SCALE MODEL NEWS

THIS 1:24 SCALE GARBAGE TRUCK KIT FROM MONOGRAM is a custom design that only ever existed as a model kit, never being built as a full-size machine.  Mat Irvine:  In the 1960s and 1970s Monogram made quite a number of this style of car kit, the majority designed by noted customiser, Tom Daniel. In all, he created more than 85 custom kits, and the Garbage Truck was one of them.  The latest box-art ( header, below ) matches the 1960s original, but now includes a reproduction of the Tom Daniel signature. Parts layout ( below ) includes three figures, supposedly performers in a truck-back band.  As with most of these ‘wacky customs’ the Garbage Truck takes a theme, then expands on it. In this case, it is one of the most unlikely of vehicles to be customised, a garbage truck. In this case, its purpose is not to collect trash, but to serve as a travelling stage for a rock group - plus being a carrier for surfboards and other useful swim gear. The latest decal sheet ( below ...

A CLASSIC NASCAR RACER FROM 1964 is released by AMT. Mat Irvine:  Richard Petty is one of the most renowned NASCAR drivers. He became instantly recognisable for driving with the number 43, and, in the early days at least, an all ‘Petty Blue’ Plymouth. This car, as kitted, is the one in which he won his first Daytona 500, in 1964. This 1:24/25 scale AMT issue started out as a Lindberg kit, from a time before Round 2 acquired the brand, but after when Lindberg started its new range of car kits. These were a vast improvement on the original range, which included several interesting and quirky items, but with kits that were mostly not to the same standard as those from the ‘big five’ manufacturers of AMT, Jo-Han, Monogram, MPC and Revell. But the new Lindberg kits were well up to standard  and included a stock Plymouth Belvedere. This was then modified into the race car driven by Richard Petty in NASCAR competitions. Most of the 118 components ( below ) in the new AMT kit come in ...

THE BUCHER BU 131D JUNGMANN IS ANOTHER LARGE SCALE kit of an aircraft dating from the mid-1930s. It would sit nicely next to the recently-released Polikarpov I-16 to the same scale. SMN report: Manufactured by ICM Holdings of the Ukraine, the Bucher Bu 131 looks to be an interesting kit. The original first flew in 1934, and was used for nearly four decades - the last in-service aircraft served with the Spanish Air Force up to 1968. The ICM kit has markings for  Lilli-Marlene and is packed with detail. There is a choice of four markings, supplied as decals. The ICM computer image ( below ) reveals the four-cylinder engine supplied in the kit. Precise mouldings will allow a realistic looking miniature, perhaps suggesting the prospect of an in-hangar maintenance diorama.   The lower surfaces ( below ) are nicely captured. There will be plenty of rigging to complete the model, but at 1:32 scale, it won't be quite as much of a nightmare for the fumble-fingered (like this reviewer...

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL AT SPACEX for successfully launching the Falcon Heavy rocket on its first test flight. And seeing those two Falcon boosters make a near-simultaneous landing after their mission was amazing. SMN report: As for the payload, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s old Tesla Roadster and its Starman driver, both now heading far beyond the planet Mars... Well, how cool is that?! Models of SpaceX rockets haven’t yet been released by a mainstream kit company. But there are two outfits we know of that do so, Buzz Scale Models and AXM Paper Space Scale Models. Buzz Scale Models is run by Oliver Braun, one of the owners of BUZZ Medialabs, a film production and 3D animation studio, based in southwest Germany. Space exploration and aviation have always been big passions of his, and are now reflected by a growing line of 3D-printed models. As the pictures ( below ) show, the Buzz models look to be every bit as good as other rocket kits on sale.   AXM Paper Space Scale Models ( logo and F...

SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY LOOKS LIKE A MUST-SEE movie this summer. And for sci-fi model makers, it'll be another cornucopia filled with fantasy techno to keep us busy nights. SMN report: The Star Wars bad guys seem to be Australians these days. Check out the Empire recruiter's voice! That's OK, tho' the folks from Oz seem pretty laid back in our experience. As for Solo , this short clip shows us an excellent monorail which has scale appeal, as does another variation on the landspeeder. No doubt there'll be more to come, and maybe outfits like Bandai and Revell have already signed for rights to release new kits, later in 2018. Solo: A Star Wars Story is directed by Ron Howard, and stars Alden Ehrenreich as the best starship pilot in the galaxy. More trailers to come, until general release on May 22, 2018.

ROBOT LOVERS REJOICE because Pacific Rim Uprising , the second movie in the monsters from the deep franchise is due for release soon. SMN report: Bandai from Japan is a major producer of science fiction and fantasy models, both as ready-builts and as kits. Bandai Star Wars kits are excellent, and we'll be featuring the AT-ST Walker when it arrives, so watch out for that. Meantime Pacific Rim Uprising looks good from a machinery point of view, though we doubt the script will rise to Shakespearian levels. No matter, it's the special effects that count, as the screen shots here reveal. A robotic Jaeger (German for hunter) under observation at the manufacturing plant ( below ).     Multiple airdrop for this Jaeger ( below ) as the hovering cargo planes release it. Nicely conceived base ( below ) gives diorama makers a chance to make a really convincing backdrop for a Bandai Jaeger or two. Creating a convincing water surface is an old scale modelling technique that would make rep...

THE US LAUNCHED ITS FIRST successful artificial satellite, Explorer 1, on January 31, 1958. By February 1, it was in orbit, becoming the third satellite, after the Soviet Sputnik 1 and Sputnik 2. Mat Irvine: Scale model companies of the time were not slow to celebrate the success of Explorer 1. Most  featured the satellite together with its launch vehicle, a modified Redstone rocket generally known by the name Jupiter-C. More correctly it was known as the Juno 1, a Jupiter-C modified by adding a fourth stage. Only one model company produced Explorer 1 as a stand-alone kit. This was ITC (The Ideal Toy Company) which went for 1:6 scale, a kit that has been reissued in recent years by Glencoe Models. For many years, the ITC Explorer 1 remained one of only three kits of uncrewed satellites. The other two were Explorer 18, and Vanguard 1, which had been intended to be the first US satellite in space. Even though a few more satellite models have been released since those early days, the...