Speedbird91
03-28-2008, 06:17 AM
For those of you that love a hot, fast, sexy Virgin... :^^:
Supersonic Voyager.....
Model: GJVIRXXX
Airline: Virgin Atlantic
Aircraft: Concorde
Registration: G-VSST
Release Date: 3/4/2004
Units: 2000
Notes: Metal Box.
Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. (operating as Virgin Atlantic) is a British airline which is owned by Richard Branson's Virgin Group (51%) and Singapore Airlines (49%). It operates long-haul routes between the United Kingdom and North America, the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia from its main bases at London Heathrow and London Gatwick. Virgin has a smaller base at Manchester Airport. The company holds a United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority Type A Operating Licence, which permits it to carry passengers, cargo, and mail on aircraft with 20 or more seats. Virgin Atlantic carried around 4.6 million passengers and made an annual profit of £31.4 million in 2006.
Virgin operates the 747-400 and A340-600.
The Pros
The striking livery of Virgin Atlantic with silver pearlescent paint adorning the sexy concorde make this model truly irresistible and a must have for any collection, although the ability to find one at a reasonable price is something different.
I honestly can say that I am not a fan of fantasy models but this one is by far the best fantasy around.
Although there is no 1:1 version to compare this model to, Gemini have depicted the Virgin titles and logo accurately, and the 'Virgin Atlantic' titles are a 'billboard' type size at the forward front of the aircraft.
The Font of the "Mines faster than Yours" and "Supersonic Voyager" slogans and "CONCORDE" titles is the correct Virgin font and the tail logo is the correct boldness and size to tail size ratio.
The dark blue colour around the tail and rear fuselage encasing the violent red is the perfect colour blue as seen on Virgin aircraft, not too dark but not too light either.
I especially like the way Gemini decided to include the Virgin flag carrier maiden and paint the engines in the bright red as featured on the tail.
Some detail such as printed vents, basic doors and landing lights and other minor details are on display.
The Cons
One thing that bothers me about this model is the huge seem running all the way down the side of the fuselage and wing. It sticks out like dogs balls and wrecks the model's overall appearance because you cannot help but constantly stare at it everytime you gaze upon the otherwise beautiful complexion.
The red colour on the tail and engines is far to bright and should be a few shades darker.
The windows and to some extent cockpit are not that noticeable because the dark grey colour of the windows blends in with the silver pearlescent paintwork, thus giving the illusion of a fantasy freighter Concorde rather than a PAX version.
The model has some detail but overall lacks the detail found on the far superior Dragon Wings/ Jet-X Concorde mould.
Features such as the ribbed wings, detailed intakes of the engines and landing gear doors that are actually part of the mould and not painted on are non existent on this model as they are on the DW/JX mould.
The landing gear is too chunky and is reminiscent of a 747 not the slender legs of Miss Concorde.
The shape of the nose is not way off but not at all accurate either and the wings are quite rounded and slowly curve around unlike the DW version which has very sharp cuts and curves in the wings, much more realistic on DW's part.
One final gripe, the tail is not inline with the paintwork on the fuselage and therefore gives the final product and imbalanced look.
Below are ratings out of 10, with 1 being the worst and 10 being excellent.
1: Worst
2: Bad
3: Poor
4: Could be better
5: Satisfactory
6: Average
7: Good
8: Great
9: HOT!
10: Excellent
Mould (Airframe): 6.5
Detail (Inc. Spoilers, Flaps, Gear bay doors, Cargo Doors): 6.5
Printing (Accuracy, Colour, Finish, Correct Fonts): 7.5
Quality (Any Scratches, Chips, Bent Pylons, Finish): 9.5
Value (Price, Money well spent): 8.5
Verdict: 8.0/10
Final Verdict
I gave this model a higher value rating beacuse as many who are searching for this model would know, it has become a very rare collectors piece and I only know of one on sale right now on ebay in the virginfans section.
I feel that this model is a fantastic insight into what may have occured in the aviation world and too bad that Lady Concorde could not stay around a bit longer, because she would have looked mighty fine in this colour scheme.
I would say that the main thing that takes points off this model is that bloody ugly seem, but if you can forget about this negative and do ever come across this hard to get model, snap it up and let it grace your collection.
