SCALE MODEL NEWS

IF YOU READ ALMOST ANY popular-science magazine from the 1950s, you will see that by 2018 we ought to be driving flying cars, even taking vacations on the Moon. Mat Irvine:  Yes, there have been recent developments with cars that can fly, but we still get stuck in traffic jams at ground level. However, there was one flying car that did get off the ground, and that was the Taylor Aerocar. This flew as long ago as 1950, and even then the designer, Molt Taylor, was on his way to developing more sophisticated versions. But development floundered, and by the late 1980s the project was all but abandoned. The remaining Aerocar Mk III was acquired by the Museum of Flight in Seattle , and while there recently, I took a close look. Besides the actual car (or plane) there was a display of associated artifacts in the Museum, including models made from the Gladen Flying Automobile kit ( below ), which is a rare find today. The box also depicts a still from The Bob Cummings Show, in which t...

THE WONDERFEST SHOW IN KENTUCKY IS A MEGA-DRAW for fans of the linked genres of science-fiction, fantasy, and horror. Here we look at models coming from the Round 2 company. Mat Irvine:  I recently showed you the main WonderFest show. Now here's a close look at what new and upcoming kits are on the way from Round 2 ( below ). Note the company's monster kits on display – this was WonderFest, after all! Round 2 Project Manager Jamie Hood ( below left ) talks with a visitor. They are examining a test shot of the new Klingon K’t’inga-class battlecruiser. Closeup ( below ) of the K’t’inga. The kit has been in the works for some time, and will contain a host of detail-up parts, some of which are laid out on the base here. A couple of reissues ( below ) for automotive fans are the AMT Livestock Trailer, and the MPC Tiger Shark, the latter originally being called the AMT Dream Rod. 
The AMT Garage Mechanic accessory pack is a new kit, which includes a figure and various items of ...

WONDERFEST IS THE LARGEST  science-fiction/fantasy/horror model show you are likely to visit . WonderFest shows off a galaxy of talent every summer in Kentucky. Mat Irvine:  I was invited to WonderFest back in 2012, courtesy of the CultTVman (otherwise known as Steve Iverson) and spent a fascinating weekend there. In June this year,  I was in the area again, and asked the organisers, “Do you want another guest…?” The answer was “Yes, indeed” and so I was lucky enough to visit my second WonderFest. I even made it ( below ) to the names-list on the T-shirt! The WonderFest online blurb describes the show as: "... a weekend of hobby escape that’s held every Summer in Louisville, Kentucky USA! "Now in its 30th year, WonderFest features movie special effects guests, the largest model contest in the US for sci-fi, horror and comics-related subjects, model and toy dealers galore, and seminars to entertain and improve hobbyists of all ages!" Here is just a glimpse of some of the ...

IN 2017, WE REVIEWED the 895-part Revell 1:72 scale kit of the  Black Pearl , as seen in the Disney movie saga  Pirates of the Caribbean . The kit we show here is a smaller 1:150 scale version of the same ship, though it still comes with 112 parts. Mat Irvine:  The 1:150 scale  Black Pearl  is supplied to assemble using the Revell ‘easy-click system’ in which the parts simply snap together. They don’t necessarily need cementing, though that can always prove an advantage if you wish the finished model to stay completely firm and solid. Although basically a snap-together model, the  Black Pearl  is still a fairly complex build. As with its larger sibling, components such as the sails are injection moulded parts, which are thicker than true-scale, but are far easier to deal with than vacuum-formed parts, which is the usual method for the unfurled sails of galleons. Despite its name, the components of the  Black Pearl  are not moulded in all-blac...