The Evolution of the JC Wings / Gemini Jets 2016 Airbus A320 Mould

JC Wings A320s in my collection using the 2016 casting

The 2nd JC Wings Airbus A320 mould, introduced in 2016 and also used by Gemini Jets, has been heavily criticised by many collectors for a range of factors. I admit I have not been a big fan of the mould either but have picked up a few where alternatives have not been available. Despite some failings it is wrong to write it off completely and I have been impressed with changes to the mould that have been made since its introduction. These modifications mean the mould in 2022 is much superior to that of 2016.

Before 2016

The previous mould used by JC Wings and Gemini Jets also had a decent amount of criticism thrown at it, primarily in relation to the large seam around the wing join and its sometimes poor fitting. Despite that I admit to having something of a soft spot for it and still own 7 examples using the mould - some of which I've acquired secondhand. Although not spectacular two things this mould got right were the position and height of the undercarriage, and the shape of the nosecone/cockpit area.

Below: Two examples of the JC Wings mould used between 2010 and 2016

The 2016 Mould

The 2016 mould was seamless but at first had relatively little to recommend it over its predecessor. Below are 3 releases that date from 2018. The first pair are JC Wings and the JetBlue is from Gemini Jets:

The primary issues I had with the mould when I reviewed it in detail were:

Shape of slope from cockpit to nosecone
Placement of nosegear (too far aft)
Length and chunkiness of nosegear accentuated by the size of the gear door
Shortness of tailcone aft of the vertical stabiliser
Size of the CFM engines (on the Capital above)

If the CFM56 engines on the A320ceo were large then the engines on the A320neo version were enormous and almost dragged along the floor:

In comparison with the competing Panda Models NEO the engine issue is even clearer, and that was before Panda increased the nosegear size on their mould:

Mid-2018 Improvements

Original Short Tailcone

Improved Lengthened Tailcone

Nosegear improvements. New on the left and old on the right

Fortunately JC Wings have not been blind to some of the issues the mould has had and in 2018 important but subtle modifications were made. These have focused on four areas:

Some refinement to the nosecone and cockpit region
Movement of the nosegear forward by approx 1mm
Decrease in size of the nosegear door
Lengthening of the tailcone by about 1mm

I own two versions of the updated mould, as can be seen above and below, and the changes make a real difference to how the models look in comparison to earlier versions. Unfortunately what has not been changed has been the size of the CFM engines, which remain too large - as do those on the NEOs. While I still think this mould is inferior to the Aeroclassics and Panda versions by some way, ignoring the engines it is actually a superior A320, in my opinion, to the Phoenix version across several key areas:

Nose shape
Wing to fuselage join
Undercarriage
Vertical stabiliser form

While I admit it is unlikely to ever be your number one choice for an A320 I would recommend, at least for the CEO versions, checking out the model in question first and not necessarily ignoring it out of hand. Unfortunately the NEO engines remain a major problem, however modification of the CFM56 and PW1000G engines would make the mould a lot more competitive.

For completeness sake I should also mention that the NEO engines have had their original solid core engines replaced with hollow core versions. Shame about the size though:

Above: original engine fans on an early 2017 Gemini Frontier A320NEO (image courtesy of Denny Payne).
Below: Improved hollow core engines on a later 2017 Loong Airlines A320NEO