Introduction

Manufacturer: JFox
Scale: 1/200
Airline: Ryanair Boeing House Livery
Type: B737-800
Registration: EI-DCL
Item No: JF-737-8-020
Price: £80.96
Release Date: February 2021
Supplier: Aviation Retail Direct

There is a shortage of Ryanair models on the market, so when one does turn up people tend to get excited. JFox previously released a Ryanair aircraft in standard colours a couple of years back, Phoenix released this same aircraft in 1/400 scale two years ago as well. Ryanair are still however under represented on the 1/200 scale market. As my collection focuses on models that have a personal connection to me, I could not resist this particular offering. JFox share moulds with Inflight200, there is no doubt the IF200 B737 mould was always a bit questionable at best.

This particular aircraft started life in 2004 flying for the budget Irish airline, the first time I saw it, it did not have winglets and still had eyebrow windows. The eyebrow windows have since been plugged and the winglets fitted to help with the aircraft fuel economy. This aircraft is also wearing her second livery having been repainted in 2014. The second version of the Ryanair Boeing House Livery is the basis for this model, it is a striking scheme, Boeing did go through a phase of having the house livery applied to the aircraft of various airlines but this is a practice that seems to have stopped in recent years.

In this review I will seek to answer the question of weather the mould is still an attractive option in the modern collectors world.

The Package and First Impressions

On the outside the package looks every bit like an IF200 model. The box sits within a card sleeve, finished in a greyish green colour with Ryanair branding as well as a cartoon image of the model.

The sturdy white box protects a dense foam insert, in the box you will find one aircraft, one stand and attachments to either show the model with the landing gear up or down.

I am pleased to see the included stand is made from metal and has an plaque to show the airline, the aircraft and the scale. I love this little feature it really does make the model look that extra bit special. However this stand does have some scratches for that I take 3 points.

At a first glance the aircraft looks like a B737-800 and the colour scheme appears accurate enough. There is a rather disturbing glittery finish across the top of the fuselage however for this I take 3 points.

Section Score 19/25

Mould

As I look at this mould something just does not look right, it is noticeable and slightly alarming, but it took some work to compare the model against photos to work out what was wrong. It has to be said overall it does look fairly nice, with good proportions and accurate contours but the nose is just so far out of shape as to be comical.

Starting at the front of the aircraft is the nose, which I think is too short and pointy. It needs to be slightly longer and more rounded at the tip. It is most noticeable viewed from the side, but when you admire here from the front or above it does look fine. However I am still taking 3 points.

The overall shape of the fuselage appears nicely rounded and accurate. At the rear of the aircraft is the quirky distinctive tail of the 737 family. I like the shape of the tail on this model, it does look accurate.

The wings are a work of art, seriously nice wings. They are well shaped, and swept back. It looks rather dramatic which the real B737–800 does too. The flap track fairings are exactly where they should be the etched detail for the flaps, spoilers and aileron is good on both the upper and lower surface of the wings.

The horizontal stabiliser is equally nice with clean lines etched for the elevator and trim tabs.

The engines are are beautiful, just looking at them reminds me of standing in the rain at Stansted waiting to board a flight. Firstly the overall shape just looks so nice, and they have a real personality. Often we see messy engine rims that are not flush with the engine cowlings or the paint work is uneven. In this case I am delighted to say neither is true the engine rims are smooth, flush and the correct silver colour. The B737-800 has a flat base on the engine to provide ground clearance, this is accurately modelled too. The pylon lacks fine detail and etching but is the correct shape, I deduct a point as it could be better. The engine exhausts are one moulded piece, on the real aircraft you have the outlet with tapers, then what looks like two collars around it. This is one complete piece on the model whilst it is not completely accurate it does look good and at this size it would probably be hard to make it more intricate.

You have a choice with this model, to have the landing gear either up or down, both sets of magnetised attachments are included. I always display my models with the gear down, and the landing gear is acceptable, there is no ultra fine detail, but the basics are there, the support struts and undercarriage doors. This model will sit happily on the gear without over balancing. When JFox released some pre production images the nose gear doors were unpainted and looked ridiculous, I am pleased to say on the production model that has been fixed.

The aerials are correct with one on the roof and three on the bottom of the fuselage. They all look fine with the exception of the aerial under the 2L door, on the real aircraft it has a flat shape more like a senor or probe, for that I will take 1 point. The upper and lower beacon are both jewel type, the rest of the lights are painted on.

Section Score 21/25

 Detail and Paint

Firstly it has to be acknowledged that this scheme is very complex, there are many subtle lines and details. The base of the scheme is a white upper body with a blue belly, then detailing in the form of silver and light blue stripes and waves. I am not going to sit and count the stripes on the real aircraft and compare it with the model, but lets just say it looks good.

I have seen this aircraft on no fewer than 9 occasions and there has been some debate about the white nose cone. On 7 of those 9 occasions the aircraft had a white nose cone. By painting the nose cone white I think JFox have paid tribute to real life but some would prefer the paint job to have been finished. That being said the complete contours of the scheme have been painted onto the nose, the blue and silver stripe can still be seen. I deduct 2 points as it is a halfway house that doesn’t really make sense. Had the nose cone either been completely white or the scheme fully applied I would not have been taking points. Also the b737-800 has very prominent veins on the nosecone, these have omitted from the stencilling so I will take a point too.

The navy blue wave, looks to follow the contour it should. The silver stripes across the middle and rear of the wave are the correct colour and start and finish where they should. The blue strips at the rear are positioned accurately too.

The upper fuselage is something of a mystery to me the aircraft has a pearlescent finish in real life, whilst it looks gloss white most of the time in certain lighting it has a faint pearl cast. The model tries to replicate that and it some lights it looks shiny white and it other lights you get the impression of the pearlescent finish. What I am not so keen on is the flecks in the paintwork to make the finish, when viewed up close you can see the texturing in the paint. I like the finish from a distance of about two feet, but any closer it starts to become a little distracting. I am not going to take any points for this here as I already commented on this in an earlier section of the review, without the texturing the finish would not be so nice though. As I look at this model which is about two feet away from me, it looks white with that special pearly twinkle and it is stunning. As I hold the model in my hand, I can see the texture in the paint and I do not like it.

There is plenty of fine detail too, the registration, Boeing logo and B737-800 stencilling are bright and crisp and cut through the blue. The Ryanair titles and harp logo on the tail are well created and equally clean. The technical aspect of this model also pleases me greatly the doors and windows are well positioned, the rear doors and cargo hatches on Ryanair aircraft have a hazard warning tape around the frame, even this tiny detail has been included. Finally I often make a point of looking at the wing box markings. On this model, I was pleased to see they were correct to life and clean, sharp black lines with the no step markings as well. I was also pleased to see the hazard areas on the engines printed.

Section Score 22/25

 Conclusion

Firstly it is really nice to see a fairly accurate and well made B737-800 model on the market and for that to come from the stable of a very under represented airline is great too. Overall I like the package the box art is consistent with any other Inflight200/JFox/Voyager models package, I like the sleeve it feels extra classy.

The mould is well made, apart from that rather ugly nose cone the rest of the aircraft looks really rather stunning. The complicated livery has been applied skilfully and looks bright and vibrant I love the minor technical details that just elevate this to the next level.

It is without doubt a welcome addition to my collection, I do like this model, the lowish score represents the accuracy of the mould and the poor quality control on the stand rather than how nice it looks. It does look stunning, just a shame the mould is a bit rough around the edges.

Final Score – 62/75