SCALE MODEL NEWS

David Jefferis reports Corgi was among the first to kick off the wave of accurate diecast aircraft collectibles with its Aviation Archive products. They are still among the most popular of their kind, and the readers of the UK specialist magazine Model Collector recently voted Corgi’s 1:72 scale Avro Lancaster as Best Aircraft Model of the Year. Model Collector magazine The magazine is one of the UK’s two magazines that focus on diecast models, and its pages are always worth a read as they are packed with reviews and in-depth articles. Some 9000 readers got the chance to vote for Model of the Year, so their accolade must make Corgi proud of that Lancaster. Earthquake bomb The model is a B1 Lancaster, specially modified to carry a single 10-tonne (22,000 lb) ‘Grand Slam’ bomb under its belly. The Grand Slam was designed by ‘Dam Busters’ bouncing-bomb designer Barnes Wallis and was dropped from a height of about 6 km (20,000 ft). Falling vertically, Grand Slam hit the surface at more tha...

David Jefferis reports To the average tourist, the half-timbered town of Stratford-upon-Avon is famed for just one thing - it’s the home of the Immortal Bard, William  Shakespeare. But for the model and toy fan, Stratford is a magnet for another reason - it’s the base for the splendid model emporium Much Ado About Toys (MAAT). Housed opposite a delightfully beflowered traffic island, MAAT is a treasure trove of miniature delights that range from plastic kits to tinplate collectibles. So far as tinplate is concerned, Schylling’s products are well represented here. They are modern takes on nostalgic and retro themes, and very affordable too - for example, the palm-sized ‘King Jet’ is a bargain £8.99 GBP ($13.80 USD), and comes in several marking alternatives, including a splendid ‘Pulse Car’ which is just the sort of thing I’d like parked in my garage! Somewhat pricier are the CIC diecasts from France. However, their attractive retro lines make them a fascinating addition to a collec...

Mat Irvine reports Anyone who remembers the eighties, (1980s, that is) will likely recall the Bigtrak, one of the first toys to incorporate computer commands. On the face of it, these were extremely simple: “Go forward x inches; stop; turn 90 degrees right; go forward y inches…”. All of which seems rather basic these days, but Bigtrak was a state-of-the-art product then, and with nostalgia not being what it was, it is returning to the stores very soon. Actually, it is slightly different - 2010’s Bigtrak Junior is a scaled-down version of the original. BtJr’s return is masterminded by Dubrek Ltd, a company that is also behind the return of the electronic Stylophone musical keyboard, as beloved by Rolf Harris and David Bowie (it produced the ‘space sounds’ on Bowie’s huge hit of 1969 Space Oddity ). The connection with the Stylophone is because one of the faces behind Dubrek is Ben Jarvis - and Ben’s Dad, Brian, invented the Stylophone way back in the 1970s. Now, with the Stylophone on s...

David Jefferis reports It’s an old argument between model fans - should you buy ready-built models, and collect your kicks from the collecting habit? Or should you make your miniatures, and get your groove from the craftsmanship involved? As ever, there are two sides to every story - and in this case, more than that. For example, it’s possible to buy a ready-built model and improve it with weathering or extra detail. Or buy a snap-kit to cut down assembly time, a good half-way house for those us us who don’t have time for a full-on model making hobby. Balsa v Plastic And even if you reckon the ‘true way’ is assembly with loving care, things are not clear-cut - after all, balsa-and-tissue craftsmen once dismissed plastic kits for making things too easy! But where the line has really blurred is with the results of competition between diecast makers in providing ever-higher levels of detail. And nowhere is this more apparent than in models of older subjects, especially aircraft of the pre...

SMN reports Here’s a look at the A9 piloted missile we brought back from the La Coupole rocket base in northern France. The A9 was one of many ‘Luftwaffe 1946’ secret projects that never saw military action before World War II ended, in this case luckily for the Allied towns and cities that could have been in the target zones.   Vengeance weapon Developed from Wernher von Braun’s V-2 ‘Vengeance’ weapon (technical name A4) the A9 was the winged upper stage of a two-stage rocket, the A10 first-stage boosting it to high speed and altitude. Blueprints of the time showed that the wings would have given the A9 range enough to hit targets as far away as Scotland, more than doubling the standard V-2’s reach of some 320 km (200 miles). It wasn’t good news for the pilot however, who was expected to bale out and parachute to safety moments before impact - a fairly unlikely scenario. Later A9/A10 designs had bigger wings, and were planned for attacks on US targets such as New York and Washingt...

SMN reports The Czech company New Ware is one of the smaller model outfits, but the products are second to none and regularly win plaudits and awards. The items pictured here show just a sampling of the space kits in which New Ware specializes. Astronauts in action The 1:24 scale Apollo 17 figures are particularly neat, though maybe the weathering of these demo models is a tad overenthusiastic - the model is tagged by New Ware as: ‘The Last Men on the Moon’ but maybe it could also be: ‘The Dirtiest Mean on the Moon’. No matter though, as the level of weathering is entirely up to you, the modelmaker. Early cruise missile The latest New Ware kit is the 1:144 scale Navaho supersonic cruise missile, a US project that ran from 1946 until mid-1957, when it was cancelled in favour of ICBM rockets. The two-stage vertical launch system consisted of a rocket booster, toting a winged airframe for the cruise phase. An interesting choice from New Ware, the Navaho has just 24 parts plus decals, the...

SMN reports For lovers of b-i-g model aircraft, and cargolifters in particular, then Hong Kong-based Anigrand has the answer, in the form of its newly-reissued 1:72 scale Boeing C-17 Globemaster III. The C-17 is often nicknamed ‘Moose’ for its tall winglets, but it’s a lot faster than the animal that’s for sure - a fully loaded C-17 can leave the ground in just 1064 m (3500 ft) and cruise at some 833 km/h (518 mph), all the while carrying a 70-tonne US Army M-1 Abrams tank. If you’ve ever seen a C-17 at an air display, it’s likely you will have seen the short-landing capability, and its showpiece, reversing and manoeuvring on the ground by using thrust reverse from the four underwing engines. Anigrand’s model is certainly a shelf-filler, with a wingspan of 722 mm (30.4 in). Its length is little shorter, at 736 mm (29 in). It’s a mixed-material kit, with 99 components. Most of these are in resin, with 14 metal and a clear-cast glazed flight-deck window section. SMN would like to see a b...

Scots-born Rory McLeish spent much of his childhood sketching, painting, building plastic model kits and sculpting dinosaurs out of Plasticine. But these days, he uses different model skills, using computer software to create amazing worlds of fantasy.  Thunderbirds are Go Rory’s early influences included the likes of Gerry Anderson (of Thunderbirds fame) and this led eventually to his present role in conceptual work for commercials and feature films. All of which brings things round full-circle, because although computers are used for the CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) content of so many movies, the plastic kit manufacturers now bring many of those creations to ‘reality’ by making kits of them - which is terrific news for science fiction fans. Star Trek Nemesis Among the many McLeish screen commissions was to work on the Scimitar spacecraft used in the movie Star Trek Nemesis , which you can see in the YouTube clip shown above. And of course, Star Trek modelmakers are served pre...