SCALE MODEL NEWS

The wonderfully named Treemendus is a company run by Anthony Reeves that really does do 'what it says on the tin', as it is a supplier of all types of foliage, vegetation, and trees for modelling projects. Mat Irvine: These are the type of natural materials that are vital to provide a sense of realism in dioramas or layouts, large or small. Treemendus supplies in both raw-material and ready-built forms. Below, founder Anthony Reeves surveys a group of scale lineside workers. Treemendus products are designed primarily for model rail enthusiasts, but they can be adapted to all types of modelling projects. Military dioramas are a popular subject - note the tank in the pic below - but I use Tremendous products mostly for model car dioramas, many of which have been featured in SMN articles. Treemendus was started by Anthony in 2003, and is based in Cheshire, UK. Note ( below ) a ready-built tree from the company. The visual authenticity seems to lie primarily in the lack of symmetr...

Here’s a neat little item that was first displayed at the 2014 Scale Model World show in Telford, UK. The 1:35 scale Taxi de la Marne was released by French manufacturer Mach 2, to commemorate the centenary of World War I. Mat Irvine: Didier Palix ( below ) is the founder of Mach 2 models, an outfit that has provided modellers with an intriguing array of aircraft and spacecraft models, many not made by any other company. Didier came up with a rather special vehicle to commemorate World War I, in the form of a Renault Taxi de la Marne from 1914. The taxi is produced to the military scale of 1:35, as it is intended to be seen in dioramas with other military models of the same era. A question to think about is whether this Renault would have been sent to war zones in the decidedly non-military paint scheme depicted by the kit. It may well have been the case, but you could give the taxi a more serious look by adding a coat of khaki camo finish instead, to give it a similar look to the tro...

HERE’S A QUESTION you could ask a fellow model maker: “Has there ever been a model kit made of Santa Claus? Mat Irvine: Well, the answer to that innocent question is, “Yes, just one, with a couple of qualifications.” The Japanese company KSN Midori made a motorized kit ( header pic and below ) of Santa and his sleigh, probably issued as early as 1963. It is an extremely rare kit, and even model expert and good friend of SMN, Andy Yanchus, admits he has seen only one image of the box-art, and he can’t recall where that came from. I asked French expert JC Carbonel for his opinion, and he found more images of the Midori kit, including those shown below. But there is not much solid information. It seems that while the kit definitely existed, none of us have ever seen one 'in the plastic.' The box clearly shows four reindeer pulling that sleigh, though the component shots show just one animal. Which is echoed by the instruction sheet ( below ). You have a choice of eight reindeer t...

HERE'S AN UNUSUAL and delightful kit to look forward to, a 1:48 scale Albion AM463 refueller truck. When assembled, the Albion should be suitable for any diorama featuring British warplanes of World War II.  As 1:48 scale fans, this is a must-have for the SMN crew, if only for its handsomely chunky looks and for being able to put together a decent World War II diorama to this scale. Talking of which, there's a 1:48 scale RAF Personnel set due ( bottom ) which ought to be a big seller. According to the Airfix blurb on the Albion, "In November 1934, the Air Ministry was trialling a number of manufacturers’ chassis to fulfil roles within the RAF. Albion won the contract with a specially modified version of the mid-sized 463 with the prefix AM (Air Ministry). It performed a number of roles, the most common of which being a refueller." No further details on these kits as yet, but pre-ordering is available from the Airfix main site.

GREAT NEWS FROM AIRFIX today, with news of incoming kits for 2015. The big news for SMN is the 1:72 scale Avro Shackleton, shown here in cgi visuals. Even in this cgi form, the spec looks tempting, with plenty of internal detail, anti-submarine ordnance, and of course the eight contra-rotating props. For internal-detail lovers, the kit looks like being a highly satisfying build, with plenty of opportunity to make the interior a fascinating place for show displays. We've just one thing to ask Airfix, can we have a transparent fuselage half please, so that all the detail can be shown off properly? More info at Airfix here .

