Critical Aviator 1/400 collection

[GoLithuania]

Probably a controversial opinion, but I honestly think the current Lufthansa livery is a very good example of modern minimalism. They didn't really take a way a ton of brand identity and I think it looks very clean. Now, the new Korean Air livery on the otherhand...

 

[Critical Aviator]

Probably a controversial opinion, but I honestly think the current Lufthansa livery is a very good example of modern minimalism. They didn't really take a way a ton of brand identity and I think it looks very clean. Now, the new Korean Air livery on the otherhand...

The Lufthansa livery is fine, but to me it really depends on which aircraft you put it on. For instance, I like the A319, A320 (ceo and neo), A321 (ceo and neo), A350, A380 and 747-8 fine in the new livery, I don’t mind it on the A330, A340 and 747-400 but I am not sure about the 787-9, that’s probably the only aircraft in the current LH fleet I am no so sure about the current standard livery.
I think the new Korean Air livery is okay, again it depends on which aircraft you put it on, I like the A350 best in that livery but for all other aircraft, it’s acceptable at best. But I agree with most people that the old livery was better.
If you ask me, neither LH nor KE are the worst offenders in terms of modern minimalism. I mean China Eastern’s livery is so white it has to be the very definition of minimalist. But the worst is when liveries become so similar it can get tough to even tell which airline it is without seeing the name of the airline on the aircraft. The example I am thinking of are the current standard liveries of Croatia Airlines and Brussels Airlines.

 

[Charter]

The Lufthansa livery is fine, but to me it really depends on which aircraft you put it on. For instance, I like the A319, A320 (ceo and neo), A321 (ceo and neo), A350, A380 and 747-8 fine in the new livery, I don’t mind it on the A330, A340 and 747-400 but I am not sure about the 787-9, that’s probably the only aircraft in the current LH fleet I am no so sure about the current standard livery.
I think the new Korean Air livery is okay, again it depends on which aircraft you put it on, I like the A350 best in that livery but for all other aircraft, it’s acceptable at best. But I agree with most people that the old livery was better.
If you ask me, neither LH nor KE are the worst offenders in terms of modern minimalism. I mean China Eastern’s livery is so white it has to be the very definition of minimalist. But the worst is when liveries become so similar it can get tough to even tell which airline it is without seeing the name of the airline on the aircraft. The example I am thinking of are the current standard liveries of Croatia Airlines and Brussels Airlines.

I completely agree.
Right airplane for the right livery and vice versa.
Look for example these two examples:
Garuda Indonesia previous livery looks boring on the A330-300
while looks amazing on the DC-10


The same for Lufthansa, boring A330-300

amazing A350-900


Of course it is also always matter of personal tastes.

 

[GoLithuania]

I completely agree.
Right airplane for the right livery and vice versa.
Look for example these two examples:
Garuda Indonesia previous livery looks boring on the A330-300View attachment 76984
while looks amazing on the DC-10
View attachment 76985

The same for Lufthansa, boring A330-300
View attachment 76986
amazing A350-900
View attachment 76987

Of course it is also always matter of personal tastes.

I think it's the rear engine on that DC-10 that makes it look good

 

[Critical Aviator]

I think it's the rear engine on that DC-10 that makes it look good

It could also be the fact that the A330-300 is longer than the DC-10, making the livery look emptier on the A330-300.

 

[Charter]

I think it's the rear engine on that DC-10 that makes it look good

In fact...right airplane (DC-10, trijet) with right livery (same livery , boring on the A330 and amazing on the trijet) and vice versa!

 

[s4lmon8]

Air France Cargo Airbus A350F by NG.
It's a fantasy model, the kind of model I'm usually not found of brands making as I prefer having models of aircraft that exist in real life and those fantasy models take production slots away from other models. So why did I buy this model then ? I bought it because I like how the AF Cargo livery looked on the A350F and I was afraid NG might 'forget' to release this again when the real aircraft is delivered.
View attachment 76961

is the a350f shorter than the 900?

 

[s4lmon8]

I always said: "don't ask me why but the Air France and Swiss white liveries have something more respect the other boring Eurowhites. Maybe it is a different shade of white, the snow - white, more similar to a soft cream white, something we can't recognize at a first look but that our eyes and brain recognize..", different to explain. The same effect was similar on Garuda Indonesia previous livery, especially on the DC-10.

I think the red in those liveries really pop and really add some vibrance, especially Swiss!

 

[Critical Aviator]

is the a350f shorter than the 900?

It’s longer than the -900 but shorter than the -1000.

