SCALE MODEL NEWS

HERE'S A VERY INTERESTING CHAT VIDEO in which Greg's Airplanes and Automobiles talks about a childhood meeting at the Revell company's factory. Lucky kid! SMN report: You'll also find the other reason behind the video, Greg's '...most underrated British plane of World War II.' We won't spoil the vid by revealing what the aircraft is.  But you can click here for other mentions at SMN. Talking of World War II, we chanced on the movie  Midway recently, which is a good reconstruction of the epic Pacific War battle between US forces and Japan. It's packed with truly excellent cgi, plus some admittedly over-the-top dramatic embellishments, but overall Midway is highly watchable. And Woody Harrelson (who played bartender in the still-popular 1980s TV series Cheers ) puts in a sterling performance as the famed Admiral Chester W. Nimitz.

It's 1945, and the Allies are on the verge of winning World War II, when suddenly the Nazis unleash an arsenal of super weapons straight out of science-fiction, turning the tide of  combat  in their  favour .   This presentation was done on a very small budget, with all the tanks and vehicles - Willys Jeep, Stuart  and Sherman tanks, Nazi 'Spider' tank - featuring as 1:6 scale models, rather than the CGI that's typically used for almost all sci-fi movies today. In Director Ryan Nagata’s words, “1945A is a presentation I made with George Edelman about an alternate timeline where the Nazi's unveil all sorts of futuristic sci-fi technology at the end of World War II, turning the tides in their favor. “It's essentially what five minutes of the feature film could look like. It was made for a budget of less than $2000. Most of the costumes were made by me for a previous project. We only had five helmets to share between actors, so I had to repaint the different markin...

SMN REPORT: Here’s another Tamiya kit about to hit the model stores, a beautifully produced 1:72 scale Mitsubishi Zero Type 21 fighter. The kit joins Tamiya’s new War Bird Collection, and it’s really to be welcomed as 1:72 has been looking something of a Cinderella scale in recent years. Details aplenty Plenty of detail marks this Zero out from the herd, and of course like other aircraft to this scale, it will sit nicely on a small shelf. The finished model has a length of just 126 mm (4.9 in) and a wingspan of 153 mm (6.02 in). Tamiya’s detail work in the wheel wells, the engine and the cockpit is really quite superb, and could make it well worthwhile revisiting 1:72 for this modelmaker, after having spent so long with the larger 1:48 and 1:32 scales. Pilot not included It doesn’t come with a pilot figure, more’s the pity, especially as Tamiya has excellent past form in figure sculpting. But since the cockpit is so well detailed, you probably won’t want a figure in there to d...

REPORT: DAVID JEFFERIS “This is not a toy” declares a stern caption on the box of an interesting kit from China-based Meng Model. Actually, it’s not a real aircraft either, but an 1:72 scale kit of an uncompleted World War II design, the Mansyn Ki-98 pusher-prop ground attack machine - but that makes it all the more interesting! Imperial Japanese Army Mansyn Ki-98 Attack Aircraft The  Mansyn  Ki-98 was a Japanese piston-engined concept, designed by the Manchurian Aeroplane Manufacturing Company towards the end of the World War II. The prototype was under construction when Soviet forces swept into Manchuria in August 1945, and all works including design drawings were destroyed by the retreating Japanese Army. Science-fiction or faction? The Meng Ki-98 kit has been created by, in the company’s words, “...Inference From The Original Design Drawings. Finely Moulded Fuselage Details Make The Model Look Like A Real One.” Which makes the aircraft a fascinating subject for all lovers ...

