SCALE MODEL NEWS

We don't do too much in the way of radio-control gear at SMN, though maybe we should if an amazingly huge model is anything to go by. In flight, it looks pretty much like the real thing (above) so be impressed with how they fly the mighty MiG-25 down under, in New Zealand. The video shows the maiden flight of what is claimed as, "...probably the largest jet-powered scale model of a MiG-25." We're not going to dispute that, as at 4.2m (13.8ft) long and weighing some 42kg (92.6lb) the  monster MiG  is a mammoth model. For  this  flight it was test-flown by 18-year-old Clinton on the first day of the ANZAC jet rally in Tokoroa, New Zealand.  Unfortunately, the second flight did not go as well, and promised a video of that - and we can't wait to see the crunch! Video posted by 'xjet' who has a   video channel here . Header pic of MiG25RB, courtesy Wikimedia Commons/Alex Beltyukov RuSpotters Team. Plenty of smaller scale MiG-25 kits and other stuff here. Heaps ...

A 1:48 scale kit from Kitty Hawk Models that captures the lines of the famed MiG-25 Foxbat very well indeed. This high-speed machine from Russian designers Mikoyan and Gurevich  - NATO codename Foxbat - really raised eyebrows in the West when it first went into service in 1970. For pure speed, the MiG-25 was a winner. The prototype flew in 1964, demonstrating a top speed of more than Mach 2.8, while being equipped with a powerful radar system and a quartet of air-to-air missiles. Actually, the mighty MiG could go even faster than this, being tested at more than Mach 3, but as the engines risked burnout at this speed, in-service performance was somewhat slower. The pictures reveal how much work the engineers at Kitty Hawk Models have put into the 1:48 scale kit, with the brass parts being particularly noteworthy. Overall, the detail is handled well, though the model will repay careful spray work, so as not to fill the many countersunk rivets and panel lines. The trick is to waft sev...