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For those that follow my work you'll know I often have cause to criticise Phoenix Models but that doesn't mean that they don't make fine models and that I don't buy any, although I admit in recent years the numbers have dwindled. This recent Black Friday did give me an opportunity to pick-up a trio of their older releases using one of their better castings - the Airbus A320. Let's take a look...
 Dragon Wings get a lot of flak nowadays, especially from younger collectors. Some of this is warranted but a lot of it isn’t. For their time they were excellent models and many of their production remain really nice and more than capable of holding their own in any collection. I admit I have been gradually replacing old Dragon models as replacements become available but Waffle’s last collection sale gave me the opportunity to reassess my opinion of the Dragon DC-10 as there were four, I just couldn’t resist.
 Way back in August 2018 I was able to announce that JC Wings were working on a new 747-400 mould and was even able to show some photos of a near finished mould. It obviously hasn't been a high priority for them as here we are in August 2020 and they've only just announced the first release using the new 'flaps down' version. Thanks to JC Wings and my friend JagT747 I have been able to access some new photos of the finished mould and here they are.
NG Models continue to make a big splash in the 1:400 pond. They are not content with being a niche manufacturer and apparently have both the funding and capacity to take on the incumbent occupiers of the scale. Their latest assault on the existing manufacturers is a new Airbus A350-900 mould. Do we really need one? Maybe not, but if your plan is to compete directly with Phoenix and JC Wings then you definitely do. Here I'll take a look at the first sample of the new mould.
This year has marked the twentieth anniversary of 1:400 scale and several manufacturers (notably Gemini Jets and Aeroclassics) have been celebrating their 20th year in business. Meanwhile relative newcomer NG Models has been slowly getting its Tristar production into gear, which gives an opportunity to compare some models from the dawn of the scale with some from recent month's.
In part 1 I introduced the Gulfstream G550 as the first of the new NG Models 200 scale business jet moulds and it is partnered with its French equivalent the Dassault Falcon 7X, one of only two trijets still in production anywhere (the other is the Falcon 900). Aside from a selection of military fighters there appears never to have been a release of a die-cast Dassault business jet in any scale so this is truly a first.
I have said before that the capacity at NG Models for producing new moulds is quite startling and it seems there is no end to their ability to produce top quality castings. Swiftly following, in 1:400, 3 versions of the Tristar, 2 A330s and updates to their existing 737s and 787s they have also out of the blue produced a pair of BizJets in 1:200 scale. Let's take a closer look...
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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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