Convair 880/990 Moulds in 1:400 Scale
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Updated: May 2025
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Far from a successful attempt to enter the jetliner market the CV-880 was nonetheless a beauty, cruelly squeezed to death between the DC-8 and 707 (and especially Boeing's 720). The Convair 990 fared even worse, failing to meet its performance targets and being taken on only reluctantly by launch customer American. Despite this it was arguably even more attractive than the 880 with its iconic wing anti-shock bodies. Both types focused on speed over size, but as well as being smaller than the competition their engines were also less efficient and the unit cost was higher. The production numbers speak for themselves with only 65 CV-880s built and an even less impressive 37 CV-990s. The type's small size and fuel thristy turbojets also meant its service life was short, with the fuel crisis of the early 70s doing for most of the aircraft.
Convair Jets in 1:400 Scale
Both the Convair 880 and 990 have been reasonably well represented in 400 scale, however there has only been a single release of either type since 2014. Some models are very rare and there is still room for more releases. The 880 has had a creditable four moulds, but only one has received much in the way of usage. Similarly the CV-990 has also received almost all its output from just one of the two available moulds. The Aeroclassics mould has been used by several different brands and sub-brands at times, but it was 2009 since that company made an 880 and 2012 since a 990.
CV-880 / 990 In Real Life
The primary way to distinguish between the Convair 880 and 990 was of course the massive anti-shock bodies on the wing of the latter, as demonstrated below by the Swissair example. The CV-990 also had a 10ft (3 metre) fuselage stretch.
RuthAS, CC BY 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
CV-880 Moulds
Aeroclassics (2003-2009)
This is one of my favourite moulds in 1/400. The mould is excellent and I haven't any major misgivings about it at all except that as with many slightly older moulds the wing/fuselage seam is a bit obvious because it is a cradle type. Aeroclassics released a decent range of airlines with the mould ending, with the Convair home colours. Aeroclassics loaned it to (or produced models for) both Aurora models and Gemini. Interestingly all 3 manufacturers made an example in the Delta delivery colours and comparing all three is interesting. Gemini also made a Delta Widget and a pair of TWA 880s. Overall the moulds has seen 24 outings.
Herpa (2006-2007)
Herpa had the licence to produce Cathay Pacific models and since CX operated the 880 they needed a mould for the type. It was only used twice, (once for a Cathay corporate order of a whopping 6000 models) which is no great loss because it doesn't appear to be very good. The nose is fat and snoopyish, the nosegear too small, the engines poorly fitted and with a side seam and the tail and end of fuselage oversized and boxy.
Witty Wings / Apollo (2013-2014)
Apollo / Witty surprisingly entered the 880 fray in 2013 and created a small number of what were effectively re-releases, however some of the older AC releases are hard to find so that wasn't necessarily as bad thing. Despite suggestions that they had stolen moulds in the past this CV-880 is NOT a direct copy of the Aeroclassics mould. Sadly Witty shutdown its entire 1:400 model production in late 2014, with JC Wings the apparent buyer of its mouldings. I doubt we'll ever see this one reappear, which is a shame because it is nice. For more on the history of Witty Wings / Apollo see:
The wing seam is an improvement on the AC mould. As you'd expect with a newer mould the wings attach to the fuselage as separate pieces. There are other obvious differences between the AC and Witty moulds - mostly at the nose end. The Apollo / Witty nose is more pointed and slimmer and the Witty nosegear is clearly different too (larger gear door and different detailing).
Aeroclassics CV-880 Mould Bottom
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Apollo CV-880 Mould Bottom
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Below we have VIASA/KLM Aeroclassics on the left and Apollo Cathay on the right. One minor bad point about the Witty is there appears to be a seamlike line running along the side of the engines - though to be fair it is very feint and hard to see. I'm not sure which I think is 'better' as both are very good in my opinion and I'm certainly glad to have been able to get the two Cathays for which the Aeroclassics versions are rare.
Jet Hut (2021)
The most recent Convair 880 is a single example made for the De Agostini / JAL Collection magazine series using a mould produced by the factory that would become JetHut (now Jet models). As with all their moulds it is aimed at the lower end of the collector market and has distinct pre-2010 vibes. I haven't seen the mould in person, but from the photo below it looks like one of their better moulds. For more on the JAL Collection see:
CV-990 Moulds
Aeroclassics (2004-2012)
Aeroclassics Convair 990 is as nice as their 880 and interestingly Aeroclassics have used it more times for their own models than they have their 880 despite the disparity in production numbers of the aircraft itself. It shares a similar general structure to the 880 mould, with the cradle wing construction, but like its smaller brother it is excellent. Gemini borrowed the mould four times to make very nice Alaska Airlines, American, Modern Air and Garuda Indonesia examples. Coverage of operators has been good, even including the short lived Air France lease, but there are still a few more that could be squeezed out if the mould is still available for use.
Witty Wings / Apollo (2013-2014)
As with the CV-880 Witty also dabbled with a new CV-990 mould towards the twilight of their existance. As with the 880 it is also very nice but sadly only two examples were made - both previously made by Aeroclassics. As with the Witty 880 the mould is not a cradle type and so avoids the wing seam, which makes it arguably better than the already very nice Aeroclassics example.
