SCALE MODEL NEWS

NEARLY 4600 F-16 FIGHTING FALCONS have been built since 1973. Today the US Air Force still flies the F-16, as do 25 other air arms. And that ubiquity is matched by model manufacturers, including Hasegawa. SMN report: Hasegawa makes excellent F-16 kits in various scales, and they are all good to put together. A recent Hasegawa release is an F-16D in Polish Tiger markings. The F-16 is known in Poland as the Goshawk, though early faults and reliability issues led to the nickname 'neilot' which is a Polish word for flightless bird. However, those troubles have largely passed, and today the F-16D provides a powerful defensive punch. The aircraft is also a regular visitor at Tiger Meets, gatherings of fighter squadrons whose crest includes a tiger. The Hasegawa release is a limited edition kit combo that features liveries used at the 2013 and 2014 Tiger Meets. This video ( below ) courtesy YouTuber ScaleModelAircraft, gives an interesting outline of a typical Hasegawa F-16 build. Th...

KIT FORM SERVICES (KFS) IS UNUSUAL for offering military kits in 1:24 scale, rather than the standard 1:35. And that includes the big news for 2017, a model kit of the English Electric Thunderbird missile from the 1960s. Mat Irvine:  The vast majority of armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs) are made to 1:35 scale. But Kit Form Services (KFS) are different, with a standard scale of 1:24. I asked KFS owner Howard Whitehead, an ex-British Army Royal Engineer, about this as 1:24/5 scale modellers tend to gaze in envy at the many 1:35 scale AFV models available, particularly of soft-skinned vehicles.  The secret of the KFS scale lies with conversion kits that Howard produced for civilian truck models, which are mostly made to 1:24/5 scale. KFS has since developed its range, and stayed with the same 1:24 scale. Part of the KFS stand ( below ) at the 2016 Scale ModelWorld Show. Note the blue-clad  'KFS Man' heading the display.   KFS products are multi-material kits, primarily...

RON THORNTON (1957-2016) WAS WELL KNOWN for his CGI effects work on classic science fiction shows like Babylon 5, Star Trek: Voyager, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Mat Irvine: Ron Thornton started work at the BBC Visual Effects Department, joining the team in the late 1970s. I was an FX Designer by then, and Ron worked for me as an FX Assistant on a variety of shows. I soon found out that he was interested in developing ‘electronic effects’ in the widest sense, and was a dab-hand at building circuits. Ron Thornton ( below ) at work with a spray can in the BBC VFX workshop, c1978. I recall asking Ron to build a small electronic device that would count down from 20 to zero. It was (I think) for the children’s series, Think of a Number, presented by Johnny Ball. However, this was in the early days of integrated circuits, and fulfilling my request foxed Ron. But he did manage to build a counter that went  upwards , from zero to 20. And that was no problem for us. We just filmed Ron's ...

A TRANSFORMERS CAMARO COMES TO THE Texas town of Killeen, as Mat cruises by, camera at the ready. Mat Irvine:  There you are, driving down an Interstate, when you need a pit stop. There's a Walmart, but what's going on in the car park? It happens to be an auto show, and that cries out for a visit. And that's more or less what happened to me in the town of Killeen, Texas. One of the three Walmarts in the city was hosting an auto show, featuring a special display ( below ) of this banana yellow Chevrolet Camaro.  What was particularly interesting from an SMN perspective was that many show cars, including this one, also had matching miniature versions, displayed on the vehicle or alongside.  The car that immediately caught my attention was the late-model Chevrolet Camaro, tricked out as Bumblebee from the Transformers movies. The assembled toys and robots laid out of the Transformers rug ( above ) added an extra sparkle to the show.    This Camaro was an ...

HERE'S A NEAT LITTLE KIT for UFO enthusiasts. The Atlantis Models kit is easy to build and includes a lighting pack for after-dark encounters. Mat Irvine: This UFO kit is the latest in the Atlantis Models series titled, ‘Unresolved Accounts of Unidentified flying Objects.’ This kit focuses on a supposed sighting over Monument Valley, on the borders of Arizona and Utah. Straightforward instructions are printed on the back of the box ( below ). The Atlantis UFO is 127 mm (5 in) across when assembled, and has just six components: upper and lower sections, an interior crew section, and three landing legs. Putting them together couldn’t be easier, as Atlantis has used its Twist-Tite assembly system, so assembly is a cement-free experience. The final display can show the UFO’s landing legs extended in landing position, or retracted in flight mode. Atlantis also supplies a three-legged table stand on which you can pose the UFO if you wish to see it above the ground. What you get ( below )...

THE MAIN EUROPEAN KIT COMPANIES show us what’s up-and-coming at Scale ModelWorld. At the 2016 show, Revell served up a feast for the year to come. Mat Irvine:  It’s good to see Revell with such a strong showing at Scale ModelWorld 2016. There was plenty to look at on the stand, both from the existing range and trailing new products to come. The Revell stand ( below ) showed a mixture of existing and new products. Topping the display ( below ) was a giant 1:8 scale 1965 Chevrolet Corvette model. Originally a Monogram kit, the Corvette is being reissued once more. Revell continues with its Star Wars kits ( below ) and some craft from the upcoming Rogue One movie were on display. The U-Wing Fighter ( below ) is a new design that appears in Rogue One . Next to a U-Wing box ( below left ) was a double-kit combat set, of the Millennium Falcon and a TIE Fighter. The triple-wing Tyridium Shuttle ( below ) continues as part of the Revell Star Wars range. A new version of the 1:48 scale St...