SCALE MODEL NEWS

RATHER LIKE YOU CAN NEVER HAVE too many Spitfires for WWII aircraft, you can never have too many V-2s in the missile category.  Mat Irvine: This is a recent issue from Revell of a complete 1:72 scale V-2 setup. The kit actually originated as a Special Hobby kit from the Czech Republic, but arrives now in a different combination. The Special Hobby kits are separate so far as the Hanomag SS-100 Gigant heavy tractor, Meillerwagen transporter-erector, and V-2 missile. Revell has now combined these items in one kit. Special Hobby also makes a fourth kit, the Vidawagon, which was a road trailer for the unfuelled missile, but Revell has not included it. There are a lot of parts in this kit – 243 in all – and a lot of prep time will be spent sorting out just what goes where, and what can be pre-assembled before painting. Much of the Hanomag Gigant can be assembled ‘as one’, though I found it best to omit the wheels, tyres, and window glass for spray painting. Two main schemes are given for...

HERE IS PART THREE OF BUILDING this highly complex triple-kit from Hong Kong-based Takom. Mat Irvine:  So far in SMN, I have covered the Takom  V-2 rocket with launch pad (in German, abschussplattform or ‘firing table’) and the Hanomag tow vehicle . Now it’s time for me to take a close look at the Meillerwagen transporter/erector. This is by far the most complex of the three builds, and Takom appears to have included absolutely every single bit of the Meillerwagen. You have six runners directly to build it, with some parts shared. There are also photo-etch brass components, a small decal sheet, and two lengths of chain. The finished Tacom trio ( below ) look excellent, the complexity of the Meillerwagen contrasting nicely with the simple V-2. A handsome piece of art ( below ) decorates the biggish box. The Meillerwagen does look rather daunting initially, but the instructions - at the beginning, at least - are very clear, and although many of the parts ( below ) are small and...

A WHILE AGO WE REVIEWED the Takom 1:35 scale V-2 rocket, with launch pad. Mat Irvine:  However, this was intended to be just one part of the V-2 transporter setup, with a Meillerwagen transporter-erector, and a Hanomag SS-100 heavy tractor tow vehicle. Now the whole kit has arrived for review. As this complete kit is a large item, I decided to split my review into three parts. The V-2 and launch stand have been covered , so here is the next part, the Hanomag SS-100 tow tractor. The Hanomag is highly detailed with separate engine, chassis components, and drive chain. The military version featured in this kit was adapted from an original civilian vehicle, named the Gigant. It was not, as you might assume, a four-wheel drive vehicle, instead power went to the twin rear wheels. Takom's box art ( below ) shows the whole setup.   The SS-100 features steerable front wheels, though care was needed when I came to attaching the tie-rod arm, which requires a heated screwdriver or solderi...

THIS TAKOM KIT OF THE V-2 MISSILE is not the first in 1:35 scale, but is one of the most-detailed models yet released. Mat Irvine:  We are not exactly short of model kits of the world’s first ballistic missile, arguably the forerunner of all launch rockets. But this release, from Hong Kong-based Takom, is certainly one worth having if you are short of a V-2 in your collection. Parts layout. Note ( lower middle below ) that there is a small decal sheet and a single photo-etch component. In fact, there are more parts than required for the V-2 itself. Some are used for the separate transporter kit, but are also included on these runners. The Takom V-2 also has the advantage that it can be augmented by adding a separate kit of the transporter set-up, the Meillerwagen and Hanomag tow truck. However, the particular kit we show here models just the rocket and its launch pad. Slightly oddly, there are no locating lugs on the fuselage halves ( below ). I held the fuselage halves together wi...

IF YOU ARE IN REACH OF Northern France, a trip to the site of a World War II Nazi rocket base could provide some excellent source reference for model projects. SMN report : La Coupole ( ‘the cupola’ above ) was a planned launching site for the supersonic V-2 rocket, the aim to launch them towards Britain at a rate of up to four an hour. Parts for the rockets were to be assembled in secret workshops all over the Reich, while final assembly and launch preparation would be carried out by slave workers in the long, dank tunnels of La Coupole’s underground complex. A massive project, La Coupole had a metres-thick concrete dome built in and over an old quarry, but luckily for the Allies it did not stay a secret for long enough to go into serious action. Timely bombing raids managed to crack the dome and finish the place off as a threat. La Coupole has many interesting machines to look at, from twisted propellers to rocket motors, and even a piloted V-1 flying bomb ( header and above ). The V...