NG Models Airbus A380 1:400 Scale Mould Sample Review

Airbus A380 1:400 Scale New Mould Sample

Modified: March 2026

It has been a while since NG delivered a new mould in 400 scale, partly because they have obviously been struggling to get into production the huge mould production splurge of 2022, when they debuted A330NEOs, A340s, 737 MAX-7/10, 747-100/200, 747-400, 767-200/300/400, MD-80s and several 200 scale 737s all at the same time! Many of those moulds have been barely seen since or needed substantial rework. Some, such as the A340s still haven't had an actual release yet. Nonetheless NG's acceptance of wishes for aircraft types they don't have moulds for suggests their ambitions are undiminished. Over the past few weeks they have released images of their new A380, along with announcing the Lufthansa 100 years scheme as a future release for it.

You could argue that an A380 shouldn't really be a high priority for NG Models, since there are plenty on the market and most schemes have already been made multiple times, however the popularity of the aircraft continues unabated with collectors and simply put, if NG wants to make some A380s it needs its own mould. This new sample makes it 6 active A380 moulds in the market, but in this initial review I will focus only on looking at the NG sample and comparing it to the real aircraft. Future content will compare the sample to other A380s in the scale.

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Overview

aeroprints.com, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

We're in a world nowadays where new moulds from 400 scale manufacturers should, and usually are, quite similar to each other for a given type and far more accurate than moulds of yesteryear. A cursory look at this A380 illustrates that it bears a close likeness to the real aircraft as you would expect of a new 2026 casting. Nothing dramatic stands out in the above image when compared to the Lufthansa machine above it. Obviously, when you look closer things change so that's what we'll do now.

Nose, Cockpit & Nosegear

Side on, although the general look is good there are a few things to call out associated with it:

Cockpit windows - The cockpit window printing needs some refinement. The angle of the middle windows and the relative position of the two side windows (plus their height) do not appear to be entirely accurate. Replacing the printed windows with those of the Lufthansa does improve the look quite a bit.
Nose underside curve - It does appear that although the curve down from the cockpit to radome is accurate on the underside the same curve should be a little deeper. This also accounts for why the nosegear doors appear a little too tall. If the nose underside was slightly deeper the nosegear doors would recess into the fuselage better.

The below modified image takes the LH cockpit and a curve based off of the real thing and applies them to the model. Obviously, this is rather rudimentary but hopefully gives you an idea of what I mean:

On the plus side the nosegear leg has a lot of good detailing and is very well proportioned. The detailing of the tyrehub is less good.

Wings

The shape at the wingroot is very good.

On the wing underside there is a lot of excellent detailing, including features such as the RAM Air Inlets and RAM Air Outlet doors. NG also include the flap hinges on the outermost flaps, something that they have recently left off most of their other moulds.

Something else NG appear to have included is the fuel dump pipe, which comes out of one of the flap track anti-shock bodies - the second outermost.

ZweiZahn, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Julian Herzog, CC BY 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Unfortunately, it appears NG have moulded the fuel dump pipe onto the wrong flap track fairing as it sems that the third outermost fairing has the elongated part meant to represent the pipe whereas the second outermost does not.

I like the shape of the wingtip fences, which correctly includes the curve on the leading edge of the lower portion of the wingtip fence.

Engines

An area that NG excels at are the engine fans. In recent times they have mainly returned to solidcore engines, but with the A380 they have returned to hollowcore rotating fanblades. They have done so very well. The separate engine rims fit well to the nacelle and the engines have the correct number (24) of fanblades. The shape, width and curve of the fanblades is excellent.

The shape of the engine pylons is also very good, especially with the squared off underside aft of the engine hot sections. The engine hot sections themselves are also nicely detailed and the shock cone well pointed.

I'm less impressed by the thickness and shape of the nacelle strakes / vortex generators on the side of the engine nacelles, which are, in my view, a little oversized.

Maingear

Along with a return to hollowcore fans NG have also returned to pivoting maingear trucks for the first time in ages with this mould. On the real thing the inner gear trucks overlap the outer ones by about half a tyre's width. This is something that other moulds have struggled to get right and I think NG also do so, however in the opposite way to some. The inner gear truck here I think overlaps a little too much. It isn't quite an entire tyre, but it isn't far off.

Tail & Tailcone

At the rear, the size and shape of the tailcone blade is fine, however I'm not so convinced by the APU exhaust pipe and how it merges into the blade. Printing detail will help, but the rather obvious rounded pipe forming into the flat bladed tailcone sides is largely missing and the pipe aperture should be wider, or at least as wide along its entire length.

The size and shape of the vertical stabiliser is good except for along its top edge. At the front it is a little too square and the top of the stabiliser appears to not be straight. In fact, it seems to curve with the rear corner being too low.

NG Models Airbus A380 Sample

On the Stand

Unlike the engine cores and gear trucks, one thing that NG is persisting with is its new stand design, which fits over the wingtops. That means the underside has no standhole, but also that the new stand does hide more of the model and is more visible from certain angles.

Summary

With both the Aviation400 and HX Models Airbus A380s relatively new to market, plus other moulds from Apollo, Gemini Jets / JC Wings and Phoenix, NG Models is entering a crowded market for A380s some of which offer features it cannot (magnetic gear and flaps down). That surely means they need to be producing a top mould, but I must admit as with several of their recent moulds this attempt has some issues that need some work still. Highlights of this mould are the engines, fanblades, engine pylons and wings. In other areas the mould is good but could be improved. Areas requiring optimisation include:

Cockpit print shape
Nose underside form
Position of the fueldump pipe
Shape of the nacelle strakes / vortex generators on the side of the engine nacelles
Tailtop
Tailcone APU exhaust pipe
Position of inner vs outer maingear trucks

Fortunately, most of these modifications are relatively minor and the overall form of the mould is strong. Whether there is time to make the modifications before the first release is another question.

Stay tuned for more content featuring this sample and comparing it to other A380s in 400 scale coming soon.