SCALE MODEL NEWS

SMN report: Hasegawa of Japan is bringing us hot new and revised products at a pace-and-a-half. Here a taste of what’s in store - space, sci-fi, aviation, and... girls! Dreamliner The 1:200 scale Boeing 787 Dreamliner comes in two flavours, JAL (Japan Airlines) and ANA (All Nippon Airways), differentiated in several ways, such as the differing engines used by the two airlines. At this scale, the changes are visually minor, but Hasegawa has detailed everything you need for an accurate finished model. Voyager Real-space fans have a treat in store with the 1:48 scale Voyager space probe. Two were launched back in 1977, their mission to record data and information about the outer planets. After swooping past Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, they are now drifting into interstellar space, beyond the Solar System.  Golden Record The Hasegawa kit includes a scale representation of the ‘Golden Record’, a video disc containing the sights and sounds of Earth. There’s one aboard each space...

SMN report: The Boeing 787 Dreamliner has - after many delays - finally gone into passenger service, with the first fare-paying flight by lead airline customer All Nippon Airways (ANA). Years late, the Boeing twinjet is now rewriting the rules for lightweight construction, fuel economy, and passenger comfort.  Injection kits Meantime, what’s the state of play for scale model 787s? We’ve had a look at the two injection kits presently available, both to 1:144 scale. The Zvezda version came first, and is an extremely neat production. The 787’s trademark oversize windows are well represented, and though our particular kit had a small amount of warping on upper and lower wing halves, all that was needed on assembly was some gentle assistance from clothes pegs and tape.  Careful with the fuselage join The fuselage fits nicely, though as ever with airliner kits, you have to go carefully with the cement and be prepared to spend time with some very loving polish-and-buff to lose the ce...