SCALE MODEL NEWS

Jetliner fans: this latest Revell airliner is for you, as it features the latest twin-jet from Airbus, the A350-900 XWB, which first flew in June 2013. The A350-900 XWB kit is neatly detailed and moulded, and now Revell has shown us a model that’s finished and painted. We’ve featured this Airbus kit in August and November 2013 , so it’s good to see the kit moving on from test-shot to general release. The A350-900 kit is a new-tool 1:144 scale production that, according to Revell, includes these features: * Recessed panel joints * Cockpit detail * Detailed engines with rotating fan blades * Separate control surfaces * Detailed landing gear and bays * Landing gear extended or retracted * Detailed lower fuselage centre-section * Navigation lights in clear plastic * Antennas included * Display Stand * Decal Set for the Airbus A350-900 F-WXWB Airbus House Colours, First Flight June 14, 2013 It certainly looks about as good as you can get in 1:144 scale, and will compare interestingly with t...

The new Airbus A350-900 made its maiden flight just two months ago, but already Revell is preparing a kit of the latest jetliner from Europe’s premier aircraft manufacturer. Kit details are sparse at present and we have no pictures yet, but we do know that the A350-900 will be to 1:144 scale and that there will be 120 components. Fully assembled the Revell A350-900 will measure 453mm (17.8in) long and have a wingspan of 450mm (17.7in). And that shows how big this jetliner is in real life - in traditional 1:72 scale, it would measure almost a yard long! About the real thing The Airbus A350 is a new-design Airbus wide-body aircraft, designed to carry up to 314 passengers  on routes of up to 15000km (9315ml). Wide use of composite materials in the structure mean a big weight reduction over traditional aluminium construction, and this, combined with state of the art Rolls-Royce Trent engines should give a claimed operating cost of some 10 percent less than the competing Boeing 787. Min...

Sad to say, the pretty little 1:72 scale de Havilland Heron airliner depicted on this old Airfix box-top wasn't at the 2012 Jersey Air Show, either in model form or the real thing. But there were plenty of elderly aircraft flying at the display held a couple of weeks ago. Here are some of the interesting aircraft on display, on the ground and in the air. The annual event must make an interesting change for the air traffic controllers, as display and regular traffic use the same runway, under watchful eyes in the gleaming new control tower. The tower painted on the old Airfix box-top is now consigned to the past. Airliners sharing runway space with the display aircraft included types from Embraer (above) and Airbus (below). The Groupe Trenchant flew ex-Armee de l'Air Potez Air Fouga Magisters in a neat four-ship display. Britain's Red Arrows display team put on their usual immaculate performance in BAe Hawk jets. Classic World War II heavy bomber, the Avro Lancaster in fligh...

SMN report: Here’s a bunch of 2012 aerospace kits from Hong Kong’s Dragon, and very good they look too. First American in space On May 5, 2012, it will be 50 years since Alan Shepard Jr piloted the Freedom 7 Mercury capsule to become the first US astronaut. And now Dragon celebrates Shepard’s sub-orbital flight with a 1:72 kit of the Mercury capsule, together with its Redstone launch rocket. Mercury capsule detail Judging from Dragon’s promo material, the kit looks well worth a look. The emergency escape tower atop the single-seat Mercury capsule is neatly detailed, and includes the trio of rockets needed to blast the capsule free of the Redstone launch rocket if required. The capsule itself has the correct ribbed appearance, and its single tiny window is there too. The original capsule design had no window, but one was fitted at the righteous insistence of the astronauts, and quite right too. Redstone launcher The Redstone looks accurate enough, with rectangular aft rudders present a...

David Jefferis reports from the show The SMN crew spent yesterday at the UK’s premier business-orientated aerospace show. The weather was fantastic (which just goes to show how useless the predictions of some iPhone weather apps are...) and it was a real pleasure to watch high-power aerobatics and more genteel flypasts in bright blue skies, with puffy clouds to set them off. Stealthy delta Highlights of the day included new aircraft like the Airbus A400M military airlifter, and old-stagers such as the delta-wing Avro Vulcan, currently maintained in flying order by an enthusiast group, and good for them. The Vulcan’s shape gave it stealth-like abilities long before stealth became a design essential for survival in aerial combat... A380 airliner For model fans, shows like this are fantastic. Wandering round the real machines parked by the flightline reveals so much detail you just never see in photos. And as for weathering, one look at the A380 demo airliner should give you airbrush mode...