SCALE MODEL NEWS

  THE SCALE MODEL PASSION divides pretty neatly into two worlds - the craft-driven hobby of scale modelling, and the collector-driven desire for a ready-built collection.  SMN report:  Those two camps are both quite well served today, and there is certainly some crossover between them. There are pros and cons for the two sides. Building a scale model from a kit is likely to be deeply satisfying and indeed much more personal - after all, every iteration of an Avro Lancaster is effectively a one-off, depending on your skill level, the  amount of added super-detailing, and the particular colour scheme chosen. Nice details in the cgi images of the bouncing bomb ( above, below ) used in the Airfix kit of the Dambusters Avro Lancaster.   On the other hand, ready-built models give the satisfaction of instant ownership and a chance to buy into a limited-edition run, without needing a high skill level or the time required to produce a top-class replic And perhaps there c...

Dinky Toys are an ever-popular diecast collector's choice, whether you are a serious collector or would simply like a few to decorate your shelves as a reminder of childhood days. Bright colours and the markings of a popular processed food company marked out this Dinky Toys Bedford delivery van. It's one of the bigger models that Dinky sold as 'Supertoys', and came in the instantly recognisable blue-and-white striped cardboard box. Here's a Dinky Toys brochure (below) which we uploaded to Issuu, the online-magazine site. We guarantee a good read! The Centurion tank (below) was a must-have in any British boy's Dinky Toys collection, albeit the casting was rather basic - note here that the suspension wheels were moulded with the tank side-skirts, rather than being freely-rotating components. Even so, the Centurion did have a rotating turret, and looked very impressive when mounted on the Mighty Antar (below) tank transporter, which came complete with a pair of fol...

Older readers may recall the smash-hit animated movie Yellow Submarine, released in 1968. Here’s a collectible from that hippy era, a Corgi Toys diecast model of the sub, complete with a ‘Fab Four’ crew, who travel under two folding hatches. More than four decades later, the Corgi Toys Yellow Submarine is not exactly made of unobtainium, as a steady trickle of the appealing model appears on auction sites, such as eBay. However, that hasn’t stopped prices for good examples easing gently upwards over the years, and there are several Yellow Subs currently for sale, at prices ranging from a highly affordable $30 USD to a wallet-withering buy-it-now price of $899.95 USD. At the top end, the ad claims, “Very rare original 1968 Beatles Yellow Submarine die cast corgi toy. No. 803. Small dent in top of plastic window, which is difficult to capture with the photos. But there are no holes in plastic window. As for the box, “Box discolored a bit and has tape on right side. The die cast model insi...

SMN report There’s little doubt that in these difficult financial times, it pays to have some form of savings scheme beyond a bank account and a pension company. And for model fans that can be a pleasure, combining financial commonsense with a hobby, for unbuilt kits and diecasts represent pretty decent items to have in your portfolio. Rare Dinky Toys Of the two, diecasts show the most spectacular prices, with auctions regularly achieving astonishing levels - even in a recession, or perhaps especially in a recession, prices hold firm and there have been bidding wars between individuals and fund managers at some salerooms. Dinky Toys in particular are a high achiever where values are concerned, with models from small production runs being very highly prized. Examples include the Avro Vulcan jet V-bomber, of which only 500 or so were released, or virtually anything from the mid-1930s to 1943, when Dinky production stopped for three years until after the end of World War II. Dinky prices ...