2024 - The Year In Review |
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2024 in 400 scale has been a mixed year. While there are more brands than ever producing high quality models, and more releases overall year on year, there has also been some disappointment, with certain brands stagnating, declining or delivering some poor quality. There's plenty to discuss and overall the scale remains in a strong position going into 2025 - a year where there are likely to be more great models, more brands, but also more uncertainty thanks to the US election result.
As I hope you are aware I cover the monthly release sets from several of the major brands (Gemini Jets, JC Wings, NG Models and Phoenix Models) and sometimes smaller ones too in ranking videos over at my Youtube channel so if you don't catch those subscribe to the channel now!
As I hope you are aware I cover the monthly release sets from several of the major brands (Gemini Jets, JC Wings, NG Models and Phoenix Models) and sometimes smaller ones too in ranking videos over at my Youtube channel so if you don't catch those subscribe to the channel now!
For the purposes of this review the data uses model announcements from 2024 rather than arrivals, since most brands (JC Wings, Panda, Phoenix and Aviation400) usually include a time delay of at least 3 months (regularly longer in JC Wings and Aviation400's case) from announcement to release. For 2023's review of the year see here:
2024 PRODUCTION BY MANUFACTURER
I hear rumours of a softening selling market from retailers, but despite that the number of 400 scale releases in 2024 comfortably beat that of 2023, for another record year. Some of that has been driven by a proliferation of new brands. Last year I only bothered to call out 10 brands in the below chart, but this past year I feel the need to call out 15 (16 if I split out C Models). This increase is despite a sizeable drop from NG Models in production, but their drop-off has been easily replaced by an increase in output from HX Models, JC Wings and Panda Models, plus smaller new brand's growth.
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Aeroclassics production increased from its low of 2023, but still did not match that of 2022, partly because they released models in only 11 of 12 months and partly because of smaller sets. They appear to still struggle to overcome production issues, which can lead to delayed models and some poor QC also. On the plus side they remain the primary producer of classic pre-2000 era models.
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Towards the end of the year the old Apollo Models brand came back into use with a series of A380s using the old Witty Wings mould, however don't be fooled into thinking this is a return by Witty Industrial. It is far more likely to be a response to the somewhat controversial rise of the HX Models / SQ Wings brands.
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Aviation400 have continued their growth in the scale, but do at times continue to suffer from production delays (indeed the magnetic gear version of their A350 has taken over a year to appear now). In 2024 they continued to focus on widebodies (and their A320s didn't get a look in) with magnetic gear being added to all of them. For 'features' such as beacon lights, pivoting gear, magnetic gear and spinning fans they are the go to brand.
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Nothing has really changed at Gemini so my text from last year is still valid. They continue to do what they have always done with little change - at least in terms of production. Their business is in commercial agreements (with airlines such as Delta and Emirates) and mostly modern US releases, with a smattering of European airlines. Many of their moulds, especially for narrowbodies, are weak.
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JC Wings continued where they left off at the end of 2023. They have continued to aggressively increase 400 scale output to attempt to hold marketshare against NG Models and other newcomers (especially HX Models who they are very much in dispute with). The ramp up has seen the old warehouse reserve stock gradually dwindle and has led to more future release models towards the end of the year. Diversity from JC hasn't been great in 2024, but I have high expectations in 2025 that there'll be a lot more interesting models from them.
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Herpa have been irrelevent in 400 scale for years and with no releases at all in 2024 they are out of the 400 scale game altogether.
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HX Models emerged from the shadows in 2024 having released some models under the YY Wings and Blue Wings brands in 2023. They also have a 200 scale sister brand called SQ Wings. For more on them see my video about the new brand and the controversy with JC Wings here. They have big plans and the potental to cause major disruption in the scale in 2025, however they also don't have much in the way of international distribution and appear focused mainly on Asian models. Nonetheless, their new 747 moulds have been a revelation.
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NG Models have had a rough year. The criticism that was gaining ground in 2023 has only been amplified by their actions in 2024. They have failed to produce a good range of models, ignoring much of their mould catalogue, and instead producing a lot of near duplicate releases. New initiatives such as the Ultimate Collection and NG Lite have seemingly failed to gain traction and their delivery has been rather botched. Worse, many of the new mould samples debuted in 2023 have still not really seen production in 2024. Some (A330neos, MD-80s, 757-300 and 767s) have appeared briefly while others (the 747 classics) have been of poor quality so far. The A340s have not appeared at all yet. They have not released models every month, have sometimes announced them late and production is down on 2023. It is hard to get over the feeling they have been suffering financial issues, trying to do too much at once, and it remains to be seen whether they can refind their mojo in 2025.
