SCALE MODEL NEWS

SMN report The Chinese model company Dragon continues to add subjects to its wide-ranging list of AFV kits. This time, it’s a ‘model aircraft’ 1:72 scale Type 95 Ha-Go light tank, as manufactured by Mitsubishi and used in the 1942 Philippines campaign. Type 95 tank, preserved at the US Army Ordnance Museum. The Type 95 tank The 4.38 m (14.4 ft) long Type 95 was the most common light tank used by the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA), with some 2300 manufactured in all, production starting in 1935. It had been designed as support for advancing infantry, and although lightly armoured, Japanese commanders reckoned its speed - up to 45 km/h (28 mph) on a decent surface - and design flexibility made up for this. The Type 95 weighed just 7.4 tonnes, had a crew of three, with a 37mm main gun.  Dragon cgi images show neat detailing for production kits. What’s in the box? AFVs at 1:72 scale are tiny jewels indeed, and the Dragon Type 95 is no exception. However, that’s no bad thing, as the model...

SMN report The Chinese model company Dragon continues to add models to its ‘Space Collection’ range. The subjects vary in scale from 1:72 to 1:400 scale, plus 1:6 scale astronaut figures. Spacecraft are ready-built, mixing diecast-and-plastic parts, and there are several new ones that have just come in, including a variation on the 1:72 scale X-37B ‘mini Shuttle’ we discussed a while back. X-37B glides in to a smooth landing Dragon’s latest X-37B represents the automated vehicle in early glide-test mode, which is a neat (if specialist) addition to a tabletop space fleet. As we mentioned before, the real thing looks distinctly more careworn than this miniature version, but no matter, you can always give Dragon’s X-37B a dose of the weathering treatment with an airbrush. Delta II space launcher Next up, Dragon present us with a 1:400 scale Delta II launch rocket. This is an old-stager in NASA’s lineup, having been around since 1989, the rocket counting no less than seven Mars missions am...

SMN report News that the US company SpaceX successfully test-flew its Dragon space capsule today makes SMN really proud - for this company is in the vanguard of the privatization of space. Along with the likes of Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic program, it looks as if there might be a future for rocketry in the post-Space Shuttle era after all. Spacecraft models from Dragon And talking of Dragons, the Chinese model company of the same name is busy releasing a miniature ‘Space Collection’, to 1:72 and 1:400 scale, plus 1:6 scale astronaut figures. The spacecraft are all ready-built, mixing diecast metal with injection-plastic parts, and while some are familiar subjects - Apollo and Shuttle feature strongly - there is at least one really interesting of-the-moment release, and that’s the 1:72 scale X-37B OTV (Orbital Test Vehicle). X-37B in space Looking much like a mini-Shuttle (and originally designed to fit inside a Space Shuttle cargo bay) NASA’s X-37B program was taken over by ...

Most entries in SMN are of bookshelf-size models, ranging from 1:35 or so (model AFVs) down into the 1:700 range (model ships), but sometimes a different ‘something’ comes along that makes us step back in awe - and today that’s the world of BIIIGGG scale model tanks, represented in the pictures here, shown courtesy Mark 1 Tanks. As you can see, the Mark 1 AFVs are simply humungously huge - certainly big enough to chew up the garden with tread patterns through the flower beds! 1:6 scale tanks are highly suitable for using with existing military figures and equipment, such as those from Hong Kong-based Dragon, while 1:4 scale ones are that much bigger and heavier - the Tiger 1, for example, measures 2.1 m (7 ft) including the gun barrel, and weighs some 200 kg (440 lb). Options on tanks like this typically include a turret that turns, elevating gun with firing sound and recoil, there’s even a smoke generator to simulate engine exhaust fumes, necessary because the model runs on clean el...