Unboxed them and I am quite satisfied with them outside of the box.
Gemini Jets PIA Hawker Siddeley Trident 1E AP-AUG: Honestly it's a great little model of a great little aircraft. The printing is very solid, especially considering the model was released back in 2007. Of course it doesn't stand up to modern printing standards but once again, it is a 16 year old model. One thing to note is that the chrome finish is starting to fade but the effects are very minimal visually. The Gemini Trident mould seems quite nice as well and it's a shame we don't see anymore of it, I'd be quite willing to see how modern printing would make a Trident model pop out, I know Gemini/JC is capable of it.
The real aircraft, AP-AUG was the last of four Trident 1E's delivered to PIA in the mid 60's. It was initially supposed to be delivered to the Pakistani Air Force as a VIP transport for the head of state and was painted into Pakistani Air Force colors but for reasons unknown, was not taken up by the Air Force and instead delivered to PIA in 1967. AP-AUG would spend its time in PIA service running domestic services in Pakistan, but the Tridents proved to be too small for the ever growing needs to air travel amongst the Pakistani nation. In 1970, all four of PIA's Trident's were sold to the People's Republic of China, and AP-AUG was re-registered with the serial number 50152. After 20 years in 1990, it was leased out to China United Airlines during the mess caused by the breakup of CAAC and stayed with them for 2 years until being withdrawn from service for good. However, unlike most other Trident's, AP-AUG was among the lucky few that were given new life as museum pieces and she currently sits in the Beijing Civil Avation Museum dressed in CAAC colors and given the registration B-2207.
Gemini Jets Iran Air A321 EP-IFA: Interesting aircraft, subpar mould. Apart from a spacing error between the "I" and "r" in the Iran Air titles, the Iran Air livery is well executed and in all honestly looks good, but the mould really lets it down. It's an 2017 JC A320 family mould, so it was a bit too early to get the updated nosegear JC puts on their A320's now, large engines and the other problems known with the mould are apparent. But I am happy with it, it's nice and it gave me an Iran Air for my collection. After all, it is just a model in the end.
The real aircraft, EP-IFA is very significant aircraft when looking at the history of civil aviation in Iran. After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran was subject to sanctions that prevented it from buying new Western aircraft legally. As a result, this led to Iran operating very old fleets of aircraft due to its inability to replace them with new aircraft. In 2015, the Iranian nuclear deal was signed, which lifted most sanctions on Iran in exchange for restrictions on the Iranian nuclear program aimed at preventing Iran from making nuclear weapons. This meant that Iranian airlines could finally replace their ageing fleets with brand new aircraft, a realization that came quickly. Iranian airlines signed multi-billion dollar deals with Boeing, Airbus, ATR, etc for new aircraft, including one for 100 Airbus jets by Iran Air. The first aircraft from these orders was EP-IFA, a ntu Avianca A321 that was quickly snapped up by Iran Air and landed in Tehran on January 11, 2017. A momentous occasion for Iran, EP-IFA was the first brand new aircraft to land in Iran in almost 24 years(the last new aircraft were a pair of A300's given as compensation for the shootdown of IR655), and it would hopefully not be the last. Sadly for Iran the nuclear deal fell apart in late 2017, and Iran was once again placed under sanctions. As a result, Iran Air wasn't able to follow through with the rest of its orders and EP-IFA risks facing the same fate as the fleet she was supposed to replace. Currently EP-IFA has been stored at Tehran since September and no clue if she'll leave storage anytime soon.
NG Models Norwegian Air UK G-CKWD "Ernest Shackleton": One of the nicest models I've gotten in a while, NG did a great job with this. The printing is nice and crisp, paired with one of the strongest 787 moulds on the market make for a very visually appealing aircraft. I have always wanted a Norwegian 787 ever since I started collecting in the mid 2010's and there wasn't really any reason for it apart from how unique and eye-catching the Norwegian livery is, especially on a 787. I missed out on the JC Norwegian "UNICEF" 787 back when it came out and really regretted not getting it back then so seeing that NG came out with a pair of Norwegians was nice to see. For me, this was one of those models you had to get to heal that early collector experience.
The real aircraft, G-CKWD had a relatively uneventful life. It was delivered to Norwegian Air UK in April 2018 and was stored at Gatwick after a little over a year of service in November 2019. In 2021 it was returned from lease to AerCap and was stored again, this time in Shannon, then Oslo for around 7-8 months. Norwegian Long Haul had already folded at this point but it was succeeded by Norse Atlantic Airways, which took the aircraft and finally put it back into service in July 2023, after almost 4 years of continuous storage. Still keeping the registration of G-CKWD, it currently flies from the UK to America and back. Hopefully Norse can keep the legacy of Norwegian Long Haul going.
Honestly I am really happy to have all of these, and these were all aircraft that I wanted, but could never justify to myself paying full price for. Lucky for me, I was able to get all three for a good price and well I am happy with these. They filled some gaps in my collection and the Norwegian 787-9 is contending with the JC Saudia 777-300ER for MOTY in my eyes.
N2331U by Alexander Kern, auf Flickr
N377AN1 by Alexander Kern, auf Flickr
The ANA Pokémon 787 from AV400 is also an expected arrival at my place, it should be here one of the next days. 
