SCALE MODEL NEWS

SMN report: Next up from Dragon is this interesting 1:144 scale ‘Warbird Series’ kit of the PLA WZ-10 attack helicopter, the Chinese answer to Western types like the famed US-built Boeing AH-64 Apache. In layout, the WZ-10 is pretty standard, with a stepped tandem cockpit seating two crew: gunner in front, pilot behind. Flight controls are dualled to act as mutual backup, and the cockpit sides and bottom are protected by composite armour, as are the engines and fuselage fuel tank. Stealth capability As for the kit, the general shape looks pretty accurate, not that there have been too many decent pictures released of this Chinese combat machine. The sloping sides reflect at least a token attempt to deflect radar waves, giving the WZ-10 some stealth capability. Landing gear choice It’s a new-tool kit, so we can expect the fit and finish to be on a par with Dragon’s other recent kits - in other words, pretty good. According to Dragon, the landing gear can be assembled in ‘landing or flyin...

SMN report It’s something of a helicopter time at the moment - the stealth machines used in the bin Laden raid, a possible European-issue NH90 stealth-design, and now the news that British Army WAH-64D Apache AH1s have been ordered into North Africa, operating from the amphibious assault ship HMS Ocean , in joint operations with French Eurocopter Tigers.  British Army Apache at RAF Fairford. Which Apache model to make? There are plenty of Apache models out there, including the diminutive 1:144 scale Revell kit, but for a complex machine like this with so much detail in the cockpits, weapons, and rotor assemblies, smaller models are not really the most satisfying way to go, and even 1:72 scale doesn’t appeal to us. No, in our view 1:48 is the best all-round scale for doing justice to this state-of-the-art attack helicopter. And for the easily-recognizeable ‘D’ version, which mounts a Longbow radar atop the rotor mast, both Italeri and Hasegawa kits make good starting points. Front c...