SCALE MODEL NEWS

THE LOCKHEED MARTIN F-35 LIGHTNING II has had a long, expensive, and troubled development. However, the stealth aircraft is finally heading to operational service. For model makers, that means building a kit of the twin-fin stealth machine. SMN report: There are several F-35s available, in various scales. The Academy F-35A version shown in the how-to videos ( below ) is moulded in what is still the most widely built model aircraft size, 1:72 scale. The Academy kit comes in multi-coloured plastic ( above ) which enables the company to claim that you can build one without needing paint. And that's OK for beginners, or for those who simply want a desk-top display model, but to have any form of realism, it's the traditional skills of careful painting and weathering that will transform a 'box of bits' into a decent scale model. As a stealth machine, the F-35A has internal bays for weapons carriage, thus keeping the radar-proof contours of the aircraft in working order. How...

REVELL-MONOGRAM CONTINUES TO DIVE into the tooling bin of the original Renwal company, retrieving and releasing kits more or less as they were, ‘way back when.’ Mat Irvine:  The new Lacrosse Missile box design ( below ) is a tweaked version of the original. It features the famous Renwal Blueprint style, and, apart from details such as the SSP (Selected Subjects Program) logo and the modern ‘age and skill’ levels, it’s much as it was when first released in 1960. There has only been one reissue since then, in 1974, though this was in a far less evocative box. This latest Renwal Lacrosse is the first such for more than 40 years. The Renwal kit, consisting of the surface-to-surface Lacrosse missile on its mobile transporter/launcher, assembles to make a large model, even in 1:32 scale. The components ( below ) are now all moulded in light blue-grey. The original truck parts were in olive drab, the missile in white. Considering its age, the kit tooling has survived remarkably well, with...

THERE ARE PLENTY OF APOLLO KITS out there, not so many models of the Viking that landed on Mars, seven years after the first Apollo landing. Mat Irvine:  Monogram, Airfix and AMT all issued Saturn V rockets to celebrate Project Apollo, with an appropriately scaled Lunar Module (LM) on board. Airfix made the first separate kit of the Lunar Module, to 1:72 scale, and it is still a very good representation. Monogram produced a larger 1:48 scale LM, with all the paraphernalia carried by the Apollo 11 Mission, to be laid out on a textured base. The Revell 1:48 scale Apollo craft ( below from left: LM, CM and SM ). I built the trio as a retro-style display model as you might have seen on the desk of a NASA executive. Airfix 1:72 scale LM ( below ) with the astronauts and equipment supplied with the kit. The only item not relevant to Apollo 11 is the high-gain dish antenna, which wasn’t carried until Apollo 12. Apollo has also been a favourite with so-called ‘garage’ companies. Vista Repl...

THE CLASSIC STAR WARS X-WING has been reimagined as a high performance Hot Wheels racing car, powered by a 2.0 litre 16-valve DOHC engine. SMN report: According to Hot Wheels, the X-Wing Fighter Carship features: 'AP dual-piston calipers with slotted rotors, and custom slick tires to out-maneuver the Empire and save the galaxy.' Quite what the extra turbine engines around the body are for isn't mentioned - we guess they are boosters for upping performance when needed. And the X-Wing mini-wings will do nicely as aerofoils for high speed running, with the laser cannon maybe useful for dissuading any potential overtakers. The X-Wing Fighter Carship launched at the San Diego Comic-Con International on July 20, and will be released as a 1:64 scale collectible later in 2016. Other Star Wars vehicles in the Hot Wheels line include Kylo Ren's snarky-looking black vehicle ( below ). Click here for more Hot Wheels info.  Click here for the San Diego Comic-Con.

THE LAND ROVER is one of the best known off-road British vehicles, and this Italeri kit models the military version, as used by the SAS (Special Air Service) on operations in the Middle East. SMN report: The Italeri kit features the 109-inch (277 cm) long-wheelbase Land Rover, first used by British SAS forces in the 1970s. These ‘Landies’ are nicknamed ‘Pink Panthers’ for their unique pinkish camouflage paint. The Italeri Land Rover kit is nicely presented and moulded, albeit when assembled it's not that large. Even at 1:35 scale, the finished model will sit comfortably in the palm of your hand. But Italeri has worked hard on the kit, and it is packed with satisfying details. Components include machine guns, fuel can, smoke and flare dispensers. On the rear flanks hang lengths of perforated metal, which can be used as ramps to enable the Land Rover to escape safely if it sinks too far into soft sand. We have only one moan, so far as the kit is concerned - you’ll have to supply you...

AMT CONTINUES ITS CELEBRATION OF Batman movies by reissuing the Batwing air combat vehicle. The kit is to 1:25 scale, so it assembles to make a good-sized model, even if it is only a single-seater. Mat Irvine:  Perhaps the most distinctive of Batman’s flying machines, the Batwing kit has been reissued much as it was when first released in 1990, shortly after Tim Burton’s Batman movie of 1989 had become a smash hit.  The box base for this kit ( below ) includes plenty of useful extra information.  The kit includes a couple of beneficial updates. The stand is now a solid metal rod, rather than a plastic component, which makes for a sturdier structure. The rod fits into the original plastic base, depicting the famed bat-signal. You also get a diorama background, as is now common with AMT and MPC reissues from Round 2. This one features a spectacular cyclorama of the Gotham City skyline. But the kit itself remains much the same.  The components ( below ) are moulded in ...