SCALE MODEL NEWS

BEST WISHES TO ALL OUR READERS and have a truly excellent scale time over the festive break. And of course, we also wish you a prosperous and productive 2020. Scale modelling need not be limited to plastic kits. The miniatures ( below ) are based on ready-made metal-and-plastic models, tweaked, adjusted, and repainted to make them one-off originals. At left is a Maisto 1:25 scale VW 'splitty' Samba van, complete with transparent roof section, wide wheels, and a sound system interior. Mods include a repaint, and superdetailed engine compartment. Also from Maisto is the 1:24 scale Ford rod ( middle ) which is presently under conversion to 'super-rusty' Mad Max mode. The chromed engine will be replaced by an electric motor, suitable for the dystopian future depicted in the movie series. The 1:24 scale Jada Batmobile ( right ) has rotating wheels, lift-up canopy halves, and a rotating mini-gun in the nose. It's already a good-looking beast, but a reworking next year wil...

THIS HANDSOMELY PACKAGED 1:24 scale cab-over engine (COE) Chevrolet pickup truck from the 1950s adds a gleaming retro flavour to a neatly sculpted Wonder Woman figure. SMN report: The diecast truck is one of the DC Comics Bombshells range from Jada. The 1:24 scale gives it plenty of heft in the hand, and the included figure of Wonder Woman is a good size. The model is one of six, each representing a different vehicle/figure duo from the DC universe. The excellent packaging is a big draw for the range, figure and truck ( below ) both being firmly attached to the card base, but are easily removable when needed. One oddity is that the backdrop includes a flight of British Avro Lancaster bombers, to which we say "...wrong war, Jada!" Movie buffs will note that the film was set during World War I, the Lancaster being a veteran of World War II. And that's all true if this model was based on the highly watchable movie. But it's not. Instead, the range was inspired by a ret...