SCALE MODEL NEWS

A KIT REISSUE THAT harks back to the golden age of Detroit dream cars. SMN report:  The 1950s decade was an amazing era for technical progress. Fuelled by the demands of Cold War politics, civil and military advances went hand in hand, with aviation in particular going from straight-wing slowpokes to Mach 2 skyblazers. And that progress was matched by events on the highway, for it was the age of the Detroit dream car. Every auto show displayed amazing vehicles, many of them taking their inspiration directly from the fast jets screaming overhead. One of the finest of those dream cars was the Lincoln Futura, described at the time as ‘A 250,000 Dollar Laboratory on Wheels’. The fold-back bubble canopies looked absolutely great, as did the hooded headlights and shark-mouth grilles front and rear. Under the sleek bodywork, the Futura was powered by a modified V-8 engine, and supported by a tubular steel chassis. This reissue of the original 1956 kit ( above, below ) takes you back ...

SMN report: Mattel’s Hot Wheels line has released a treat for Batman fans, with the latest Limited Edition Batmobile. “Not another Batmobile...” I hear you sigh, but read on, for this is a biggie 1:18 scale diecast model, with opening sections that reveal enough inner details to make it a unique entry for the Batman memorabilia shelf. What you get Features include a lift-up front panel, under which lurks a neatly-produced engine, and next to it, a standard-issue car battery. Venture inside the double-bubble canopy via the opening doors, and you should see the red Batphone, complete with retro-style wiggly wiring; there’s also fine red piping adorning the seat trim and plenty of cabin detail. Behind the seating area are a trio of rocket launchers, while continuing aft, you find another lift-up panel, revealing computer systems and some fairly mysterious Bat-tech equipment. Winning touches for me are the finely-lettered twin parachute packs (labelled 'Bat chutes') positioned eith...

SMN report We’re using ‘unboxing’ in its widest sense here, as most of this new product is actually flat printed paper. Still, who’s quibbling - what we have is the first in ‘the definitive collection of Batman vehicles’, and this starter for what could be a l-o-o-n-g partwork series makes a terrific package, and as is usually the case with partworks, it’s offered as a knockdown price to lure you in as a faithful subscriber. Excellent package Well, suckers we’re not, and this looks like one of the better offerings around. For just £2.99 GBP ($4.84 USD) you get a big 477 x 326 mm (18.75 x 12.8 in) double-sided backer board, on which is mounted a 12-page magazine, an eight-page series intro, three free-offer sheets and a Questionnaire Survey. This last asks far too many personal questions for this good ol’ boy, but those less sensitive about their private lives may well fill it in for the chance to win one of 10 Batman DVDs. Diecast Batmobile And now to the prime component of the package...

SMN report We inspected the two-piece solid wheels sported by Revell’s Lincoln Futura, and mentioned that the tyre elements were not made of rubber, like most kits these days. Well, that's not quite right and here’s a correction from the acknowledged expert of scale auto models, Mat Irvine, who reminded us that almost all model tyres are not rubber at all, they’re usually made of vinyl, a soft plastic compound. The styrene killer strikes Apparently, the composition of some early vinyls could attack styrene and literally melt it, and Mat has a few examples of this. In Mat’s words: “I recall AMT for one went to styrene for many of its tyres in the 1970s for this very reason and only returned to vinyl in later years, when the formula had been changed. Airfix had the same trouble with the tyres in its James Bond DB5 kit, and with the tracks for many of its tank kits.” Austin-Healey model kit Mat continued: “This could have applied to the most recent reissue of the Revell Germany Austin...

The famed Batmobile has a long history, and more design changes than we can count. The tale of this fabled vehicle began with the 1955 Lincoln Futura 'dream car', touted at the time as: ‘A $250,000 laboratory on wheels’, complete with twin plexiglass canopies, hooded lights and air scoops for cooling the brakes. However, after successful display at various auto shows, the car was sold to the ace of auto-customizers, George Barris, who a decade later worked with stylist Dean Jeffries to produce the Batmobile of 1966 we know so well from the successful TV series. Before that however, the Futura had been modelled to 1:25 scale by Revell as part of the Modern Car Kit series and the pictures we show here are of the kit's 1995 reissue. It’s simple enough, containing just 36 parts plus a pair of metal axles. The wheels were moulded in two halves as standard hard-plastic components - car kits had not yet evolved to include separate tyres. The box art is typical Revell of the time -...