YESTERDAY'S AIRLINES

The reimagination of Mexicana’s image from 1991 onwards had been a great success but unfortunately in the highly competitive deregulated Mexican aviation market Mexicana couldn’t really support the cost outlay of such a programme.

The deregulation of the Mexican domestic market in late 1988 was to provide both opportunities and pitfalls for Mexicana, which, as with its competitors, lurched from famine to feast as the Mexican economy likewise lurched from boom to bust.

Even though the 757-300 only sold 55 units to 7 customers it has recorded a strong service record and worn a surprisingly high number of liveries.

NG Models’ mould usage has come under criticism from many, including myself, and the 757-300 is a good example of that with only 13 releases in 30 months, and that includes the Chinese New Year model for 2025 and a blank!

Although I am broadly dismissive of most of the Hello Kitty, Pokemon and other cartoon liveries some are certified legends and I would count the Moomins among those with that status.

400 Scale is increasingly dominated by ultra-modern twinjets like the A321 and 787, which given the age profile of collectors, especially in emerging markets, and the sheer volume of modern aircraft isn’t surprising.

This is the third review in a row featuring a new Airbus A300 (albeit one was a Beluga) illustrating the resurgence of interest in Airbuses’ maiden aircraft.

JC Wings has a curious mould development strategy whereby they produce some outstanding obscure moulds while at the same time they don’t appear to see the need to replace some obsolescent versions used for many more releases and that have strong competiti…

Back in December I reviewed the first YU ModeL Airbus A300 release and since then a lot has happened in the A300 space both for YU and others.

The Fokker 50 was one of JC Wings earliest moulds being first produced in 2008 but its usage has been very low considering that the aircraft sold a respectable 214 units and served globally (although not in the USA) for well over 25 years.

Panda Model’s reliance on orders from third parties for exclusives means their Boeing 767-300 has seen a rather random hodgepodge collection of models made on it.

Anyone who knows my collection habits knows that I can’t resist African flag carriers, let alone ones flying Soviet metal.

To date 2026 has mainly been a year of modern Airbus and Boeings, lacking a lot of variety when it comes to airlines or aircraft type.

There are lots of new brands in 400 scale, especially within China, and several offering something different in terms of their approach even if not always in terms of their release content.

NG Models’ output in 2026 has been lacklustre at best and their usage of many of their moulds appalling.

A few of you may know me from the scale600.com days back when myself, Julian and a few others attempted to pull together the complete production list of Schabak models, assisted by the Wings900 database.