Bake's 1:400 Collection

[bakejobb_23]

Wonderful pics and nice comparison of these three liveries on the A330! My favorite is the black livery... why do people call it "navy"? I see no blue in it by the way, the DW A330 is a good mould in my opinion, too bad the nose section isn't that nice. Your Gemini version have a too pointy nose indeed.

About the paint bubbling, that's another issue, not related to zinc rot as far as I know

It is actually navy blue if you look at the real thing in proper sunlight! Either that or that’s partially sun fading at fault. Regardless, it is now maturing into my favorite livery of all time. Hoping American might take a crack at a retro version on an A321 down the line (probably unlikely with how dark and hot it would be for some destinations).

I actually have enjoyed the Dragon Wings mould, especially for how old it now is. Considering some of the other moulds around the early 2000s, this is far from the worst of the time. I really enjoy the removable landing gear as well, as simple of a feature as it is.

Glad to know it is a semi-common issue with the bubbling. If anyone has any further info on that it would be appreciated! I’m wondering if there’s something I can do to get rid of it or preserve it as much as I possibly can.

 

[bakejobb_23]

The girlfriend was away at work and I got some beautiful sunlight through the windows today so some more pictures have finally arrived! This time its an American Airlines showcase. Mostly newer arrivals and most are legacy US aircraft so the collection stays growing!

Here is the lineup for today:





First up! This is N416YX, an 11 year old E175LR delivered to Republic Airlines in 2013. It only flew under the American Eagle colors and was retrofitted with the wide winglets in 2015. It is still active today! Released by GeminiJets in 2018. While not a part of the legacy US Fleet, I decided to pick this guy up as Ive never had an E175 with these winglets in my collection. Lovely model indeed



Terminal Shot:


Ground Shot:


Next up is N187US, delivered to US Airways in 2002 and flew with them through the merger. It is still flying today with AA in this current scheme shown today. This model was released by GeminiJets in 2018, a month before the E175 release. Not a perfect representation but more than good enough to do the job. I always preferred the A320series aircraft with the wing feces compared to the modern winglets. Performance aside, the wing fences are what made airbus' themselves for a long time and my brain has certainly latched onto that way of thinking lol. For those not in the know, all legacy US Airways Airbus' in AA's fleet still have their wingtip fences. All AA purchased and acquired aircraft all have the sharklets installed. Its a great way to differentiate between what airframes belonged to whom specifically. Mine arrived with a broken nose wheel that still has yet to be properly fixed but its sturdy enough just wedged in the slot, hence the slight odd angle to it.



Terminal Shot:

 

[bakejobb_23]

N953UW was delivered to US Airways in 2007. in 2020 it was removed along with the rest of the fleet from service for fleet consolidation. In 2022, Alliance Airlines under the Qantas Link Brand picked the frame up and still fly it as VH-XVP. While the E170s were under the "Express" line, the E190s were all mainline due to the amount of seats in the aircraft. Kinda an odd but unique thing about these planes in the US/AA Fleets. I wish they lasted a bit longer. This is a 2016 GeminiJets release. The only time either a US Airways or AA E190 has ever been made in this scale. I hope to see another one released sometime in the future but chances are quite slim.





N808EX was a DHC-8-100 delivered to Allegheny in 1991. Allegheny at the time was a subsidiary to USAir, mostly flying the regional "Commuter service around the north east region. By 2004, USAir reorganized and the airframe was now flying under Piedmont Airlines, still a subsidiary to the then US Airways. It flew in the AA colors very briefly after the merger before being put to rest in 2017. This model was released by GeminiJets in late 2024. A lovely model to have for how short its service was in these colors. Will be making a couple appearances in my eventual PHL dioramas for sure.



Terminal Shot:




Enjoy the photos

p.s. - H U G E A330 showing coming up soon.