SCALE MODEL NEWS

Here’s a great place to go if you like the magic combo of old aircraft, nostalgia and memorabilia, with some fascinating models included in the mix. The Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum (NSAM) is in the village of Flixton, near Bungay, in Suffolk, UK. There’s a collection of aircraft parked on the grass, ranging from an ex-Royal Navy de Havilland Sea Vixen twin-boom jet to an FMA Pucara ground-attack machine that dates from the 1982 Falklands War. There’s also a group of slowly decomposing engine and propeller components, which are gradually gnarling and delaminating with age, revealing a range of textures that fascinated my sculptress friend Bo. Hangars and Nissen huts provide dry storage and display space for plenty more items, and there are lots of models and miniatures to inspect. Among these was a display of hand-carved wooden models, necessarily lacking the fine detailing of a plastic kit, but showing off the talented skills of a pure craft approach to model making. The RAF Ai...

The joint administrators of the UK Modelzone store chain have confirmed that all remaining stores are set to close by mid-September. The decision to shut the last 18 stores was reached after no offers were received for the business. Richard Hawes, joint administrator and partner in Deloitte's restructuring services practice, said, “We sought to find a potential buyer for some or all of the stores, but unfortunately no viable offers have come in since our appointment two months ago. “Modelzone has been generating losses over the past few years, largely through an increase in online competition and having taken leases on new stores that proved to be unprofitable. “Once again, we would like to thank the company's employees for their support and professionalism during this time.” When Deloitte's were appointed in June 2013, Modelzone had 47 stores, with 385 staff. In happier days, Modelzone had been a big operator in the UK miniatures business. Below, racing driver Rodolfo Gonz...

Two years ago, at the 2011 9th Jet World Masters championship in the US, a flying scale Yak-130 was awarded top prize for being at the limit of accuracy, setting a new standard in its class. And now it's been much improved, in time to go back on display again, this time in Switzerland. The video shows what you can do if you really want to, though it's interesting to note how few parts are made of metal. Chasing the flying model's weight down meant that carbon fibre and other lightweight materials were used extensively in the Yak-130's construction. The real thing (below and header) is an attractive machine that first flew in 1996. It's presently flown by the Russian and Algerian air arms. This year, the 10th Jet World Masters 2013 competition is being held at  Meiringen Airbase, Switzerland. If other flying models on display are anywhere near as good, then it'll be worth a trip there to see flying scale models in action. 10th Jet World Masters 2013 opens today, ...

The new Airbus A350-900 made its maiden flight just two months ago, but already Revell is preparing a kit of the latest jetliner from Europe’s premier aircraft manufacturer. Kit details are sparse at present and we have no pictures yet, but we do know that the A350-900 will be to 1:144 scale and that there will be 120 components. Fully assembled the Revell A350-900 will measure 453mm (17.8in) long and have a wingspan of 450mm (17.7in). And that shows how big this jetliner is in real life - in traditional 1:72 scale, it would measure almost a yard long! About the real thing The Airbus A350 is a new-design Airbus wide-body aircraft, designed to carry up to 314 passengers  on routes of up to 15000km (9315ml). Wide use of composite materials in the structure mean a big weight reduction over traditional aluminium construction, and this, combined with state of the art Rolls-Royce Trent engines should give a claimed operating cost of some 10 percent less than the competing Boeing 787. Min...

A realistic-looking 1:20 scale walker bot stalks the surface of our neighbouring Moon, while back in the service bay, a same-scale figure set maintains the equipment. The Hasegawa 1:20 scale Luna Tactical Reconnaissance LUM-168 Camel is one of many futuristic war machines that feature in the Japanese Maschinen Krieger (Ma.K) science-fiction series. This new-tool kit features 225 components and includes multiple decal options. It looks great as is, but if you’re not so keen on the Ma.K universe, or you simply wish to make a kit-bashed version, then you can customize it how you like. The Ma.K series makes a useful change from Star Wars and Star Trek, the machinery looking just that bit different to the tech that features in either of these long-running movie franchises. It’s perhaps a pity that the 1:20 scale is a bit of a one-off, or at least not a standard kit scale such as 1:24/25. Having said that, Ma.K fits nicely (well, near enough, anyway) into the diecast standard scale of 1:18, ...

It’s good to see that 1:72 scale is still occupying kit manufacturers, and here’s a useful new-tool kit from Airfix, featuring the famed Harrier GR1 ‘jump-jet.’ The Harrier is a small aircraft, so the kit is not a shelf-filler by any means, with a wingspan of just 107mm (4.2in) and length of 148mm (5.8in). Even so, there are plenty of parts in the box, with 89 neatly-moulded components to be assembled. Airfix has included a choice of markings for the aircraft - No1 (F) Squadron, RAF, operational at RAF Wittering, UK, in September 1970, and No20 (R) Squadron, RAF, as flown from Wildenrath, West Germany, in June the following year. Kit components are well finished, with the cockpit transparency looking particularly clear. Even at this scale, it would be nice to see more internal detail, perhaps accessed via removable panels, but let’s not quibble - as it stands, the Airfix Harrier GR1 will make up into a convincing little model. There are plenty of options for display, perhaps the most i...

This kit, from the Japanese model company Platz, represents the Northrop-Grumman X-47B, an unmanned US Navy aircraft recently in the headlines for its aircraft-carrier flight tests. Mat Irvine reports: The Platz kit has 53 parts on two runners of light grey plastic, plus a comprehensive decal sheet, with instructions in Japanese and English. The kit is fairly simple to assemble, and the parts are an excellent fit, although care will be required with the tiny antennas on both upper and lower surfaces. Most of the Platz X-47B is a dull neutral grey - FS (Federal Standard) 36270 - but the place where the cockpit for a human pilot might normally be is taken up by the engine intake. The recessed section of the intake is painted gloss white, a colour that also applies to the inner surfaces of the underside bays, wheel wells, and doors that close over them. If you want to spray-finish in white, you will need to paint these parts first, then mask and apply grey over the top. This is also nece...