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Panda Models have grown quite a bit in 2024 and have a thriving business producing models for other brands (such as C Models, Geministar, Yu ModeL, Undefined Collectibles and others) and retailers. Indeed they produce more models under others brand names than their own, but have expanded their mould catalogue in 2024 with some excellently crafted additions. Nowadays they are producing more releases than Gemini does.
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Patriot Models are a relative newcomer to 400 scale. They have previously released 200 scale Chinese models and began in 400 scale at the end of 2023 with a quartet of Xian Y-7s. Since then they have shown an interest in unusual variants of aircraft types, created by modifying, in house, Aeroclassics and HX Models moulds. Following on from modified 747s and DC-10s they have announced some Shuttle Carrier 747s for the new year and their models have begun to appear at select Western retailers, such as Bedfordshire Diecast, West Coast Diecast and Yankee Victor 400.
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The transformation of Phoenix that began in early 2023 has blossomed in 2024, so that in terms of diversity of releases they are now one of the most important brands to watch. They have also shown a lot more interest in new mould production and updating older moulds than they had done in previous years. They have had a tremendous year, albeit production totals have remained static. Moving into 2025 they have new moulds coming for all-new types, which may help them replace older moulds in production that are now coming under intense competition from new moulds produced by NG Models, HX Models and Panda Models.
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Undefined Collectibles are a small Chinese brand that have used both Panda Models and JC Wings moulds to make a small variety of Chinese airliners, sometimes partnering with Creating Dreams Wings.
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Yu ModeL have a new logo and have increased production in 2024. So far that has been mainly using Aeroclassics and JC Wings moulds to make Chinese airliners, but although it has taken longer than expected their all new Airbus A300 mould nears readiness for 2025 with 10 models announced (not included in the above stats). They are definitely one to watch.
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Below: Despite their poor year NG Models are still producing the most models. As you can see in terms of releases despite their prominence in the USA Gemini Jets are miles behind NG and JC, and in 6th position overall.
2024 PRODUCTION BY AIRCRAFT TYPE
Incredibly, Airbus and Boeing products make up 87% of the aircraft made in 2024 - exactly the same percentage as in 2023! The difference between the two is also roughly the same with 436 Airbuses this year, to last year's 404, and 668 Boeings this year, to 634 last. Obviously there is still an unsurprising massive disparity in modern types to classics, which has a knock-on effect on aircraft manufacturer.
Production Split by Aircraft Manufacturer
Gemini Jets - Reno Air MD-90
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Patriot Models - Upcoming MD-11 using the new Panda mould
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Douglas and McDonnell Douglas products are once again third, mainly thanks to an impressive 23 announced MD-11s with the type all of a sudden a hot property thanks to a new (as yet barely seen) mould from Panda Models. MD-80s and 90s make up a further 14 models. Although that is a good return compared to previous years it is very disappointing considering expectations for the NG Models MD-80s (used only for 3 AA examples and 2 blanks). Aeroclassics DC-9s and DC-10s fill out the remainder, including a pair of Patriot DC-10s made by Aeroclassics. There has only been a single Aeroclassics Douglas prop in 2024.
Aeroclassics - Continental DC-10
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NG Models - American Airlines MD-80
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The Embraers are 100% the preserve of JC Wings and Gemini Jets with their range of E-Jets - boosted this year with the excellent E-2 range. Lockheed barely registered this year with just a solitary NG Tristar being made - a real crime considering the mould's quality. The closure of the Buchannan Models brand didn't help. In fact, when it comes to Lockheed in 2024 the Yu ModeL Hercules was about the only interesting model.
Gemini Jets - KLM E-195-E2
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Yu ModeL - China Eastern L100 Hercules
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Tupolev once again does well off the back of the resurgence of interest in Soviet-era aircraft and moulds. Models were made by 4 manufacturers - NG Models (Tu-154, Tu-204), Panda Models (Tu-134), Aeroclassics (Tu-154) and Phoenix (Tu-154). Sadly, the diversity of NG Models 154s has been very poor and there were only 4 Panda Tu-134s all year. That means a lot of the releases were lower quality Aeroclassics and Phoenix Tu-154s (albeit the latter included some inspired liveries).
