HX Models has been swiftly expanding its mould catalogue, releases and retailer reach in 400 scale with a focus on widebodies made both for itself, Patriot Models, YY Wings and as retailer exclusives. Not everything thay have done has been gold, but they have produced an all new Boeing 747-100/200 mould fulfilling a need in the scale that has been glaring, both because of the timegap between new quality 747 classics and because of NG Models failure to fill the gap themselves. They have now released 5 Pan Am 747s and these could be the breakout models for HX in 400 scale.
All 5 of these Pan Am 747s have already featured at the YouTube channel in an unboxing video, which you can find below, but in this piece I'll take a closer look at one of them:
This review is split into three key areas:
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MOULD
HX Models are producing the entire series of 747s in 400 scale but to date it is the 747-400 and 747-8 that have been the main subjects of release. Until now the number of 747-100/200s has been much lower, with more made for Patriot Models than for themselves. The need for a modern 747-100/200 has been obvious for many years.
Most collections containing a range of 747-100/200s will no doubt use the Dragon Wings and Aeroclassics / BigBirds as their premier moulds for the type, with a smaller smattering of Aviation400/Witty Wings, Gemini Jets and, god forbid, even Phoenix models. There have certainly been a lot of 747 moulds, but every single one predates 2010 and although some have been updated with aerials and rolling gear they struggle to escape the fact that they are fundamentally obsolete by modern standards.
The only more modern 747-100/200 is the NG Lite version, which frankly is very poor and no real competition for even the older moulds due to a range of issues, not the least of which is the fact it has a fantasy wing on it. NG have still shown no sign that they are working on an updated version, which leaves the field wide open for this HX Models edition.
Fortunately, although not perfect, this 747 is clearly very good and in my view a worthy successor to even the best of the older moulds. Starting at the front and I think they have nailed the forward fuselage. The model also comes with nicely sized aerials and the SATCOM dome aft of the hump, which was fitted to early series 747s. JC Wings have recently fitted a SATCOM dome to the old BigBird mould they are using too, but obviously updating such an old mould has limitations.
The undercarriage is probably the area that has been criticised the most, mainly for its height. It is probably slightly too tall, but to my eye it doesn't impact the model (which sits nose to nose alongside other moulds well) and is certainly miles better than it being too short (as with the JC Wings 747-400).
The height isn't the only issue as the nosegear doors are too large and there is a slight recess around them (not really visible with the naked eye). On the plus side the gear leg is well proportioned and detailed making it easily the best in the scale for the type. The maingear are also very well detailed and all the bogies pivot too.
The model has a tight slot in wing to fuselage join and although I've heard complaints about the thickness off the wings it is no worse than any other 747 model ever made in 400 scale and I'm not convinced making it thinner wouldn't harm the durability of the product. The model has the original pylon style of a 747-100/200 (this pylon was never available on several of the older moulds) and I think the pylons are shaped well and connect correctly to the engines.
The engine nacelles are the best I've seen since the old Dragon mould and miles ahead of the oversized and oddly shaped NG Lite versions. The cowling inlet ring is a separate piece to the rest of the nacelle in order to enable the fitting of a hollow-core engine fan inside it. I think this has been handled well myself, but once again I've seen some criticism by people who don't like hollow-core engines and percieve them as a gimmick.
They may have a point, and certainly the number of fanblades inside the engines is too low, but at the same time the detailing looks good to the naked eye and only at macro photography levels is that noticeable. All 400 scale models are compromises of a sort due to the scaling and I think HX has done a good job here to try and please both sets of collectors (those who want hollow fans and those who don't care for them).
The rest of the wing is excellent and a comparison of this mould to the NG Lite at the wingtips is day and night. Of course this mould has the correct wingspan, but the wing also has lots of other detailing absent on the NG. The fuel dump pipe is present inboard of an exquisitely moulded wingtip HF aerial (not just a spike on the end of the wing). On the underside the outer flaps have hinges.
