Aviation400 Announces New A320 Moulds

All of a sudden there is a lot going on in 400 scale and it seems rather incredible (and perhaps for some a little depressing) that less than a week after I announced NG Models new Airbus A320 family moulds that a short video leak has announced that Aviation400 has also built its own set of A320s. I've been in contact with AV400 and here's what I've learnt.

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Aviation400 in 2022

Aviation400 have already got multiple new moulds outstanding. Their 787 is in production and several 787-9s have been announced already, although in keeping with AV400 it is uncertain exactly when they will reach retailers. They of course also have a new A380 mould, which comes with magnetically detachable landing gear. For more on both these samples see my reviews:

AV400 Boeing 787-9 Sample

AV400 A380 Mould Sample

Up till now AV400 has always focused on modern widebody airliners and currently has active moulds for the A330-200/300, A340-300, A350-900/1000 and Boeing 777-300ER. These are all decent moulds with the A350s and 777s being excellent. They also all famously come with red jewel navigation lights implanted into the upper and lower fuselage.

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A320 Family

The A320 is a departure from existing AV400 focus in that it is obviously a narrowbody but it does fit squarely into their modern only focus. My AV400 contact has confirmed that they will be producing the A319, A320 and A321 however the short video below only shows the A320.

Featured in the video appear to be A320CEOs wearing the CFM and IAE engines and fitted with both Sharklets and the original wingtip fences.

Below are some screenshots I grabbed from the vid:

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From what I'm seeing the moulds look very good and highly competitive with existing A320s. It'll be interesting to see whether jewel lights are fitted but I strongly suspect they will be.

I am sure there are many who will question the need for these moulds but this illustrates to facts:

1. AV400 are expanding strongly - there are other moulds also being constructed
2. Manufacturers see strong sales for modern narrowbody moulds which overcome any fears of crowding in the marketplace

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Even so, given AV400's focus on modern aircraft only I seriously doubt that these A320 family moulds will get anywhere near the same range of use as those from NG Models and obviously at present the other thing counting against AV400 is its inability to deliver models close to the announcement date, which surely must impact sales. Presumably with multiple new moulds AV400 will increase its output in the future?

I hope to be able to get some of these samples in hand and if I do I'll put them through the usual detailed review. Until then it'll be interesting to see what timescales AV400 is working to for these. They obviously look effectively complete. Competition is certainly heating up in 400 scale and the new generation of brands are really pushing high quality products on to the market quickly. Will there have to be a response from the incumbents for them to stay in business?