SCALE MODEL NEWS

FOLLOWING RECENT JAMES BOND articles, here’s a piece on converting two kits into one of 007’s more unusual forms of transport. Mat Irvine reports:  The second James Bond movie was based on Ian Fleming’s book  From Russia With Love , and came before  Goldfinger , where the idea of Bond using a specially adapted car – the famed Aston Martin DB-5 – was introduced. In  From Russia With Love  the vehicles were frankly ‘working props’, appearing on-screen for relatively short periods of time. But the movie did have one set of wheels that made an impact, a 1961 Chevrolet Apache 30 stake truck, carrying a load of cut flowers ( movie still below ). In the movie, 007 hijacked the truck to escape an attacking helicopter, driving across what was meant to be ‘east European’ countryside, with his latest lady friend ( see below )bouncing about in the pickup bed at the back, amongst the blooms. A kit of the vehicle was a non-starter, my idea coming from the multi-issue par...

THIS HANDSOMELY PACKAGED 1:24 scale cab-over engine (COE) Chevrolet pickup truck from the 1950s adds a gleaming retro flavour to a neatly sculpted Wonder Woman figure. SMN report: The diecast truck is one of the DC Comics Bombshells range from Jada. The 1:24 scale gives it plenty of heft in the hand, and the included figure of Wonder Woman is a good size. The model is one of six, each representing a different vehicle/figure duo from the DC universe. The excellent packaging is a big draw for the range, figure and truck ( below ) both being firmly attached to the card base, but are easily removable when needed. One oddity is that the backdrop includes a flight of British Avro Lancaster bombers, to which we say "...wrong war, Jada!" Movie buffs will note that the film was set during World War I, the Lancaster being a veteran of World War II. And that's all true if this model was based on the highly watchable movie. But it's not. Instead, the range was inspired by a ret...

THIS INTERESTING AMT RACING KIT is based on a model first released issued in 1969. Mat Irvine:  Most of this ‘update’ is actually brand-new. In fact, the only thing from the 1960s is the soap-box downhill racer, the whole reason for the kit. The original model was one of a series that AMT issued, when they took an existing kit, added something else, then employed specific box art and decals. Why choose an El Camino? Chevrolet sponsored the Soap Box Derby, so it was a natural to include one of its vehicles as the main part of the kit. And of course, a lone 1:25 scale soap-box racer would be a tad small, and rattle around in the kit box!  The 1968 El Camino is based on the then-current Chevelle sedan. The complete tooling for the original (which was actually a 1969 El Camino) has been lost. So you don’t get the original pickup, though the soap-box racer didn’t go astray, so has been re-used.  Diorama bonus The original kit had no card diorama, but this time there is one, an...

AT FIRST GLANCE this attractive model could be a reissue of the 1:25 scale Chevrolet Monte Carlo kit released by AMT in 1970. Mat Irvine:  Actually, this Chevrolet Monte Carlo is a newer kit, or at least, ‘newer’ as in it’s from the mid-1990s. The original kit from 1970 was available as a standard ‘annual’, with detailing parts and ‘build one of three ways’ - stock, custom or competition. There was also a ‘Motor City Stocker’ version, a series which were basically unassembled promotionals. But both had then-standard one-piece chassis, and limited underhood detail, so in later years some of these annuals were retooled to incorporate new levels of detail. This occurred with the 1962 Ford Thunderbird, particularly as the tooling for the original Annual kit had been updated to the later years, and now with this 1970 Monte Carlo. Now you get a fully detailed engine bay and a fully detailed chassis with separate parts for the front and rear axles, and twin exhaust system - all lacking in...

NOW AND AGAIN, IT’S GOOD to put a model together that doesn’t involve hundreds of parts, hours of painting, and a decal sheet the size of a small country. Mat Irvine:  Enter the Revell Snap Tite kit of the 2014 Corvette Stingray. This is intended for ‘junior’ modellers (whoever they are) and straight out of the box, this Vette can be snapped together in half an hour, perhaps even less. Inside the box are a detailed body, interior and chassis pans, wheels and tyres, and a set of peel-off decals. You don’t get an opening hood, a separate engine or chassis parts, though of course you can add more detail  if you wish. The box ( below ) contains a body in yellow, with other parts in black, chrome, clear and translucent red. Sub-assemblies ( below ) show the interior with seats and instrument panel fitted. The window glass has had black trim applied. The Revell 2014 Corvette Stingray kit is moulded in yellow, a stock Corvette shade, but when I came to the build I overpainted it in t...