WE TOOK A LOOK through the window of Mat Irvine's 'Marvellous Model Museum' recently, and here are just a few of the pre-Christmas miniatures we saw there. Here's a 1:25 scale Ford Thunderbird ( below ) a retro-future automobile that was produced in full-size form from 2002-2005. The model itself reflects the rounded, even somewhat portly lines of the original, with an excellent rendering of the egg-crate grille. Below, the T-Bird is joined by another Ford, the Falcon. Read more about the retro T-Bird at SMN here . Into the air ( above, below ) with a 1:96 scale rendering of the famed Italian Savoia-Marchetti SM-55 twin-hull flying boat, one of a fleet that was flown across the Atlantic in the 1930s, under the command of Italo Balbo. It's a neat model, with a splendid stand, finished off nicely by Mat's nautical-look paint job. Read more on the SM-55 at SMN here . Radioactive death stands at the ready ( below ) with a 1:144 scale kit based on the missiles of the...

DUTCH ARTIST-MODEL MAKER THEO JANSEN has been creating various mobile creations he calls Strandbeest for decades. Over the years, Theo has tweaked his mechanical creatures to the point where they can now react to their environment in a realistically lifelike way. Theo says, "...over time, these skeletons have become increasingly better at surviving the elements such as storms and water, and eventually I want to put these animals out in herds on the beaches, so they will live their own lives." The Strandbeest name comes from the Dutch words for beach (strand) and beast (beest), and they are built as complex fabrications, mostly made from materials such as pipes and wood. Today's Strandbeest are well suited to their sandy beach environment, the legs being, "...more efficient on sand than wheels...they don’t need to touch every inch of the ground along the way, as a wheel has to.' Some Strandbeest can store air in pumped-up plastic bottles. This allows them to move ...

ILLUSTRATOR JOHN HOLCROFT'S artwork style has a 1950s-era retro flavour, and here he echoes one of rising stars of that time, Airfix, with this satirical take on modern life's need for instant gratification. Holcroft's illustration neatly sums up the 'necessary items' of existence as parts on a runner, though there's been some time taken at the careful paintwork he has visualised! All the bits and pieces seem to be included, from scalpel and sander to cement and paint tinlets. Good observations skills there, though we'll pass on the popcorn. The early Airfix kits ( below ) were among the forerunners of a range that by the 1970s took around three-quarters of the UK kit market, with factories pressing some 20 million kits a year.  After various ups and down in the years since, new management has seen a rebirth of the company, with highly desirable kits appearing on a regular basis. We're looking forward to news of the 2015 release list, due this side of Ch...

THE ELVES AT AIRFIX have been working hard to produce this neat online Advent Calendar. Simply click one of the boxes ( below ) laid over the somewhat un-Christmasy Heinkel He 111, and it pops open with a dialog box. If you are too soon, you'll get a wait-for-it message... But click on the correct window and you should see an interesting daily offer. Visit the Airfix Advent Calendar here . And keep watching SMN for news of the upcoming 2015 Airfix kit range, which we should know this side of Christmas. 

The Munsters TV series was made in the mid-1960s, and in back and white at that, but the story of America’s weirdest family is still intriguingly popular. Mat Irvine: So Munster models continue to be released, and the latest kits on the scene are two figures from Moebius, featuring the head of the household, Herman, and his father-in-law of indeterminate age, Grandpa Munster. Today, I'm looking at Herman. The box front ( header pic ) features a photograph of Fred Gwynn playing Herman in the original  The Munsters  TV series. The base ( below ) features the contents of the kit, plus mentions of other Moebius Munster kits: Grandpa Munster and the family home, 1313 Mockingbird Lane. Herman, played by the wonderful American actor Fred Gwynn, stood even taller than Gwynn did - and at 6 ft 5 in (1.7 m) you might have thought he was tall enough. However, the script called for Gwynn to wear 4 in (100 mm) platform boots as part of his ‘Frankenstein’s Monster’ outfit, so he towered eve...