MD-80 Releases by NG Models
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Modified: June 2025
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It was way back in October 2023 that NG Models sent me samples for the MD-80 series, and soon afterwards they got a review here at the site. NG has clearly struggled to digest the number of new moulds they were developing at the time, and it wasn't until March 2024 that the first release came out. To see the original sample reviews see:
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The releases so far have all been of high quality (aside from some high printing on the engines) and NG have even gone so far as to modify the mould so that the nose strakes are smaller and better placed. I have reviewed two releases in detail here at the site.
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NG Models MD-80 Releases By June 2025
The big issue hasn't been the quality of the models but the number. NG's releases of standard length MD-80s to date are quite limited (MD-87s even more so) both in terms of scope and number. They amount to 15 models but cover only 6 airlines as follows:
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For MD-87s there have just been a trio of SAS releases:
Although I have acquired 8 of the models released to date, and they have all been excellent, the lack of releases, especially for non-Chinese markets is disappointing and concerning. It has also given competitors an opportunity, as both Gemini and now Phoenix have announced MD-80s recently despite the inferiority of their castings as the below graphic illustrates with the JC Wings mould:
If Wishes Were Horses
I had hoped that NG's Wish and Commission centre would allow for a good variety of MD-80s to be made but that hasn't happened. It didn't help that the system started with a bug for MD-80s and even now with the long body variants listed separately but using the same mould has meant there were lots of duplicates. This still hasn't been resolved and has hurt MD-80 release choices acceptance. For example there are 3 AirCal MD-80s in the list (because people have setup MD-81, 82 and 83 wishes even though they only operated 81s) with wishes amassing over 30 votes. This should be enough to get it into production yet it hasn't because the wishes are split (and two of them barely show up unless you search by airline).
The same goes for others like Midwest Express and Frontier. It doesn't help that the search function on the wishlist site doesn't really work properly too. Here's 3 Midwest Express wishes for example:
The only MD-80 that has amassed enough points to get into pre-production is a Midwest Airlines version
That's very disappointing. Obviously tariffs may mitigate against a lot of N reg MD-80s but there's lots of potential for others. Looking at the current NG Wish & Commission Centre these MD-80s have all scored well (but several nowadays are hard to find in the search or don't appear easily when scrolling). They would seem to be a sensible template for future production:
Full Wishlists
Of course there are hundreds of other desirable MD-80s outside of the wish centre and I've compiled 3 extensive wishlists for the type here at the site too - see these (click on image for link):
Mad Dog Central 1: An Americas MD-80 Wishlist - with 88 options
Mad Dog Central 2: An Old World MD-80 Wishlist - with 89 options
Short Screwdriver: MD-87 Wishlist - with 34 options
Summary
NG's MD-80s are fantastic models and easily the best on the market in 400 scale for the type, however they have seen nowhere near enough usage, which is extremely puzzling. I hope we'll see some more extensive usage in 2025 and 2026 rather than having to acquire inferior Gemini and Phoenix options.