Phoenix Models History Pt2: Phoenix Takes Flight
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Modified: March 2024
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As discussed in part 1, Phoenix Models sprang from the ashes of TucanoLine and gradually built itself into a strong brand, initially using a partnership with Gemini Jets. Between 2003 and 2008 it mainly used moulds it had either inherited from Tucano or that had a Gemini Jets ancestry, but by 2009 the majority of its releases were using its own castings. This change had begun as early as 2006 and would allow Phoenix to grow into itself as one of the most important brands in 400 scale, plus allow it to become a trailblazer in the scale with new innovations.
2006: The First All-New Mould
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2006 was the year that Phoenix unveiled its first ever new casting in the form of the Boeing 787-8. This was the first year that any 787-8 moulds were produced by anybody but whereas the new Gemini Jets mould was a traditional cradle mount edition with a prominent wing seam line and the Dragon Wings mould looked awful the Phoenix version was a seamless slot in wings mould with nice detailing. This mould is still in use today and while it is now obsolescent at the time it was easily the best of the new 787s.
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Below: The first release was a fantasy Singapore version in 2006. The Ethiopian version is from 2012 (note added aerials). Photos courtesy of Bedfordshire Diecast
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One element that all these early moulds demonstrate is a strong wing flex, somewhat weird when the models all come with the gear down. Even so, it is important to remember that this flex was a major marketing point for the type and in 2006 the type hadn't even been unveiled, let alone flown (rollout would be on July 8, 2007 and first flight would eventually be on December 15, 2009).
Below: This Air China 787-8 was a fantasy release made in 2008 before deliveries of the real aircraft had begun, as the rego B-2787 illustrates.
The interminable delays to the 787 production in the real world must have been inconvenient to 400 scale producers and after a small selection of fantasy releases in 2006 output slowed to a trickle until 2012 when the type finally had begun to enter service. A Boeing 787-9 mould debut in 2009 and get similarly slow usage with only 3 releases up to 2014.
Given that these moulds were developed before the aircraft itself was completed they turned out well. Although nowadays they are the worst of the available 787 moulds at the time they were a major move forward for Phoenix, which showed it could compete with the best that was available. These new 787s also came with rolling undercarriage, something that would be a feature of all the new Phoenix moulds (and would be retrofitted to older TucanoLine and Gemini moulds still in usage).
2007: Jumbos, Super Jumbos and Triple Sevens
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2007 would bring 3 new mould lineages that would in many ways come to define Phoenix for the next decade - two in a good way and one in a not so good way. Rather incredibly there had been an A380 400 scale mould since 2001, from Dragon Wings, and it wasn't until 2005 when Herpa and Magic debuted new A380 moulds. None of these moulds would provide much competition but in 2006 the Gemini Jets mould appeared and that has become one of the main A380 moulds.
Below: The 2nd Phoenix A380 was this 2007 JAL fantasy version registered JA8380
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Even so, the new Phoenix A380 that appeared in late 2007, the same year the A380 entered service, was a real illustration of how Phoenix was shaking up the market. Not only was it much superior to the Gemini A380 in terms of fuselage shape, but it was also made of Aluminium rather than Zinc, which has made it a lot lighter than other A380 moulds. The only real drawback of the mould is its tendency to at times sit with the nosegear off the ground.
Without a shadow of a doubt, the Phoenix A380 has left a genuine legacy in the scale for the type and only in the past year or so has it been bested by the new Aviation400 casting. The mould setup Phoenix to have a best in class mould for over 15 years and must have been a major factor in the transformation of how Phoenix was seen. I should give the Apollo / Witty A380 a quick mention but it sadly never had a lot of exposure or usage prior to their bankruptcy.
Sadly, the Boeing 747 'classic' moulds have not left the same positive legacy. The 747-400 appeared in 2007 and was joined by the series 100/200 in 2008 and 300 in 2009. They have always been pretty dreadful moulds and I have talked about this in detail in another page on the site here:
Above: The first Phoenix 747-400 release on their new mould appears to have been this 2007 Qantas Wunala Dreaming version. It illustrates several of the mould's issues. Image courtesy of Waffle Collectibles
Fortunately, the 747-100/200/300 moulds have never seen a particularly high usage, but the 747-400 mould has been used extensively. There were 81 alone in the period between 2007 and 2014. In fairness to Phoenix the 747s appear to have sold well, but that is something of an illustration of the collectorate, and is no endorsement of the mould's quality.
This Uni-top example is from 2018 but the mould is the same as before.
Even though, the 747s have been dreadful the other mould family has once again become a bulwark of Phoenix. This is of course the Boeing 777-200/300. I can recall when I started collecting 400 scale the high esteem that Phoenix 777s were deservedly held in. Once again the main competition for them at the time was the cradle mount / seamed Gemini Jets 777s and the poor Dragon Wings version. Like the A380 the only strong competition for some time to the Phoenix 777s have been the Witty / Apollo mould, rarely used before Witty's bankruptcy.
There has of course been more competition in the 777 space than in the A380 arena but even so, it wasn't until 2017 that JC Wings rolled out a superior mould to the Phoenix, and 2019 when Aviation400 released its competing series 300 version. Even against these strong new competitors the Triple 7 moulds from Phoenix still hold their own in 2024 from a mould perspective, although they are probably at the bottom of the pile nowadays.
2008: Medium Twins
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2008 saw the release of the Airbus A300 and Boeing 767 families. The A300 casting has been hamstrung by a poor nosecone. The winglets on the series 600 aren't great either but like all the other new moulds it came with rolling gear and a slot in wings build. This mould hasn't been used a lot thankfully, even though the competing Aeroclassics version has a prominent seam line.
