bakejobb_23
Well-known member
Overview
Legacy Jets is a newer brand to the 400 scale space. Their first two announcements just hit the shelves a week or two back and now we have the next two. These two Embraers, unlike the Avelo and AirTran, are exclusive to Final Approach Collectibles, a smaller retailer from South Carolina in the US. Legacy Jets is using the SQ/HX factories to produce thee models, and have no other affiliation as we know. They boast “Next level precision and unmatched innovation". Lets see how well they hold up to modern standards and compare to what else in on the market.For this review, ill use the @YesterAirlines scale for consistency and is as follows (I hope thats okay!):
26-30 Perfect
23-25 Decent
20-22 Ordinary
15-19 Poor
1-15 Garbage
MOLD
This will be the second true E175 mold to the market, the first and only other belonging to JC/GeminiJets. Herpa has released E170s in 400 scale and DeAugostini has released a pair of E170s although on what seems to be a much inferior and not particularly relevant mold from both of them. JC/Gemini have been cornering the market on these regional jets for some time and I am excited to see someone else has joined the parade.The E175 as a whole has two distinct variants. They were originally delivered with the standard vertical winglets but in 2018 new orders were fitted with an upgrade for a more angled design and a just slightly longer wingspan. This new LegacyJets casting features the “long wing” winglets. It is unsure that the older style winglets or even other variants like the E170 or E190 have been developed as well for future releases.
On first glance, the mold seems really decent. I like the overall proportions and not much feels too particularly off. I have a few gripes as I look closer but I do like the final result of these models as a whole. The biggest issue is the nose down stance where the real airplane sits nose up. Perhaps future landing gear height adjustments can at least make it sit perfectly level which would be great.
The nose is well shaped, perhaps a bit more rounded overall but still very well done. The nose gear however is one of my larger issues with this model. The tires and hubs are definitely too large and I wish it was a but smaller. Even if it wasn’t rolling at that point I’d rather have the right size tires than not. The rest of the gear section looks nice and everything except those tires are proportioned well.
Underside gear details:
Wing details:
Unfortunately the wing seam doesn’t look great, especially on this American Eagle example. There are some large gaps all the way around and it luckily doesn’t detract from the model too much. Thankfully we are at least past the time of the old cradle style wing joins. The wings themselves look just fine but the wingtips are another iffy part of this model for me. They are relatively well shaped but need some small tweaks. The winglets have a large extended point on them, very dramatized compared to the real thing.
Wing seam issues:
Winglet point issue:
The underside as a whole looks really nice. Lots of details that from my limited knowledge and looking at a few photos of the real thing, all seem to be in the right spots. This model features a similar antennae style for the underside longer antenna near the tail section, which is fitted perfectly.
The Engines also look nice as well. Solid core engines which is standard on this small of a model and the detailing is just fine. My only complaint here is that the fin on the outwards and inwards side are too large, a minor and almost silly complaint at the scale.
Engine details:
My biggest concern was the engine placement onto the pylons. Gemini/JC struggle with this a lot and these are pretty good! They aren’t perfect but are miles ahead of what the competition puts out consistently. I approve!
The antennas overall are well shaped but also very oversized. The third one near the tail on top of the fuselage is also missing.
Tail details:
The tail section feel spot on and very nicely shaped to me.
If I could fix two issues with this model, it would be the winglets and nose gear tires. The Antennas also bother me but it’s common among other brands so I cannot ding them too hard there. The Wing seam is another big problem which might be able to be tweaked down the line.
Score - 6
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