THE ANNUAL SHOW for lovers of space, science fiction and fantasy touches down this Sunday, July 1, 2018. Click here for full details of Smallspace 7. Click here to read about previous Smallspace shows at SMN.
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AIRFIX 1:72 SCALE VICKERS WELLINGTON - LOOKS GOOD FOR TAKEOFF
THIS NEW VERSION OF THE famed British 'Wimpey' looks to be a good kit. SMN comment: Bearing in mind the amount of interior detail Airfix has incorporated, we'd ask again: please include a transparent fuselage half with kits like this, so inside-information addicts can actually see their work when the model is finished!
AMT 1:25 SCALE CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO SS454
AT FIRST GLANCE this attractive model could be a reissue of the 1:25 scale Chevrolet Monte Carlo kit released by AMT in 1970. Mat Irvine: Actually, this Chevrolet Monte Carlo is a newer kit, or at least, ‘newer’ as in it’s from the mid-1990s. The original kit from 1970 was available as a standard ‘annual’, with detailing parts and ‘build one of three ways’ - stock, custom or competition. There was also a ‘Motor City Stocker’ version, a series which were basically unassembled promotionals. But both had then-standard one-piece chassis, and limited underhood detail, so in later years some of these annuals were retooled to incorporate new levels of detail. This occurred with the 1962 Ford Thunderbird, particularly as the tooling for the original Annual kit had been updated to the later years, and now with this 1970 Monte Carlo. Now you get a fully detailed engine bay and a fully detailed chassis with separate parts for the front and rear axles, and twin exhaust system - all lacking in...
WACKY RACES REVISITED
MAT IRVINE GOES GO BACK TO THE WACKY PAST with four Build and Play MPC kits. Mat Irvine: The kits involved are hardly new, but I suspect many SMN readers will have not have seen them before. And even if you have, I doubt if they will have been in this form. Way back in the heady days of the 1970s, MPC issued four kits of vehicles from the 1968-9 cartoon series Wacky Races. Kits of cartoon subjects are hardly unknown, but for some reason these particular four have become some of the most sought-after model car kits ever made, making silly prices on online auction sites - even for badly-built kits with missing parts! I never got these kits first time around, and missed a good few auctions, even for ‘bits’! However, I was recently handed all four by old friend Andy Yanchus in New York with the comment, “You’re the car guy’ and “I’ll never finish them…” So I acquired all four kits in one go! The comment regarding ‘… never finish them’ was useful. If you have a rare kit wo...
HOBBICO AND REVELL: WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW?
HOBBICO, WHICH OWNS REVELL filed for bankruptcy early in 2018. So what is happening with the Hobbico plastic kit brands? Mat Irvine: The brands are primarily Revell, but also Monogram and Renwal. The current state of play has been somewhat up in the air, especially as Hobbico itself was acquired by original rival Horizon in the US. But the sale did not include Revell. Revell-Germany which was still running, in effect independently, has since been acquired by the German investment group Quantum Capital Partners (QCP) under the sub-division Blitz. This is based near Munich, and has also bought Hobbico Germany.
This was approved by the US bankruptcy court dealing with Hobbico, on – ironically – Friday, April 13. The sale price was around $4 million, which is not that great a sum for what is still the world’s largest model kit company. Since then things have been somewhat up in the air. Revell-Germany appears secure, and does not appear to have suffered any layoffs. However, the sale di...
ALL THE WAY FROM 1983: 1:25 SCALE KIT OF A HOT HURST OLDSMOBILE
IT'S BACK TO 1983 with this 1:25 scale Revell Special Edition kit of the Hurst Oldsmobile. Mat Irvine: This kit, or a variation of it, has been on Revell’s ‘to do’ list for some years. Initially the plan wasn’t for a ’83, it was for a stock ’87 Cutlass, and originally intended as a metal-bodied kit. There were a few test-shots done in styrene, but that kit was never commercially produced. Now we have what is effect a brand-new kit of the ’83. The kit has a separate engine block and full chassis detail. Although the interior tub is one-piece (as were the old ‘annual’ kits), the side door panels are separate parts. The box ( below ) has useful closeup photos, useful for reference during your build. The Hurst 1983 models were available only in gloss black over silver. For the subsequent and final year,1984, the scheme was reversed. For the kit, I finished the model in Testors Classic Black. After it was thoroughly dry, I masked the sides and applied Testors Diamond Dust la...
HITLER'S FLYING SAUCERS FIGHT ON IN A POST-WAR FICTIONAL WORLD
NOT CONTENT WITH making Star Wars kits from 'a long time ago', Revell now journeys to another fictional past with the 1:72 scale Haunebu II. The kit is an absolute must for all Luftwaffe 1946 fans. SMN report: What if World War II hadn't ended in 1945? What if Hitler's forces had gone on fighting? What if the vaunted V-weapons had included ultra-speed flying saucers? Questions like these make the what-if world of Luft 46 an endlessly fascinating subject. And that makes this latest kit from Revell all the more of a must-have for sci-fi and fantasy fans. Revell says of the Haunebu II saucer: “Work began on this spherical aircraft in 1934. Its propulsion and the neutralisation of centrifugal forces inside the aircraft was achieved employing Vril energy fields. “Airworthy prototypes of the Haunebu II with speeds of up to 6000 km/h first flew in mid-1943, but did not finish the flight test phase due to the effects of war.” We like the sound of those Vril fields – definitel...
A CRAPPY COMMIE CAR PERHAPS, BUT AT LEAST IT PASSED THE MOOSE TEST
A FEW MONTHS BACK, REVELL REISSUED a 1:24 scale kit of the Trabant 601S, to celebrate 60 years since the boxy little East German car was first built, in 1957. Mat Irvine: The Revell kit enables you to build a stock Trabant, and also a version called the Safari, which operates guided tours around Berlin. A new decal sheet features the zebra-stripe markings that adorn the exterior of the Safari. They certainly stand out in Berlin’s busy traffic. Revell has actually made two versions of the Trabant. The first was a simplified kit without vinyl tyres, but did include a large roof rack. Revell retooled the kit in far more detail, though the rack option was deleted. The kit we show here is a reissue of this latter kit. The box back ( below ) has useful information and pix of the car. Official Revell pictures ( below ) show a decent level of detail, including the engine compartment, plenty of decals, and chassis underpan. The Revell Trabant’s rear ( below ) is graced with German words th...