 There has been a steady stream of retailer exclusives coming out of Indonesia, which has allowed the country's representation in 400 scale to punch above its weight. This is almost entirely due to Airshop Diecast, who have been working with both Panda Models and JC Wings on their own projects. I recently covered what they've been up to in 2024 in a post covering Airshop's latest releases at the news blog here. In this review I take a closer look at one of those models. Each review is to split into three key areas:
MOULD  You won't be surprised to learn I've reviewed the Panda A320 mould before, in fact I took a look at an Altitude Models edition only in May. So is there much new to say? Yes and no. Finally, after many years there is actually some real competition for this mould now that NG Models and Aviation400 have A320s of their own. Of course that isn't much of a problem for Panda when this mould is near perfect.  As you're probably aware this mould probably shares an ancestry with the Aeroclassics A320. I'm not getting into that again but whatever way you look at it whereas Panda has definitely improved the base mould since it's appearance, Aeroclassics conversely has damaged theirs with some lazy 'updates' to the undercarriage and continuing QC issues.  It is good to see that this Panda mould gets plenty of usage, albeit mainly in the form of retailer exclusives for shops from the UK to Indonesia to Canada. Stores clearly recognise its quality too.  Briefly covering the mould itself. The wings are excellent and slot into the fuselage very well with no discernible gap and no wing angle issues. The wing/fuselage fairing is very nicely shaped, unlike the competing Phoenix version. There are no issues with the fuselage barrel either, which is amazingly accurate.  Panda has upgraded the base A320 it started with, adding well-sized and shaped aerials, four of them, and updating the landing gear. The gear updates have replaced the old Aeroclassics style nosegear tyres with better sized wheels, complete with gearhubs.  Below: Not the models under review but a telling comparison of two 2024 A320s using basically the same base mould. The left is a Panda Models made example and the right is Aeroclassics. Compare aerials and gear detail, angle and tyrehubs.  Aeroclassics has also updated their nosegear on the A320s, twice in fact, but it continues to have no proper wheelhubs and the detailing and angle of the nosegear is poor. I recently acquired two Indian Airlines examples, one made by Panda and one by Aeroclassics, and the look of the nose assembly is night and day.  For me this mould is excellent and miles ahead of all but the NG and AV400 versions. I wish Phoenix and JC Wings, especially, would produce A320s that could compete effectively with this mould, but so far they have not done so. SCORE - 10 PAINT & LIVERY  Super Air Jet is a good example of the increasing maturity in an Indonesian market that was once full of dodgy airlines. Super Air Jet is an ultra-low cost carrier (ULCC) so it doesn't necessarily have a good reputation, but it's aircraft aren't crashing so that's a significant improvement over the past! Part of the Lion Air group they only started operations in August 2021 but are already flying over 60 A320 family aircraft to over 30 destinations. This aircraft was obviously their 50th airframe and was appropriately given the titles to denote that.  The airline's livery is surprisingly calm and stylish, for what is a ULCC, with a sandy gold and white finish and simple plane logo. I like it. You could argue the name itself is a bit lazy but there have been far worse LCC names from Western countries! Below: Four images of this aircraft and on the right the actual model  The main colour can look orangey or more golden depending on the light - as you can see in the image above. The model has gone for a lighter version, even slightly lighter than that made on the MP4 Models version, made also by Panda, when I'd probably argue the golden version is more accurate. It does match some of the photos though, so, like with the Southwest desert gold, I feel there's plenty of range for disagreement over what is the correct shade here.  Positionally, everything is in the right place on the aircraft and the font of the titles is accurate. The Panda printwork is great, as we'll look at in the next section, so they have no problem with small details such as the tiny STQ on the nosegear doors. SCORE - 8 PRINTING & QUALITY CONTROL  Panda Models are near the top of the pile when it comes to modern detailed and quality printwork. They certainly don't skimp and when you turn this model over the underside is bursting with detail, all finely demarcated.  If I had to pick a fault with the print it is a small one of alignment and something not uncommon in 400 scale in general. That is that the overwing exit markings don't 100% align with the emergency exits themselves. Panda also don't print the fairly obvious line around the fuselage/wing fairing, but then again nobody else does either.  One area that Panda does seem to struggle with is attaching landing gear. It is not unusual for it to be a little untidy, both on the A320 family and the Tu-134s. On this model the starboard side leg is fitted at something of an angle, plus the inside parts of the gear leg have some untidy flashing between them. You don't tend to notice either of these things unless you're really looking but checking several Panda A320s I own and it seems to be a fairly common issue. SCORE - 8 BUY THIS MODEL FROM AIRSHOP DIECAST NOW!  SUMMARY  I have an interest in developing aviation markets and I like airlines that are a little more obscure in the West too. Indonesia is a perfect example of both of these aspects and I love these Airshop Diecast exclusives. I am often tempted to acquire a wider variety of deregulation airlines from exotic countries, but to be honest a lot of them just aren't made. With Airshop Diecast focusing on their home market that is not a problem for Indonesia, and they are providing an excellent service to their community, plus producing a delightful range of models such as this. FINAL SCORE - 26/30 
1 Comment
Rahul Lall
26/8/2024 06:31:21 pm
An excellent review,Richard.Very informative and detailed.Your style of writing is clear and concise. 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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