 

[Critical Aviator]

Air France Airbus A350-941 F-HUVJ 'Paris' in the Crevette livery by NG. F-HUVJ had the 'Paris 2024 Partenaire Officiel' sticker from its delivery in July 2024 until October of the same year. As someone who doesn't care about the olympic games I found it annoying that they were invading everything in life. Adverts for the 2024 summer olympics were everywhere and I found it worse when I went to Paris a few months before the start of the summer olympics. All that to say how funny it was to find out that Air France decided to temporary apply a small sticker whereas other airlines really did more to promote the summer olympics. It's a far cry from the comparatively giant sticker they applied to at least one A320, two 777s and an A380.
The model on top is the first model that arrived, defective but fixeable. The model on the bottom is the one I got after the first one and which arrived in perfect condition. I did my first (and so far only) experiment with custom models with the first F-HUVJ by removing the sticker, like its real life counterpart and I'm pleased with the result.

 

[777-300ER]

I did my first (and so far only) experiment with custom models with the first F-HUVJ by removing the sticker, like its real life counterpart and I'm pleased with the result.

View attachment 77057

Funny that I did exactly the same with my NG F-HUVJ
Also, do you have the AV400 version, in order to compare, or just NG?

 

[Critical Aviator]

Funny that I did exactly the same with my NG F-HUVJ
Also, do you have the AV400 version, in order to compare, or just NG?

Yes I also have the Av400 one and I am tempted to get the Aeropolaris one as well.

 

[Critical Aviator]

Funny that I did exactly the same with my NG F-HUVJ
Also, do you have the AV400 version, in order to compare, or just NG?

I have seen some of your customs from the picture you posted on this forum and I must say they look amazing. Do you change your models whenever the real aircraft is getting changes or do you only make the changes once per model ?

 

[GoLithuania]

As someone who doesn't care about the olympic games I found it annoying that they were invading everything in life.

I found myself in way way way Southwest France during the Olympic Opening Ceremony. It was kind of cool, everyone was in the hotel courtyard eating tapas and watching it. Most of the people at our hotel were Parisians who left because of the Olympics

 

[777-300ER]

I have seen some of your customs from the picture you posted on this forum and I must say they look amazing. Do you change your models whenever the real aircraft is getting changes or do you only make the changes once per model ?

It depends. Regarding smaller details (like a removed sticker, windows layout modification or some trace of jetways, gone painting on fuselage and wings…) yes, I will usually apply these changes when they happen.

For exemple, I am planing to get the AV400 F-GZNE. From the preview picture, I have noticed they kept 2025 state of this reg, with the 2014 La Première 4 windows (by referring to the latest pictures of F-GZNE until 2025). However this aircraft received the new config in 2026 (1 or 2 months ago) so I will have to modify the windows layout myself (5 windows for the new La Première)

This how it looked like until 2025 (previous config):


And this is how it looks like now (new config):


I might wait before taking the decision of modifying the layout or not. I still don’t know if I will prefer matching its current state or if I will prefer keeping the 2014 configuration which is being replaced. NG potentially releasing a four class AF77W might influence my decision on this.

 

[777-300ER]

Yes I also have the Av400 one and I am tempted to get the Aeropolaris one as well.

Is the AV400 better or worse than NG (especially the cockpit section)?

 

[Critical Aviator]

Is the AV400 better or worse than NG (especially the cockpit section)?

I would say the NG is better but the Av400 is still a very good model. For starters, the nose is more accurate on the NG although Av400’s A350s are not that much inferior and the one thing which makes the NG more accurate is that F-HUVJ, being a 2024-built A350-900, has the PIP which the Av400 doesn’t have.

 

[s4lmon8]

It depends. Regarding smaller details (like a removed sticker, windows layout modification or some trace of jetways, gone painting on fuselage and wings…) yes, I will usually apply these changes when they happen.

For exemple, I am planing to get the AV400 F-GZNE. From the preview picture, I have noticed they kept 2025 state of this reg, with the 2014 La Première 4 windows (by referring to the latest pictures of F-GZNE until 2025). However this aircraft received the new config in 2026 (1 or 2 months ago) so I will have to modify the windows layout myself (5 windows for the new La Première)

This how it looked like until 2025 (previous config):
View attachment 77102

And this is how it looks like now (new config):
View attachment 77104

I might wait before taking the decision of modifying the layout or not. I still don’t know if I will prefer matching its current state or if I will prefer keeping the 2014 configuration which is being replaced. NG potentially releasing a four class AF77W might influence my decision on this.

You lot are really convincing me to get an AF 77w in my collection as well...

 

[Lokian777]

You lot are really convincing me to get an AF 77w in my collection as well...

I really recommend it!

 

[Critical Aviator]

Air France Airbus A350-941 F-HTYJ 'Cannes' in the delivery colours by NG.
F-HTYJ is the 500th A350 built (it is MSN 500) but not the 500th delivered. The 500th A350 delivered is EC-NXD, MSN 567, an Iberia aircraft.