New Brand: Buchannan Models

I have been one who has been a little critical of NG Models move towards more contemporary and less retro releases of late, however now it appears NG will get a little bit of a hand in this area as a new brand named Buchannan Models is partnering to use NG moulds for more retro-goodness.

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Buchannan Statements

Buchannan Models first came to light on May 7th when they posted to the DAC forum. They said:

"Buchannan Models are pleased to announce a new limited range of 1:400 diecast model airliners; the models will be commissioned under Agreement with NG Model and will feature Western airliners and airliner liveries from yesteryear.

Initially the range will include the NG Model L1011 Tristar and Boeing 757-200, the models will be released monthly and will be limited in number. The current release schedule will comprise of one or two models each month dependent on the NG Model production slot availability.

The production plan for 2022 has been agreed and signed off by NG Model.

The models will be distributed using the existing NG Model network of retailers; the first release will be a specially commissioned L1011-50 Tristar that comes with a limited numbered card as the launch Buchannan model. The range will expand over time to include new and existing NG Model moulds that support the production theme and hopefully the new mould classic Boeing 747-100/200.

The good news is that the Buchannan models will qualify for the NG Model Collectors Reward Programme.

The first model is planned for release in May/June 2022, the formal announcement of the release model will be made shortly along with details of the Buchannan Models Facebook page and Instagram account."

Since then they have followed this up with the announcement of their first release as follows:

The first release by Buchannan will be this L-1011

"The launch model of the Buchannan Model 1:400 range produced under Agreement with NG Model will be the British Airways L1011-50 Tristar G-BEAL in the Caledonian Airways scheme with British Airways titles, leased back to the parent Company in 1990. The production run will be limited to 240 models and comes with a numbered card, the models will be shipped to retailers using the existing NG Model retailer network with deliveries expected towards mid/late June 2022. The Buchannan Model range will qualify for the NG Model Customer Reward Programme.

To offer an insight in to the future Buchannan Models planned release (subject to change), currently the next Buchannan model release for July 2022 will be a UK based charter airline Boeing 757-200, the third model planned for August 2022 will be for our American friends, a US Lockheed L1011-385-1 Tristar airliner. To set expectations, the model will not be a standard US L1011 Airliner release. Looking to the remainder of 2022, the agreed production plan includes a mix of L1011 and Boeing 757-200 models covering the UK, US, Canadian and Spanish airliners. The number of models each month will be one model per month, but subject to NG Model production capacity, that may increase, as and when the production schedule allows.

The planning for the Buchannan Model release in 2023 will begin towards the end of this year in agreement with NG Model. The current schedule for 2022 is complete and signed-off by NG Model, be assured we will look at the existing NG Model wish list(s) posted on a number of platforms to see if any requests meet the Buchannan Model production theme in 2023, so hopefully we will be able to meet a number of your requests alongside the existing NG Model release plan."

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Analysis

I have briefly spoken via email with Buchannan and they are understandably reluctant to provide a lot more information or details about themselves at the present time, which given certain brands attempts to close down competition is not surprising. They are also equally understandably keen to establish some credibility in the marketplace first, which makes sense considering the difficulties smaller brands typically have becoming established.

Having said that they have told me they are Europe based. NG Models have worked with others before, most notably HYJLwings, which began as an independent startup using NG production facilities. It appears NG Models trust the principals at Buchannan and the cautious way they are going about things does give me some confidence that they know what they are doing.

The existing Caledonian L-1011 release by NG Models

It will be good to have a sub-brand of NG focused on more classics, and at smaller volumes that perhaps make models viable that maybe aren't at NG standard production run levels. On the flipside if Buchannan are merely taking existing NG slots that would be used for classics anyway then arguably you could say they aren't serving much of a point. ​Ultimately it'll probably be hard to tell without greater insight into NG's production schedule, which I'm sure will not be forthcoming. Hopefully in the coming months I can ascertain a greater insight into what Buchannan's aims are.

The existing Caledonian L-1011 release by NG Models

The first L-1011 release being a hybrid of a model NG has already made is admittedly a little underwhelming but this is just the beginning and hopefully Buchannan can work to make their releases a little more unique. There is certainly plenty of scope for L-1011 and 757 releases in their stated areas of interest.

I look forward to seeing what Buchannan will do in the future and I recommend that you follow them at their Facebook page: