Yesterday's Airlines
  • Home
  • About
    • Links
  • My Fleets
    • My Hobby Room >
      • The Old Hobby Room
    • US Trunk Fleets >
      • My American Airlines Fleet
      • My Braniff Intnl Fleet
      • My Continental Fleet
      • My Delta Air Lines Fleet
      • My Eastern Air Lines Fleet
      • My National Airlines Fleet
      • My Northeast / Capital Fleet
      • My Northwest Airlines Fleet
      • My Pan Am Fleet
      • My TWA Fleet
      • My United Airlines Fleet
      • My Western Airlines Fleet
    • US Local Service Fleets >
      • My Frontier Airlines Fleet
      • My Hughes Airwest Fleet
      • My Ozark Airlines Fleet
      • My Republic Airlines Fleet
      • My Texas Int Fleet
    • US Other Fleets >
      • My Alaska Airlines Fleet
      • My Hawaiian / Aloha Fleet
      • My PSA Fleet
      • My Flying Tigers Fleet
      • My World Airways Fleet
    • UK Fleets >
      • My British Airways Fleet
    • Canadian Fleets
    • China Fleets >
      • My Cathay Pacific Fleet
    • Russian Fleet >
      • Russian Fleet Video
    • Fleet Videos >
      • US Trunk Airlines
    • Aviation Stickers >
      • ATR Stickers
      • A300 Stickers
      • DC-9 Stickers
      • DC-10 Stickers
  • Aviation Blogs
    • Airline History Blog
    • Model Blog
  • Airline Dev
    • CANADA >
      • Canadian Mainline
      • Canadian Charters & LCCs
      • Canadian Regionals
    • CHINA >
      • Part 1: China's Airlines Industry Blossoms 1984-2002
      • Part 2: The Big Six in the 1990s
      • The Big Three
      • Hainan Airlines Group
      • Other Chinese Airlines
    • MEXICO >
      • 1988-2005: Competition arrives
      • 2005-2014: Low cost in Mexico
      • Mexican Airline Genealogy
      • Mexicana Livery Tails
    • RUSSIA >
      • Aeroflot Group
      • S7 Airlines & AiRUnion
      • Other Russian Airlines
    • SOUTH AFRICA
    • UNITED KINGDOM >
      • BA Genealogy Pt1
      • BA Genealogy Pt2
      • BA Genealogy Pt3
      • BUIA & BUAF Genealogies
      • UK Charter Airlines Pt1
      • UK Charter Airlines Pt2
      • BEA Liveries 1946-1974
      • BOAC Liveries 1939-1974
    • UNITED STATES >
      • Trunk & Local Service Airlines >
        • American / TWA Genealogy
        • Delta / Northwest Genealogy
        • United / Continental Genealogy
        • Braniff / Eastern / US Airways Genealogy
      • Territorial Airlines
      • Intra-State Airlines
      • Supplemental Airlines
      • Deregulation Startups 1
      • Deregulation Startups 2
      • Trunk Airline Livery Changes 1959-1980
  • Liveries
    • American Airlines Liveries
    • British Airways Liveries
    • Continental Airlines Liveries
    • Delta Air Lines Liveries
    • National Airlines Liveries
    • United Airlines Liveries
    • Landor Liveries
  • Airports
    • Dowse National Airport >
      • Gallery 1: Chicago c.1966
      • Gallery 2: Miami c.1970
    • Wright Field Municipal >
      • Wright Field Video Tour
    • Xin Long International
    • Imogenia Intnl 1/600 Scale
    • Real Airport Histories >
      • Albany International
      • Dallas Love Field
      • Rochester International Pt1
      • Rochester International Pt2
      • San Francisco - 1927-1959
      • San Francisco - 1959-1978
      • San Francisco - 1978-2015
      • San Jose International
      • San Jose International Pt2
  • Mould Reviews
    • Airbus >
      • Airbus A300
      • Airbus A310
      • Airbus A320
      • Airbus A330-200/300
      • Airbus A330-200F
      • Airbus A330 Beluga XL
    • Boeing >
      • Boeing B-377 Stratocruiser
      • Boeing 707-120/138/720
      • Boeing 707-320/420
      • Boeing 727-100
      • Boeing 737-100/200
      • Boeing 737-300/400/500
      • Boeing 737NG
      • Boeing 747-100/200
      • Boeing 747SP
      • Boeing 757-200
      • Boeing 767-200
      • Boeing 767-300
      • Boeing 777-200
    • British >
      • BAC One-Eleven 200-500
      • BAE-146 / Avro RJ-85-100
      • De Havilland DH-106 Comet
      • Hawker Siddeley Trident
      • Shorts 360
      • Vickers VC10
      • Vickers Viscount
    • Douglas >
      • Douglas DC-3 / C-47
      • Douglas DC-6
      • Douglas DC-7
      • Douglas DC-7C
      • Douglas DC-8-10-50
      • Douglas DC-8-60s/70s
      • Douglas DC-9-10
      • Douglas DC-9
      • McDonnell Douglas DC-10
      • McDonnell Douglas MD-11
      • McDonnell Douglas MD-80
      • McDonnell Douglas MD-90
    • Lockheed >
      • Lockheed Constellation
      • Lockheed Super Connie
      • Lockheed L-1649 Starliner
      • Lockheed L-188 Electra
      • Lockheed L-1011 Tristar 1
      • Lockheed L-1011 Tristar 500
    • Other >
      • Convair CV-240-580
      • Convair CV-880/990
      • Curtiss C-46
      • Fairchild F-27 / Fokker F27
      • Fairchild-Hiller FH-227
      • Fokker F28/F70/F100
      • SE 210 Caravelle
    • Russian >
      • Ilyushin IL-62
      • Ilyushin IL-86/IL-96
      • Tupolev TU-154B-2/M
  • Real As It Gets
    • Real As It Gets - 1/200
    • Real As It Gets - Africa
    • Real As It Gets - Asia
    • Real As It Gets - China
    • Real As It Gets - Europe
    • Real As It Gets - Middle East
    • Real As It Gets - N America
    • Real As It Gets - Oceania
    • Real As It Gets - Russia
    • Real As It Gets - S America

