SCALE MODEL NEWS

If you have broken off your Christmas Day festivities to have a look at SMN, then we'll just say: "Thank you for visiting Scale Model News in 2011 and we look forward to your company for the rest of this year, and of course, during the New Year 2012 to come." The pix are of our stellar (well, Star Wars) light display - and after the festive season is over, those attractive blue LEDs may well find continuing use as blast-pit lighting for our big starship landing field diorama. But that's another story, to be told in 2012!

Report by David Jefferis Star Wars was only the second sci-fi movie I saw in which the special effects (SFX) were thoroughly believable - no jerkiness to the action, no visible wires holding up the spacecraft, no rubbish alien makeup to chortle at. And the actors romped along in their roles, and could truly act! Since then of course, there has been a never-ending cascade of collectibles for fans to drool over or purchase, and the franchise is still going strong, with new TV series for a younger audience. Star Wars Y-Wing tactical strike starfighter New stuff aside, one of our all-time faves here at SMN is the handsome Rebel Alliance Y-Wing, designed by Colin Cantwell of the SFX company Industrial Light & Magic, and first introduced in 1977’s Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope . The design was fresh then, and remains so today. There are various kits and collectibles available, ranging from pocket-sized up to a substantial 1:48 scale. But the one shown here sits nicely in the middle of...