I'll review this Gemini Emirates 777-9 in 10 categories. All Gemini’s Emirates official licensed models come with the carrier’s official packaging. It’s a very elegant design and is way better than Gemini’s own standard boxes. The model is well protected inside. I'll give a 9 for packaging.
This model comes with a standard display stand and a set of removable landing gear, plus a pair of unique folding wingtips of this 779. It looks very handsome on the display stand. The gear covers fit the holes perfectly. I'll give accessories an 8.
How good is this brand new Gemini mould? Let’s check it with the 77W together. The length of a 779 is 3 meters longer than that of a 77W. Its wingspan is almost 12 meters longer than a 77W’s. A 779’s tail height is 1 meter higher than a 77W’s tail. The sizes of the wings, horizontal and vertical stabilizers are all bigger than a 77W’s. The folding wingtips look gorgeous. Underneath each wing we can find a set of “1 + 4” tracking fairings. Compared to the 77W mould, this brand new 779 mould looks less sophisticated, especially the area around the belly. It’s definitely not as good as the old 77W mould. What happened? Was Gemini being too rushed to release this product? I’ll only give a 7.
The huge GE9X is the biggest engine for commercial aircraft. Look at that: it’s way bigger than a 77W’s GE90! The thick rim is in the correct shape and size. The fan blades are spinnable. But I feel the fan blades are thinner than the real thing. Its see-through core looks beautiful. But it fails to reproduce a small bump on the upper part here. I’ll give a 7.
The build of this model is very satisfactory. All angles and positions are correct. The 2 engines are aligned and have very good ground clearance. There’s no visible gap at the attachments and joints. I'll give a 9.
It's very easy to put on the landing gear. The size of the nose gear wheels are correct. The tightness of the gear leg joints are just perfect. So, you can put the gear in a very good looking tilt position. I'll give a 9 for the undercarriage.
Most of the major features on top are there. But still some are missing such as the ADF antenna and the small SATCOM here. All the doors are finely printed. But I’m disappointed to see all antennas and outlets are missing at the bottom. There’s simply nothing there at all. The APU exhaust and the landing lights on the wings are only presented by printing.
A good thing is the 4 landing lights on the nose gear leg are made by inserted gems. The folding wingtips are very finely made. But it’s really hard to insert them onto the wings. It’s a bit easier to put it in a flat position, but it’s like hell to insert it in the vertical position. It feels like you can only make it by chance.
Unfortunately, it has made a serious error in one of the most obvious and important part: the cockpit windows! The whole windows are printed slightly lower than where they should be. So the shape, especially the center part, is distorted and very ugly. The engine lacks most of the markings and cowling seams. I'll give a 5.
This Emirates livery has no errors. All sizes, tapefaces, and logos are correct. The UAE flag pattern on the wingtip looks exactly the same with the real thing. When Gemini released the 1/400 model for Emirates in early 2022, the model does not come with any aircraft registration number on the fuselage. Now this 1/200 manages to get the first Emirates 779 reg number on it. A6-EZA is printed on it. So, I'll give a 10 for livery.
The 777-X series applies brand new and way more carbon fiber composite materials. So, the whole surface of the wings and horizontal stabilizer surface, engine pylons and main landing gear door covers are all fully painted in white. Just like what we see in this model. But, the cone at the back lacks titanium colouring. I can only give an 8.
In sum, this official Emirates 779 is not as good as the old 77W models. Another question is: will A6-EZA have any modifications on livery and additional devices when it enters service in 2025? If there’s any modification, this model will become obsolete. Will Gemini release a revised edition with better cockpit windows? We don’t know at this point. I’ll say it is worth a 7 for value.
I’ll give this Emirates 779 a total of 80 points in my ARAIG Index.
#gemini200 #emirates #b7779