Aeroclassics, Air Afrique 737-242C: F-GFVK

There have been approximately 300 Boeing 737-1/2s created by Aeroclassics. Nearly a third of those have been made in the last five years, meaning that there's been a huge boom for the type lately. Because of the literal hundreds of users, there's plenty of diversity to choose from. Many 737-2s ended up in secondhand markets following use by legacy carriers, and that also means that there are plenty of exotic and unique liveries that can be made. I've got one of those examples here, an Air Afrique, 737 registered F-GFVK. For a closer look, read on...

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Like many 737s, the durability and versatility of the plane provide great resale value. This aircraft, which started service for Nordair in 1969, changed hands several times before coming to Air Afrique in 1995. The aircraft is line number 157 and interestingly was written off after sliding off of the runway in 1997 at Douala International Airport in Cameroon. A blown tire on takeoff caused the accident, and the airplane was damaged beyond repair. So her career would end prematurely at just over 28 years of age. The aircraft itself is also interesting in the modifications it received later in life. In the late 80's she was converted to a combination layout allowing for both cargo, and passengers. She was also given a special gravel/dirt strip kit (visable below)in order to allow operations to remote locations. 

The real thing: F-GVFK sits quietly on the tarmac at Orly in Paris, July, 1995. (Photograph courtesy of B.LEDUC, Airliners.net).

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Notes:
Basic as it maybe, the Aeroclassics 737-2 casting is probably one of, it not the best on the market. Its longevity in the hobby, and rigorous deployment is a nod to its usefulness. Whey there are a few issues with the tooling, it is still worthy of being in production in 2025, especially considering a lack of competition around the type. AC did a nice job with the model show here. Their propensity to use colors on the model that are slightly darker than the 1/1 is an issue here, especially with the dark green used for the lower part of the cheatline and the logo on the tail. The logo itself could stand to be just a hair larger as well. Then there's the issue of the model not having a gravel/dirt strip kit. There's no moulding for this in 1/400 scale, but it's still an important inaccuracy. 

The model itself was produced in February of 2022. While maintaining a French registration in the photograph above, and on the model, the real airplane was reregistered at TU-TAV which makes the model a representative of Ivory Cost, and not France. 

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Sources:
-Airliners.net
​-CIA.gov
-Modelaircraftdatabase.com
-Planespotters.net