​On the underside of the fuselage the mould also illustrates attention to detail. Not only are the three NACA intakes moulded in, but so are the three rectagular grilled intakes behind them. Up till now these have always only been printed on.
At the rear of the model I have no issues with the rear fuselage and once again the model is best in class when it comes to a feature - in this case the detailing around the tailcone APU. The vertical stabiliser also looks good, but it has been pointed out that the downward curve where it meets the roofline is not correct. I agree, but again it is hardly a dealbreaker.
As I have said this mould is not perfect, but it is clearly very good. The biggest issues for me (nosegear doorsize and vertical stabiliser curve) are both pretty minor, while in a range of other areas (gear leg, fuselage detailing, HF aerials, wing detailing, SATCOM fairing) this casting introduces a new level of detail to 747s in 400 scale. More than that in key areas such as nose and cockpit, hump, wings and engines it presents none of the major issues the NG Lite shows.
SCORE - 9
PAINT & LIVERY
The earliest Pan Am 747 livery has been poorly represented in 400 scale, with the majority of Pan Am 747s instead wearing the 1976 version with new PAN AM lettering style, slanted flag and bigger titles. Four of the five HX releases all wear the original colours debuted in 1969.
Although N747PA was the second 747 off of the production line Pan Am received several aircraft in close proximity at the end of 1969 and this frame wasn't its first (that would be N733PA). In fact, the order of Pan Am 747 firsts is a little confused, not helped by them changing the Clipper names around regularly. This aircraft was used on a publicity tour and christened 'Jet Clipper America' on January 14, 1970 by the First Lady Pat Nixon.
I'm not sure any of the other 747s got the anachronistic 'Jet Clipper' name. Anyway, photos in this scheme are not common for this registration, but there is this decent image on Airliners.net.
It actually seems that N747PA may have been the first 747 painted in Pan Am colours and originally the main titles were even smaller than the operational version. This model has the same size titles as all the other 3 in this scheme and as, I believe, N747PA was repainted for service entry.
Ultimately this is quite a simple livery as long as you use the correct Pan Am globe logo and titles, which they have. Having said that I do think the spacing of the main titles is a little off with the gap between the letters (especially the A and M) being too big.
SCORE - 9
PRINTING & QUALITY CONTROL
The thing that really stands out on these Pan Am models are the engines and pylons, which have been electroplated. They are incredibly shiny, probably shinier than on any Pan Am 747 even when new. They don't offend me but I would probably have preferred the standard effect they used on the N7470 prototype release.
There is a lot of good quality and fine print detailing, including on the natural metal belly. In fact, HX print far more detail on the underside of a 747 then anyone else, even though they also have more moulded in detailing too.
None of the 5 Pan Am 747s I received have any serious quality issues. This model probably has the worst of the five in that one of the nacelle inlet rings is a little wonky, although its barely noticeable with the Mk1 eyeball.
All of these models come with the HX premium product offering, which includes the excellent metal stand (rather than the cheaper plastic stand the YY releases tend to get) and a plastic collectors card. The box isn't up to Patriot Models standards but this is a nice compromise edition and a higher quality offering then most 400 scale models.
SCORE - 9
CONCLUSION
After so many years of buying old 747s, or suffering some of the often dreadful recent Aeroclassics efforts (made with a cast-off version of an old BigBird copy mould with less detail than the JC Wings versions being made at the same time, and obviously no aerials either) it is a revelation for me to get some real quality 747-100/200s. As I have said this mould isn't faultless, but it is more than good enough to handsomely outpace any competition and I'm not interesting in waiting another decade for a decent 747 when these are easily some of the best models of 2025. I am aware there are quite a few other 747 classics in the pipeline (often for retailers) so hopefully we get to see a good range of models using these moulds.
FINAL SCORE - 27/30 
1 Comment
Richie Quinto
16/7/2025 07:06:18 am
Amazing review. Hope they make a Latin Collection like this of Pan Am (Varig, Viasa, Suriname, Avianca, Lan Chile, Dominicana) or Northwest Orient. Leave a Reply. |
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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