SCALE MODEL NEWS

NEARLY 11,000 STEARMAN PT-17 TRAINERS were built, from 1934 until 1945. The new Revell kit should satisfy scale builders of aircraft from this era, or model makers who prefer civil versions, many of which are still flying today. SMN report: A widely-used training machine, the Stearman PT-17 introduced thousands of Allied trainees to the world of flight. This Revell kit features the PT-17, which was the standard US Army and US Navy basic trainer aircraft throughout World War II. But you are not limited to military markings, as many were sold off to civil flyers when the war ended. According to the Revell spec, the assembled 1:48 scale PT-17 features: * Two detailed cockpits * A detailed radial engine and cowling * Rotatable two-blade propeller * Detailed landing gear, with moulded tyre tread * Decals include options for either a US Navy or US Army version Judging from the Revell publicity pictures, it looks like the company has nailed it where the Stearman model’s finished appearan...

THE 2016 CHICAGO TOY SHOW was held on April 24, at the Kane County Fairgrounds, west of Chicago. Here is the second part of the Mat Irvine’s visit for SMN. Mat Irvine: I went along with Dean Milano, kit historian and musician, and Jeff Clark, ex-Al's Hobbies of Elmhurst, Illinois. The Chicago Toy Show is held in a mixture of halls and sheds, with a wide variety of collectibles on display. Not often seen ( below ) the Aurora diorama set from The Rat Patrol, a US TV World War II series that aired from 1966-68. After some negotiation, this particular kit found its way into my collection. It wasn't only Monogram that dabbled in 1:8 scale car kits. Lindberg did so too ( header, below ) its 1:8 kits including this motorised Exterminator dragster. A group of science fiction collectibles ( below ) showed that Doctor Who is extremely popular in North America, as well as in its British homeland. Note the robots, and just behind them, Mars Attacks, a movie that has spawned plenty of mate...

THE 2016 CHICAGO TOY SHOW was held on April 24, at the Kane County Fairgrounds, west of Chicago. Mat Irvine: I went along with Dean Milano, kit historian and musician, and Jeff Clark, ex-Al's Hobbies of Elmhurst, Illinois, to see what we could find. As usual at a show like this, there's little point in us asking each other, "What are you looking for?" as the reply can only be, "I'll know it when I see it..." Housed in an array of indoor halls, and outside sheds that usually feature animals for sale, there was a liberal mixture of toys, dolls, games and some model kits. There was also a huge number of modern collectibles, especially from Star Wars. A typical mix ( below ) of what you can expect to see at the Chicago Toy Show. There are a lot of toys, with some kits sandwiched in between. GI Joe in space ( below ) featured an Official Mercury Space Capsule and Authentic Space Suit, by Hasbro. On top of the two GI Joe items is a box containing an Aurora ki...

  BACK IN 1971, FLOWER-POWER WAS STILL the thing. So branding the 1:25 scale AMT 1971 Ford Thunderbird as a ‘Bird of Paradise’ was obviously thought a good idea by the marketing gurus of the time. Now Round 2 have brought back the kit as a Retro De Luxe Edition ‘Enhanced Reissue,’ using the original box-art and ‘Giant Original Decal Sheet.’ Mat Irvine:  The kit is one of AMT’s simplest. In fact, it was issued the previous year in the Motor City Stocker range, and these were, like the original ‘Annual’ kits from AMT a decade earlier, basically unassembled promotional (promo) models. They had a detailed body, but no separate engine block, with a one-piece chassis and metal axles. The box art ( header, below ) is a reproduction of the original 1971 Annual kit. The ‘Retro Deluxe Edition’ sticker is on the shrink-wrap covering, so it leaves the box itself free of adhesive. You can build the kit in stock form, the side panel showing how this could look. For this latest issue, an eng...

TAMIYA HAS PRODUCED MORE THAN 300 subjects in its 1:24 ‘Sports Cars of the World’ series. This time though, the Toyoda Model AA of 1935 isn’t actually a sports car, but it certainly has a highly significant history. Mat Irvine: The Toyoda Model AA’s significance lies in the fact that it was the first Toyota passenger car produced, in 1935. Note the ‘d’ in the name, because it was developed by the Toyoda Automatic Loom Works Company, under the guiding hand of Kiichiro Toyoda. The automotive section of Toyoda became independent in 1937, when the name was altered slightly to the now-familiar Toyota. The reasoning behind the ‘t’ is slightly confused, but seems to be that writing Toyota in Japanese kanji requires eight brush strokes - and number eight is lucky in Japan! Parts layout includes the decal sheet ( lower centre below ) with chrome-like decals. The 1:24 scale Tamiya Toyoda AA celebrates this icon of Japan’s auto industry with a fully detailed body, chassis and interior, thoug...