Boeing 767-200/300 in 1:400 Scale by NG Models
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Modified: November 2023
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NG announced the Boeing 767 series whilst I was away in Amsterdam showing off 16 of their other mould samples! I was surprised but, it seems there is no end to what they can, and will, produce, at least for major jet families, and the 767 is an aircraft family that has been largely ignored for some time. There have been relatively recent moulds by Aeroclassics (767-200) and Gemini / JC Wings (767-400) but nobody has looked at the entire family for a long time.
With these new 767s that makes three new 767-400s in 2023 (Panda, Gemini and NG) but the real opportunity surely comes with the 767-200/300, which I'll focus in with this first part of the review.
Competing 767 Moulds in 400 Scale
A selection of Dragon Wings 767-200s
The 767 has had quite a variety of moulds made for it over the years but, many are no longer in use and the series 200 has had a lot less moulds made for it than the larger series 300. The Dragon Wings (200/300) and Aeroclassics / Big Bird / Witty (300) versions were widely used and are still common today, but no longer active. For full details of all these moulds see the following mould reviews:
In terms of active moulds the current available 767s for use in 2023 are as follows:
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This mould originally dates from 2001 but has been updated multiple times since then. Initially this involved removing the rear seam but new rolling gear and aerials have also been fitted since 2010. It is available for both the series 200, 300 and 300WL. Overall the mould is good but it is showing its age since it is a cradle mount with wing seam, has rather generic engines and has a rather old-fashioned engine pylon to wing join.
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The Phoenix mould is available for just series 300 and 300WL versions. It is newer, dating from 2008 and has slot in wings and rolling gear. It has been updated with aerials. It is on par with the Gemini mould as although lacking the wing seam the wing-fuselage join is far from realistic due to the lack of the wing/body fairing.
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In recent years the 2018 Aeroclassics mould has been the primary source of 767-200s. It is a decent mould and has been used widely for some great examples. The mould suffers from rather chunky nosegear tyres, genericised engines and poor maingear doors. It of course does not come with aerials either.
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The Real Thing
The 767 has a very different and rounder nose profile than all the Boeing jets that came before it. At the time a twin engine under wing layout was unusual for a widebody, having been pioneered by the A300, but obviously nowadays it is the norm.
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Aero Icarus from Zürich, Switzerland, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
The visible differences between the two variants are limited to length (the 300 is 6.43m longer) and the addition of a small tail bumper unit due to the increased length of the 300.
Dmitriy Pichugin (GFDL 1.2 or GFDL 1.2 ), via Wikimedia Commons
The 767-300 also came with an extra engine option in the Rolls-Royce RB211, as well as the existing Pratt & Whitney PW400 and General Electric CF6 options.
Blended winglets were first added to a 767-300 in mid 2008 and they have since become commonplace. Neither of the samples sent to me have the blended winglets but one of the samples West Coast Diecast receive did have them so I'm sure they'll be available, however as a friend said - a proper 767 doesn't need winglets!
The New NG Models Mould In Detail
NG have sent me one sample mould for each of the 767-200 and 300. Both have printed windolines and cockpits, which makes it a lot easier to review them. The 767-300 is fitted with General Electric CF6 engines and the 767-300 is fitted with Pratt & Whitney PW4000s (I think - not entirely certain). I'm sure there will be a RB211 equipped version but they didn't send me it.
An initial glance at the samples suggests these are excellent 767s:
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Aero Icarus from Zürich, Switzerland, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
NOSE, COCKPIT & NOSEGEAR
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I'm not seeing any issues with the nose or cockpit region. The nosegear also looks good and has plenty of detail, plus a very nicely sized tyre. I do think the entire windowline could be ever so slightly lower and the cockpit windows slightly larger but I don't think they are massive issues.
WINGROOT & MAINGEAR
Neither the Gemini / JC or Phoenix 767s get the wingroot entirely correct. The former has the seamline and the latter ignores the fairing.
I'm pleased to say that the NG samples take the more modern route of incorporating the fairing into the fuselage section of the mould and having the wings attach to that. It allows for a more realistic curved fairing.
On the underside the NACA air intakes are moulded in and correctly offset to the left side. These intakes and the other two square recesses behind them are not moulded in to any of the Gemini / JC, Phoenix or Aeroclassics 767s. Phoenix don't even always print them on.
The maingear legs have some very delicate struts and look really good. Importantly NG has put a lot of effort into the complex maingear door shape. The Phoenix version is closest to this quality but the Gemini is further away and the Aeroclassics effort very weak. NG, like Phoenix, get the odd rear edge notch moulded in correctly at the rear lower margin.
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WING & FLAPS
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RAF-YYC from Calgary, Canada, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
A nice detail on the wingtips is the small indent for the wingtip light at the front of the wingtip. It's not easy to get a photo showing the fine wing structure but the outboard aileron and inboard aileron are present between the trailing edge flaps, and the spoilers look good as well. On the underside the outboard aileron is correctly thinner but NG don't bother with hinge detailing. The fuel dump pipe is absent. The flap track fairings correctly protruding beyond the rear wing margin but not by a big enough distance.
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767-200
767-300
TAILCONE & STABS
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I don't see any issues at the back except that the 767-200 sample incorrectly features the small tailbumper unit, which wasn't present on the shortest 767 version. The tailbumper is incidentally absent from the Phoenix mould but present on the Gemini / JC Wings. Neither of those competing moulds have the free rudder join at the lower margin either. It is partially there in the Phoenix but not wide enough.
General Electric CF6 Engines
Pratt & Whitney PW4000 Engines
If this is supposed to be a PW4000 then I'm not convinced by the shape of the hot exhaust sections.
Boeing 767-200 Sample Mould - 1:400 Scale
Boeing 767-300 Sample Mould - 1:400 Scale
Summary
NG Models has been making a lot of new moulds recently and some errors have begun to creep in, however these 767s are NG back to their best. They look really good and are an obvious improvement over the competition. The only points for improvement I can see are:
- Checking cockpit size and increasing slightly
- Checking the windowline height and lowering it slightly
- Removing the tailbumper from the 767-200
- Shape of the hot exhaust sections on the PW4000s
- Extending the flap track fairings to protrude further beyond the wing trailing edge