SCALE MODEL NEWS

THE TEMPEST IS going forward as a new project, with a target in-service date from 2035. It will almost certainly replace the current Eurofighter Typhoon fleet, used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and eight other air arms. The UK-based BAE Systems is leading Team Tempest, with partners that include Leonardo, MBDA, Rolls-Royce. There's no model kit of the future Tempest released yet, though several are in development with garage companies. Our bet for a future Tempest kit is with Allen B. Ury and his excellent California-based Fantastic Plastic. Click here to visit the Fantastic Plastic site , and drool at the amazing range of concept and fictional air and space craft that's available.  The Tempest will doubtless change as it develops, but even now surely supplies a real-life look at the worlds of the future. Click here to see a glimpse at the upcoming website for Worlds of the Future.

This is one of the second batch of Leonardo creations, originated by Academy in South Korea, then repackaged for the European market by Italeri. Mat Irvine: The human-powered ornithopter is one of Leonard da Vinci’s best known concepts, a predecessor to the aeroplane, though designed with flapping wings like a bird or a bat. The 1:25 scale Italeri kit is one of the simplest you are likely to build, as all the components snap together, and you could probably have it complete in just 10 minutes or so. Moulded in two shades of plastic, representing wood and metal, most of the construction - and the components - go toward creating a working aspect, as the model is powered by a clockwork motor that makes the wings flap up and down. The ornithopter airframe itself consists of only nine parts, the remaining components consisting of gears and other parts that enable the wing motion. The ‘spines’ on the wings (above) have an extra cavity at their tips, so the molten plastic flows through. Thes...

MAT IRVINE: Here are two more kits in the Revell-Germany Leonardo da Vinci range. These kits reflect Leonardo’s fascination with the ‘machineries of war’ as they are the Multiple Barrel Gun or ‘Mehrfachgeschutz’  (‘Multiple Protection’ in German, according to Google Translate) and what is almost certainly one of Leonardo’s most famous and most recognizable designs, a circular tank-like vehicle that runs on wheels. On the box-top Revell calls it an Armoured Vehicle (‘Panzerwagen’). Multi-material kits As with other Revell Leonardo kits, and unlike those currently available from other model companies, ‘contemporary materials’ are used, not plastic. These are mostly in wood, though both kits also employ cast-metal parts for their gun barrels. Metal guns The 1:16 scale Multiple Barrel Gun (above) is the simpler of the two models. It has 34 laser-cut wooden parts, (29 for the gun, five for the base), and ten metal gun barrels, plus one metal ‘adjusting screw’. All these kits are scaled,...

FIRST LOOK FROM MAT IRVINE Here’s one more of Revell Germany’s intriguing kit series featuring the inventions of Leonardo da Vinci. This one is the ballista, a potent and deadly version of the catapult. As in other kits in the series, you get a selection of pre-cut wood parts, and an assortment of other contemporary materials, in this case rope (well, ‘string’) and a threaded metal rod, used to get your ballista primed and ready to fling its rock load at the enemy. Backup materials There are 41 parts to the kit, and Revell also includes a similar set of associated materials, as featured in other da Vinci kits - there are detailed instructions and a booklet explaining Leonardo’s thinking behind the project. In the picture ( above ) small parts are contained in the bag at the front, along with a bottle of PVA wood glue. The main components ( below ) are neatly presented. You also get a frameable parchment-style print with Leonardo’s image and his original design. Improve and dev...

SMN Report from Mat Irvine: Here we see the latest in the innovative Revell series, depicting the machines and inventions of the Renaissance artist and inventor, Leonardo da Vinci. Mixed materials The Revell kit follows the pattern set in the rest of the line, being made of mixed ‘natural’ materials, so there's nothing that would appear strange to Leonardo himself, in this case in the form of wood, cloth, and thread ‘rope’.  What’s in the box? The parachute kit is one of the simpler ones in the range, with six components making up the parachute frame itself, eight for the parachutist figure, and five for the stand, including a nameplate. Also in the box are the cloth and thread. Width across each side of the wooden frame measures some 180 mm (7.1 in).  Building the Leonardo parachute With the main parachute frame completed and allowed to dry, the pre-cut (and ‘pre-antiqued’) cloth is glued to each side, the excess cut off when the glue has dried. The human ‘passenger’ is a st...

Mat Irvine reports: Apart from the Mona Lisa, the Vitruvian Man pen-and-ink sketch is probably Leonardo’s da Vinci’s most famous image, and something of an international trademark. And it’s now the subject for Revell’s latest Leonardo kit, the only model in the series that represents a more metaphysical side, rather than his designs and inventions. Baker’s dozen build-up Vetruvian Man is the simplest kit so far in the da Vinci series, consisting of just 13 pre-cut wooden parts. Seven of these are for the base and nameplate, which leaves six to create a 3D representation of Vitruvian Man himself. As with the other kits, the wood parts are laser-cut, which leaves a suitably ‘aged’ look to the edges, and the supplied bottle of PVA glue can cement everything together in very short order.  Assembling the base The base is built up first, the box structure held together with elastic bands while the glue dries, then it’s a simple matter of slotting the various circles into place. Impressi...