The Best Moulds in 1/400 Scale Pt2: Douglas and Co

In Part 1 we looked at Boeing and in Part 2 we'll stay in the New World and look at all the other manufacturers there. These are mainly US but obviously with a sprinkling of those from Canada and Brasil. The same judging criteria applies as in the first part so with that in mind let's get into it.

DC-4, DC-6, DC-7, DC-8, DC-9 & DC-10 of Eastern Air Lines

Douglas / McDonnell Douglas

Until the 1960s Douglas were the biggest civil aircraft manufacturer in the world and into the 1990s McDonnell Douglas were still in second place. Fortunately this greatness has been noted in 1/400 scale and there are plenty of moulds out there. Sadly they are often pretty hit and miss.

Aeroclassics clean up with the older types except where they haven't created a replacement mould - DC-3s and DC-9-10s. In fact you can argue that the Jet-X DC-9-10 isn't even very good but it has little competition.

The rest of the Aeroclassics piston props are excellent as are their range of DC-8s and longer DC-9s.

The MD-80 has also been poorly treated in this scale with Gemini's recent attempt hardly spectacular. At least their MD-90 is better.

The widebodies are dominated by Aeroclassics superb DC-10s except where they haven't a mould (the series 40). The Phoenix MD-11 just about edges its near brother the Gemini but they are I think both from the same original mould.

DC-7, DC-8, DC-9, DC-10, MD-11 & MD-90 of Delta Air Lines

L-149, L100 and L-1011 of Delta Air Lines

Rest of the New World

Gemini put on a much better showing when it comes to regional jets partly because they have access to the JC Wings catalogue. In fact aside from the CRJs and Q400 they are all really JC Wings original moulds. There also isn't a lot of competition in this space and for a while JC really hit a sweet spot with regional prop commuters.

Herpa's Catalina is a lovely little mould (almost the smallest in this scale) but when it comes to classics Aeroclassics is the company to beat. It does well again, except where it is shaded, just, by the updated Witty CV-880/990 and Jet-X Electra. Will Gemini ever use its CV-580 mould properly? I suspect not but even if it did it has a poor nosegear leg.

The Tristar gets a lot of people moaning, however the Witty mould is outstanding if only it could be rescued from oblivion somehow. The Dragon L-1011-500 is also very good except for the perennial Dragon problem of the undercarriage.