JC Wings Boeing 747-400 New Mould Sample in 1:400 Scale

Modified: October 2020

Text and Photos by JagT747

2018 was the last time anyone heard any news about a brand new 747-400 mould being produced by JC Wings with the special flaps down configuration (the news of a new 747-400 was reported on this site here). An all new 747-400 Mould in 1:400 has not been seen in many years, and the only active moulds are all based on outdated subpar moulds dating back to the start of the millennium.

This new JC Wings mould is the first completely brand new 747-400 with an original casting and design of its own since the Dragon Wings mould, of 2001, and the long lineage of Big Bird moulds, dating originally from 2003. The one wing cradle design, of all the moulds except the Dragon, has finally been ditched for the new modern seamless wing slots, giving the mould more than just a 747-400 flaps up/down option, but also the potential of a 747-300 and 747-400D. At the time of review, JC Wings is still focused on their original goal with this new mould of only producing 747-400, before possibly producing a 747-400D or 747-300.

JC Wings is famous for having access to nearly every existing 1:400 747-400 mould, (since they acquired the Witty inventory, make models for Gemini and had several of their own already) and has taken bits and pieces from each mould they had on hand to produce one of the best, most beautiful looking 747-400 models. The flaps down model really pops when displaying it with a 1:400 stand or mixing it with some 1:400 GSE to produce a diorama.  

The quality of the model is amazing, and is produced with the high standards JC Wings puts into all their new moulds. The entire mould including the flaps are cast in diecast metal with some amazing details etched onto the mould. The model is heavy and durable, and like all JC Wings Flaps down models in 1:400, the flaps are also cast in full metal, and feel very durable.

Adrian Pingstone. / Public domain

This new 747-400 also features many new needed upgrades which were not seen on the old 747-400 mould they were using. The main landing gear no longer features the weird spring type gear they were using before. The gear is now secured into the model, and the gears are also able to realistically tilt into the real life positions like they are when a 747-400 is on final approach, if put on a stand.

The nose gear has also gotten many tiny detailing upgrades from the old mould, but the one concern is the height of the current nose gear. The nose gear has been produced a bit too low giving the nose gear a very short look. The issue was brought up in mould/sample testing, and JC Wings are currently re evaluating some areas to improve the mould, meaning the sample will not be a full representation of how it will look when actually going into production. JC Wings are evaluating the old BigBird Mould and are taking references from a pretty recent BigBird Mk. 3 release which they also produced.

This current mould has already had an official release with the FLAPS UP variant, which JC Wings produced on behalf of Herpa who have a license with Cathay Pacific. The release was sold through Cathay Pacific and was sold mostly all in Asia.

Much of the flaps down mould’s beauty comes from diorama settings, but also works great alongside a regular collection. For any airport collector, a flaps down model will look great on final approach, or even in some sort of maintenance type setting. The model goes great with some popular 1:400 GSE, and even looks great on popular 1:400 stands. Perhaps someone brave enough wants to utilize this for an airplane “boneyard” diorama?

Overall, my final thoughts on this new mould is that it has left me speechless. The mould’s progress and development over the span of 2 years was well worth the wait and the work. The final rendition of the mould, on the Herpa Cathay Pacific 747-400 shows that the actual fuselage is very well done, and better than all the other 747-400 moulds.

To conclude, I really hope JC Wings, or someone else producing models out of the JC Wings factory ends up utilizing this mould. JC Wings currently only has plans to produce Asian origin airlines who flew the 747-400. There is no news if GeminiJets, or even Herpa (Besides the official CX Model) have any plans with this new flaps down mould so far.

What would someone like to see done in Flaps down on this mould? I would personally want to see the KLM 747-400 World Click Livery with PH-BFG as the registration.

I want to give a huge Thank You to Richard for allowing me to post this review for all regular Yesterday’s Airlines readers to know about this new exciting mould. ​A very big Thank You also to the JC Wings Social Media Team, and the team in the Factory, for providing me with the sample!