Panda Models - LOT Tu-134
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Phoenix Models - Guyana Airways Tu-154M
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Ilyushin had a decent year with 12 models, almost entirely made up of Il-96s - bolstered by the excellent addition of an Il-96-400 from Phoenix. There were 10 ATRs and 32 models from other manufacturers - mainly made up of COMAC C919s, De Havilland Canada DHC-8s and Bombardier CRJs, with the odd Curtiss C-46, Convair 440 and Antonov An-26.
Phoenix - Atlant Soyuz Il-96-400T
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JC Wings - Cubana An-26
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AIRBUS PRODUCTION 2024
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BOEING PRODUCTION 2024
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As you'd expect A320 family and 737s are very common and older versions continue to be as popular as NEOs and MAXes. The response to the Aviation400 A380 died down, but fuel was added to the A380 fire by the appearance of the competing HX Models and Apollo A380s. A good chunk of these releases were China Southern examples! Likewise A350 numbers were bolstered by over 30 Air China examples, but also by new moulds for the type from Panda Models.
Panda Models - Air France A320-100
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NG (BOB) Models - Xiamen 737-800
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Phoenix continued to do the A340 series proud, with 18 of the 19 releases made. The appearance of the NG Models A340s will have to be in 2025. A330s were common, especially the NEOs, with moulds in play now from Aviation400, JC Wings/Gemini, NG Models and Phoenix. There were 28 A330NEOs in 2024.
Phoenix - Airbus A340-500
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Aviation400 - Senegal A350-900
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There was a frankly embarrassingly large number of Boeing 747-8s this year, with lot of repetition among them. NG models and JC Wings / Gemini were mainly to blame here, but the new HX Models versions didn't help! There were lots of 747 Classics, but disappointingly mostly they were not great. The Aeroclassics editions were full of bad print and clumsy moulding, JC Wings releases were repetitive, the NG Lite mould is poor, and there were lots of very similar Boeing house colours versions made by multiple brands. Hopefully, 2025 will bring better quality 747 reproductions.
YY Wings (HX Models) - Air China 747-8I
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NG Lite - Boeing 747-100
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Boeing 767-400s continued to be popular, but the JC Wings / Gemini mould continues to be poor. Fortunately, the new Panda 767-400 is exceptional. The NG 767s barely got used, but also are not free of printing issues. Once again Phoenix made best use of its 767s, but surely that mould's time is coming to an end with the new Panda and NG editions on the horizon. The same goes for the Aeroclassics 767-200s - nice releases but moderate mould. 757s barely featured at all, but the new NG 757-300 did get 6 releases. They seem to have forgotten their excellent series 200 exists!
Phoenix - Air Namibia 767-300
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Aeroclassics - Air Gabon 767-200
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Triple Sevens and Dreamliners were as common as you would expect, but the numbers are boosted a lot by repetition of releases (especially from NG Models). The expansion of Aviation400s Dreamliner line was welcome and led to there being 32 787-8s last year.
NG Models - Air China 777-200
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Aviation400 - United 787-10
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For more classic Boeing offerings Aeroclassics, as always, delivered. Sadly, they couldn't always get the quality aspect right so there were plenty of wavy wings, odd cockpits and unattached 737-200 wings too. JC Wings' Big Bird Mk3 brand released a few nice Boeing 707s.
Aeroclassics - Eastern 727-200
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BigBird Mk3 - Pan Am 707-320B
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MOULD PRODUCTION & MODERNISATION
New mould creation was just as active in 2024 as it had been in 2023, although the ability of brands to actually get new moulds from sample to production was not always successful. Some mould samples from 2023 have still not been seen as of December 2024. Here is what was released all new in 2024 or announced for release in 2025.
Panda Models - China Southern A350
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Aviation400 - Air Tanzania 787-8
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Aviation400 have struggled to complete the magnetic detachable gear for all their moulds, so although both the A350s and 777-300ERs were announced as getting them in late 2023 they still haven't appeared as of 2025 (but photos suggest they are close). Improvements have been made to their Airbus A330-900 and they did release both the missing variants of the Dreamliner. Panda Models have also been working on widebodies and delivered their excellent new 767-400 and A350-900. The 767-300, C919 and MD-11 have been released and look excellent, but good photos of them are yet to appear. They should all be available for reviews at the hangar in 2025. Panda Models are also very close to having a 767-200 ready too.
Output from JC Wings (and their sub-brand Gemini Jets - ha ha) has been less exciting, but JC have followed up their Beluga and Antonov props from last year with two other obscure types - the An-22 and XB-70 (the Valkyrie got a short review at the site here). Still no sign of the A310, but the 2nd generation E-jets turned out very nicely.