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The 767-300 produced by Phoenix is another mould that has gone on to be a stalwart of the company and one to garner strong positive reviews as well. The mould was used 44 times between 2008 and 2014. By 2024 it has been used for well over 110 times. As with the A300 it has the standard Phoenix gear style and slot in wings, but it does have a far superior nosecone casting. One area that could do with a modification is the flat style of the wing-fuselage fairing, something that has been a rather recurring issue with some new Phoenix moulds.
There had been earlier solid 767s such as the BigBird / Aeroclassics mould but by 2010 competition has come mainly from the Gemini Jets / JC Wings seamed mould. Against that the Phoenix version has held its own nicely.
2010: Airbus Big Buses
2009 was a quiet year, with just the 747-300 and 400F appearing, but 2010 would be another bumper year with the introduction of an excellent mould series for the A330/340. Interestingly, it would be the next year that Aeroclassics also released its own A330s but the Phoenix versions, which replaced usage of the earlier seamed Gemini mould, were excellent. Aside from the horizontal stabilisers being too large on the A330-200 the A330/340 castings remain impressive even in 2024.
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2010 would see the release of the A330-200/300 and A340-300/600 variants. In 2011 they would be joined by the A340-200 and A340-500. This mould family has been very successful for Phoenix and between 2010 and 2014 they were used 147 times.
Below: This Lufthansa A340-600 D-AIHT was their first Phoenix release of the type in 2010.
2011: Big Jumbos
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Phoenix has often had a strong selection of widebody moulds, that is aside from their 747 Classics. The 747-8I and 8F moulds that appeared in 2011 have fortunately not had the same problems the Classics have. Interestingly, the first six releases included two versions of the mould - one with in-flight wings and one with ground wings. The later versions just used the ground wing configuration, which makes sense given the models are gear down.
Below: The first Phoenix 747-8I release was N6067E released in 2011 - note the aerials even at this stage!
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They certainly have a much better set of wings and forward fuselage region. Having said that the rounded wing join has never been as realistic as the Gemini Jets / JC Wings mould and the type has the rather crude tail to fuselage join as well. Then again the GJ/JC castings have been historically hampered by the form of the hump - on the freighter version at least. The Phoenix 747-8s have proven to be solid, reliable castings and, once again, good money makers for Phoenix.
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2012/2013: Narrowbody Airbuses & Boeings
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The focus of Phoenix from 2006 was clearly on widebody moulds, as of the 18 new mould variants made up to 2012 only one was a narrowbody and that was the Boeing 737-800, which debuted that year. The mould benefitted from the competition for the type in 400 scale being very weak. Aside from the, ok but ordinary, Gemini Jets mould, that Phoenix had been using itself since 2005, there was at the time only moulds from Dragon Wings and Witty Wings. Neither of those moulds were very good.
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In many ways this lack of competition masked the weaknesses of the new Phoenix mould, which itself had, and continues to have, significant issues around the nose, undercarriage, engines and pylons. Phoenix has also regularly struggled to print the cockpit properly, however that hasn't stopped Phoenix making them. As of early 2021 the Phoenix 737NGs were the most heavily used in 400 scale. Nowadays the superb NG Models moulds have begun to rival them in release numbers.
Phoenix would wait even longer to replace the old Gemini A320 family moulds it was still using, with its own not being released until 2013. The moulds are nowadays obsolescent but at the time they were much more competitive, albeit quite inferior to the 2009 Aeroclassics versions.
In detail the nose and fuselage/wing fairing are both questionable but ther usage has been prolific with over 150 A320s being released alone. There were 28 A320s in 2013 alone. The longer A321 mould looks a little like a Tu-204 and has for many years suffered from having the wrong single-slotted flapped A320 wing on it, rather than the double-slotted flapped A321.
2012: Russian Quadjet
Phoenix continued to use the old TucanoLine Tu-154s, albeit nicely upgraded with new landing gear, but until 2012 didn't have any other Soviet types in the inventory. That changed with the introduction of the Il-96-300, which marked an unusual departure into an area of zero compeition for the brand. The mould is excellent and has been used well by the brand. Nobody else has ever tried to compete against it.
First to Add Aerials
Love them or hate them aerials have become a necessity in 400 scale for everyone except Aeroclassics. As far as I know it was Phoenix that introduced this innovation - starting in 2011, possibly with the 747-8. Some of the first moulds to be fitted with aerials were the A330, A340, 747-400, 777-300 and Il-96. Not all models in 2012 were fitted with aerials but by 2013 they were appearing on even smaller moulds like the A320 and 737-800. The Phoenix lead would be followed by other brands, but even into 2014 the majority of Gemini and JC Wings releases didn't feature aerials.
Summary
The period from 2006 to 2013 was one of massive investment from Phoenix models to produce its own unique mould catalogue. The result was a large collection of popular types in 400 scale, which although sometimes of questionable quality, always featured rolling gear and slot in wings. These new moulds helped catapult Phoenix to the forefront of 400 scale just as many other smaller brands were disappearing from the scene or being amalgamated into JC Wings.
Unless you only collect US airlines, which Phoenix barely ever made, it would be surprising for any collection built in the 2005-2020 period not to have a significant amount of Phoenix products in it. By 2024 standards a lot of the moulds are obsolescent, however for the time Phoenix was offering some really impressive releases, and even the ones using poor moulds presented overall well with aerials, rolling gear, good printing and nice boxes.
Certainly until the appearance of NG Models I can't think of another period of such significant mould production coming from a single brand within the same timescales. Between 2006 and 2013 Phoenix effectively replaced its entire production with new moulds, often of excellent quality. They would continue to produce new moulds like the A350, but never in the number or variety of this period. These changes have cemented Phoenix's position as one of the leading 400 scale brands for nearly 20 years.