McDonnell Douglas MD-11 Moulds in 1/400 Scale

Updated: December 2016
Picture
The MD-11 was the product of a cash strapped McDonnell Douglas attempting to upgrade its passably successful DC-10 and get a headstart on Boeing's 777 and upstart Airbuses' A330/340 in the next generation widebody stakes. The result was a disappointment both in terms of performance and sales. In addition the aircraft has gained itself a poor reputation for handling on landing, which has led to fairly regular 'incidents'. Nevertheless despite this the aircraft is quite beautiful and redeemed itself somewhat by proving its worth as a superior freighter. In fact you could argue the freighter version saved the type and certainly it was only due to this that Boeing kept the line open after it took over MDD and that production got to 200 units. In passenger service airlines like launch customer American Airlines were never satisfied with its failure to match performance guarantees. They sold their fleet after only 5 years and several other airlines kept DC-10s in their fleet longer than the replacement MD-11s! Other airlines, like Singapore, just cancelled their orders. In the end being a trijet at the dawn of ETOPs services would have proven insurmountable even without the performance problems but even so as of July 2016 there were still 123 of the 200 frames in service.

Versions

Below is a side view of an MD-11 of one of its biggest supporters - KLM. This aircraft has the later very pointy GE engine exhausts but the original no 2 engine intake and original flap track fairings:
Picture
Just as with its smaller brother the DC-10 the MD-11 had a whole host of upgrades added as production continued, with many of the changes being retrofitted to earlier build frames. All the detailed information can be found in David Hingtgen's awesome guide - Ultimate DC-10/MD-11 Guide. Suffice to say this review isn't going into this kind of detail especially as the model manufacturers almost never do themselves. The most obvious difference is the engine exhausts.

MD-11s either came with General Electric or Pratt & Whitney engines (GE CF6-80C2-D1Fs, or PW4460/PW4462s respectively). As in the DC-10 the P&W engines have less pointy exhausts:
Picture
Picture
Picture
Above: Early GE exhausts and later pointier GE exhaust                                                                                        Above: PW engine exhaust

Models in 1:400 Scale

In 1:400 the MD-11 has been well represented with 203 models to date. There are four separate moulds and few other types in 1:400 exhibit such a wide scale of mould sharing. This illustrates a) the changing relationships between manufacturers and b) the high quality of the existing moulds. To the right is the state of play at the moment.

Picture
NOTE: I'm not going to review the Aero Le Plane mould. They only made 2 models, I know nothing about them, have never had the mould in hand and it doesn't look great anyway.

Dragon Wings (1998-2009) - Used 93 times

This must be one of the earliest 1/400 scale moulds but that doesn't mean it isn't a corker. Dragon's widebodies were always better than its narrowbodies and the MD-11 mould is better than their good DC-10. In fact it holds up very well even in 2016, assuming two things:
  • they printed the cockpit windows properly (earlier ones are often too small)
  • it has the latter style of maingear
Between 1998 and 2000 the model's had the original undetailed simple stalk style maingear, which looks poor and very dated. After 2000 however new maingear was added, which looks a lot better and has gear doors.
Picture
Simple stalk maingear
Picture
Improved maingear
The usual Dragon problems (simple undercarriage, clear tail join) are present but so are the usual Dragon strengths (no wing join seam, strong detailing on wings). Several other things stand out. Most noticeably that the two aerials above the fuselage at the wing are raised (see above in the Martinair shot) and the flap track fairings are very well shaped. For me the thing that lets the side down a bit is the nosegear. As you can see above in the real thing the gear leg should be pointing forward a bit. With Dragon's gear it doesn't and it is also a bit short. It's not the end of the world by far but it does sometimes make the nose look a little too long, which it isn't. Anyway it's a very good mould all round.

