SCALE MODEL NEWS

THIS IS ONE OF Monogram’s classic 1:24 scale Hot Rod kits, originally released in 1964 as the Blue Beetle, but now renamed the ’29 Ford Street Rod Blue Bandito. Mat Irvine: The original Blue Beetle kit represented a custom car, based a 1929 Ford Model A pickup, fitted with a V8 engine, mag wheels and modern tyres. Included in the kit were a surfboard and scuba gear - tanks, flippers, weight-belt and goggles.   Now the Blue Beetle is back from Revell-Monogram, still under the Monogram banner (though the instructions include the Revell name) but renamed the Blue Bandito. The rest of the kit remains the same as before, and you still get customizing components for an alternative Roadster version, with a choice of wheels, dropped axles, engine mods, and wood-look stakes for the pickup bed. Parts layout of the new kit ( below ) shows the 112 components on their runners.   The Blue Beetle has been reissued once before though the basic kit was also released as a generic custom 1929 F...

THIS TRAILER FOR TOMORROWLAND: A WORLD BEYOND marks the movie as one that we're looking forward to very much. Disneyland visitors may recall that Tomorrowland was an important part of the original California theme park, and to lure you in, a third-scale Moonliner stood on its three landing legs, resplendent in the red-and-white markings of TWA (Trans World Airlines). So this reinvention of the concept looks a good 'un. As for the original Strombecker kit, it has since been reinvented as the Marsliner - same ship, same kit, different destination. We looked at the Marsliner here and the article is well worth another read, the kit itself earning a must-build, especially if you are into retro space age stuff. The original was a beautiful design, and looked magnificent, as displayed at Disneyland ( below ). Picture ( above ) courtesy Bananaphone5000. Attractive sales display from Strombecker ( below left) and an assembled Moonliner with legs folded into the hull. Note the retract...

This is an MPC reissue of a 1:25 scale drag racer kit, “Ohio” George Montgomery’s Malco Gasser. The Gasser is based on a 1969 Mustang, but the body shape is where the resemblance ends, as everything else is pure dragster. Mat Irvine:  As with many AMT and MPC kits now being reissued by Round 2, a number of parts are new included either in separate tooling, or newly made. In this case modified or new components include the hood, wheelie bar, bumper and grille filler section. There are also new decals, and new tyres, including drag slicks that are also available as an AMT Parts Pack. Model assembly is basically straightforward, though there are a few things to watch. The Ford SOHC V8 engine can be built up to start with, wiring the plug leads and adding other details if you want. The running gear is added to the underside of the chassis pan, while the two seats (the passenger seat is somewhat redundant, but has to be in the real thing for official regulation purposes) and the roll ca...

Atlantis Models seems to be vying for the title of ‘model company making the most saucers’, with this latest UFO addition, the Attack Saucer from the 1956 movie Earth vs. The Flying Saucers . Mat Irvine: This is a very simple kit, with a saucer that consists of upper and lower halves, plus a separate ray projector and central landing pylon. A small stand is also supplied to display the craft in flight mode, and a card diorama backer of the White House is included. This is to show off the finished model in a touchdown scenario. Parts layout ( below ). Note the White House card backer pic. Although simple in construction, the saucer can be built in two ways and includes a self-contained LED to give an unearthly red glow. Either option consists of locking the upper and lower halves together - they don’t have to be cemented - so that you can access the LED that fits inside the upper section. The lower section has a central recess where either the flight mode projection ray can be pushed in...

RAY MEYERS, who sculpted Aurora figure kits in the 1960s and 1970s, passed away on April 7, 2015. Meyers’ deft hands gave Aurora models incredible detail and when they were assembled, an appearance of hugely realistic and dynamic motion. Andy Yanchus: Ray Meyers Aurora figures included John F. Kennedy, Dempsey vs. Firpo, the flag raisers at Iwo Jima, Doctor Dolittle, Captain America, Superboy and Tarzan. He also contributed to the Prehistoric Scenes series, with the Saber Tooth Tiger, Cave Bear and Tar Pit. But monsters were some of his favorite subjects, and his greatest claim to fame, too, with models that included The Bride of Frankenstein, Godzilla and Ghidrah. Ray’s sculpting talent took off in the early 1970s, when he followed the character designs of artist Dave Cockrum. The Phantom jungle hero and the Metaluna Mutant from This Island Earth were incredible. Ann Darrow, for a new King Kong kit, and Christine, for a new Phantom of the Opera, were exquisite. Unfortunately, Aurora ...

The modelling world lost one of its ‘characters by association’ with the death of American actor James Best on April 6, 2015. The modelling association is that although Best featured in over 40 movies and appeared in nearly 300 episodes of various TV series, it is one of the latter, The Dukes of Hazzard, for which he will almost certainly be best remembered. Mat Irvine:  For The Dukes of Hazzard series, James Best played the hapless Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane, a role in which his police car seemed to get written off in every episode, each time being driven in pursuit of the Dukes’ hotted up Dodge Charger stock car ( below ) named  The General Lee . MPC provided us not only with 1:25 scale kits of  The General  and their lovely cousin Daisy’s Jeep CJ-7  Dixie , but also a generic Dodge Monaco police car as Rosco’s weekly ride. As with most of the Dukes’ vehicles, the Dodge Monaco has been in and out of the MPC catalogue over the years, but current MPC owner, Round...