STEALTH JET OR JAMES BOND AUTOGYRO? YOUR CHOICE!

Stealth technology is standard-issue on military hardware today, but not so long ago, it was top secret and kept far away from detailed public knowledge. So model companies came out with various guesstimate-kits, based on informed thinking by experts. Among these was the MiG-37B stealth jet, a 'faction' model even given the notional NATO codename, 'Ferret E.'

FESTIVE SEASON SLIDE SHOW - FROM PEUGEOT RACE CAR TO LUFTWAFFE 1946

2011's coming to an end now, and it's been a year of steady growth for SMN, we're pleased to say. The Mobile Edition has been an interesting experiment, and in 2012, we should be able to make newsposts directly from the trusty iPhone. It's a high-tech world all right!

AMAZING AND EXTRAORDINARY - TINIEST MODEL TRAIN EVER MADE?

SMN is awestruck:

This video shows an amazingly small oval-track rail layout - built in ultra-tiny microscale to fit inside a Z-gauge model shop window... Watch and enjoy.

Plus, the daily SMN Festive Slideshow. We have 20 items of scale gorgeousness on show today, though object number one, a cyber-pup, is more art than scale model. It's a steampunk creation, made up of various scrap components including a 1950s-era retro toaster. We like Fido's smile, though trust he doesn't bite, as metal teeth are liable to be sharp...  

MORE MODELS TO ENJOY...

A Baker's Dozen for you today, with subjects ranging from the gorgeous Imai Thunderbirds kit above, to Belgium's Tin Tin, the suave super-spy James Bond, and the British sci-fi hero Dan Dare - and of course, Dan's Venusian nemesis, the melon-headed Mekon, nastiest alien super-villain to strut the spaceways...

MORE PIX FOR THE FESTIVE SEASON

We trust you've had a great Festive Season so far - relax here over some tasty models...

BOXING DAY SLIDE SHOW

Hey, we hope you've had a great Christmas Day... and here's a Boxing Day slide show of interesting stuff.

Come back daily to see a group of models each time. And... enjoy the rest of your day!

HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL MODELMAKERS

If you have broken off your Christmas Day festivities to have a look at SMN, then we'll just say: "Thank you for visiting Scale Model News in 2011 and we look forward to your company for the rest of this year, and of course, during the New Year 2012 to come."

The pix are of our stellar (well, Star Wars) light display - and after the festive season is over, those attractive blue LEDs may well find continuing use as blast-pit lighting for our big starship landing field diorama.

But that's another story, to be told in 2012!

AERIAL ACTION -1:32 SCALE HEINKEL He 219 UHU COMING IN 2012

SMN report:

Recent rumours have swirled around the notion of Revell adding to its big-scale range with a Heinkel He 219 Uhu (Owl) night fighter. And it seems that this really is going to happen, and that it won’t simply be a scaled-up version of the 1:72 scale kit already available.

NEW KITS AND ‘KATCH THE KAT’ FROM ROUND 2 MODELS

Mat Irvine reports:

Since its inception, Round 2 has reissued kits that haven’t seen the light of day for many years. But they aren’t all straight down-the-line reissues. Many of the new kits supply more parts than originally, often by combining parts from several versions that you didn’t get first time around. Also, some parts are supplied in varied colours - for example, plain transparent parts in the early kits are now supplied with three other transparent shades, so you can mix and match if you wish.

AIRFIX 1:72 SCALE FAIREY SWORDFISH, VICTORIA CROSS ICONS GIFT SET

SMN report:

If you’ve time for a last-minute shop for Christmas then the latest Airfix Fairey Swordfish might fit the bill. Newly-released, the attractively-boxed 1:72 scale kit promises to be a quantum leap ahead of the good old girl that many a mature modelmaker assembled in his youth.

