For part 1 of this series see: I am lucky to have acquired models from airlines from some quite obscure nations in the course of my collecting. Countries like Barbados, Costa Rica, Guyana, Micronesia, Nauru, Somalia and Vanuatu all have a place in my collection - usually, but not exclusively, thanks to Aeroclassics. Recently Iceland and Zimbabwe have joined, again courtesy of Aeroclassics. Ukraine has also just been added thanks unusually to Gemini Jets. Nonetheless 65 countries is a lot without an aircraft model at this scale. The No Hopers
The Chancers The remaining 40 countries have had decent sized airlines at sometime and have plausible candidates for 1/400. I'm not saying they are likely or would sell well but they could be made and most of the airlines should have been heard of by a decent aviation enthusiast who can tell a 737-200 from a 737-300. With the consolidation of the aviation scene lots of these airlines are long gone but that doesn't make them any less cool. Sometimes obscurity can even make a model sell better I think, although equally sometimes it does not. The Top 10 Sellers IMHO I've tried in the following wishlist to pick aircraft that a mould exists for. Sadly as the majority of these are only candidates for Aeroclassics that is often an issue, nonetheless there are some good candidates here including some on types like the A320, which could interest Phoenix (they did recently make a Maldivian A320 after all). Here are my top 10 most likely decent sellers from ignored nations in alphabetical order: ANTIGUA & BARBUDA- LIAT BAC One-eleven 500 or DHC-8 JC Wings has already made the Court Line One-eleven and this is just a stone's throw from that. Definitely potential. Whereas if Gemini actually used their DHC-8 mould then a LIAT would be a good choice. BHUTAN - Druk Air Airbus A319 or BAE-146 I'd rather have a BAE 146 but an A319 seems more likely. Bhutan is famously the happiest country on Earth and this A319 is a regular visitor to Asian airports, which may equal a decent return on investment. CROATIA - Croatia Airways Boeing 737-200 Possibly the most surprising absentee is Croatia, which has had a decent sized national airline for a long time now. Plenty of scope for an Airbus A319 but personally I'd prefer a 737. DJIBOUTI - Air Djibouti A310 I just love saying the name of this North African nation whose national carrier was sufficient enough to operate 737s and an A310. Really nice scheme too. GUINEA - Air Guinee IL-18 or 707 It's a nice livery and another long-lived African airline which'd look smart on the Aeroclassics mould. LITHUANIA - Lithuanian Airlines Boeing 737-200 In the early 90s Lithuanian were regular visitors to Heathrow and other major European airports as one of the first post-soviets to operate western aircraft. Nice scheme too. MARSHALL ISLANDS - Air Marshall Islands Douglas DC-8 A quintessential unusual airliner/airline combo this one, but what a combo. MONGOLIA - MIAT Airbus A310 or Boeing 727-200 Mongolia still has a major national airline and this could be another great Aeroclassics pair. Alternatively Phoenix could make a 737-800? MOZAMBIQUE - LAM McDonnell Douglas DC-10 Another colourful and attractive livery on a widebody airliner for an airline still flying and from a major country in Africa next to South Africa. I think this would sell well. NEPAL - Royal Nepal HS 748 or Airbus A310 A Boeing 727-100 or 757 would be even better, since Royal Nepal operated the only pair of 757 Combis, made but I fear with no Aeroclassics 757 or a working 727-100 they are unlikely. Phoenix could alternatively be interested in a modern Nepal Airlines A320? I'd however prefer something classic like an HS748 or A310. The Rest
Now those 10 I think could be sold and moulds exist for them but that doesn't mean to say I don't want a Royal Swazi F28, St Lucia Airways 707 or Belize Airways 720! So keep up the work collectors requesting these beautiful and historically important models.
5 Comments
BWI-ROCman
14/12/2017 04:59:21 pm
Rich, I would buy a model for every country you show up above. National carriers are an extremely important part of 1:400, and I strive to have every country represented.
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BWI-ROCman
14/12/2017 05:22:30 pm
Sorry, just noted that you discussed Uganda in the part 1 thread. But there is an earlier variation of their livery in the 70's, with a flag on the tail and all-caps titles. That's the one I'd prefer, but I'd get either one. :+)
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EugeneVH
14/12/2017 08:15:37 pm
Yep. I'll take one of each African Airline made.
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Denny Payne
15/12/2017 05:07:23 am
Moldova should be off the list shortly with the A320 that's up for preorder.
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Mystère
15/12/2017 04:52:42 pm
Good work, as usual, although there are a few things I don't agree with. From a technical point of view most of the "no hopers" African countries you're listing already had a company with models released, albeit a trans-national one, it was Air Afrique. Dahomey (Bénin), Upper-Volta (Burkina Faso), Niger, Sénégal, Chad, all of them were founders of this company, and Togo joined later. Most of them had their own airline for many years, some of them still operating like Senegal Airlines. They often had colourful liveries and would make great models IMO. Wouldn't you like an Air Niger or TAGB HS.748 ? ;-)
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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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