Aeroclassics New DC-8-10/21/30 Mould

[RStretton]

~~I was a happy camper when Aeroclassics released their new mould for the early DC-8s covering the series 10s, 20s and 30s as their series 50 and 60 moulds are sublime. There was quite a lot of criticism of the mould though when it first came out due to the angle of the inboard engines. This actually delayed me in getting it but I have finally received my copy and must say that the criticisms though not unjustified really don't impede my enjoyment of the mould as the engine angle issue is really very minor and made to look far worse by macro-photography.

N8005U was one of the earliest DC-8s delivered to United and was named Mainliner Capt W.D. Williams. She wasn’t upgraded from her initial DC-8-12 status into a DC-8-21 until February 1964 – the main difference being new engines in the form of Pratt and Whitney JT4A-3 turbojets in place of the earlier JT3C-6s. By choosing the Douglas product over the 707 United suffered an 8 month delay in starting jet service compared to American however once in service the DC-8s saw long careers. Almost all of the original eights left the fleet between 1977 and 1980 with this aircraft ironically being used as part exchange with Boeing for new 727-200s. Stored at Kingman she wasn’t broken up until the 1990s with 53,986 hours flown.

Now AC, or at least PAMC, are back with a new Pan Am DC-8 the issues are resolved but here's a look at my UA example to show what a lovely mould it is. First with the noise suppression rings stowed:

United Airlines Douglas DC-8-21 by rstretton, on Flickr

United Airlines Douglas DC-8-21 by rstretton, on Flickr

United Airlines Douglas DC-8-21 by rstretton, on Flickr

United Airlines Douglas DC-8-21 by rstretton, on Flickr

United Airlines Douglas DC-8-21 by rstretton, on Flickr

Then with the rings deployed. This is a really nice feature of this new mould:

United Airlines Douglas DC-8-21 by rstretton, on Flickr

United Airlines Douglas DC-8-21 by rstretton, on Flickr

United Airlines Douglas DC-8-21 by rstretton, on Flickr

[RStretton]

~~Now here's a quick comparison with Gemini's admittedly old DC-8-20 mould. First here is the real thing:






And comparing the moulds:

Douglas DC-8-21 1:400 Mould Comparisons by rstretton, on Flickr

Douglas DC-8-21 1:400 Mould Comparisons by rstretton, on Flickr

Douglas DC-8-21 1:400 Mould Comparisons by rstretton, on Flickr

The Gemini mould is significantly larger than the Aeroclassics in every way except for the engines which are tiny on the Gemini. I am very glad to see AC release this mould and hope to see a 1:1 replacement for the Geminis in my collection (Delta, Eastern, Northwest, ONA etc) plus a load more goodies. Thanks Andrew.

[fleetlordatvar]

The only united livery I don't like is the Battleship colors, too dark. On the other hand i like the the friendship colors, the extra stars seem to make a difference.

[RStretton]

~~I just received my Pan Am DC-8-30 and the difference between the first two releases and the later PA one is easy to see when they are put together. Aeroclassics has drastically reduced the size of the engines on the new version and the mould is much the better for it. I had had a suspicion the previous engines looked too big but had found it hard to quantify by looking at Airliners.net alone. Seems though the old Gemini mould engines were too small the first attempt at the Aeroclassics mould had engines that were way too big. Check out this photo to see what I mean:

Aeroclassics DC-8-20/30 Mould Modifications by rstretton, on Flickr

[fleetlordatvar]

hard to tell at first, maybe because it's a picture & not real life.