REPORT:DAVID JEFFERIS Available shortly from Tamiya is this very neat 1:35 scale Simca 5 military staff car. The tiny Simca 5 was a French-built version of the better-known Fiat 500 Topolino, and many of them were pressed into military service during the World War II occupation of France. Neatly produced model The little Simca is beautifully produced, and well up to Tamiya’s usual high standards. There’s plenty of detail, including a driver figure who looks kinda outsized, but that’s actually because the Simca-Fiat was so small - not for nothing was the Fiat 500 nicknamed Topolino, meaning ‘Little Mouse’.  Careful handling required As for components, the picture above shows that the runners hold plenty of parts, many of them tiny enough to need a pair of tweezers for easy handling. But that’s OK - the result looks excellent when built, and would be a surefire hit if used in a period diorama. Big success The original Topolino was a big hit for Fiat, with more than half a million be...

SMN REPORT: Here is the eighth model in the 1:100 scale Tsubasa Collection EX range from Doyusha of Japan. The finely-built Mitsubish Zero fighter represents that of Tetsuzo Iwamoto, a top-scoring Japanese ace of World War II. Spinning prop Each model in Doyusha’s Tsubasa Collection is a ready-built mini-diorama, and this one is made to jewel-like standards. For a start, the propeller spins with a flick of the finger - the prop rotates via an electric micro-motor, running off a single AA battery that’s stored in the base. The battery item has to be purchased separately, otherwise the Doyusha Zero is complete and ready to run. Power runs through a thin tube between the base and the Zero, just in front of the tailwheel. High-scoring Japanese ace Otherwise, the pictures reveal all - the aircraft itself is fully-assembled and finished in Iwamoto’s markings, complete with the ‘kills’ panel - we haven’t counted them all, but his final confirmed tally was about 80 aircraft, though a private d...

SMN REPORT: Here’s a tasty variation in big 1:20 scale kits for military modellers - it’s a Fine Molds model of a quarter-ton US Army Jeep, the original 4x4 that was jack-of-all-trades for Allied forces in World War II. Fine Molds company Jeep The Fine Molds kit represents the slatted grilled version, and indeed it’s based on the vehicle that bears the FM logo, as owned by the company. There are plenty of goodies included with this latest variation, including new tyres, clear components, and a nicely produced manual, with plenty of detail pix of the company vehicle. Detail-up set That’s not all, as there’s a beautifully-produced metal-etch set available (at extra cost) for the Jeep - though really, anyone who is going to buy the 1:20 scale kit is almost certainly going to this set, so a pity that it’s an extra-cost item. Still, the separation of kit and photo-etch does at least allow the modelmaker to make a choice, so we won’t be too harsh on Fine Molds for this. Plenty of parts The ...

Mat Irvine discusses: Back in June, I gave details of the Airfix resin-moulded range of ruined buildings, aimed mainly at military diorama builders. The example I highlighted was the ruined workshop, and I hinted that the figures in the scene - French resistance fighters, with a Citroen Traction Avant - were waiting for a spy drop from a Lysander delivery plane.  Box back includes Humbrol paint details plus aircraft details in four languages. World War II spy plane Well, since then the drop appears to have happened, so here is an extension to that article. It revolves around the British Westland Lysander high-wing monoplane, a mainstay of RAF undercover work during World War II. The Lysander was ideal for the task, as it could fly in what we might today call ‘stealth mode’, and could land on unprepared surfaces in the dead of night.  Built-up model and instruction sheet. Secret operations The original Airfix 1:72 scale Lysander was one of the company’s first aircraft kits...

Komatsu is second only to the US Caterpillar company in the construction machinery stakes, and actually makes the biggest ’dozer in the world, the Model D575A. But the first Komatsu bulldozer was much smaller than the D575A, and it’s this early G40 that is the latest 1:48 military vehicle released by Tamiya. Komatsu developed the G40 to speed up construction of Japanese airfields - until it became available, most runways were produced purely with manual labour - and some 150 G40s were produced from 1943 until the end of World War II. The Tamiya model is a dinky little thing, just 75 mm (2.9 in) long, but the detail is very neat for all that, with components such as hydraulic lines, front grille, suspension system and, of course the ’dozer blade, all well reproduced. The tracks are one-piece plastic parts though, and so are non-moving items. However, Tamiya has included a decent driver figure, who holds the controls realistically. An unusual feature at the front is the grille badge, whi...