NEW FOR 2012 - CANNON-ARMED BATMOBILE TUMBLER STARS IN UPCOMING BATMAN MOVIE

SMN report:

The final part of the current Batman ‘Dark Knight’ movie trilogy is heading our way next summer, and The Dark Knight Rises will bring a host of techno-treats by way of new and updated crime-zapping machinery for our caped crusader. And that means there'll be new movie tie-in Batman kits, collectibles, diecasts, and RC equipment on release soon. 

BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL - NEW ZEALAND ALL BLACKS BOEING 777 UNVEILED FOR 2012 FLIGHT

SMN report:

Here’s a challenge for the kit-basher kings and paint-masters among you - it’s Boeing’s latest 777 twin-jet for ANZ (Air New Zealand), painted in midnight black to toast the World Champion All Blacks rugby team. Not only does the special scheme look great, but it makes the 777 the world’s largest airliner ever painted in an overall black finish. You can see the rollout on video, together with two All Blacks players, after the jump.

REVELL 1:72 SCALE A400 'GRIZZLY' - BUILT-AND-PAINTED UPDATE

SMN report:

The 1:72 scale Revell Airbus A400M models the tactical airlifter that is the long-delayed European answer to the hugely successful Lockheed-Martin Hercules, a military cargo plane that’s been produced continually since its first flight in August, 1954.

ROUND 2 TAKES OVER AMT, POLAR LIGHTS, MPC - BEATLES, STAR TREK KITS IN 2012

SMN report:

The Round 2 model company recently acquired all rights to the leading model kit brands AMT, MPC and Polar Lights from Tomy, the Japanese toy, merchandise and entertainment name.

2012 MINIATUR WUNDERLAND VIDEO SHOWS THE WORLD’S MOST AMAZING MODEL RAIL LAYOUT

SMN report:

Here's the 2012 official video from Miniatur Wunderland, Hamburg. It's the largest model rail system in the world, and one of the most successful tourist attractions in Germany.

REVELL QUEEN MARY 2 LUXO-LINER MODEL AWARD

SMN shipping news:

According to the ship’s owner, Cunard, the luxury liner Queen Mary 2 is: “the most magnificent luxury ocean liner ever built. Her every detail harkens to the Golden Age of Ocean Travel, while providing one of the most modern luxury cruise travel experiences on Earth.” Wow, that’s breathless prose for you - but just for once, this ship might live up to it. And the Queen Mary 2 makes a fine model subject too, as the pic above shows.

BMW ART CARS - JEFF KOONS SUPER-STRIPES CREATION AVAILABLE IN 1:18 SCALE

SMN report:

Here’s something with a wow-factor to add to that lineup of 1:18 scale diecast cars. It’s the latest in a long line of BMW ‘Art Cars’ - art in motion, with designs and paint applied by a host of top-name artists over the years.

EXHIBITION OF BOX-ART FROM THE FRENCH HELLER KIT COMPANY

SMN report:

If you have a trip to Paris, France, planned anytime until January 3, 2012, then make sure you go to Gallerie 64bis, not far from that famous Parisian icon, the Eiffel Tower.

HOP ON FOR A FIRST LOOK AT THE BIG NEW REVELL LONDON BUS KIT

Mat Irvine reports:

It’s one of those coincidences that two of the most significant model kits to be made in recent years are both to 1:24 scale and both of classic British subjects. First came the Airfix 1:24 scale de Havilland Mosquito, now Revell has given us the archetypal London Bus - a name so familiar that the kit is called just that, not the AEC Routemaster, to give it its full and correct name.

STARDATE 2012 - SPACE SHUTTLE 'ENTERPRISE' FLYING IN TO NEW YORK’S USS INTREPID MUSEUM

Mat Irvine weekend read:

In 2012 a new addition will join the famed USS Intrepid Museum Complex at Pier 86, New York City. The new display star will be the ALT (Approach and Landing Tests) Space Shuttle Orbiter Enterprise, (above) due to fly from Washington DC to JFK International Airport on the back of NASA’s Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.

