 Aero Polaris has just announced their third batch of model releases following on from the first set of 6 Boeing 737-800s and the second set of two Airbus A350s. This time around it is another 6 737s and once again they spread them geographically. Here's what they are offering:
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 The news from the USA over the past few months has in general been unpleasant, but yesterday's 'liberation day' nonsense is definitely going to have a massive impact on die-cast. If you're not paying attention Trump just added a 34% extra tariff on top of the 20% added a few weeks back. That's 54% extra on anything coming from China. That's going to hurt. Here are my thoughts on the impact.
 The Super 70 was a successful programme to re-engine the DC-8-60s and give them a new lease of life in the era of the big turbofan. 110 aircraft were updated and they generally saw long careers with secondary operators after Delta, Flying Tigers and United sold their aircraft on. There's plenty of scope for more DC-8-71/73s in 400 scale and there hasn't been a release since 2012!
 It is increasingly hard to keep track of the number of retailer exclusives being made in 400 scale by a variety of brands. Thailand has been a fertile market for them with previous entrants being a Thai DC-9-30 made by Aeroclassics and Bangkok ATRs made by JC Wings. I've recently learnt about another - and this one comes with an Icelandic connection.
 Boxes are the bane of a big model collection, and owning over 3,400 models means storage is a problem. Fortunately, I got my loft boarded so can store the model boxes up there, but I realised recently that although my boxes were nicely stored, associating them with the models would be a nightmare if I wasn't available to do it.
 The gestation of the new YU ModeL A300 mould has taken a little while, but it is important to remember that YU are a much smaller company than any of the major players. Their ability to produce a new mould at all is a testament to them, as the majority of brands are happy to just use existing moulds from other manufacturers. YU have reached out to me to say that the first three models are nearing completion and will be hopefully available for preorder this month or early in January.
 Just before I went away I wrote a post introducing the new brand Aero Polaris. At the time they only had rendered imagery to show for the 6 737-800s they had announced so it was difficult to judge them, however while I was away they sent me through the photos of the real models so here they are.
 It was a sad day when earlier in the year HYJLwings announced they were stopping production, however at the time of the announcement they also said that they had sold their assets to a new company to be called AeroPolaris. This company has been making some quite grand claims, so let's take a look at what they are saying now they have announced their first models.
NG have just released a lot of the photos for their September announcements, which is in itself a surprise given their recent history. It also gives the first opportunity to look at an NG Models Lite product in comparison with a standard NG Models release, since the two Southwest MAXes announced last month had been released previously. So what are the differences between the two?
 The NAMC YS-11 is a type easy to ignore by Western collectors but that shoul;dn't be the case as it served widely and for some major and colourful non-Japanese airlies. Although there are 3 available moulds and there have been over 25 releases there is still plenty of potential for this rather forgotten type, especially for US airlines.
The Shanghai Airplane Model Exhibition and Sales Fair is underway in China running across August 16/17th at the Gubeiwan Hotel. I wish I was there, but sadly it's a bit far to go! Several of the new Chinese brands have tables present - including C Model, Patriot Models, YU ModeL and HX Models. Thanks to friends I have been provided with some photos from the show, which not only show off new releases but also new mould samples too!
 I keep a close eye on Taobao for China exclusives, of which there are a lot nowadays. Most of these use either Panda Models or JC Wings moulds and sometimes are branded independently. A few months back I covered Undefined Collectibles and Blue Wings but now there is another new brand and this one has a half familiar name - GeminiStar!
 I own 1,526 models made by Aeroclassics, which probably puts me in the top 10 customers for the brand globally. Certainly, I am obviously a massive fan of their models, if not their owner. He harps on about a lack of innovation in the scale, which is nonsensical, but where is the innovation from Aeroclassics? Well they've recently made a couple of A320s with the double-bogey, fitted only to some of the Indian Airlines 320s. That is innovative, but are they any good?
 As someone with a deep interest in the history of 400 scale it is disappointing to see that Waffle has decided to hide the public facing information on the DIMA database website. Further he has been blaming me for those actions. As is usually the case in these situations the real reasons are more complicated and have little to do with me directly, however I'm an easy target. So here is the truth as to my involvement.
 Indonesia is a hotbed of retailer exclusives thanks to Harry's Diecast and increasingly Airshop Diecast. Kenney at Airshop Diecast has built a great business and strong relationships with both Panda Models and JC Wings. Over the past few weeks no less than 6 exclusives have arrived at his store covering a wide range of Indonesian aviation.
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I'm Richard Stretton, an aviation enthusiast and major collector of 400 scale model aircraft. This blog discusses ongoing events in the world of 400 scale. This site is free. Please donate to keep it going.
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