Here’s another big-scale aircraft from Hong Kong Models (HKM). It’s a 1:32 scale Gloster Meteor, the first British jet fighter, and first operational jet flying for the Allies in World War II. The Meteor was a single-seater, so even at 1:32 scale, the model is not going to have the same arms-length wow-factor as HKM’s heavy bomber kits, the Flying Fortress and Lancaster. But this ‘Meat-box’ jet isn’t at all tiny, having a wingspan of 355mm (14in) and fuselage length of 394mm (15.5in). As with the HKM Avro Lancaster, we don’t yet have build-up pix, but the cgi images are mouthwatering enough, particularly for anyone interested in either World War II or first-generation combat jets. About the Meteor The Meteor prototype first flew on March 5, 1943; the following summer, production machines were in service, flying against German V-1 flying bombs attacking London. The Meteor (F Mk3 shown below) proved to be an effective machine, with a total of 3947 being built for the RAF and 17 other air...
WE ARE VERY sad to learn of the death of professional model maker Bill Pearson. Mat Irvine: A special-effects model maker extraordinaire, Bill Pearson is probably best known for being a model-shop supervisor for such movie classics as Alien (1979), Flash Gordon (1980), and Outland (1981). Bill was a member of the BBC Visual Effects Department for two years or so in the early 1980s, which is when I got to know him. While he was at BBC VFX he worked on a variety of programmes, including The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Doctor Who, and Blake’s 7. Later, Bill worked on Gerry Anderson’s Space Precinct (1994), The James Bond movie Die Another Day (2002), Gravity (2013), Duncan Jones’ Moon (2009), and the Red Dwarf series. The photos (below) are shown courtesy of, and copyright The Prop Gallery and Mat Irvine . Bill Pearson ( below ) seen in the early 1980s, while working for the BBC Visual Effects Department. Here, he is working on Supereme Commandeer Servalan’s spac...
The Munsters TV series was made in the mid-1960s, and in back and white at that, but the story of America’s weirdest family is still intriguingly popular. Mat Irvine: So Munster models continue to be released, and the latest kits on the scene are two figures from Moebius, featuring the head of the household, Herman, and his father-in-law of indeterminate age, Grandpa Munster. Today, I'm looking at Herman. The box front ( header pic ) features a photograph of Fred Gwynn playing Herman in the original The Munsters TV series. The base ( below ) features the contents of the kit, plus mentions of other Moebius Munster kits: Grandpa Munster and the family home, 1313 Mockingbird Lane. Herman, played by the wonderful American actor Fred Gwynn, stood even taller than Gwynn did - and at 6 ft 5 in (1.7 m) you might have thought he was tall enough. However, the script called for Gwynn to wear 4 in (100 mm) platform boots as part of his ‘Frankenstein’s Monster’ outfit, so he towered eve...
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