Below is my view on the best 400 scale moulds for a selection of Airbus Industries types based on buying a lot of 400 scale models and looking at them in detail across many years. You may not agree but if you don’t you should at least mount a sensible argument about why you don’t!
This is part of a series covering the Best Moulds in 400 Scale. See the mainpage for a breakdown of what I’m trying to achieve and why, and also to access other pages in the series:
NOTE: Just because a mould isn’t the best it doesn’t mean it isn’t good and that you shouldn’t buy it. I buy a wide range of good moulds for many of these types myself. In the end your collecting is up to you. Use the resources linked to below to get a better understanding of what is available.
The A330 market in 400 scale is full of good moulds, with the Phoenix series 300 being decent, if a little dated, the Aeroclassics very good, and the JC Wings / Gemini and Aviation400 versions being ok. However, it is the NG Models and Panda versions that stand out to me as the best, although it appears Panda has lost access to its moulds. Kylin Models recent A330s appear very promising too.
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* Mould appears inactive
When it comes to the A330 freighter there are two active moulds but it appears that the mould once used by Panda Models has migrated to NG Models somehow. The JC Wings mould actually has a better nosegear blister but suffers from the issues that impact the standard JC Wings A330 – mainly due to undercarriage length and position.
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The A330neo is a mould that has recently had quite a lot of development with new moulds on the market from Aviation400 and NG Models. Of the 4 moulds the NG version is the best but the improved Aviation400 version offers some nice features too.
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The A330-700 Beluga XL is a tough one because even though the NG Models version has a better mould it doesn’t offer the excellent interactive features of the JC Wings version. I really like the interactive features so I’m minded to say these are drawing here.
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I’d say this one is a tie
-200/300
The A340 gets a lot less attention than more modern Airbuses but as it shares a good chunk of its structure with the A330 it has benefitted from the good moulds developed for that type. Having said that it was initially ignored when NG created their A330s. The majority of the existing moulds are decent and it is hard to really say one is much better than the other – or perhaps I just haven’t done a detailed review of them yet! NG do have a mould for the type, which from the samples I reviewed way back in late 2023 looked very good, but as of yet that mould has still not been seen in their release schedule.
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Of all these moulds the NG will be the best, if they ever decide to actually release it! Otherwise they are all fine but not obviously superior to each other.
-500/600
The later A340s have not got a lot of love in recent times due to their limited service histories. Fortunately, at least one of the older moulds is good so we aren’t just stuck with old Dragon versions! This is of course the Phoenix A340-500/600, which remain solid moulds albeit nowadays coming in second place to the new HX Models version.
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Another major battleground with now 6 active moulds. The best A350 is currently that of NG Models on a purely points basis, however the Panda Models and Aero Polaris versions (almost indistinguishable from each other) are very very close. The Aviation400 version is also good and has recently been updated with magnetic detachable landing gear.
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The Phoenix A380 was for years comfortably the best in show, easily trouncing the old Gemini mould. However, 2022 brought the wonderful new Aviation400 mould – the first with detachable magnetic gear in 400 scale. It is excellent. Even newer is the HX Models mould, which is also really impressive. Apollo has also recently reappeared with the old Witty A380, which is decent, but not as good as the newer moulds and NG have just announced their own and the 6th active A380 in 400 scale.
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