SCALE MODEL NEWS

REVELL-MONOGRAM CONTINUES TO DIVE into the tooling bin of the original Renwal company, retrieving and releasing kits more or less as they were, ‘way back when.’ Mat Irvine:  The new Lacrosse Missile box design ( below ) is a tweaked version of the original. It features the famous Renwal Blueprint style, and, apart from details such as the SSP (Selected Subjects Program) logo and the modern ‘age and skill’ levels, it’s much as it was when first released in 1960. There has only been one reissue since then, in 1974, though this was in a far less evocative box. This latest Renwal Lacrosse is the first such for more than 40 years. The Renwal kit, consisting of the surface-to-surface Lacrosse missile on its mobile transporter/launcher, assembles to make a large model, even in 1:32 scale. The components ( below ) are now all moulded in light blue-grey. The original truck parts were in olive drab, the missile in white. Considering its age, the kit tooling has survived remarkably well, with...

REVELL ACQUIRED THE RENWAL name and most of its tooling in 1976. A number of kits have been re-released, the latest being the M-50 Ontos, which uses the original Renwal logo, box-style, and Blueprint Models series title. Mat Irvine: Several Renwal 1:32 scale Blueprint Models have already appeared, the name emphasising that they were scaled from ‘official blueprints.’ They have been released under the watchful eye of Revell’s Product Manager Ed Sexton, who was keen to reintroduce the Renwal name and Blueprint title. The Atomic Cannon, Twin Forty, Teracruzer and Mace Missile have already been released, and now the M-50 Ontos joins the lineup. The Ontos is a strange-looking military vehicle, perhaps reflected in its name, the Greek word for ‘Thing.’ It was designed as an anti-tank weapon, armed with two sets of three launchers, in effect six M-40 106 mm recoilless rifles, mounted on a relatively small tracked chassis. There are 108 parts ( below ) in the box, including three crew. The ki...

WE ARE GREAT FANS OF OLD KITS AND retro-style box art at SMN, so news that Revell is re-releasing the old Renwal M42 Twin Forty AFV is very interesting indeed. The Revell Renwal Twin Forty kit is produced to the unusual - for AFVs - 1:32 scale. This is rather good actually, as it can sit well with plenty of same-scale Airfix vehicles and any number of aircraft models.  The M42 Twin Forty was an anti-aircraft weapon, mounting two Bofors 40 mm cannon as a 'sky sweeper' firing up to 240 rounds per minute. As such, it is a relevant piece of equipment that would make appropriate shelf-top company for any 1:32 scale Cold War aircraft of the 1950s.  Indeed, the M42 could also be used in a Vietnam War display, as it was recalled into service in 1966, and became a powerful anti-infantry weapon, named the Duster. The kit is reasonably complex, with 175 components and when assembled measures some 180 mm (7.1 in) long. Five figures are included, though these don't have the level...

The Renwal Visible Man is one of the best-known model kits ever made. Here are details of how it came to be, as told by Adam Rosenbloom, grandson of the Visible Man’s inventor, Irving Rosenbloom. SMN report: The Invisible Man’s genesis makes a fascinating story, as narrated by Adam Rosenbloom. Adam: “My grandfather, Irving Rosenbloom, was the inventor of the Visible Man model kit U.S. patent 2,988,823, June 20, 1961, a matter of public record. 

“He is listed as the only inventor. My father recalls that the seed idea to produce a transparent plastic model toy was inspired by seeing a model of a human skeleton in the Hall of Human Origins at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. It was HIS brainchild. “Later, other collaborators associated with Renwal would join the production team, tasked with such assignments as implementing the shaping for the plastic internal organs. My grandfather was a very modest person and preferred to remain ‘behind the scenes’ throughout hi...

From Mat Irvine: Here’s a look at Revell-Monogram kits for release in 2012. I’ve previously  mentioned the recreated Renwal Blueprint series, with the futuristic Teracruzer and Mace missile, but there’s much more coming down the line. Car kits First up, the lime-green 1932 Ford 'Rat Roaster' ( above ) shown at October’s International iHobby Expo in Chicago was a taste of things to come, as the car will soon be released as a brand-new 1:25 scale kit. In fact, there’s a feast of US wheels coming our way, as the Rat Roaster will be joined by a 1950 Oldsmobile Coupe, representative of an automobile marque that has largely slipped through the running boards until now. This fully-detailed kit, seen as a test shot at iHobby, will have various build options, including the choice of finishing as a plain-Jane stock version, or hopped up as a mild custom. Both the Ford and Oldsmobile should be available early 2012. Metal to plastic Corvette The 1962 Corvette will also be available around ...

SMN report: Reference last week’s mention of the upcoming Revell-Renwal Teracruzer and Mace reissue, Mat Irvine has kindly supplied these pictures of an assembled model. We’ve also shown the original box, so you can see the minor differences between the then-and-now kits.  More than just a static model You can also see that the kit has a classic hallmark of the era - working parts, indicated by the words: “fully operating model” on the box. The Mace can be displayed in a horizontal stored position, or raised into launch-ramp firing mode. In that respect, it’s quite similar to many of the better diecasts of the time, such as the Corgi Bloodhound anti-aircraft missile. Renwal design features The Mace shares useful kit-design features with the M65 Atomic Cannon, described by Renwal as “Positive Assembly” and “No Show” cementing. Designed in the first place as helpful aids to younger modelmakers, these are factors that could still appeal to anyone with a shaky hand. Look out there! Inc...

Mat Irvine:   Revell has owned most of the old Renwal company’s moulds for decades - actually, since 1976 - and has reissued many of those kits. So far, these have been released in Revell boxes, but now, thanks to Product Manager Ed Sexton, the original distinctive Renwal box-art has been reintroduced, including the Renwal brand name. Blueprinter series One thing Ed liked about the original art is that Renwal issued military kits in its ‘Blueprint’ series, as the company maintained proudly that such models were designed: “from original blueprints”. To this end, the boxes featured a distinctive blue-grid design. OK, maybe the grid is not a real blueprint, but it still looks good!  Bill Lastovich (left) and Ed Sexton of Revell-Monogram. Mobile artillery In 2010, Revell reissued the 138-part Renwal 1:32 scale Big Shot self-propelled howitzer, complete with six-man combat crew and working features. Now it’s the turn of an even bigger kit, the Renwal M65 Atomic Cannon. The original...