2012 PRODUCTS REVEALED - INCOMING KITS FROM REVELL-MONOGRAM

From Mat Irvine:

Here’s a look at Revell-Monogram kits for release in 2012. I’ve previously  mentioned the recreated Renwal Blueprint series, with the futuristic Teracruzer and Mace missile, but there’s much more coming down the line.

FIRE-BREATHING RENAULT RALLY RACER FROM OTTOMOBILE

SMN report:

Here’s a new 1:18 scale resin-based model from the French OttOmobile company that’s just come on release. It’s a Renault 5 Maxi Turbo racer, as driven by driver Erik Comas in French Supertourism rallies.

FANTASTIC HAND-BUILT V-12 MOTOR - A SUPERB MINIATURE POWERPLANT THAT WORKS

SMN report:

We’ve always been in awe of the sheer thrill of hearing a big powerplant on full song. Whether it’s the earsplitting roar of a combat jet on full afterburner, or the mighty rumble of a muscle-car V-8, they all hit the spot. 

REVELL SCALE MODEL AWARD 2011 - RESULTS POINT TO THE HIGHEST QUALITY EVER

SMN report:

The Revell-Germany annual Scale Award competition could be the biggest international modelmaking contest sponsored by a kit company. Revell’s criteria for the judging panel's votes were clear: “the creative performance of the model builder and the attractiveness of the model itself.”

MORE FROM HASEGAWA - A BOILING-HOT STEALTH EGG PLANE

SMN report:

A new Egg Plane from Hasegawa is the F-22 Raptor, arriving with all-new tooling and decals, plus assembly instructions and a super-cute, big-eyed anime-style lady pilot.

CHICAGO TOY SHOW 2011 - TREASURE TROVE FOR BARGAIN HUNTERS

SMN weekend read from Mat Irvine:

Billed as ‘largest in the state of Illinois', the Chicago Toy Show is a twice-a-year event, held at the Kane County Fairgrounds. According to my friend and colleague Dean Milano, the show is far smaller than it used to be, but to this visitor from ‘across the pond’, it’s still pretty impressive. 

SWITZERLAND BUYS SAAB GRIPEN - MEANS MORE OPPORTUNITIES FOR MODELMAKERS

David Jefferis reports:

Ace news for Swedish aerospace company Saab this week, as Switzerland has decided to go for the Saab Gripen NG (New Generation) as its front-line combat jet. The Gripen has been a challenger for the 22-aircraft order, in a long-running competition between state-of-the-art fighters such as the Dassault Rafale, EFA Typhoon, and Boeing F/A-18.

PRECISION 1:8 SCALE HASEGAWA ROTARY ENGINE

SMN report:

Hasegawa has reissued the beautifully produced 1:8 scale scale Le Rhone rotary engine. There are just 82 components to assemble, but it's an impressive kit nonetheless. As you can see from the pictures, the result will be a extremely convincing replica of this important World War I powerplant, and Hasegawa includes a dolly stand, so the display possibilities are good too.

HaMeX 3 - REVIEW OF THE 2011 HANSLOPE MODEL EXPO

A look at Hanslope Model Expo 2011:

Top of the agenda for many visitors were the 'secret spaceships' - model spacecraft that have appeared in broadcast TV shows. Mat Irvine worked with the BBC for many years, and his comprehensive collection of Visual Effects (VFX) rocketry is one of the very best, so seeing them landed at Spaceport HaMeX was a great hit for science-fiction fans.

NEW BUS FOR LONDON - CORGI ANNOUNCES RELEASE DATE FOR DIECAST ‘BORIS BUS’

SMN update:

Corgi has announced a target release date of March 2012 for the 1:76 scale New Bus for London (NB4L) now under development, and currently running on a similar schedule to the real thing. The Corgi diecast model will scale out to 146 mm (5.75 in) long and be marketed under the successful London Original Omnibus Company (OOC) name. As planned, the first OOC New Bus will wear the livery, destination, and numbers of the first route that the new bus will serve. Corgi planners are expecting to see details of this route very soon.

