1:200 Scale Review-Inflight200 KLM “Orange Pride”

PH-BVA is a Boeing 777-300ER which was delivered new to KLM in February of 2008. KLM’s entire 777-300ER fleet is named after national parks around the world, and Bravo Victor Alpha (BVA) was given the name, “Nationaal Park De Hoge Veluwe.” De Hoge Veluwe is a Dutch National park in the province of Gelderland, near the city of Ede.

Aircraft Type: Boeing 777-306ER

Serial Number: 35671 LN:694

Engines: 2 x GE90-115B

PH-BVA was the first 777-300ER delivered to KLM to accompany their fleet of 777-200ERs. KLM has a total of 13 777-300ERs in their fleet, in addition to their 15 777-200s. Bravo Victor Alpha (BVA) has a seating configuration of 35 World Business class seats, 40 Economy Comfort seats and 350 Economy class seats for a total of 425 seats.

On April 27th, 2015 which marks Kings Day in the Netherlands, KLM had a Photoshopped rendition of their “Orange Pride” livery, featured on their social media account. KLM asked its supporters if they should paint the “Orange Pride” plane the following year, and the result was an overwhelming yes! The following year, after 335 liters of paint were applied, the “Orange Pride” 777-300ER was rolled out much to the delight of aviation enthusiasts worldwide. The airplane was later used to bring back the Dutch national team from the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Today the plane continues to grace the skies in the ever-reaching KLM route network.

MODEL:

Inflight 200’s rendition of this 777-300ER is another fine example of the time and detail that goes into their products. The model comes in a nicely packaged box with a colorful orange stand to go along with the model. The overall wingspan is 32.5 CM (12.7 Inches) and the fuselage measures a length of 36 CM (14.1 Inches). This 777-300 mold is a newer version that Inflight released, which now offers the choice to have the landing gear in either the retracted, or down position. The interchange between the two configurations is made even easier, thanks to the landing gear and gear doors being magnetized. The magnets do a good job of holding the gear in place. However, due to the weight of the overall model, the main gear has a tendency of coming unstuck if the model is rolled on its wheels.

The overall mold of the model is true to its original, real life form. The overall craftsmanship is superb, right down to the details of the many antennas that can be found on this model. Some nice touches include the ability to tilt the bogies when on the stand, to give it a more realistic appearance. The engines also hold true to the GE90 look. Some say that Inflight200’s GE90s look small compared to the leading 1/200 competitors, but when compared with the real thing, the dimensions look pretty accurate.

The paint and color scheme on this model are a stunning look for this 777-300. The pop of orange color mixes nicely with the traditional KLM blue and white livery. The orange stand is also a nice touch and adds even more to the overall look of the model. That being said, on my model I did notice some small livery discrepancies. On the actual airplane, the orange begins to fade into the KLM blue right at the beginning of the engine nacelle, or approximately 10 rows before the third set of exit doors. This transition is then complete near the 5th row of windows prior to the over wing emergency exit doors. On my Inflight 200 model, that transition begins on the over wing emergency exit and changes over to blue further aft of the over wing exit, meaning the orange part of the livery on the model is slightly longer than the original, real life version.

Another issue is with the red, white and blue stripe that acts as the border between the area where orange meets the white on the front section of the aircraft. The stripe is actually shorter in length on the model than on the real aircraft. The stripe on the actual plane goes past the area where the transition from blue to orange happens, which would take it to just before the over wing exit. On the model, the stripe ends well forward of the exit, and the overall transition from orange to blue.

One last issue with the paint, some have noted, is that the radome of the airplane is overdone a bit on Inflight’s 777 models. After reviewing a few pictures of the real airplane, I would agree, that a little too much detail is on the radome. The radome on the actual plane is subtle, and uniform with the surrounding orange paint when viewed from a distance. However, on this model, the radome clearly sticks out from the rest of the surrounding orange paint. The grey lines that make up the details of the radome are a little too dark and bold when compared to the actual aircraft. I understand Inflight is trying to emulate the subtle contours of the radome, to include the lightening strips and other details, but a lighter grey color and less detail to the radome may improve its overall look.

While the errors are subtle and will likely go unnoticed to the untrained eye, they do detract ever so slightly from the overall rating of the model.

Despite some issues with the paint and livery of this model, the overall craftsmanship is once again excellent. The majority of the details are where they should be and the overall product is top-notch. From a quality control perspective, Inflight has done a great job with this model from the packaging and display, right down to the stand and removable gear assemblies.

Grading:

• Inflight has shown once again that a good mold and accessories can have a positive impact on the overall line. This new mold for the 777-300ER will get a solid 9 out of 10 rating.
• The paint and livery sections on this model were not perfect and some attention to detail was lacking. For this, I give a rating of 7 out of 10.
• The quality control and printing of this model will get a 9 out of 10.

The overall grade from this model is a respectable 25 out of a possible 30.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, this is a model that truly captures the Dutch spirit. The name “Orange Pride”, clearly shows that this paint scheme on their national airline is a symbol of pride for the Dutch people, and this Inflight model does a great job of capturing that emotion. It would be a stunning and colorful addition to any model collection.