Yu ModeLs |
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Yu ModeL (note the odd capital L at the end) is a Chinese brand that first appeared in September 2020 and has gone on to produce a variety of mainly Chinese classic airliners using moulds to date from Aeroclassics, JC Wings and HYJLwings. Often these have been new versions of old releases but they have also included some new never before released classics too.
2020 First Releases
Yu has on several occasions paid for the repair of some older Aeroclassics moulds, beginning with the Tupolev 154, which have then subsequently been used by Aeroclassics themselves. The first pair of Yu releases were Tu-154Ms and this was of course well before the appearance of the new NG Models Tu-154 moulds. I originally wrote about them here:
Following the first releases it seemed Yu ModeL was going to start making its own moulds and it had begun work on a Tupolev Tu-124. I understand there is still the possibility this may come to fruition but it is on the backburner and not a current priority.
2022/2023 - Releases Ramp Up
It wasn't until January 2022 that Yu ModeL's resurfaced but since then they have released a steady stream of Chinese classics and expanded out to use moulds from JC Wings and HYJLwings too. The models can only be purchased via Chinese Taobao sites so are hard to come by in the West. The releases organised by part number, rather than release date, are as follows up to November 2023:
I have acquired nine of the 15 models and four have received detailed reviews here at Yesterday's Airlines:
Interestingly this Il-86 was subsequently released as a standard JC Wings model.
A particular highlight was the pair of China Northern A321s made using the HYJLwings mould. The mould and impressive printing produced a pair of models much superior to the original Aeroclassics version I owned:
Probably the most unique model Yu has had made, and the only non-Chinese aircraft, was the prototype Aeroflot IL-76:
Yu ModeLs has also been successful in getting the Aeroclassics factory to modify the nosegear of their Airbus A300 mould, although if I'm totally honest I'm not entirely convinced it was worth it and it isn't helped by the incorrect printing of the cheatline at the nose.
The most recent trio of releases have featured Chinese 737-200s:
Future Releases
Yu ModeLs has several models on pre-order. Two are from JC Wings and have been on preorder now for over a year in keeping with JC's usual incredibly slow timescales. The CAAC MD-82 is now being released as a standard JC Wings release so presumably the Yu version will appear soon too:
The other model on pre-order is a China Northern A300 presumably from the Aeroclassics stable:
Judging by the banner below there is plenty more to come. In my opinion the most interesting aircraft hinted about here is a China Eastern Fokker 100:
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JetPix (GFDL 1.2 or GFDL 1.2 ), via Wikimedia Commons