As you can see below Dragon has also made both GE (with the earlier less pointy exhaust) and PW versions of the mould:

Gemini Jets 1 (2000-2009) - Used 51 times

This early Gemini mould has been widely used and is very good. It matches the Dragon Wings mould in terms of general shape and has a better middle engine fit. It does lack some of the finer detailing that the Dragon has and the underwing flap track fairings are a bit too round but these are minor points. Whereas the Dragon has raised antenna bumps this mould does not. There is also a wing join seam, albeit a small one and earlier models also have a second seam near the horizontal stabilisers (typical for several early Gemini moulds). This second seam is removed in later releases. The biggest improvement over the Dragon mould is the undercarriage, especially the nosegear. It is longer and slants forward as it should. This does tend to make the model look better than the Dragon, at least to me.

As with Dragon Gemini have produced both engine versions. In the below shots the China Eastern is Aeroclassics. Though these are  often said to use the Phoenix mould in close inspection it is clearly the Gemini mould:



Phoenix (2003-2008) - Used 26 times

It says something for the quality of the MD-11 moulds available that sometimes it is hard to actually distinguish them from one another. I had actually thought this was a reuse of the Gemini mould until I did this review, but on close inspection there are a variety of differences and the mould in fact shares some characteristics with the Dragon mould. It shares the same wing seam with the Gemini but the detailing on the tail and wings is a lot stronger and the underwing flap track fairings are better shaped - similar to the Dragon. The stand hole underneath is also in a different position (round and further forward on the Gemini, oval and further back on the Phoenix). The Phoenix mould also, like the Dragon, reproduces the two antenna bumps just aft of the wing. The other main difference is the undercarriage. In detail they are quite dissimilar but the most obvious visual cue is the length of the maingear doors, which as in the real thing come down almost to the tyres. Lastly unlike both the other moulds the middle engine exhaust fairing is a one piece unit and not split into two. So in general the Phoenix mould is actually the best finished of the three moulds in their initial versions.

Gemini Jets 1b - JC Wings Mods (2009 - In Use) - Used 16 times

In 2009 Gemini updated their original mould with rolling gear. Not only do the gear roll but the gear legs are much more detailed than before. The result is an improvement to the mould. As Gemini Jets are nowadays made by JC Wings in their factory JC have also begun to use the mould and further updated it in 2014 by adding aerials. These changes make this the best mould so far for an MD-11 imho.

