SCALE MODEL NEWS

THE FORD F-150 PICKUP IS THE NUMBER ONE bestseller in the US. In recent years, the top F-150 has been labelled Raptor, and it is a model of the 2017 version of this vehicle that Revell has just released.  Mat Irvine: The only slight problem for the experienced modeller is that Revell has chosen to make the 2017 Ford F-150 Raptor as a SnapTite kit. So whilst you do get a fully detailed body, wheels and interior, there is no engine and no real chassis. But as a standard static display model, the 1:25 scale Revell Ford Raptor can be made to look good, even straight out of its relatively small box.  The instruction leaflet supplied with the Raptor kit ( below ) is clear and to the point. The kit ( below ) arrives with the bodywork pre-coloured in bright orange-red plastic, with the wheel-arch extensions in satin black. Other components are in black or transparent plastic. Steel-rod axles are supplied.  I decided to give the Raptor a mild custom appearance with another body c...

'THE INCREDIBLES' WAS A PIXAR animated movie, released in 2004. The plot followed a superhero family, who were drawn into battle against an evil villain and his hordes. Now the specialist model company Fantastic Plastic has released a 1:24 scale kit of the Velocipod, a saucer-like craft featured in the film. SMN report:  Acclaimed by critics and audiences alike, The Incredibles also gained the respected science-fiction Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation. So we're pleased to see this kit join the Fantastic Plastic line-up. Not all model makers like assembling hundreds of parts, and the Velocipod kit is one for them (and this reviewer) as it features just 17 components. The name of the game for a good display piece here is fit and finish, rather than assembly skills. In that way the Velocipod somewhat resembles Snap Tite kits from Revell, which allow a modeller to use the kit as the basis of an excellent miniature - provided, that is, the joy of multi-evening assembly...

"COMMAND THE SKIES of a dark, futuristic Earth" is the tagline to this interesting steampunk-meets-deco science-fiction kit from Hasegawa. It’s based on the Japanese anime series ‘Last Exile’, a drama that is set on (despite that tagline) a fictional alien planet called Prester. SMN report: Last Exile's flying machines from Hasegawa are intriguing designs, based on reworked early 20th century technology, coupled with a dose of steampunk and pure fantasy. Hasegawa’s new-tool kit features two vehicles, both two-seaters. The streamlined, 82-component Vanship is the bigger of the two, and looks much like a cross between an old Mercedes-Benz roadster and a 1920s-era corrugated-metal Junkers aircraft. We’d venture that, conceptually, the ridges in the stub wings act as radiators for the anti-grav motors that keep the Vanship airborne. The 32-part Vespa kit ( above ) is named, we’d guess, after the famed Italian motor scooter. The tiny model is neatly done, though this sci-fi v...

LOST IN SPACE is a science fiction TV series that ran from 1965-68. The second episode was called  The Derelict  and featured a large alien spacecraft. This is now the subject of a 1:350 scale kit from Moebius Models. Also included is the Jupiter 2, a saucer-shaped spaceship flown by the stars of the show, the Robinson family. Mat Irvine:  The Moebius kit is a large one that usefully depicts the alien Derelict’s much greater size, compared to the Jupiter 2. When assembled, the model Derelict’s main sphere measures 160 mm (6.25 in) across, and with the rear door sections closed, it extends some 430 mm (17 in) in length. The box base ( below ) includes useful details of the kit, and others in the Lost in Space range. Moebius includes a Jupiter 2 to the same 1:350 scale. In fact, you get a trio of them, as the way the parts are moulded, three clear runners each have Jupiter 2 top and bottom halves. This also means that you can build the Jupiter 2 with landing legs either ret...

THE FAMED RED-AND-WHITE FORD TORINO from the 1970s cop-thriller TV series, Starsky and Hutch, is one car you would have thought would have been made as a kit years ago. There have been diecast and slot car versions, but it’s taken 40-odd years for a 1:25 scale kit to be released - and here it is. Mat Irvine:  This new Revell kit features the 1975 Ford Torino, as driven in the series by David Starsky, played by Paul Michael Glaser. The gaudy colour scheme earned this particular Torino a nickname, the ‘Striped Tomato.’ The box ( below ) features the human stars of the TV series, Starsky is the dark-haired one. Box sides feature useful detail shots. The 1:25 scale Revell Ford Torino kit is straightforward to assemble. The body and interior are moulded in red, the rest in black. The kit is midway between the old-style ‘unassembled promo’ (solid chassis, fixed hood, no separate engine) and a modern kit with detailed suspension, axles, and engine. This Revell kit has a separate exhaust s...