SCALE MODEL NEWS

REVELL'S NEW 1:72 SCALE KIT DEPICTS the mobile transporter for the SS-25 intercontinental ballistic missile. A single SS-25 is carried inside a long cylindrical housing. Mat Irvine:  If this kit looks familiar, it should do as it originates from Zvezda, which has already been reviewed in Scale Model News . However, Revell Germany’s kit is packaged differently, and gives the builder more options. The kit consists of the TEL (Transporter-Erector-Launcher) vehicle, which carries the SS-25 missile in its launch container. You do not get the actual missile with this kit, instead it’s the cylindrical container. The box back ( below ) has detailed photo reference of the finished kit, useful when you come to build it. There is also a small parts layout pic. A note re classifications. SS-25 is the NATO designation of the missile - surface-to-surface. The codenames for this type of missile all start with the letter S, in this case Sickle. The Topol designation is the official Russian name fo...

THE THAWING OF RELATIONS between the US and Cuba brings to mind an interesting set of car kits, released by AMT in the 1970s. Mat Irvine:  Although not officially named by AMT, the car kit set is generally known as the Cuba (or Havana) Trio, being three kits with a heavily Cuban theme. However, they were simply three of AMT’s 1965 Annual kits, the only actual Cuban connection being themed box-art, plus a set of decals common to all. Theming was a method AMT used with a number of other kits and series. The Cuban Trio ( below ) showing box end-panels. The cars of the Cuban Trio consisted of a 1965 Buick Riviera, renamed as Ché Riviera, a 1965 Lincoln Continental, now the Beard of Paradise, and a 1965 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88, called the Havana Banana. If you study the box-art ( below ) the cars are also shown with aircraft, though the reason for a specific auto-aero link is unclear. Ché Riviera ( above ) is a 1965 Buick Riviera. The Beard of Paradise ( below ) is a 1965 Lincoln Continen...

BRITISH SPACE HERO DAN DARE has been ignored by the mainstream model kit manufacturers. It has been down to individuals like special-effects model maker Martin Bower to produce one-off miniatures of the galaxy of spacecraft that filled author-illustrator Frank Hampson’s universe.  SMN report: There have been quite a few attempts to resurrect Dan Dare, the comic book hero that sold so well to schoolboy readers in the 1950s and 1960s. And Martin Bower has been in a position to provide model-making services for two of these attempts. The photo ( below ) shows him surrounded by a fleet of assorted spacecraft that would make any Dan Dare fan green with envy. In fact, Martin was echoing a procedure that Frank Hampson and his team had perfected many years before, in their art studio. To ensure accuracy, they built models of spacecraft, aliens, and assorted accessories. Photography was important too, as models posed for figure work, to ensure that clothes and uniforms looked right in the ...

THE ARMSTRONG WHITWORTH AW38 WHITLEY was a twin-engine British bomber, used with some success in World War II. This new 1:72 scale Airfix kit is a useful range addition for model makers keen on aircraft from that era. SMN report: Airfix is steadily modernising its World War II aircraft fleet, or introducing new ones. This Whitley GR Mk VII comes into the latter category, and fills a useful hole in the ranks of British wartime bombers. The box art ( below ) shows a Whitley on anti-submarine duty, and is well up to the visual standards of today's Airfix kits. These cgi images, shown courtesy Airfix , reveal that a great deal of time and trouble has gone into this kit. Detail looks refined throughout, and it's a pleasure to see that Airfix offers the option of finishing the aircraft as a civil version, less the guns, turrets, and multiple antennas. Nose turret and bomb-aimer's window are neatly reproduced ( below ) and it's good to see that Airfix has included an entry la...