Magic Trick: In Search of Gabon

If there's one thing I love in 1:400 scale it is an obscure national carrier release. Aeroclassics generally monopolise this part of my collection but there are a few other models out there from other manufacturers. One of the most sought after for me personally is the Magic Models Air Gabon Boeing 747-2Q2BM. A few weeks ago I was put onto the trail of one but it hasn't gone to plan.

Magic are one of those obscure manufacturers from the mid to late 2000s that are now long gone and have left behind a dubious reputation. They used a decent mould (possibly a clone of the BigBird?) between 2004 and 2009 to produce a sizeable number of 747 classics including in 2008 the only Gabonese model in this scale.

What an excellent looking model. If you know where I can get one please shout!

For more on the Magic 747s and other 747-100/200 moulds in 1:400 scale see my detailed Mould Review for the Boeing 747. Magic models are rare nowadays and many seem to suffer from either Zinc rot and more widely bubbling so it is definitely buyer beware. Nonetheless nobody else is likely to make such an awesome 747 and with only 200 models of F-ODJG made you have to take your chances.

Anyway a good friend of mine, who scours eBay looking for BigBird 747s and the like, spotted a Chinese seller with two for sale at the perfectly reasonable price of $35 each. The seller's feedback was very good so I took the chance and snapped one up.

The parcel arrived in good time and was well wrapped so I was happy to see when I opened it the box for the Air Gabon 747. Unfortunately when I opened the box things turned to custard. There was a Magic 747 there but that is where the good news ended.

The model inside turned out to be a Jett8 Airlines Cargo 747-200F - a model even more obscure than the Air Gabon and very much lacking the appeal of an African flag carrier. Worse one of the horizontal stabilisers had snapped off. I've never seen damage like that before so I'm assuming it was broken when it went into the box. Lastly Magic's reputation for bubbling was very present on this 747.

Err WTF is that?

To be honest the bubbling I can handle, if it had been the Air Gabon, but instead it is a completely useless model really only fit for the bin. Fortunately an e-mail to the seller got me a very apologetic reply and a full refund so I guess it's no harm no foul. If anything there are two positives I can take away from this:

1. I finally got to see a Magic 747 in the flesh
2. I finally have a replacement nosegear for my Aeroclassics World 747 :)

Now with new nosegear. Shame the geardoor is white but it's better than nothing.

Anyway the search for an Air Gabon 747 goes on. If anyone knows where one can be obtained for a reasonable sum I'd be a happy man. So far all I've got is the box!

P.S: I hadn't realised that Magic models came with a white stand with an M base.