SCALE MODEL NEWS

REPORT BY MAT IRVINE: Here I continue my review of the 2012 WonderFest science-fiction and fantasy show, held at the end of May in Louisville, Kentucky - and take a close look at the test shot ( above ) of the huge 1:350 scale USS Enterprise due for release soon. The large scale means that the bridge of the Enterprise is clearly visible (above).  Main runners (below) for the kit.   Mighty starship Jamie Hood of Round-2 showed off the upcoming Star Trek USS Enterprise . This is the original version from the first series, and ‘the best’ as Scotty might maintain, “No bloody A, B C, or D…” The kit is made to a massive 1:350 scale, and stretches some 813 mm (32 in) long. Five moulding colours are involved: two shades of grey and three transparent tints. The Enterprise will be sold under the Polar Lights name, and should be available in October. You even get a tiny Galileo shuttlecraft, seen below next to a business card. Munsters at home Frank Winspur and Dave Metzner...

David Jefferis reports: There are some big smiles at Moebius Models this month, as the 1:8 scale Bela Lugosi Dracula kit won the 2012 Rondo Award. The Moebius win is one of several made in the horror genre, and is for the ‘Best Toy, Model or Collectible.’ The kit The kit shows the famed Dracula actor bela Lugosi, as he appeared on Broadway in the 1920s. It’s made to 1:8 scale, and comes with the diorama base as shown, though the bat is not included, which is a shame. Due very soon is a deluxe version, which will include a female victim (one of his brides, I guess) and extra components to make the necessary larger base. Other winners in the category Runners-up: The Munsters (Diamond Select), Bride of Frankenstein (Diamond Select), Godzilla ornament (Carlton). Honorable mentions: Twilight Zone bank teller (Bif!Bang!Pow!), Barbara from Night of the Living Dead (Emce) Rondo: the Awards The Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards (‘Rondos’ to those in the know) are named after Rondo Hatton,...

A Mat Irvine review You had the same situation with the classic Aurora monster kits - all had their own names: Dracula, Wolfman, The Mummy, Creature from the Black Lagoon... except Frankenstein, for it was of course a monster of his own creation, not Dr Frankenstein himself. But over the years the two have ended up as virtually interchangeable names.  Moebius breeds a new monster in the cellar Although the original Aurora kit has reigned supreme for nearly half a century, there’s now a new kid on the block, or in this case, monster in the cellar: the new kit of Frankenstein’s Monster from Moebius Models. Some Moebius kits have simply been recreations of Aurora kits, but this kit is brand new. However, it is made in a similar style to those of Aurora, to the same 1:8  scale, and posed in some appropriate scenic setting, but in a completely different location. Also, and although Aurora modelled the actor most associated with the creature - Boris Karloff - pretty closely, this mo...

Mat Irvine reports The Munster Koach is one of the most famous ‘Star Cars’ ever built, and was the main mode of transport for Herman Munster, the Frankenstein-lookalike husband in the 1960s family sitcom, The Munsters. The real-life Koach used in the series was built by George Barris, self-styled ‘King of the Kustomizers’ (his spelling), from three Ford Model T-bucket bodies. It sits on a custom chassis, with hand-formed brass radiator and scrollwork, and stretches 5.5 m (18 ft) in length. Power comes from a 289 cu in Ford Cobra engine, bored out to 425 cu in, with a four-speed stick shift. All in all, the Munster Koach was certainly large enough to transport the five members of the Munster family in style. It still exists too - you can see it at the UK’s Cars of the Stars Museum. AMT Koach kit AMT was quick to produce a 1:25 kit of the Koach, which first appeared in 1964 and although one of the simpler kits compared to many of the company’s offerings, it still looked the part when bui...