SCALE MODEL NEWS

PLASTIC IS GREAT AS A MODEL-MAKING MEDIUM. But every now and again, it's good to try something new – or old, in this example of that traditional material, balsa wood. David Jefferis: Tom Grigat is SMN's uncrowned king of stop-motion videography, and he's here with one of his movie productions, which is impeccable as ever. The model is a Dumas kit of the short-takeoff Feiseler Storch from World War II. Enjoy! Dumas has an interesting range of kits, and is especially strong in ship models.  Click here for a selection to look at.

HERE'S ANOTHER SUPERB VIDEO from master model-maker, Tom Grigat. Enjoy!

ANOTHER FINE VIDEO FROM MASTER model maker, Tom Grigat. The kit is from the 1:48 scale Eduard Royal series, and includes resin and brass components. The kit is marked 'discontinued' at the Eduard website , but is available elsewhere, including at Hannants , the UK-based online model seller. Red Tail Mustangs were flown by the famed Tuskegee Airmen, of the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group of the US Army Air Forces. Scroll to the bottom to see a trailer for Red Tails , the 2012 movie from LucasFilm. It's well worth watching, with some excellent action sequences. A lineup of Tuskegee airman ( below ) standing in front of a pair of Vultee Vengeance bombers, used here for training.   The 1:72 scale Airfix P-51 D ( below ) is a good kit, albeit at the smaller size.   Tuskegee airmen wait for a mission ( below ). Note the underwing fuel tank, which gave the aircraft a massively increased range. Once empty, it could be released, hence the term 'drop tank....

HERE IS ANOTHER excellent video from Tom Grigat, whose YouTube subscriber count is currently not far short of 50,000. That's pretty cool, Tom, and we hope your fanbase keeps growing! SMN report: Tom reckons the model reminds him of an early Batmobile. That’s an interesting thought, though reality is just as fascinating, and is fact rather than fiction. The Romfell Panzerwagen was a 1915 Austro-Hungarian armoured car, which had an unusual inward-sloping body, designed to deflect enemy fire downwards. It was designed by Hauptmann Romanic and Oberleutnant Fellner, who combined their surnames to create the Romfell brand name. Their creation had an air-cooled machine gun in a pillbox-style turret. Overall, the Romfell seems like an excellent design, even if it’s likely that only one was ever made. The kit is made by US manufacturer, Copper State Models (CSM), which specialises in World War I-era models. The Romfell has transparent headlight parts, full engine and interior detail, and c...

HERE'S ANOTHER VIDEO TREAT from the master of stop-motion videos, Tom Grigat. This time he assembles a 1:16 scale model from the Spanish manufacturer, Artisania Latina. SMN report:  Artesania Latina kits are produced in Spain, and the company’s models are respected by model makers worldwide as among the most detailed and historically accurate replicas it’s possible to get. Here’s what the company has to say about its activities: “We are a family company which designs, makes and commercializes our products in 47 countries around the world.” The principal subjects of Artesania Latina are naval models and doll’s houses, for which the company makes all the parts and accessories, as well as supplying woods, adhesives, hand and electrical tools, for these and all kind of model-making and hobbies. The company headquarters is in Lamadrid on the northern cost of Spain. There is also a manufacturing plant in China, an office in Hong Kong, and a distribution affiliated company in the UK. Tom ...

ENJOY THIS VIDEO giving details of the upcoming 1:72 scale Airfix Avro Vulcan B.2. This is looks to be a very exciting kit for anyone with an interest in military aviation of the Cold War era. SMN report: Airfix chose the recent IPMS Show at Telford, UK, to reveal this new project. Last year, the star of the show was the Airfix 1:24 scale Hellcat. Next year? Who knows what will be revealed, but we're looking forward to it! And here's a build-up video ( below ) from Tom Grigat showing the Blue Steel missile-carrying Handley-Page Victor.  Love the interior detail, especially the instrument panels, though our request to Airfix would be to include a transparent fuselage half. Then we could see and appreciate that intricate detail after final assembly!

HERE'S ANOTHER FINE VIDEO BY Tom Grigat. It's an interesting vid featuring figure work, a subject we haven't featured before. SMN report: We've shown Tom's work before, including the 1:16 scale Fokker Triplane that appears briefly.   Click here to view that Fokker Triplane video again– it's well worth a look. And here's another beautIfully made Triplane, this time at a small air museum in East Anglia, UK. Click here to enjoy a nostalgia fest, with heaps of golden age modelling to see.

A FAMOUS BOMBER and excellent kit, revealed in another ace stop-motion mini-movie by Tom Grigat. SMN report: The 1:72 scale Airfix 'Fort' is well worth a build, even if Airfix insists on adding interior detail that will mostly remain invisible when built. We ask again: "... please take a tip from Tamiya, and include a transparent fuselage-half in the box."   Nice to hear some Beethoven as background audio to this highly watchable movie, though it's 'Boeing' not 'Boing.' Click here to see B-17 articles at SMN.

FOR ALL WORLD WAR II FIGHTER FANS here's a great video by Tom Grigat, the master of stop-frame animated video model builds. SMN report: The 1:32 scale Hawker Tempest from Special Hobby is an excellent kit of a late-war British machine. The Tempest first flew in September 1942, first entering service in 1944. The Tempest was used as primarily as a low-level interceptor, particularly against V-1 flying bombs. As a ground attack machine, Tempests flew against all sorts of ground targets. The high-speed Tempest – it could hit over 430 mph at low level – even attacked newly-developed jets, such as the Messerschmitt Me 262. Tom Grigat's video shows well how the Special Hobby kit goes together, though we're not totally convinced by the 'nodding-dog' pilot at the end! Or indeed the accompanying sound track.* As for Special Hobby, it hails from the Czech Republic, and offers a fine range of models. The company says: "Special Hobby makes injected model kits in the follo...

HERE'S A BEAUTIFULLY MADE Fokker Triplane, made by Tom Grigat, a master of building scale models, and of creating stop-motion mini-movies that show how they are assembled. SMN report: The 1:16 scale Fokker Dr1 Triplane is from Artesania Latina. It's a multimedia kit, with parts made largely of wood and metal. Tom Grigat reckons the kit is "... relatively easy to build and well guided. It includes step-by-step instructions with video tutorials and more than 600 photos for a simpler and more pleasant assembly. I tried to let the pieces act for theirselves and show how to build an aircraft." You can see how the kit all goes together in Tom's truly excellent video ( below ). The original aircraft was a compact design, so even at 1:16 scale, the wingspan extends to just 450 mm (17.7 in) which means that storage and display shouldn't too much of an issue. More pix of the assembled Fokker Triplane ( below ). Summation A gorgeous looking result and a great video. Tha...