SCALE MODEL NEWS

SMN report With the exception of diecast aircraft, a truly international subject, Corgi seems to keep its US models under a bit of a shroud where European buyers are concerned. They are available all right, just not trumpeted much, which is a bit of a shame, because - leaving aside collectibility issues - most of the transportation subjects are at or around 1:50 scale, which is near enough to international-standard 1:48 scale to keep many an aircraft modelmaker happy. Jet Age Fishbowl Take the 1:50 scale GM Fishbowl coach, for example. It’s finished in the red-white-and-blue stripes of the 1976 Centennial celebrations, and has decent detailing throughout, though perhaps the glazing is a bit heavy-handed at this size. But importantly, it would look terrific in a diorama featuring a corner of an airport. And you don’t have to leave it in the 1976 scheme either - Fishbowls (aka the ‘New Look bus’, nicknamed for the domed front glazing) were produced from 1959 to 1986, so you could use one...

David Jefferis reports The first production-standard F-16 fighter jet flew 36 years ago this month, and the type is still in front-line service across the world, with more than 4400 having been built, and customers still lining up for new ones. The basic design has been improved vastly over the years, especially where electronics and mission capabilities are concerned, but the basic shape and size remains much the same, a testament to the General Dynamics team that designed the aircraft back in the 1970s. New markings from Italeri Model manufacturers number the F-16 as one of their most popular modern jet subjects, and new kits continue to be released. This time it’s a very neat Italeri 1:48 scale offering, and it’s been given an excellent set of markings, called ‘Special Colors’ on the box. The decals are quite excellent, neatly and accurately printed, and give you a choice of tails - we rate the brooding tiger especially - or green-and-black chequerboard display markings. In the box ...

SMN report Russian BT tanks (from the words Bystrokhodny Tank, meaning ‘fast tank’, leading to the nickname ‘Betka’) were produced from 1932 to 1941. They were lightly armoured, but had a powerful main gun, decent speed, and fair mobility. The sloping front armour was a major protective innovation, and was a feature that would be incorporated into many later tanks, including the famed T-34. Combat career Early BTs first saw combat in the Spanish Civil War, but in the World War II tank battles of 1940 and 1941, German armour was massively superior. The bottom picture shows just one of the thousands of BT tanks that were destroyed or abandoned in the face of overwhelming firepower. What’s in the Tamiya BT-7 kit? It’s the 14-tonne BT-7 that is the subject of this beautifully crafted 1:35 scale Tamiya kit. When assembled, Tamiya’s model has a length of 161 mm (6.3 in) and includes a pair of figures, commander and crewman. A pity another figure wasn’t included though, as the BT-7 normally h...

David Jefferis reports Science fiction enthusiasts are pretty well catered for by the toy and model industries - from Star Wars to Iron Man, the choice of available subjects, in both and ready-built form, is nearly endless. But it’s not such good news for ‘real space’ enthusiasts, and especially not from the main manufacturers. Would that the likes of Airfix produced a ‘Man in Space’ set, with a 1:72 scale range of US and Russian capsules, plus a lineup of astronuats and cosmonauts standing by them. Hey ho, there’s a dream that’ll never happen, but Revell’s International Space Station (ISS) kit does at least offer a taster for the real space modeller. Moving solar panels Even to the relatively small 1:144 scale, the Revell ISS assembles into an impressive beast, with the huge solar panel arrays giving the model an overall size of 745 mm x 500 mm (29.3 in x 19.7 in). Like those on the real thing, they are moveable, though you probably won’t want to shift them much - the model is more th...

David Jefferis reports We recently made an SMN Crew trip to Britain’s largest air museum, near the university city of Cambridge. Imperial War Museum Duxford (just ‘Duxford’ to most of us) is a droolworthy destination for anyone with even the slightest interest in aviation. Apart from the dozens of beautifully preserved aircraft to snout around, there are hangars full of restoration projects - from Mustang to Staggerwing, there’s plenty of choice for all. Duxford’s American Air Museum There’s also lots to interest model fans, with two decent shops, plus various miniatures on view here and there. Among our favourites was a P-38 Lightning, on display in the three-year old American Air Museum, a high-tech building designed by the famed architects Foster & Partners. Here the P-38 could be seen in front of a real P-47 Thunderbolt - nicknamed ‘the jug’ by World War II pilots. An aircraft named ‘Yippee’ The shiny polished-metal finish model got us thinking about alternatives to traditional...