:)
Supersonic Voyager.....
Model: GJVIRXXX
Airline: Virgin Atlantic
Aircraft: Concorde
Registration: G-VSST
Release Date: 3/4/2004
Units: 2000
Notes: Metal Box.
Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. (operating as Virgin Atlantic) is a British airline which is owned by Richard Branson's Virgin Group (51%) and Singapore Airlines (49%). It operates long-haul routes between the United Kingdom and North America, the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia from its main bases at London Heathrow and London Gatwick. Virgin has a smaller base at Manchester Airport. The company holds a United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority Type A Operating Licence, which permits it to carry passengers, cargo, and mail on aircraft with 20 or more seats. Virgin Atlantic carried around 4.6 million passengers and made an annual profit of £31.4 million in 2006.
Virgin operates the 747-400 and A340-600.
The Pros
The striking livery of Virgin Atlantic with silver pearlescent paint adorning the sexy concorde make this model truly irresistible and a must have for any collection, although the ability to find one at a reasonable price is something different.
I honestly can say that I am not a fan of fantasy models but this one is by far the best fantasy around.
Although there is no 1:1 version to compare this model to, Gemini have depicted the Virgin titles and logo accurately, and the 'Virgin Atlantic' titles are a 'billboard' type size at the forward front of the aircraft.
The Font of the "Mines faster than Yours" and "Supersonic Voyager" slogans and "CONCORDE" titles is the correct Virgin font and the tail logo is the correct boldness and size to tail size ratio.
The dark blue colour around the tail and rear fuselage encasing the violent red is the perfect colour blue as seen on Virgin aircraft, not too dark but not too light either.
I especially like the way Gemini decided to include the Virgin flag carrier maiden and paint the engines in the bright red as featured on the tail.
Some detail such as printed vents, basic doors and landing lights and other minor details are on display.
The Cons
One thing that bothers me about this model is the huge seem running all the way down the side of the fuselage and wing. It sticks out like dogs balls and wrecks the model's overall appearance because you cannot help but constantly stare at it everytime you gaze upon the otherwise beautiful complexion.
The red colour on the tail and engines is far to bright and should be a few shades darker.
The windows and to some extent cockpit are not that noticeable because the dark grey colour of the windows blends in with the silver pearlescent paintwork, thus giving the illusion of a fantasy freighter Concorde rather than a PAX version.
The model has some detail but overall lacks the detail found on the far superior Dragon Wings/ Jet-X Concorde mould.
Features such as the ribbed wings, detailed intakes of the engines and landing gear doors that are actually part of the mould and not painted on are non existent on this model as they are on the DW/JX mould.
The landing gear is too chunky and is reminiscent of a 747 not the slender legs of Miss Concorde.
The shape of the nose is not way off but not at all accurate either and the wings are quite rounded and slowly curve around unlike the DW version which has very sharp cuts and curves in the wings, much more realistic on DW's part.
One final gripe, the tail is not inline with the paintwork on the fuselage and therefore gives the final product and imbalanced look.
Below are ratings out of 10, with 1 being the worst and 10 being excellent.
1: Worst
2: Bad
3: Poor
4: Could be better
5: Satisfactory
6: Average
7: Good
8: Great
9: HOT!
10: Excellent
Mould (Airframe): 6.5
Detail (Inc. Spoilers, Flaps, Gear bay doors, Cargo Doors): 6.5
Printing (Accuracy, Colour, Finish, Correct Fonts): 7.5
Quality (Any Scratches, Chips, Bent Pylons, Finish): 9.5
Value (Price, Money well spent): 8.5
Verdict: 8.0/10
Final Verdict
I gave this model a higher value rating beacuse as many who are searching for this model would know, it has become a very rare collectors piece and I only know of one on sale right now on ebay in the virginfans section.
I feel that this model is a fantastic insight into what may have occured in the aviation world and too bad that Lady Concorde could not stay around a bit longer, because she would have looked mighty fine in this colour scheme.
I would say that the main thing that takes points off this model is that bloody ugly seem, but if you can forget about this negative and do ever come across this hard to get model, snap it up and let it grace your collection.
:)