Boeing 747-8 1:400 Scale Detailed Mould Comparison Review

Boeing 747-8I Detailed Mould Comparison

Updated: April 2024

This last of the Jumbos hadn't been a hotbed of activity in 400 scale but the recent appearance of two new moulds has jumpstarted interest in the type and provided some much needed competition. The two older moulds were released in 2011 and 2015 respectively, although Gemini Jets did use the 2011 Phoenix 747-8I mould in 2013 for a single Lufthansa model prior to the advent of the JC Wings edition two years later. Neither the Phoenix or JC Wings moulds have remained static so both have seen some modification since introduction, but only now in 2024 is there a real diversity of choice for the type. This is somewhat surprising since only 48 were built and there were only 3 airline customers!

Needless to say a lot of the below scoring is equally applicable to the 747-8F variant aside from the hump and any interactive components related to the freighter configuration (available from one version of the JC Wings mould). Interestingly both JC Wings / Gemini and YY Wings offer Flaps Down variants of the mould for the 747-8I, but this review will only score the standard flaps up version.

NOTE: It seems YY Wings have changed their name to HX Models recently (their boxes have been unbranded until now anyway).

The moulds to be compared in this detailed comparison will be the following:

All models are from my collection except for the Phoenix, which I found images for online.

The review will take the form of a comparison of various areas of each mould to the real aircraft, with a score out of 5 alotted for each mould for each area. Adding the combined scores together gives you the winner. Photos are shown in alphabetical order:

JC Wings
NG Models
Phoenix
YY Wings (HX Models)

Scoring

NOSE / NOSEGEAR

Kiefer. from Frankfurt, Germany, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

NOSE: There has been a lot of discussion about 747 nose shapes recently and it is hard not to let the size and placement of the cockpit windows get in the way. Pleasingly none of the 747-8 moulds have awful noses. They all look like they get the curve up to the underside of the nosecone correct (the odd curving windowline on the YY version doesn't help but if it were straight the windows would be correctly just above the nosecone point). The biggest differences are mainly in the cockpit area. Here the JC wings version has a rather weak forehead that means the cockpit angle is too acute. The cockpit windows could do with some work on all of them but they are a print not mould issue.

NOSEGEAR: The nosegear is one of the elements that has been modified on the JC Wings mould. It used to be quite a bit higher and nowadays is too short by about a mm. Not a lot, but enough to give their 748s a bit of a nosedown attitude. The gear doors are only angled correctly on the NG version but the door itself is a little small (it is on the JC as well). The gearleg itself is probably best on the NG although none are bad. The YY nosegear leg is a little chunky but has nice detailing. The Phoenix leg is quite delicate and thin but has the least detailing.

ENGINES (FROM SIDE) & PYLONS

ENGINES & PYLONS: From the side the engine nacelles look good on all the moulds. The JC is the only one here with solid core engines so doesn't need separate rims but none of them lose the shape of the engine using them. Arguably the NG has the least impressive rim to nacelle join. The hot sections of the exhaust all look good too but the NG and Phoenix versions have better separation of the hot section and shock cone. The complex shape of the engine pylons, with the flanges attaching to the hot exhaust section are best captured on the NG and YY versions. They are present on the JC too but the shape could be better. The form of the engine pylon and distance between it and the engine hot section on the Phoenix make it the weakest performer here.

WING JOIN

WINGROOT: The wingroot is one of the biggest areas of divergence between the moulds. The JC Wings and NG Models versions are the best as they attempt to capture the true form of the joinpoint, with the squared off wing joining to the fairing. The NG does it best as its attempt is better shaped - squarer and correctly curved. The other two moulds ignore the end of the corroguard as the wingjoin point and instead opt for a rounded version closer to the fuselage barrel. This obscures the correct shape of the fairing, almost completely in the Phoenix edition. This is definitely the weakest part of the YY Wings mould and gives it a slightly retro-feel.

MAINGEAR

JC Wings / Gemini Jets

NG Models

Phoenix

YY Wings

MAINGEAR: All of the maingears here present well and have good shape and detail. The only real difference is that of recent NG has been purposefully making the choice to forego pivoting maingear trucks (that would otherwise allow the maingear to be moved into a landing configuration). All the other three moulds have this feature and in this instance I don't think they lose any realism by having it.

ENGINES (FRONT)

JC Wings / Gemini Jets

NG Models

Phoenix

YY Wings

ENGINE INNERS: The Phoenix version is an example of how not to do rotating see-through fans. There are way too few blades, they are too thick and by the look of it also curving the wrong way. The JC Wings version goes for reliable solidcore fans (I don't think the mould has been updated since but I could be wrong). They look fine but lack the detailing of the other two moulds, who both go for excellently sized fans and hollow cores. I think the NG just about has the edge, maybe down partly to the colour.

TAIL & TAILCONE

TAIL & TAILCONE: The vertical stabiliser looks good on all the moulds but the older Phoenix version suffers from an ailment several Phoenix moulds have. The join of the stabiliser to the fuselage is not long enough leaving a large rather obvious portion disconnected. This is much longer than the rudder line.

I am rather disappointed with the tailcome of the NG Models mould. The exhaust area is poorly sculpted and inferior to all the other three. Of the others the Phoenix tailpipe looks rather separate to the fuselage. Overall I think the JC Wings has the best tailpipe, but only by a tiny margin over the YY Wings.

FUSELAGE DETAILING

747-8s have 4 obvious aerials (3 above and 1 below forward). The 3 larger ones are VHF aerials and the one ahead of the vertical stabiliser is, I believe, the Emergency Location Transmitter (ELT). There are often two ADF bumps on the roofline over the wings and one or two other satcom domes. Sometimes one is replaced with a large Wi-Fi behind the hump.

On the underside there are three large NACA air intakes (two on the left and one on the right) for the environmental conditioning system.

All the moulds have the same level of detail as each other. None mould in the ADF or Satcom fairings but all the intakes and aerials are present. It just comes down to the quality of the additions to tell between them. The aerials seem a little oversized on the JC Wings and YY Wings versions and rather poorly shaped on the Phoenix.

In terms of the NACA intakes the NG has slightly smaller sized intakes and that is more correct. The positioning of them is rather undermined on the Phoenix and YY Wings by the wing join (especially on the Phoenix) and on the former the intakes aren't as well shaped.

Summary

I have selected 8 categories with which to compare these moulds. As always I'm sure you could find others to add in if you wanted and I'm certain there will be disagreement with my opinion in terms of scoring. However, hopefully this review gives you some idea of the differences between the moulds even if you disagree with some of the scoring detail.

All of these moulds are decent but the weakest by some distance is the Phoenix, which isn't surprising as it is the oldest and suffers from some standard Phoenix markers (tail join, engine fan style, wingroot etc). The JC Wings mould stands up well to the new competition and would be even closer if they lengthened the nosegear. The YY Wings mould provides strong competition as well and if it wasn't for the wing join style would be within spitting distance of the NG Models mould, which sneaks into the lead for the win.