The Airbus A350-900 was the reborn Aviation400’s first mould in 400 scale, back in 2017, and introduced their signature beacon lights. The original mould went through multiple modifications, with at least 3 versions in use at various times, but has now in 2026 been superseded by a new mould. This has an all new fuselage barrel and wings. In this piece I will compare the last version of the previous mould with the new September 2026 edition.
UPDATED: SEPTEMBER 2026
AVIATION400 AIRBUS A350 MOULDS IN 1:400 SCALE
There are at least 3 variants of the original AV400 A350 as follows:
MOULD 1A: 2017-2019
This Cathay Pacific release dates from 2019 and shows the original form of the Aviation400 A350. The most obvious tell for this version of the mould is the grey painted undercarriage and large tyrehubs.
MOULD 1B: 2020-2023
The first major upgrade to the AV400 A350 introduced new style landing gear with silver painted legs and new tyres featuring smaller hubs. This Fiji example dates from 2020. Some of the releases from this period had wing fit issues that led to an exaggerated dihedral while a small number of others featured overpolished noses.
An ITA Airways version of this mould was reviewed here at the website in August 2023:
MOULD 1C: 2024-2025
The second upgrade of the original mould introduced further modifications to the undercarriage, which for the first time was fitted with magnets making it detachable. Additionally, this version featured improved engine pylons and new fanblades for the engines. The vertical stabiliser shape at the roofjoin was also improved.
There was a significant wait for this mould to appear on the market and although some models were announced as early as November 2023 they didn’t appear at retailers until early 2025. I reviewed an Edelweiss example of this version of the mould here at the site in March 2025:
MOULD 2: 2026
The latest version of the mould incorporates the upgraded engines and magnetic gear of the 1C version but has an all new fuselage barrel and new wings. The wings are the first AV400 A350 to incorporate the modified taller winglets fitted from mid-2018 to A350s as part of the performance improvement package (PIP).
COMPARISON OF AV400 A350 MOULD V1C and V2
In this photo comparison the v1C mould is represented by the Air France and the new v2 by the Egyptair
Forward Fuselage
The nose region was never an area of major concern with the AV400 A350 but the new nose does show some signs of minor tweaks to the angle beneath the cockpit. Also modified is the size of the dome behind the rooftop beacon light. The new version is much better sized heightwise but seems a little short lengthwise.
Wingroot
A significant change has been made at the wingroot. The original version had a rounded wing to fuselage join and this has been redesigned to more accurately replicate the more angular reality, which has a less curved and more bladelike cross section. That includes not just the wing itself but continues into the wingroot of the fuselage moulding.
At the rear of the wingjoin the crease and afterwing fairing have been reshaped. They show a little more definition but now also appear a little shorter than they were before, which possibly isn’t as accurate.
Wings & Winglets
The new mould uses the same engines and pylons as the 1C. The wing control surfaces are also almost identical, although overall the wing on the new mould does seem to have slightly more dihedral than the old one. Aside from the wingjoin the big difference are the PIP winglets.
The new winglets are definitely correctly larger than the original mould 1 versions, although I’m not convinced they capture the sharp curves of the real thing that well, especially at the tips. Nonetheless, I’d argue they aren’t significantly inferior to those of the NG Models A350.
Underside
On the underside the only significant difference not already discussed is that the standhole shape has been modified to be triangular rather than circular in keeping with the newer style AV400 stands.
AV4432 Egyptair Airbus A350-900 SU-GGE Mould 2
Summary
The new Aviation400 Airbus A350-900 mould updates the original keeping the upgraded engines, pylons and undercarriage of the 1C mould but adding an upgraded fuselage barrel and new PIP winglets. The changes significantly improve the competitiveness of the AV400 mould compared to the other A350 leaders in the scale (Aero Polaris and NG Models). The last time I undertook a detailed comparison of A350 moulds was in 2024 when the AV400 version was still using the 1B mould. With the accumulated changes since then I am confident that the AV400 A350-900 would now gain 4 or 5 points easily and be a much closer competitor. Phoenix are now the only brand whose A350 still uses the old style winglets, but I know they are also updating their A350 with them.
Stay tuned for more content featuring the new Aviation400 A350-900.