VIRGIN GALACTIC SPACESHIP RELEASED IN TWO SCALES

SMN report:

Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic seems to be on track to become the world's first commercial spaceline, with a passenger-carrying spaceship, the VSS Enterprise, carried by a twin-fuselage mothership, VMS Eve. Both vehicles were developed by California-based Scaled Composites, headed by the veteran designer Burt Rutan. Eventually there will be two motherships and five spaceships in the Virgin Galactic space fleet.

TEXAS AIRPORT MODEL SHOW

Weekend read from Mat Irvine:

It’s probably a bit obvious to say that you see aircraft at an airport, but more to the point, many airports also display aircraft models.

Military-civil combo
One such, which I passed through recently, is Killeen-Fort Hood Regional Airport, Texas. It’s a military/commercial joint-use airport, in which one section is used by the Fort Hood military reservation, and there’s a check-in desk for arriving soldiers on the first floor of the terminal building. 

KITS FOR SALE AT HAMEX 3 - PLUS CLASSIC TV SCI-FI MODELS ON SHOW

HaMeX update:

Hanslope Model Expo is due tomorrow, Sunday November 27, so there will be a chance to choose from a wide range of model kits for sale, mostly at very reasonable prices.

COUNTDOWN TO HAMEX 3

HaMeX update:

Hanslope Model Expo runs on Sunday November 27, so there will be a chance to have a look at some of the factual space miniatures from TV on display there.

MAD PHYSICIST MAKES MIND-BOGGLING MODELS FROM LEGO

SMN report:

LEGO builders number in their legions, but we've just come across someone who has blown our socks off, a Dutchman titled the ‘Mad Physicist.’

COUNTDOWN TO HAMEX 3

HaMeX update:

Hanslope Model Expo is due this coming Sunday November 27, so there will be a chance to have a look at some of the science-fiction miniatures on display there.

COMING SOON - SEXY ROBOT COLLECTIBLE

SMN report:

To science-fiction fans of a certain age - and robot lovers in particular - the name Hajime Sorayama may well be a revered one. For 64 year-old Sorayama made his name in the late 1970s and 1980s for producing beautiful airbrushed illustrations of ‘sexy robots’, humanoid machine-beings apparently made of gleaming metal, and most importantly, looking highly feminized. The bottom line was that, unlike standard-issue nuts-and-bolts droids, they were utterly gorgeous pin-up material.

COUNTDOWN TO HAMEX 3

SMN update:

Hanslope Model Expo is due Sunday November 27, so here’s a chance to have a look at some of the equipment that will be on demo there.

Airbrush expert

For example, is airbrushing an art that's new to you? Or maybe you need a new one? Whichever option fits the bill, co-organizer Paul Fitzmaurice of little-cars.com will be delighted to demonstrate his wide range from respected suppliers such as Grex and Harder & Steenbeck.

RENWAL TERACRUZER WITH MACE MISSILE - UPDATE

SMN report:

Reference last week’s mention of the upcoming Revell-Renwal Teracruzer and Mace reissue, Mat Irvine has kindly supplied these pictures of an assembled model. We’ve also shown the original box, so you can see the minor differences between the then-and-now kits. 

COUNTDOWN TO HAMEX 3 MODEL SHOW ON NOVEMBER 27

SMN update:

A reminder to anyone living in striking distance of Milton Keynes, UK, that this year’s HaMeX launch is on this Sunday, doors open at 10.00 am.

1:35 SCALE THALES BUSHMASTER FROM SHOWCASE MODELS, AUSTRALIA

SMN report:

Here's a kit that promises to be a Triple-AAA choice for military modelmakers. It's an extremely neatly produced 1:35 scale model of the Thales Bushmaster, an IMV (Infantry Mobility Vehicle) currently providing state-of-the-art protection for troops operating in trouble spots around the world.

