SCALE MODEL NEWS

A 1:48 scale kit from Kitty Hawk Models that captures the lines of the famed MiG-25 Foxbat very well indeed. This high-speed machine from Russian designers Mikoyan and Gurevich  - NATO codename Foxbat - really raised eyebrows in the West when it first went into service in 1970. For pure speed, the MiG-25 was a winner. The prototype flew in 1964, demonstrating a top speed of more than Mach 2.8, while being equipped with a powerful radar system and a quartet of air-to-air missiles. Actually, the mighty MiG could go even faster than this, being tested at more than Mach 3, but as the engines risked burnout at this speed, in-service performance was somewhat slower. The pictures reveal how much work the engineers at Kitty Hawk Models have put into the 1:48 scale kit, with the brass parts being particularly noteworthy. Overall, the detail is handled well, though the model will repay careful spray work, so as not to fill the many countersunk rivets and panel lines. The trick is to waft sev...

The USS New York, Amphibious Transport Dock LPD-2, is a brand-new 1:350 scale kit from Revell Germany. The ship was named after the city that bore the brunt of the attacks of September 11, 2001. Mat Irvine reports: The kit box is packed with parts, mostly styrene, though there are a number in brass photo-etch, a common practice these days for many kits, especially ships, where metal can reproduce tiny details far better than plastic. Most of the styrene parts are moulded in light grey, building up into a three-deck ship that uses a lot of stealth technology in its design. The on-board aircraft and helicopters are moulded in clear styrene. This allows the windows to remain clear, while other colours are painted around them. And you get a lot of airborne craft. In all, there are five vertical-takeoff types included, and the distinction has to be made as, although four are rotary-wing helicopters - CH-53E Sea Stallion, CH-46 Sea Knight, AH-1W Cobra and UN-1N Twin Huey - the fifth type is...

Forbidden Planet, ‘the’ classic 1950s science-fiction movie, memorably gave us not only Robby the Robot, but also the C-57D Space Cruiser. Polar Lights has already issued a larger kit of this flying saucer, but has now come up with a brand new, half-size version to 1:144 scale. Mat Irvine reports: Opening the almost-square box reveals 22 parts in silver plastic and 17 in clear. This is a very simple kit to assemble, though it makes an impressive model when completed, being 304mm (12in) in diameter. The main saucer components are individual upper and lower halves, held together with locating pegs. The upper dome is one large part while the lower dome that houses the engine is moulded in transparent plastic. This can be left clear to show engine detail, or overpainted to match the rest of the hull There are two basic build options. In flying mode, the C-57D has its landing gear retracted, the ‘glowing engine’ revealed under the clear dome. In landing mode on the desert floor of Altair I...