SCALE MODEL NEWS

LEGO HAS LINKED UP with Marvel Comics to create a brick-version of the huge SHIELD Helicarrier from The Avengers movies. SMN report: According to Lego, "Take on the challenge of building this awesome Lego model of The SHIELD Helicarrier. Construct the flying aircraft carrier with 2 runways, microscale Quinjets, fighter jets and ground support vehicles. "The set also comes with many of your favorite Lego Marvel Super Heroes minifigures, plus 12 microfigures to display on deck and within the highly detailed interior. Includes five minifigures: Nick Fury, Black Widow, Captain America, Hawkeye and Maria Hill." The model will keep all and sundry quiet for more than a few minutes, as there are no less than 2996 separate pieces. Suitable for anyone over 16, says Lego. The Lego version of the Marvel SHIELD Helicarrier is not cheap, so you need to be a fan rather than a casual purchaser. That said, it looks pretty good to us, and a suitable way to spend a winter weekend ou...

Although now a part of the overall Revell brand within US-based owner Hobbico, Revell Germany still continues to produce its own particular ranges, targeted at the European market. Typical of these is the Panavia Tornado swing-wing strike aircraft, currently in use by three Euro air arms, plus Saudi Arabia. Mat Irvine:  This big Revell sign welcomed visitors to the stand at the London Toy Fair 2015. Among the goodies on show was the 1:48 scale Panavia Tornado ( header ) which is presented in a highly decorated version, with decals to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Luftwaffe 33 Wing. It's good to see the widely-used Tornado in this largish scale. The venerable Monogram 1:48 Catalina ( below ) is still doing the rounds. It remains a good basic kit, and can look very impressive when assembled, especially if presented on a well-made section of ocean surface.   Brand-new tooling for the 1:32 scale Focke-Wulf Fw190 F-8. Despite its large size, the Fw190 comes with a stand, ...

POCKETBOND DISTRIBUTES A WIDE RANGE of both toy and scale model items, so naturally enough, the company concentrated on its toys at the 2015 London Toy Fair. Even so, there were plenty of interesting kits on display.  Mat Irvine: Pocketbond owns several kit names of its own, including Emhar, and some of these were on display at the Toy Fair. Of the other names Pocketbond distributes in the UK market, the Chinese Trumpeter and South Korean Academy are the largest and best known, but to this pair you can add AFV Club, HK Models, Merit, Roden, Tauro, and from the US, Imex and Pegasus Hobbies. Pocketbond is also the UK distributor for relative newcomer, the Hong Kong-based Takom. Specialising in 1:35 military kits, Takom has taken a slightly different approach in many of its kit offerings, as it concentrates on current Middle East conflicts, with combat machinery based on civilian vehicles. Even so, World War I features strongly, a shown by the British Mark IV Male tank (below) to 1:3...

AMERANG IS NOW PART OF the RipMax Group, and continues as one of the main importers of both specialist model vehicles and science-fiction figures. There were ranges of both subject areas on display at the 2015 London Toy Fair. Mat Irvine:  Collectibles featuring subjects from the movie franchises Iron Man, Guardians of the Galaxy and Batman are riding high in the popularity charts, and of course Star Wars is having a resurgence of interest with the seventh - and subsequent - movies in production. So there were plenty of reasons to see growing numbers of ready-built scale figures at the Amerang stand. Ready-builts are hugely popular with miniatures fans who don’t have the time or inclination to put the effort into building a kit. First though, let's look at some non-science fiction models on the Amerang stand. TSM Models ( below ) displayed this highly detailed 1:43 scale Land-Rover recovery vehicle. Note the neatly engineered retro fuel pump, made to the larger 1:18 scale. 1:18 sca...

THE LONDON TOY FAIR was held from January 20-22, and although the event is not primarily a scale model show, the bigger kit manufacturers and distributors mount stands there. Mat Irvine: A is for Airfix, though perhaps it should be the letters A(H) as Airfix is owned by Hornby, and shared a stand at the London Toy Fair with other brands in the group, Scalextric, Corgi, and Hornby itself. We’ve already featured some of the upcoming 2015 Airfix kits at SMN, but London Toy Fair 2015 gave us a chance to see some of the new-tool kits close up. The London Toy Fair ( below ) was held under the arching roof of the Olympia Exhibition Halls in west London. It’s interesting to see something of a rebirth for the Airfix traditional 1:72 scale, which is no bad thing. Despite much recent activity in larger scales by Airfix and other manufacturers, 1:72 remains a really flexible size for display purposes, particularly where big collections are concerned. Paul Fitzmaurice ( below ) of Modelling Tools ...