Palmdale Pretties: A Standard Tristar Wishlist

It was 2019 that the NG and Lockness Tristar moulds debuted and you'd have thought that would mean an avalanche of L-1011s. Sadly the Lockness mould is rather poor and NG have had electroplating issues and a change of focus. The result are a bunch of L-1011s I won't touch and a much smaller set of excellent NG releases than I'd hope for. So here's a kick up the bottom to highlight how much there is left for NG to make.

Unless you are blind or hopelessly biased the NG Tristar is miles ahead of the competition, but sadly it has not been used as much as I had hoped it would be. There have been less than 30 standard length L-1011s made, which equates to less than 1 a month. In comparison NG has made 66 A330s and 96 Boeing 737-800s - both on moulds that debuted after the L-1011.

Below is the NG output to date, excluding Tristar 500s:

There are clearly lots of Tristars left to be made, as the list below shows. Many of these are very saleable and many don't need a natural metal finish so can safely avoid the electroplating issue NG seem to be struggling to overcome. Frankly as the recent All Nippon example showed silver paint is a fine substitute anyway so only all over silver L-1011s really remain out of bounds.

Hopefully 2022 will see a decent return on the wonderful Tristar moulds NG has access to.

---

PROTOTYPES

Jon Proctor (GFDL 1.2 or GFDL 1.2 ), via Wikimedia Commons

Ralf Manteufel (GFDL 1.2 or GFDL 1.2 ), via Wikimedia Commons

Ken Fielding/https://www.flickr.com/photos/kenfielding, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

---

DELTA

I'd like to think that one day we might see some more Delta 1011s from NG and although one has been made it featured the later position of the silver belly line not the earlier position as shown below. This pair below are still left and the Bicentennial scheme version would go down a treat.

Jon Proctor (GFDL 1.2 or GFDL 1.2 ), via Wikimedia Commons

Jon Proctor (GFDL 1.2 or GFDL 1.2 ), via Wikimedia Commons

---

TWA

There have been two TWA releases but both have worn essentially the same scheme. Meanwhile 3 further liveries remain untouched so far:

Jon Proctor (GFDL 1.2 or GFDL 1.2 ), via Wikimedia Commons

Jon Proctor (GFDL 1.2 or GFDL 1.2 ), via Wikimedia Commons

Aero Icarus from Zürich, Switzerland, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

---

EASTERN

No doubt the electroplating issues have made represrenting EA L-1011s difficult however even so the single release so far is just one version of the white hockeystick that could be made. Overall there are at least four Eastern Tristar livery variants not yet made:

Jon Proctor (GFDL 1.2 or GFDL 1.2 ), via Wikimedia Commons

JetPix (GFDL 1.2 or GFDL 1.2 ), via Wikimedia Commons

JetPix (GFDL 1.2 or GFDL 1.2 ), via Wikimedia Commons

---

AIR CANADA

The Canadian flag carrier has also been rather neglected with only the last livery worn replicated to date - leaving a lot of maple leaves still to release.

Richard Silagi (GFDL or GFDL ), via Wikimedia Commons

Ken Fielding/https://www.flickr.com/photos/kenfielding, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Felix Goetting (GFDL 1.2 or GFDL 1.2 ), via Wikimedia Commons

---

BRITISH AIRWAYS

There have been four BA Tristars so far but the version and livery combinations possible mean that at least these three Tristar 1s remain to be made:

Steve Fitzgerald (GFDL 1.2 or GFDL 1.2 ), via Wikimedia Commons

Kambui, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Pedro Aragão, CC BY-SA 3.0 GFDL, via Wikimedia Commons

---

CATHAY PACIFIC

All three CX livery variants remain to be made:

clipperarctic, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

contri from Yonezawa, Yamagata, Japan, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

contri from Yonezawa, Yamagata, Japan, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

---

AIR LANKA

Michel Gilliand (GFDL 1.2 or GFDL 1.2 ), via Wikimedia Commons

JetPix (GFDL 1.2 or GFDL 1.2 ), via Wikimedia Commons

Michel Gilliand (GFDL 1.2 or GFDL 1.2 ), via Wikimedia Commons

---

SAUDIA

Steve Fitzgerald (GFDL 1.2 or GFDL 1.2 ), via Wikimedia Commons

Pedro Aragão, CC BY-SA 3.0 GFDL, via Wikimedia Commons

---

PSA

They need the additional belly fairing but the PSA L-1011s are a must nevertheless.

Steve Fitzgerald (GFDL 1.2 or GFDL 1.2 ), via Wikimedia Commons

Jon Proctor (GFDL 1.2 or GFDL 1.2 ), via Wikimedia Commons

---

PERUVIANS

JetPix (GFDL 1.2 or GFDL 1.2 ), via Wikimedia Commons

JetPix (GFDL 1.2 or GFDL 1.2 ), via Wikimedia Commons

---

US CHARTERS

Ken Fielding/https://www.flickr.com/photos/kenfielding, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

FotoNoir, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Pedro Aragão, CC BY-SA 3.0 GFDL, via Wikimedia Commons

JetPix (GFDL 1.2 or GFDL 1.2 ), via Wikimedia Commons

---

ASIAN ODDITIES

Kambui, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Ken Fielding/https://www.flickr.com/photos/kenfielding, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

---

LATE EURO CHARTERS

In the late 90s several random operators flew Tristars - often on wet lease cover deals to sunspots in the Med from Gatwick and Manchester

Ken Fielding/https://www.flickr.com/photos/kenfielding, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Pedro Aragão, CC BY-SA 3.0 GFDL, via Wikimedia Commons

Pedro Aragão, CC BY-SA 3.0 GFDL, via Wikimedia Commons

Pedro Aragão, CC BY-SA 3.0 GFDL, via Wikimedia Commons

Pedro Aragão, CC BY-SA 3.0 GFDL, via Wikimedia Commons

---

Freighters

JetPix (GFDL 1.2 or GFDL 1.2 ), via Wikimedia Commons

JetPix (GFDL 1.2 or GFDL 1.2 ), via Wikimedia Commons

---

Summary

While I'm sure I have missed some L-1011 schemes there (especially for short-lived late Middle-Eastern operators) this is a fairly comprehensive list that shows some delightful schemes that would sell well and are a must for any classic collector. I hope NG takes heed and looks again at its Tristar output and if this list helps then all the better!