SCALE MODEL NEWS

SMN report The new Airfix Model World magazine, promo’d by Key Publishing as ‘your complete guide to the world of scale modelling’ will have its official launch this coming Thursday. For older model fans, AMW is a rebirth of the much-loved Airfix Magazine, last published in October 1993, but this new version promises to be bigger and better, with more pages and a more colourful format. The new mag will focus on model aircraft, but also feature cars, ships, sci-fi and space, armour and figures, plus news, reviews, and plenty of step-by-step tips. An 'Ask the Experts' feature should be useful too. The lead article in the first Airfix Model World promises to home in on the 1:48 scale FAW2 Sea Vixen carrier jet that flew from Royal Navy flat-tops from April 1964. The pic above is from Airfix, depicting an unpainted test-shot before full-scale production of this interesting kit. It will be available soon. Airfix Model World will be available by subscription or on newstands - look ou...

SMN report Last week saw the 2010 Tokyo Hobby Show, and Hong Kong-based DML - Dragon Models Limited - put on quite a display there. Founded in 1987, DML is well-known for its excellent action figures, ready-built diecasts, and of course an ever-expanding range of plastic kits. Farewell to the Harrier - in UK service anyway So what’s on offer from Dragon at the moment? Well, there’s a smorgasbord of choice, so we’ll just pick and choose a few current faves. The Harrier II-Plus twin-kit to 1:144 scale makes up into a pair of tiny but tasty aircraft - and for this reviewer at least, a sad reminder that next year the Harrier will be phased out of UK military duty. But (grrr) the UK is the country that developed this formidable flying machine in the first place. Let’s hope that UK politicians don’t regret that decision... Tanks and ships On the humanoid front, the 1:35 scale 1940 German ‘Ghost’ Division tank crew kit assembles into a four-man set of beautifully sculpted and detailed figures...

SMN report We came across a pile of old MPC Star Wars kits in the SMN Garage the other day. The boxes are somewhat battered and bent, but the components inside seem good as new, so the kits are now in the studio, warming up for a build in those winter nights to come. Pick of the bunch is the good old Millennium Falcon, Han Solo’s starship that he piloted against the mighty forces of the evil empire. White and weathered, or bright and cheerful? It’s fair to say that the standard white paint job of the Millennium Falcon has been used as the basis for almost all builds, big and small. It’s possible of course, to overdo the weathering on surface details, and you can see a borderline case in the top pic above. It looks great, but maybe R2D2 should give the ship a wash and polish! Of course, there is absolutely no reason to stick to white - it’s certainly a standard spacecraft scheme, but there’s nothing to stop a civilian-model starship being finished in bright colours, much like a present-...

David Jefferis reports That’s not the hippie Woodstock, but the handsome town in folksy Olde Englande, on the edge of the beautiful Cotswold Hills. Here the local Oxfordshire Museum has regular displays on all manner of subjects, and at the moment it’s a Superhero show, based on the private collection of Kevin Losonczi. Robots and Aliens Kevin has been an avid fan of the Superhero genre since he was a teen, and now has 1000-plus items including many one-offs and rare pieces, including massive 1:1 scale Terminator, Predator and Robocop figures. The pull is a link to Kevin’s childhood in which his dreams were packed with magic that included having the extra powers of Superheroes. For model fans, science-fiction and Superheroes are well catered for, though it’s fair to say while the choice in ready-made figures and equipment is huge (just cruise the aisles of Toys ‘R’ Us to see what I mean) the number of model kits is not quite so expansive. Still, let’s not complain, as Moebius Models co...

SMN report We’re on something of a Dinky Toys hunt at the moment, helped by the discovery of the trio of childhood sweethearts seen in the pix above. They’re in a bit of a state and need more than a hint of TLC to bring them back to life, which will be a nice indoor project for those long winter evenings to come – and they’ll be even longer in the UK when the clocks change to the deep, dark dungeon of Winter Time** at the end of the month. Familiar Dinky So far as the vehicles are concerned, the Austin Van was a familiar sight in my childhood home town. One that belonged to the Daltons electrical dealer spent much of its time trundling around delivering black-and-white TVs, with cases big enough to denude half the South American forests. Actually I’m not kidding - restrictions on mahogany were imposed in the 1990s. Note the aspiring-signwriter daub on the van side! The Commer Breakdown Truck was a favourite in the Dinky Toys range for many years, as was the Dinky Caravan, though this r...

SMN Report Oops, looks like we missed out the Andy Yanchus picture on the last post. So here you are, the man himself - plus a small part of his collection. There's something for everyone in just that one glass display case - whether it's Wonder Woman or AT-AT Walker, Robin or robots, they all seem to be in there. Of course, we're fans of them all – and the Wonder Woman in particular reminds us of a Superheroes exhibition recently on display near SMN Towers, so we'll feature that in the very near future. Thanks for the pic, Andy - and to Mat Irvine for taking the shot.

Mat Irvine reports If there was one thing that the original Aurora Plastic Company of Hempstead, Long Island, was famous for, it was monster figures. Other companies may have done figure kits, some may have had similar subjects, but it was Aurora that became synonymous with these creatures of the night. Monsters DVD The original Aurora company is long gone - as dead as most of its monsters - and as long ago as 1976, most of the tooling that survived was acquired by Monogram. But Aurora certainly hasn’t been forgotten. And to this end, enthusiasts Dennis Vincent and Cortlandt Hull bring you ‘The Aurora Monsters’ - the DVD. With extras, this provides two hours of stories and interviews with people associated with creating the Aurora monster legend, all hosted by Zacherley the Cool Ghoul, with Gorgo the Gargoyle. What's on the disc? To UK TV viewers, Zacherley’s name will almost certainly be unfamiliar, but in the US, particularly in earlier years, his was the face that introduced all...

SMN report Here’s another in Corgi’s long-running 1:50 scale ‘Vintage Glory of Steam’ series, and it’s well up to the standard set by others in the range. This one is the Burrell 7 NHPP DCC Works No 3159, a road locomotive delivered to Anderton & Rowland in 1909, to haul A&R’s fairground machinery and exhibits around south-western parts of the UK. Nostalgic steam fairs Steam power is a real nostalgia-inducer these days, with summer steam fairs giving owners and public a chance to revel in these huge monsters of times past. Of course, they were not all huge beasts - as you can see in the pic above, there are plenty of scale models around, complete with a working engine for reduced-scale fun. Cheaper on the coal needed for the furnace too! Working traction engines These machines were built to work, and hard too. A long leather drive belt enabled owners to supply power for almost anything required, from sawing logs and threshing grain to hauling fairground stuff and, by adding a h...