They are VH-OEB, -OEC and -OED.

-OEB came from OZ (ex HL7416) and the other two from MH (ex 9M-MHN and -MHO). All three have CF6s.

QF bought them on the cheap in the downturn after the great Asian financial hiccup of 1997, on the basis that it was cheaper than ordering and waiting for new aircraft from Boeing.

For reasons which I don't know, the "ugly sisters" nickname had attached to them long before the discovery of a serious problem with one of the ex-MH aircraft. When the aircraft was being repainted for delivery to QF, an unapproved metal scraper had been used to clear out some old paint. It scratched the aircraft's skin. By the time QF discovered the damage in a major check, the scratch had progressed to being a significant crack. At one stage, there was talk about the aircraft being beyond economy repair. Anxiety was particularly high because of the CI accident that had by then already been pretty much established to have been caused by a fuselage crack developing from unrepaired scratches sustained in a tailscrape. A significant amount of work was done by QF to make sure the other aircraft were OK.

I doubt that QF will be hurrying to buy cheap second hand aircraft again.