SCALE MODEL NEWS

A DELIGHTFUL KIT FROM AIRFIX, the 1:48 scale Supermarine Walrus seaplane is a charming build, which can produce a really unusual addition to your display shelf. And for diorama fans, adding a seascape for the Walrus to float on will make it a real star on the model show circuit – if we ever get back to live shows, that is. Maybe in Autumn 2021?

THIS UNUSUAL KIT depicts a Toshiba EC 160, a moulding machine that can inject more than one colour into a single plastic runner. Bandai uses machines like this to produce kits such as Gundam action figures and Star Wars models. Mat Irvine:  Bandai’s Toshiba EC160 kit dates from 2007. It was intended for the internal Japanese market, but is now more widely available. The kit was almost certainly made primarily for publicising the machine's ability to inject more than one colour on the same runner. In fact, kits made in several colours are not unusual, Revell doing this as far back as the 1950s. But the colours were each on a separate runner, unlike those produced by the Toshiba EC 160. It uses specialist technology to goes through several injection cycles, with gates opening and closing relevant sections for each colour plastic. Here the EC160 kit is moulded in four colours, white, dark grey, yellow and blue.  It is a very simple kit, intended to snap together, with decals that...

  OF ALL INDOOR SCALE subjects, the one that stands out compared with, say, aircraft, cars or ships, has been model trains. This is primarily because model railroads are not static models – instead, they are intended to be working miniature replicas.  Mat Irvine:  Model locos generally have built-in motors and run on tracks. But there are some exceptions, such as Kitmaster, a company that produced kits of locomotives and rolling stock. OK, there was also a Kitmaster motorcycle kit, the Ariel Arrow, but they were all static kits, to be displayed on your shelf along with those aircraft, cars and ships.  The idea of static railway locomotive kits also appealed to the one country which was definitively built on the railroad, the USA. Here, Monogram made two static loco models, one of which was the largest steam locomotive ever built, the Big Boy. The Big Boy kit shown here is a Revell-Germany issue, and dates from a few years ago, though it is still in the company catalo...

VEHICLES TO 1:48 SCALE are not that common, as it is not a traditional car or truck scale, which is usually 1:24/5 or 1:32. But 1:48 is a common aircraft scale, and is also the American model railroad O gauge, so having road transportation like this Atlantis Chevrolet Stake Truck is a bonus. Mat Irvine: Atlantis Models continues with its amazing growth in kit releases, by reissuing the old Revell '55 2 Ton Chevy Stake Truck. The kit has an added bonus, as it now includes clear parts for the truck cab window glass. When Revell first issued 1:48 scale truck kits, the inclusion of window glass was not common. This even applied to the larger 1:25 scale car kits. At most you got a sheet of clear acetate from which to cut out window shapes. This was more to scale so far as thickness went, but was a rather fiddly process. Now Atlantis have supplied a new clear runner with four components – windshield, and windows for the two doors and cab rear. These parts are thinly moulded, so come pre...

THE OTHER HALF of this 1:24 scale Revell Gift Set, the Porsche Panamera, has already been dealt with in SMN, so now here's the other kit in the box – a Porsche 918 two-seater. Mat Irvine:  The Porsche 918 Spyder is a hybrid vehicle, with two electric motors and a V8, though perhaps oddly, the mixed-power layout is not discussed in the kit information. The 918 Spyder was a prototype, but built with the idea it could go into production. Given the price – $845,000 – this was likely to only be a very limited edition, and even a cup holder had to be a special order, at $949. The 918 was available only from 2013-15. The kit is one of Revell’s ‘new style’ car kits in that the transmission and wheel assemblies are simplified, not to reduce external detail, but to give the completed model a more solid structure. When compared with the Porsche Panamera, the 918 has more parts (129 vs 98), and there is more detail in the V8 engine and electric motors. But, as with the Panamera, much structure...

PORSCHE-LOVERS STAND BY to enjoy a duo of kits, packed in the same gift box. The Panamera and 918 Spyder are both to 1:24 scale. First we look at the Panamera. Mat Irvine: The idea of a four-door, four-seater Porsche may be anathema to some, but the concept works well in the metal. This is the second-generation shape, and really does have visual elements of the classic 911 at the front and rear, especially with the taillight design. The parts for the two cars are poly-bagged, but mixed up in the gift box, leaving you to sort out which components belong to each vehicle. The bodies are easy to distinguish, but you’ll probably have to check the lettering on the runners to be sure of the rest! Once that's done though, things get easier. Like the recent Revell Land Rover kit, the Panamera has an extremely well detailed body and interior, combined with somewhat simplified running-gear components. This is the Panamera Turbo version, so has a 4.8 litre engine with twin turbos. So you get ...