SCALE MODEL NEWS

BEST WISHES FROM SMN and may the New Year bring the kits you want to build! For us, 2019 could be the year of sci-fi, scratch-builds, and general originality. Our shelves would be much the better for fantasy models like these, images sent in by an enthusiastic reader. Just luurve the Bf109, reconfigured as a Mad-Maxian racer!

A FAMOUS BOMBER and excellent kit, revealed in another ace stop-motion mini-movie by Tom Grigat. SMN report: The 1:72 scale Airfix 'Fort' is well worth a build, even if Airfix insists on adding interior detail that will mostly remain invisible when built. We ask again: "... please take a tip from Tamiya, and include a transparent fuselage-half in the box."   Nice to hear some Beethoven as background audio to this highly watchable movie, though it's 'Boeing' not 'Boing.' Click here to see B-17 articles at SMN.

HERE'S HOPING EVERY SMN READER gets a chance to build a kit of their choice this coming year. And maybe it's going to be the year when 'that old kit' comes down from its hiding place in the loft!

THE AMT CUSTOMIZING BOAT KIT was first produced in 1959. The boat was presented in much the same way as a car kit of the time, with a three-way assembly and some custom parts.  Mat Irvine:  And here it is in modern form. The manufacturer is unnamed, though it looks similar to a Chris-Craft of the time. The kit was last issued in 1999 (when Ertl still owned AMT) and was released in one of the then-current limited-production ranges. This latest issue uses the larger size of box presently used by AMT and MPC car kits, and neatly reworks the original box art. There is also a much improved decal sheet. The build options more or less match those you might expect with an automobile kit  – stock, custom, and competition. Here the stock version is a four-seater inboard runabout, powered by an engine (maybe a Mercruiser 6) positioned midships.  Up front there is room for a driver and passenger, with right-hand steering wheel, and car-type instrument panel. Two more passengers ...

THE DORNIER DO X was the brainchild of Dr. Claude Dornier, his aircraft taking off for the first time in July, 1929. SMN report: Dornier designed the giant flying boat to carry up to 66 passengers on long-haul flights, though it could easily take 100 or more over short distances. Passengers were well treated on board the ‘flugschiff’ (flying boat), which had three decks, one of which included a smoking room and bar, a dining room and galley, and seats which could be converted into sleeping berths at night. That was the main deck. Above it were the flight deck, navigation and radio rooms, and an engine control room. The lower deck held fuel tanks and nine watertight compartments. Only seven of these were needed to keep the Do X afloat in an emergency. The beautifully-built balsa model in the video ( bottom ) represents one of only three Do X flying boats ever built, two of which were flown by Italy. The X2 Umberto Maddalena and X3 Alessandro Guidoni differed from the German X1 in bei...

THIS INTERESTING AMT RACING KIT is based on a model first released issued in 1969. Mat Irvine:  Most of this ‘update’ is actually brand-new. In fact, the only thing from the 1960s is the soap-box downhill racer, the whole reason for the kit. The original model was one of a series that AMT issued, when they took an existing kit, added something else, then employed specific box art and decals. Why choose an El Camino? Chevrolet sponsored the Soap Box Derby, so it was a natural to include one of its vehicles as the main part of the kit. And of course, a lone 1:25 scale soap-box racer would be a tad small, and rattle around in the kit box!  The 1968 El Camino is based on the then-current Chevelle sedan. The complete tooling for the original (which was actually a 1969 El Camino) has been lost. So you don’t get the original pickup, though the soap-box racer didn’t go astray, so has been re-used.  Diorama bonus The original kit had no card diorama, but this time there is one, an...

FOR ALL WORLD WAR II FIGHTER FANS here's a great video by Tom Grigat, the master of stop-frame animated video model builds. SMN report: The 1:32 scale Hawker Tempest from Special Hobby is an excellent kit of a late-war British machine. The Tempest first flew in September 1942, first entering service in 1944. The Tempest was used as primarily as a low-level interceptor, particularly against V-1 flying bombs. As a ground attack machine, Tempests flew against all sorts of ground targets. The high-speed Tempest – it could hit over 430 mph at low level – even attacked newly-developed jets, such as the Messerschmitt Me 262. Tom Grigat's video shows well how the Special Hobby kit goes together, though we're not totally convinced by the 'nodding-dog' pilot at the end! Or indeed the accompanying sound track.* As for Special Hobby, it hails from the Czech Republic, and offers a fine range of models. The company says: "Special Hobby makes injected model kits in the follo...