Panda Models - United 767-400
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JC Wings - XB-70 Sample
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HX Models are an all new brand (and factory) that has come onto the scene with a selection of widebodies. I hope to be able to review the A380 and 747-400 soon, but the 747-100 was a mould I really enjoyed receiving and a big improvement over the NG Lite 747-100. There will also be a 747SCA (Shuttle Carrier) coming soon, with the first releases under the Patriot brand.
NG Models announced a large number of samples in late 2023 and has clearly struggled to get them up to the standard where they can be released, and even when they have has not used them especially well. This seems to fit into the wider malaise at the brand, but they did manage to release 9 A330-800/900s starting in May, 6 757-300s starting in April, 8 737 MAX-7/10s starting in March, 8 767s starting in June and 5 MD-80s starting in March. All of the 747-100/400 releases to date have been of what are effectively unfinished moulds and are not very good. Unsurprisingly they have been shunted into the NG Lite category, but you can't help but feel that wasn't the original plan! Hopefully finished improved front-line 747s will be available in 2025 along with more MD-80s (including the MD-87), 767s and A340s.
NG Models - American 767-200
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NG Models - Boeing 757-300
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NG Models - Uganda A330-800
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NG Lite - Asiana Boeing 747-400
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Phoenix finally kicked new mould production into gear in 2024, plus modified some of their existing moulds. The Il-96-400 was very welcome and I know we can expect to see more new moulds from Phoenix next year.
Phoenix - Ilyushin Il-96-400M
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Phoenix - Qantas Boeing 787-9
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The last new mould to discuss is the Yu ModeL Airbus A300. The first releases should finally be available in the first quarter of 2025 and while I don't expect to see separate fuselage castings for the B2/B4 and 600 I am hopeful they will be good. I reviewed sample pictures most recently in April:
2024 HIGHLIGHTS & LOWLIGHTS
JC Wings prop-fan UDF 727-100
HIGHS
- Exciting new brands with a lot of potential, such as Patriot Models, HX Models and Yu ModeL
- An increasing willingness to make unusual aircraft like the KC-33 (Patriot), An-22, XB-70, 727 Prop-fan (all JC Wings), 747SCA (HX Models) and Il-96-400 (Phoenix)
- Panda Models, JC Wings and even Aeroclassics ability to act as OEMs for smaller brands and retailers
- More and more high quality moulds - especially for Boeing 747 Classics, Boeing 767s and McDonnell Douglas MD-11s
- A continued will from Phoenix to pick out unusual and worthy releases
- NG Models wish and commission centre has a lot of potential (if it is used sensibly by collectors and NG)!
- A new and excellent independent model database (not mine) at MADb - check it out
- Once again the willingness of brands and manufacturers to work with me is appreciated. This year Aviation400, JC Wings, NG Models, Phoenix, Panda Models, Patriot, HX Models, Yu ModeL and Undefined Collectibles have all been friendly and available. Thanks!
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LOWS
- The decision making at NG Models has been at times questionable. The Ultimate Collection and NG Lite could easily have not been made. The often boring releases and lack of diverse mould usage are poor.
- The NG 'Let Classic Be Classic' slogan turned out to be just a mis-translation of Chinese, where they meant Chinese classics liveries.
- A real lack of diversity from both Gemini and JC Wings
- Still some appalling quality control and finishing here and there. Aeroclassics once again has easily been the worst here.
- Prices. They are only going one way and with tariffs coming that will probably get worse in the new year.
- Availability of many of the smaller brand's models and retailer exclusives can be problematic. I find myself having to buy from China direct more and more.
One of several dreadful Aeroclassics 747s
INTO 2025
Yesterday's Airlines marked its 10 year anniversary in November and I feel as if 400 scale is in a better position than ever. There are still voices for doing less and accepting things as they are, but there are more voices for doing your best, trying something new and excelling. Despite the fear of continuing price rises 2025 has huge amounts of potential. New brands are bringing a lot to the table and often have substantial resources behind them. I am more involved than ever and have been working directly with manufacturers on a couple of projects that will hopefully bear fruit next year. There are also new moulds on the horizon that I can't talk about yet, which will add range and diversity to the scale. If NG Models can start making sensible decisions again then we might finally get back to them being the best, while I know good things are coming from JC Wings too.
Once again, I look forward to exploring the coming changes with you at Yesterday's Airlines. Happy New Year!!
Once again, I look forward to exploring the coming changes with you at Yesterday's Airlines. Happy New Year!!
