Below is my view on the best 400 scale moulds for a selection of Boeing types based on buying a lot of 400 scale models and looking at them in detail across many years. You may not agree but if you don't you should at least mount a sensible argument about why you don't!
NOTE: Just because a mould isn't the best it doesn't mean it isn't good and that you shouldn't buy it. I buy a wide range of good moulds for many of these types myself. In the end your collecting is up to you. Use the resources linked to below to get a better understanding of what is available.
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-100/200/300 |
The original 747 has a long list of moulds that have been made for it, but there have been no new moulds since the dreadful Phoenix effort in 2008. Sadly the awful Phoenix version is about the only mould still regularly used, although only a few years ago Aeroclassics did acquire a set of blanks for one of the BigBird clones and they turned out very nicely. There is a stigma attached to Dragon Wings models, however their ancient 747-100/200 is still a nice effort if you can forgive the undercarriage and often poor cockpit printing. Most of the other moulds are decent enough and older Aeroclassics / BigBird 747s remain incredibly highly sought after. The best mould overall however is the seamless Aviation400 / Witty Wings version used between 2007 and 2014 for only about 40 releases.
NG Models have just announced that new 747 Classics will be coming in mid-2023 so I eagerly await those.
NG Models have just announced that new 747 Classics will be coming in mid-2023 so I eagerly await those.
SUPPORTING MATERIAL
ACTIVE MOULDS
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* The history of the Big Bird Your Craftsman mould is complicated and the current version used by BB Mk3, JC Wings and sometimes Aeroclassics is not actually the original Big Bird mould but seemingly a clone.
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BEST MOULD |
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED |
* This mould was also used by the old Aviation400 and Inflight400
The mould is inactive |
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SP |
The arrival of the NG Models 747SP sparked hope for an avalanche of great 747s. That hasn't really happened and usage of the new SP has been poor, however there is no doubting it is easily much superior to both the Gemini Jets / JC Wings and the Herpa versions.
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ACTIVE MOULDS
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* possibly inactive
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BEST MOULD
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-400 |
Like the series 100/200 the series 400 has a very complicated mould history with large numbers of moulds from often mystery meat style brands. Most of these can be safely ignored as they are rare or have gone to paint bubble or zinc rot hell. In general the 400 series moulds share the same characteristics as the 100/200s. This means the 'new' Phoenix mould is bad, the Dragon mould has obsolete undercarriage but is otherwise good, the old Gemini / JC Wings version perfectly respectable, the Big Bird / Aeroclassics is very nice, highly sought after but rather old fashioned and the Apollo / Witty Wings versions are variants of the Big Bird. The big news in recent years has been the advent of the new JC Wings 747-400 from 2020. This mould could do with longer undercarriage and better cockpit printing but is otherwise excellent and available in flaps down configuration too.
SUPPORTING MATERIAL
ACTIVE MOULDS
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BEST MOULD |
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED |
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* Only the 2020 seamless mould
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-8I / 8F |
From two 747-8 moulds in 2022 there are now four available with new entrants from NG Models and YY Wings adding to the existing JC Wings and Phoenix efforts. Both of the new contendors are good but the NG pips the YY Wings version, mainly due to the wing/fuselage join.
SUPPORTING MATERIAL
ACTIVE MOULDS
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YY WINGS
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BEST MOULD
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Dreamlifter |
The JC Wings Dreamlifter is the only game in town, aside from an old inactive Dragon version, and although it isn't interactive it is based on the very good new JC Wings 2020 747-400 and has a flaps down variant too.
BEST MOULD
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