Aviation400 Looks to Update its 777 Tailcone

Aviation400 have been widely praised for their releases and attention to detail. They have also shown a keen interest in modifying their existing moulds to make them better. Currently they have a very nice Boeing 777-300ER mould, which competes well against the JC Wings and Phoenix versions. One of the few criticisms to be levelled at it is the shape of the distinctive wedge tailcone and that is an area they are looking at modifying. 

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The Boeing 777 has a blade / wedge style tailcone like no other aircraft type. It is also asymmetric with the APU exhaust featuring on the left side - primarily so as to avoid the hot exhaust gasses from interfering with the ground-handling activities, primarily undertaken on the right side of the aircraft. The photos below show its unique shape with two small protrusions, one above and one below the rear edge:

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For a detailed review of the AV400 777 see my recent written review ​of a China Eastern example:

China Eastern B777-300ER by Aviation400 Detailed Review

or check out my video review here:

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The Aviation400 777 is very good but the tailcone is one of the weakest parts as the two prongs are too large, the shape of the APU exhaust wrong and the size of the grey exhaust scallop too large. Below is an Air China AV400 release:

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Aviation400 are currently looking at modifying this feature of the mould and I have been sent below two photos of a test sample (see below). This shows that the upper and lower prongs have been significantly decreased in size, although as of yet the APU exhaust hole has not been changed.

It is a little hard to be certain how the end product will look, and obviously this sample has been marked up with pen, but it certainly looks more accurate than the original does. I'm not certain of the ETA of this change but it will be after Chinese New Year so I suspect it won't be on the next round of 777 releases but will be on the round after that.

The AV400 777-300ER is already better than the Phoenix 777 and about as good as the JC Wings one. So although this is a relatively small change it is another reason why there is no need for a new 777 mould from NG and shows a great attitude to be the best from Aviation400. Bravo!