SCALE MODEL NEWS

  THIS IS AN EXCELLENT 1:48 scale Revell kit of the MiG-21, the most-widely produced jet fighter of the former Soviet Union. Mat Irvine:  The MiG-21, NATO code name ‘Fishbed K’ seems to be a Revell kit – except that it’s not. In fact, the kit is a Revell-badged reissue of an Eduard kit, with the advantage that it’s slightly cheaper. Either way the Revell MiG-21 SMT makes an interesting and highly detailed model, and with over 300 parts in the box it should do, even if not all are used in this particular version. This is definitely not a kit for beginners, as it comes with the highest Revell skill category, Level 5. However, this is no bad thing at all, as anyone aware of Eduard products will know that the company is highly regarded for high-quality kits. Two versions of the Revell MiG-21 SMT can be built, ‘05 White’ or ‘86 Red’. There is a highly complex set of decals to cater for the markings required, with over 100 numbered items, many of them as multiples. There is also a w...

HERE'S A FASCINATING VIDEO showing a full build of a 1:48 sale Eduard Fw 190. There's certainly no shortage of TLC where this kit is concerned.  SMN report: The model gets the medical glove treatment, which is a definite must if you do much close-in airbrushing. Gloves are great for skin protection, as is wearing a surgical mask to protect your airways and lungs. I once sprayed a deep-sea scene without a mask, and ended up sneezing and coughing blue-green gudge for a week. Never again!    Weathering and dirtying up is a big part of preparing this kit. Now if I had been a Luftwaffe pilot at the time, I might have had stern words with my ground crew for the filthy condition of my aircraft. But my clean habits aside, this Eduard model really looks the part, especially under the engine cowlings. Builder David Danek deserves a mention, as the aircraft underlines just how far you can take super-detailing. I particularly like the ultra-fine antenna wiring - and the dulling dow...

SMN REPORT: Eduard Model Accessories is based in the Czech Republic, and it’s a company that has earned a good reputation, especially for its photo-etch accessories. Right now, you can find out a lot more by having a look at 'Info Eduard', the downloadable monthly e-mag. As you might expect, Info Eduard covers most aspects of model making, in particular Eduard’s own output, and it’s a mine of information. Kit range So far as kits go, Eduard has four main strands. ProfiPACK is the basic edition, containing a plastic model kit with extra items such as photo-etch sets, masks, plus decals for four to six marking options. Higher standard Limited Edition kits offer modded kits from other manufacturers as well as Eduard’s own, brought up to a higher standard, with ProfiPACK-style extras. There may also be added resin details, such as exhausts, engines, and figures. Basic release Weekend Edition models offer a simpler and less expensive alternative. Instead of all the extras, the aim i...

SMN Weekender: Zoukei-Mura is one of the newer kit manufacturers, and has a product range to match, with just four major items currently in the range, backed up by accessory sets in resin, plastic and metal. Detail - and lots of it - is a prime aim for Zoukei-Mura, and the latest kit of the Douglas AD-6 Skyraider is simply packed with intricate mouldings. Instruction manuals These are works of art in themselves, and a match for those produced over the years by Tamiya. Well done, Zoukei-Mura: it had to happen sometime. In fact, of course, when you have kits as intricate as these, a more-than-decent manual is not a luxury, but a necessity. Big scale Zoukei-Mura has (so far) concentrated on 1:32 scale, and we reckon it’s a good decision. The subjects lend themselves to this big scale, and even a relatively small machine such as the German Kettenkrad (‘chain wheel) troop tractor ( below ) is still a reasonable size. To 1:32 scale the Kettenkrad is 91 mm (3.6 in) long, with 51 components. ...

SMN report: Due from Hasegawa later this month is the bright yellow-and-black Bell P-39Q Airacobra that was flown to victory by Alvin ‘Tex’ Johnston, in the 1946 Thompson Air Race. The kit is a 1:48 scale model of Johnston’s max-power modified machine, and it makes a real change to see a military aircraft model produced in colourful civilian markings. About the kit The Hasegawa P-39Q is a 79-component kit, to 1:48 scale, giving it a wingspan of some 216 mm (8.5 in) when assembled. There aren’t too many changes from the standard military machine, though the real thing was lightened dramatically, and had an oil cooler fitted under the belly to cope with the high-power nature of the race, and this is featured accurately in the Hasegawa kit. Naturally enough, there are no guns fitted to this speed racer. The kit includes the bigger four bladed propeller used, and the decal sheet for the race-winning Cobra II looks accurate enough. The nose flash might be easier to paint by hand, rather t...

SMN weekender: Here's the first in a series of inside-looks at the model making industry, and who makes what, when, and where. First off, we visit the Czech Republic, and the respected Eduard brand. Birth of Eduard Eduard Model Accessories was formed in 1989 in the basement of co-owner Ctirad Kurak’s house in Most, Czechoslovakia, now the Czech Republic. Two years before, Ctirad Kurak and his partner Vladimir Sulc had started making photo-etch items for themselves, and once underway, decided that they might be able to expand by selling to model stores.  Opening up a production line In 1990, the first Eduard photo-etch item was produced for retail sale, a super-detail set suitable for a 1:48 scale Sukhoi Su 25K. The same year, Kurak and Sulc made more sets, and sales were so good that the duo moved into a proper office and in 1991, they went further still and opened up a production line. A Sopwith duo There was demand for other scales as well and so 1:72 and 1:35 items were added to...