WALKERA RADIO-CONTROL HELICOPTER GETS A FUTURISTIC LOOK

SMN report:

A new arrival on the radio-control scene is the great-looking Walkera LM400Q. The design make a real change from the usual RC helicopter, its development team apparently taking a hefty hint from seminal sci-fi movies such as The Matrix and Terminator. And that’s a compliment, because there’s no real reason why an RC chopper should take its appearance slavishly from the real world.

NEW KITS FROM ATLANTIS - ANIMALS, PIRATES, GLADIATORS AND MORE

From Mat Irvine:

One of the newest of the ‘new companies’ with connections to the original Aurora company is Atlantis, the model-kit arm of Megahobby, an online hobby distributor with the declared aim of bringing plastic modelling: “back to the level of popularity it once enjoyed.”

Atlantis is run by Pete Vetri and Rick Delfavero, who have cemented the Aurora connection by using as consultant long-time Aurora Project Manager, Andy Yanchus.

NEW-TOOL 1:72 SCALE SWORDFISH TORPEDO BOMBER FLYING IN FROM AIRFIX

SMN report:

The cgi images show some of the treats in store for Airfix modelmakers - in particular, we look forward to the new-tool 1:72 scale Fairey Swordfish, also widely nicknamed the ‘stringbag’. The 125-component kit will be a long-overdue replacement for the venerable Airfix offering. We are promised a folding-wing option which represents a major advance, and we’re hoping the 193 mm (7.6 in) wingspan kit will do for 1:72 scale what Tamiya’s superb Swordfish did for the bigger 1:48 scale.

IPMS SCALE MODELWORLD 2011 - PHOTO REPORT

SMN report:

The Scale ModelWorld 2011 Show was a major event last weekend for the IPMS (International Plastic Modellers Society), and a galaxy of models were on display. SMN’s own Mat Irvine was at the show with a stand (above), and all in all, the annual bash went down very well indeed.

BUILDING BOOM FROM WOODLAND SCENICS

SMN report:

Woodland Scenics offers some interesting new buildings, including a trio in the expansive 0-gauge ‘Built-&-Ready’ series. US 0-gauge is handily equivalent to 1:48 scale, so lots of crossover possibilities are possible using ready-made structures like these.

Sign of the hanging boot

We just love the JW Cobbler building, complete with its hanging-boot sign in the front. Many more details abound, making this worth a display all by itself.

RENWAL’S LARGEST MILITARY KIT - THE US ARMY M65 ATOMIC CANNON

Mat Irvine: Revell has owned most of the old Renwal company’s moulds for decades - actually, since 1976 - and has reissued many of those kits. So far, these have been released in Revell boxes, but now, thanks to Product Manager Ed Sexton, the original distinctive Renwal box-art has been reintroduced, including the Renwal brand name.

COLD WAR WARRIOR RETURNS - MACE MISSILE FROM RENWAL

SMN report:

Mat Irvine spotted the next Revell reissue of a classic Renwal military kit when he was at the iHobby Expo  recently. It will be the futuristic Teracruzer and Mace missile set, and as you will read in Mat’s article later today, there’s been a sea-change at Revell where packaging is concerned.

NEW FROM CORGI - TRAINS, PLANES, CARS

SMN report:

Corgi’s next Aviation Archive diecast release will be a variation on the highly successful 1:72 scale TSR-2 British strike bomber. This one is modelled on the XR220 machine, now on display at the RAF Museum, Cosford. It’s a Limited Edition, with just 1500 in the run, and has extra parts to reflect the stronger landing gear fitted to the aircraft, and the two cameras fitted to monitor gear behavior.

HORNBY STEAMS AHEAD, EXPECTS LONDON OLYMPICS 2012 BOOST

SMN report:

Hornby, owner of the famous Airfix, Corgi, Humbrol, Hornby trains, and Scalextric names, has posted an 80 percent jump in first-half 2011-12 pretax profit, and looks forward to a good result for the next half too, as it eyes a mouthwatering boost from selling Olympic Games-linked products.