SCALE MODEL NEWS

THANKS TO MAX KOHNKE on YouTube we can show you this excellent video history of the Hawk Model Company. SMN report: One of the pioneers of the kit industry, Hawk still lives on, though a succession of sales and takeovers over the years has meant frequent changes of management. Still, many of the injection-moulds survive, so it's great to know that we should be seeing Hawk models for years to come. This 1950s advert ( below ) shows a trio of kits, though the Atlas ( bottom right ) is a speculative design that appears to owe more to sci-fi than the US missile industry. Hawk had many civilian speed machines in its list, including ( below ) the British Supermarine S6B Schneider Trophy-winning seaplane. Max Kohnke's video ( below ) is packed with interesting snippets of information. Enjoy!

THIS IS THE second tractor kit in Revell’s new 1:24 scale series, this time featuring one of the most popular small tractors of the early 1960s, the D30 from the German manufacturer Deutz. Mat Irvine:  The Deutz D30 is part of the Revell ‘easy-click system’ range, snap-together kits which, unlike many older-style snap kits, have no sacrifice of detail. In fact, as with other Revell easy-click kits, some parts are extremely small, and may arguably be unsuitable for beginners (the usual target market for snap-kits), but in fact the easy click system can be helpful even to experienced modellers. Revell easy click kits are moulded in several colours – the Deutz D30 has components in green red, black, clear, and gold plated, so a beginner does not even have to paint them. However, the snap approach allows the more experienced to snap some parts together for painting, then to un-snap them to allow other parts to be installed. This dual approach also applies to the decals, where two sets ...

FOR THOSE WHO don’t know their science-fiction, this kit from Polar Lights represents one of the ‘flying hubcap’ UFOs that featured in a 1959 B-movie called  Plan 9 from Outer Space . Mat Irvine:  The ‘Worst Movie – Ever’ as The Simpsons’ Comic Book Guy might have said.  Plan 9 from Outer Space  continues to intrigue, and for science-fiction fans here is a new release of one of its flying saucers. Although it used to be quoted that Plan 9 ’s invading saucers were ‘hubcaps from a Chevy’ (a myth perpetuated in the movie  Ed Wood ) there were also the Lindberg flying saucer kits. And Round 2, which owns the Lindberg name and tooling, has reissued the kit literally ‘as seen in the movie.’ The kit is issued under Round 2’s Polar Lights brand, though it has at various times been been released by Atlantis, Glencoe, and Lindberg. So in effect, this kit is a Polar Lights reproduction of a Lindberg kit, even if it really is the Lindberg kit. Frankly, most of the kit’s app...

LAST YEAR MARKED the 30th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall, when Germany united from its Cold War-era ‘East’ and ‘West’ halves. So in 2019 Revell Germany celebrated the event by reissuing a Trabant kit with a large diorama base. This depicts a ‘Trabi’ breaking through the wall, into the West. Mat Irvine:  This Trabant is the same as the second version Revell produced. It has previously made two Trabant kits to 1:24 scale, the later one also issued in station wagon form. The Trabant in this anniversary box is a standard saloon. The main point of the model is that a large diorama scene is included, featuring the famous Brandenburg Gate and a section of graffiti-sprayed wall, which has a large Trabant-shaped hole in it. The kit box proclaims this is a ‘3D Puzzle’ though in reality it isn’t, as there are instructions that carefully show you how it all goes together! The diorama is made up from three thin foam boards, each being a sandwich of thin card with foam in t...

DIECAST SCALE MODELS are traditionally a collector's market, rather than one for builders. But there are plenty of times when ready-built models make perfectly good sense. SMN report: Using diecasts as part of the scenery for model rail layouts is one important use, though most are too shiny when fresh from the box, and require at least one coat of satin varnish on the paintwork. Collections of related vehicles can make interesting conversation pieces too. This group ( header, below ) forms a miniature history of the owner's motoring years. This old Dinky Toys Observation Coach was bought cheaply at a recent toy fair, to replace a brand-new one lost on a beach, when the owner was just six years old. Despite the worn paintwork, it still has an appeal, and the tyres seem nearly good as new. And ( below ) is an excellent vid that relates the history of Dinky Toys, a leading manufacturer in the 1950s and 1960s. Antique stores can reveal interesting finds ( below ) where an old tin...

BANDAI HAS WHAT IS probably the best selection of Star Wars kits today, even if there are plenty of competitors out there . So here's a good look at building the tiny-scale Bandai Death Star II. And when we say tiny, we mean it, for the Death Star II is made to 1:2,700,000 scale! It's a fascinating vid ( below ) so thanks to Sam at ModelChili Scale Models.

IF YOU LOOK HARD enough, you can usually find an interesting anniversary. And in 2019, Round 2 used the 65th Anniversary of Godzilla, perhaps the most famous of all movie monsters, to add a creature-feature to its list. Mat Irvine: Round 2 already had a license for Godzilla, so decided to take the old MPC Willys Jeep, and reissue it as a Godzilla movie star. This movie is in fact the sixth from 1965, this one being ‘Invasion of Astro-Monster.’   The MPC kit is the first Jeep model kit to 1:25 scale, being issued in 1968 as the ‘star car’ from Hogan’s Heroes , a US sitcom of the time. Putting aside the improbability of a World War II German prison camp internee being allowed his own vehicle, the kit has provided modellers with a Jeep in an automotive scale, rather than the more usual military 1:35.  The model is fairly comprehensive with a separate engine, chassis and four-wheel drive running gear. It has the simplified interior you get with a utility vehicle, plus an optional...

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL and we hope 2020 brings you as many models and kits as you might wish for. And if you enter model competitions, well, we hope you win a few prizes! These pix share several things in common. They are science-fiction subjects, and all date back for decades – truly a look at the futures of yesteryear. Well not quite, as the Star Wars subjects are all from a universe that was 'far far away, and a long time ago.' Mind you, the fantasy machinery created by the creatives under the direction of George Lucas look as futuristic as anything from other sci-fi franchises, such as Star Trek. The British interloper starred in the TV series Blake's 7, and this particular model shows something that was in the future when the first Star Wars movies were made. And that's 3-D printing, now a commonplace way to make models, even if it hasn't replaced traditional kits just yet. Click here for more Blake's 7 at SMN And click here for more Star Wars.