am 707s left the fleet in 1981 but most departed between 1975 and 1979.

The original jet age globe scheme was introduced in 1958 and with its long Pan American titles remained the same until the introduction of the 747 in January 1970. This shortened the titles to just Pan Am, but kept the wide letter spacing on both the titles and globe. Attempts to modernise the livery with a Helvetica font were unsuccessful, such was the conservatism at the airline, but in 1973 a more sedate rebrand occurred. This used a new globe and titles with the PAN AM bunched together. 

Within 3 years the scheme was further updated when the 747SPs arrived. In 1976 the flag was enlarged and slanted, Clipper titles gained a scripted font and the cheatline ended at the radome. This last scheme doesn't seem to have got onto any of the 707s. Pictures of N435PA, as above, show it in the 1973 variant, which is what the model wears.

After all that, the Pan Am scheme itself is quite simple and well executed here. The blue is a good shade and the title font and placement of the cheatline all match up nicely. The small CLIPPER CELESTIAL EMPIRE titles also look great and the 435 fleet number under the cockpit is present.

SCORE - 10

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PRINTING & QUALITY CONTROL

Print quality is of a high standard overall and there is plenty of print detailing on the underside of the model of the sort you're unlikely to see on an Aeroclassics version. Even so there are improvements that could be made. The engine fan nacelle section lacks any indication of the large square secondary inlet doors (which actually are printed on some Aeroclassics models) and are reasonably obvious.

The cockpit printing is another area where minor adjustments can be made. I'd like the outer windows to be slightly taller with a flat line across their top. See this photo for a compare.

A minor paint fault is the overpainting of the base natural metal with the white, which on the starboard side near the nose shows an obvious underpaint line. It's only really noticeable in close-up.

Build quality has no real faults. The closest you get is that the rolling gear don't really roll, but I'm not deducting anything for that. 

This model also comes with a Ciero sticker, in keeping with several of these recent BigBird models made in partnership with them. This jacks up the price a little and doesn't add a lot of value for me, but it's nice enough I guess.

SCORE - 8

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SUMMARY

This release, along with the accompanying Aer Lingus version, makes it only 3 707s from JC Wings (BigBird Mk3 is really just a JC sub-brand) in the past 10 years, but the mould deserves a lot more usage than that. This is a really nice rendition and one of only a handful of times in the past 5 years that the output of one of the major brands overlaps with that of Aeroclassics on a classic airliner. This is certainly a breath of fresh air compared to yet another A320 and illustrates the deep mould catalogue JC Wings has access to that I wish it would use more of. Let's hope we see more 707s from them and BigBird.

FINAL SCORE - 27/30