SCALE MODEL NEWS

It's good to see production cars in the Airfix range, and here's one of the best Euro-hatchbacks around, the Ford Fiesta RS, here produced in its hot WRC version. WRC - World Rally Championship - is a dramatic race series that sees production cars uprated to rally spec, with engines, suspension (in fact, virtually everything) improved and upgraded to compete in a series of rally races around the world. Colour markings The Airfix Fiesta joins the 1:32 scale range and is a 79-component kit, which measures 125 mm (4.9 in) when assembled - small but perfectly formed is a quick summation. And it is well made, with good fit and finish, plus colourful decals that make the real thing a standout target for photographers. Skills needed One thing though - Airfix reckons this is a 'Skill Level 2' kit, which might be true if you simply talk about glueing the bits together. But to make the little Fiesta a real display piece demands considerable skill in the finishing department - WRC...

SMN PREVIEW: The sales tables are booked, club stands organized, hot sandwiches on order, models good to go... Yes, it’s HaMeX again, this time the fourth in the annual event series. For anyone living in reach of the Milton Keynes area in the UK, this is the model zone to head for this coming Sunday. As usual, the two organizers will be there, with Mat Irvine displaying his many models, and Paul Fitzmaurice demonstrating airbrushes and other modelling equipment. More kits on show In Mat’s words, “the HaMeX show is invariably less 'things-to-see driven’, compared with Automodellismo and smallspace, as it is intended purely as a swap meet. However I'm aiming to have even more kits there than usual - some 'new old' ones have been dug out, including a range of 1:20 scale cars and I have more 'fix-er-uppers'. More from Mat “I will have some models on display (as it's in the publicity...!), but exactly what I've yet to decide. It won't - necessarily - be F...

MAT IRVINE REPORTS Canada’s headline space involvement is in supplying the Canadarm 2 robotic arm system presently used on the International Space Station (ISS). But here’s another, smaller, Canadian space product in the form of a sleek 1:72 scale resin kit of the Silver Dart hypersonic re-entry glider from Dave Guerin’s Blap! Models of Ontario. The primary role of Blap! is in specialist one-off moulding and mould-making tasks for other companies, mostly involving resin. However, Dave also has a sideline producing model kits, of which the 1:72 scale Silver Dart is one. Easy assembly The Silver Dart kit is simple in construction: you get a baker's-dozen components including the sturdy base, but the box does also contain sheet of decals. These are rather fragile, so once applied, you will need to protect them with several coats of Testors satin varnish. Metallic finish The assembled model measures some 150 mm (6 in) long, though the big base adds to the perceived size on a display sh...

MAT IRVINE REPORTS The competition at Scale ModelWorld 2012 was split into a number of classes depending on subject, scale, and construction type. This has led to approaching 100 different classes, sometimes leading to some confusion as to which class to enter your creation. However, when it comes down to it, there are only seven overall categories - aircraft, military, civilian vehicles, ships, dioramas, figures and space/SF/fantasy, plus an overall junior entry. Best in show Once the main judging is done, each section head chooses one model of all their classes and puts it forward as a potential ‘Best in Show’. Consequently you end up with just one aircraft, one vehicle, one ship, one diorama… Well, you get the general idea. To date, the Best in Show has always gone to an aircraft, ship or military model, and no space/SF/fantasy model has taken top spot - until this year. Steampunk wins This year’s top model was the ‘Modern Steam Monobike 1896’, an amazing steampunk creation, modelle...

The Scale ModelWorld just passed provided a galaxy of excellent modelling. Here's another roundup of goodies on show. All photographs courtesy Mat Irvine.

Here are more of the excellent miniatures on display at Scale ModelWorld 2012, held in Telford, UK, over last weekend.  We have yet more on the launchpad to bring you, so keep watching this space. Meantime, enjoy the  skill and talent on display with this slideshow of images, taken at the show by Mat Irvine.