  SMN report Talking of the Battle of Britain ( see Monday’s post ), it’s worth a closer look at another recent Airfix product: the 1:48 scale Bf109E, the popular ‘Emil’ version of this most-produced fighter of World War II. The biggish scale is one of our favourites here at SMN - 1:48 is large enough for detail aplenty, and for crew figures to look convincing - yet it’s still a shelf-top size for popular subjects like single-seater fighters. Official Luftwaffe picture This Airfix version offers three types of ‘E’, the E1, E3 and E4, and 107 components go into assembling the model, which includes an extremely convincing Jumo engine and mounting. As you can see from the official Luftwaffe picture above, taken the year before the Battle of Britain, Airfix have the look of Willy Messerchmitt’s design just about right. Computer animated video The video btw is a cgi effort. It lasts less than a minute but is a heap of fun, expecially towards the end when you get to see an animated parts...

Mat Irvine reports The USS Long Beach is another recent Revell-Germany issue in its Classic Kits range. The Long Beach is a significant ship in that it was the first - and still only - nuclear-powered cruiser, the first all-new cruiser built for the US Navy after WWII, and the first that was armed primarily with guided missiles, though she did have two 5-inch guns amidships and could launch torpedos. Long Beach was also the only one ever built in her class, so therefore remains unique. Regulus 2 cruise missile The Revell kit dates from 1960, the year after the real ship was launched and features two nuclear reactors, one for each propeller shaft, and three types of missile. There are twin launchers forward for the medium-range surface-to-air (SAM) Terrier, one twin launcher aft for the long-range Talos SAM, while amidships is a Regulus 2 cruise missile, positioned on a launcher ready for takeoff. It’s not clear that the real ship actually carried the Regulus, but it certainly looks ...

SMN report 70 years ago, the skies over Britain formed the backdrop for the greatest aerial combat offensive ever known, as attacking Luftwaffe forces locked in conflict with Royal Air Force defenders. On August 23, after several weeks of the campaign, Hermann Commander-in-Chief Hermann Goring ordered his forces to bombard British fighter airfields, the first of a wave of heavy attacks over the next two weeks, during which some airfields were hit several times over. Targeting fighter bases must have seemed like a good move to Goring, but it was difficult to knock out a grass airfield for more than a few hours at a time, and many historians agree that had the Luftwaffe concentrated on reducing radar defences to rubble, the Battle of Britain might have turned out differently. In any event, by late October 1940, the Luftwaffe had taken a beating and withdrew plans for further major air assaults. Thousands of aircraft in the air But the Battle of Britain lives on as one of the defining con...

SMN report Key Publishing has announced the launch of Airfix Model World, a new magazine for scale modellers published under license from Airfix. Key is a big aviation publisher already, with titles that include Flypast, Airliner World and AirForces Monthly, so the new magazine should slot nicely into the list. Wide ranging content It looks like a marriage of experts, with Airfix’s model experience being balanced by that of Key in magazine publishing. Airfix Model World will cover all aspects of modelling, but with the focus on aviation, the largest sub-sector within the market. The first issue of the new model monthly will be published on November 4, 2010. It will have 100 pages, be priced at £3.99 GBP in the UK, and will have (and we quote here) ‘superb production values’. Sounds good! A trip back to Airfix Magazine At which point it’s worth having a look at the old Airfix Magazine, which was produced from June 1960 to October 1993, under a variety of publishers. At its height, the m...

SMN report The Japanese Tomy company has a terrific track record in the toy-making biz, and the Tomica HyperCity is a worthwhile addition to that heritage. Integrated cityscape HyperCity is an expandable road-rail-track system that can eventually build into a splendid carpet-sized megalopolis. It’s got fun features aplenty, with trains that work, vehicles that roll, and buildings that can lift, pull, shove and rotate. The system is an unabashed ‘toy’ rather than a scale model, but even so, many of the vehicles are pretty fair representations of mostly Japanese originals - for example, a neat set of four Honda cars. Buying a HyperCity The only real downer is pricing - if you’re a Mum or Dad, you’ll need deep pockets to assemble a complete HyperCity in the playroom. The Pizza Pizza joint shown above is one of the cheaper items, on UK sale at £9.98 ($15.60 USD), while the MegaStation set is £68.95 ($108 USD). Still, purchased over time, Tomica’s HyperCity might not be too painful to buy, ...

Mat Irvine reports It was a pleasant surprise when Tamiya announced that its latest 1:24 scale sports car kit would be the Aston Martin DBS. It should also be said that although the kit has not been issued ‘from a James Bond movie’ per se, given that the car’s first appearance was several months before its official 2007 launch in the Bond film Casino Royale the opening comments in  the instructions can hardly avoid making this point. Tamiya DBS details The kit is classic Tamiya and, although a complete V-12 engine is not provided, everything that’s normally visible inside the engine bay is there. You are not going to miss the lower section of the engine anyway, as the underside is hidden by the floor pan. Elsewhere in the kit, Tamiya provides full suspension, huge chrome-plated wheels, and low-profile tyres. All wheels revolve on the now-standard nylon bushes and the front pair steer. Only a left-hand drive interior is supplied (which is fine for the Bond car), though you can choo...