Phoenix 1b (2013 - In Use) - Used 15 times

As with Gemini Phoenix too have updated their mould with rolling gear, however it hasn't been as successful. As is often the case with Phoenix although the gear hubs are really well detailed the tyres are too big. The gear legs are also quite chunky and too long giving the aircraft a bit of a nose up appearance. It's not a disaster (like their 757 change) but it's not as good as Gemini/JC Wings effort.
  • Home
  • About
    • Links
  • My Fleets
    • My Hobby Room >
      • The Old Hobby Room
    • US Trunk Fleets >
      • My American Airlines Fleet
      • My Braniff Intnl Fleet
      • My Continental Fleet
      • My Delta Air Lines Fleet
      • My Eastern Air Lines Fleet
      • My National Airlines Fleet
      • My Northeast / Capital Fleet
      • My Northwest Airlines Fleet
      • My Pan Am Fleet
      • My TWA Fleet
      • My United Airlines Fleet
      • My Western Airlines Fleet
    • US Local Service Fleets >
      • My Frontier Airlines Fleet
      • My Hughes Airwest Fleet
      • My Ozark Airlines Fleet
      • My Republic Airlines Fleet
      • My Texas Int Fleet
    • US Other Fleets >
      • My Alaska Airlines Fleet
      • My Hawaiian / Aloha Fleet
      • My PSA Fleet
      • My Flying Tigers Fleet
      • My World Airways Fleet
    • UK Fleets >
      • My British Airways Fleet
    • Canadian Fleets
    • China Fleets >
      • My Cathay Pacific Fleet
    • Russian Fleet >
      • Russian Fleet Video
    • Fleet Videos >
      • US Trunk Airlines
    • Aviation Stickers >
      • ATR Stickers
      • A300 Stickers
      • DC-9 Stickers
      • DC-10 Stickers
  • Aviation Blogs
    • Airline History Blog
    • Model Blog
  • Airline Dev
    • CANADA >
      • Canadian Mainline
      • Canadian Charters & LCCs
      • Canadian Regionals
    • CHINA >
      • Part 1: China's Airlines Industry Blossoms 1984-2002
      • Part 2: The Big Six in the 1990s
      • The Big Three
      • Hainan Airlines Group
      • Other Chinese Airlines
    • MEXICO >
      • 1988-2005: Competition arrives
      • 2005-2014: Low cost in Mexico
      • Mexican Airline Genealogy
      • Mexicana Livery Tails
    • RUSSIA >
      • Aeroflot Group
      • S7 Airlines & AiRUnion
      • Other Russian Airlines
    • SOUTH AFRICA
    • UNITED KINGDOM >
      • BA Genealogy Pt1
      • BA Genealogy Pt2
      • BA Genealogy Pt3
      • BUIA & BUAF Genealogies
      • UK Charter Airlines Pt1
      • UK Charter Airlines Pt2
      • BEA Liveries 1946-1974
      • BOAC Liveries 1939-1974
    • UNITED STATES >
      • Trunk & Local Service Airlines >
        • American / TWA Genealogy
        • Delta / Northwest Genealogy
        • United / Continental Genealogy
        • Braniff / Eastern / US Airways Genealogy
      • Territorial Airlines
      • Intra-State Airlines
      • Supplemental Airlines
      • Deregulation Startups 1
      • Deregulation Startups 2
      • Trunk Airline Livery Changes 1959-1980
  • Liveries
    • American Airlines Liveries
    • British Airways Liveries
    • Continental Airlines Liveries
    • Delta Air Lines Liveries
    • National Airlines Liveries
    • United Airlines Liveries
    • Landor Liveries
  • Airports
    • Dowse National Airport >
      • Gallery 1: Chicago c.1966
      • Gallery 2: Miami c.1970
    • Wright Field Municipal >
      • Wright Field Video Tour
    • Xin Long International
    • Imogenia Intnl 1/600 Scale
    • Real Airport Histories >
      • Albany International
      • Dallas Love Field
      • Rochester International Pt1
      • Rochester International Pt2
      • San Francisco - 1927-1959
      • San Francisco - 1959-1978
      • San Francisco - 1978-2015
      • San Jose International
      • San Jose International Pt2
  • Mould Reviews
    • Airbus >
      • Airbus A300
      • Airbus A310
      • Airbus A320
      • Airbus A330-200/300
      • Airbus A330-200F
      • Airbus A330 Beluga XL
    • Boeing >
      • Boeing B-377 Stratocruiser
      • Boeing 707-120/138/720
      • Boeing 707-320/420
      • Boeing 727-100
      • Boeing 737-100/200
      • Boeing 737-300/400/500
      • Boeing 737NG
      • Boeing 747-100/200
      • Boeing 747SP
      • Boeing 757-200
      • Boeing 767-200
      • Boeing 767-300
      • Boeing 777-200
    • British >
      • BAC One-Eleven 200-500
      • BAE-146 / Avro RJ-85-100
      • De Havilland DH-106 Comet
      • Hawker Siddeley Trident
      • Shorts 360
      • Vickers VC10
      • Vickers Viscount
    • Douglas >
      • Douglas DC-3 / C-47
      • Douglas DC-6
      • Douglas DC-7
      • Douglas DC-7C
      • Douglas DC-8-10-50
      • Douglas DC-8-60s/70s
      • Douglas DC-9-10
      • Douglas DC-9
      • McDonnell Douglas DC-10
      • McDonnell Douglas MD-11
      • McDonnell Douglas MD-80
      • McDonnell Douglas MD-90
    • Lockheed >
      • Lockheed Constellation
      • Lockheed Super Connie
      • Lockheed L-1649 Starliner
      • Lockheed L-188 Electra
      • Lockheed L-1011 Tristar 1
      • Lockheed L-1011 Tristar 500
    • Other >
      • Convair CV-240-580
      • Convair CV-880/990
      • Curtiss C-46
      • Fairchild F-27 / Fokker F27
      • Fairchild-Hiller FH-227
      • Fokker F28/F70/F100
      • SE 210 Caravelle
    • Russian >
      • Ilyushin IL-62
      • Ilyushin IL-86/IL-96
      • Tupolev TU-154B-2/M
  • Real As It Gets
    • Real As It Gets - 1/200
    • Real As It Gets - Africa
    • Real As It Gets - Asia
    • Real As It Gets - China
    • Real As It Gets - Europe
    • Real As It Gets - Middle East
    • Real As It Gets - N America
    • Real As It Gets - Oceania
    • Real As It Gets - Russia
    • Real As It Gets - S America