I’ve been able to get some 1:144 scale Boeing 777-200s (United Nations-International Civil Aviation Organization B772) for cheap; some Minicraft kits (made in China) being offered in an ‘as is’ grab bag sale (turned out they were complete, but one had a broken fuselage), and a two-for-one sale that got me Eastern Express issues (made in Russia) in both the -200 and -300 versions.

My biggest complaint about airliner kits is how much they cost versus what you get, that’s why I buy them only when I see them offered at great discount (and It’s really amazing that aftermarket decals can cost more than the kit, depending on the manufacturer).  Airliner kits are basic, and even the nicer Revell Germany kits have fit problems.  While the Minicraft airliners have fit problems the Eastern Express kits take the cake.

The Eastern Express Group kit requires a lot of pre-assembly sanding down of parts due to the amount of flash and other problems.  You must dry fit the parts in order to avoid nasty surprises, such as the lower wing trailing edge needs to be thinned down to size in order to fit, however, the trailing edge of the flaps/ailerons are molded as part of the upper wing, giving a nice sharp trailing edge. The Minicraft Model Kits’ wings have blunt trailing edges, you’d have to spend time thinning down both wing halves to get a sharp trailing edge.  The wings of the Eastern Express and Minicraft kits are very close in shape, size and detailing.  Eastern Express has no mounting points to attach the wing to the fuselage, you’ll have to make your own spar.  Minicraft uses interlocking fingers, apparently their engineers thought it was a good idea but the fingers actually interfere with getting a tight fit against the fuselage, they have to be thinned down or removed.

The Eastern Express fuselage is in three sections, allowing for different length mid-sections to model the -200 or -300 (you only get the sections described on the box). I lined up the competing kits’ fuselages starting at the tail end, the vertical tail tip on the Eastern Express is more angled, the overall diameter and length of the Minicraft kit’s fuselage is larger.  The Eastern Express nose section is smaller than the Minicraft kit, but it looks more Boeing-like to me.

The horizontal tails/elevators look similar in shape and detail, but Minicraft’s are noticeably larger.

While the Eastern Express fuselage is smaller than Minicraft’s the opposite is true for the turbine nacelles. I’m considering swapping the very large Eastern Express nacelles with the Minicraft nacelles, the size difference is painfully noticeable when you compare the diameter of the intake lips.  Minicraft’s nacelles will need just a little work to fit them onto the Eastern Express wings, but the Eastern Express nacelle pylons will need to be thinned down to fit into the Minicraft slots.

Here’s some pictorial evidence, which you can see more of the image by clicking on it:

I didn’t mention landing gear, most airliner kits do a bad job of representing them anyway (example; the Minicraft’s doors don’t come close to matching the wheel well openings, as if they were meant for a different aircraft), plus I normally build airliners wheels up and condemn them to eternal flight by hanging from the ceiling.

Update, December 2022: I finally finished building the Minicraft Boeing 777.  I marked it with aftermarket decals for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The aftermarket decals look good from a distance, up-close you can see how thick they are. I had to remove a couple of the smaller markings, because they curled-up and refused to lay down, no matter how much clear I coated them with.

It was going to be a gift for the couple who had spent big money reserving airline tickets, hotels and tickets to various Olympic venues.

The Minicraft turbine nacelles definitely look too small.

Of course, due to The Pandemic hyperbole, first the Japanese government delayed the games by a full year, then banned foreigners from coming into Japan altogether!  The highly disappointed couple did get their money refunded, and this year they finally get their very own 777 Tokyo Olympics airliner.

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