WILL XMAS BRING A NEW TYPE OF KIT? MODEL FACTORY HIRO RELEASES 1:20 SCALE 'MULTI-MEDIA HYBRID' FERRARI 312T4

SMN REPORT
Automotive model fans prepare to open your wallets for this 1:20 scale 1979 Ferrari 312T4. Produced by the excellent Japanese Model Factory Hiro, and due in December, the kit is proclaimed as ‘a hybrid injection’ kit. MFH reckons this is a new term to cover the massively multimedia nature of the production, containing components produced in white metal, photo-etch, spun-aluminium, and plastic injection. Sounds great to us, and as the pictures show, the results ought to be spectacular in the hands of a reasonably skilled model maker.

TIME TO MUSE MORE WITH AOSHIMA VARIATIONS ON THE HAYABUSA MUSES-C SPACE PROBE TO 1:32 SCALE

MAT IRVINE REPORTS
On August 14, 2010, SMN featured a 1:32 scale kit of the Aoshima Japanese Hayabusa asteroid sample-return mission space probe, originally known as MUSES-C. Since then, Aoshima has issued two variations of this model.

MODEL MONSTERS HELP CREATE ‘THE REAL LOCH NESS MONSTER’ eBOOK

MONSTER REPORT
I journeyed to Scotland recently with a team to investigate a famous legend, Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster. We explored all around Loch Ness, visited the tourist sites, went to the museums, cruised out on the water, and theorised late into the night.

We came to some fascinating conclusions, which you can read about in The REAL Loch Ness Monster available from Amazon, Apple, and other online eStores. And there is a model connection with the book too.

‘2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY’ SPACECRAFT KITS FROM AJA MODELS

SMN REPORT

Having reviewed the excellent 2001: The Lost Science, we thought you’d like a look at the model kits AJA Models has on offer. If you have the slightest interest in the classic movie, then AJA could be the place to source your next kit.

‘2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY’ IN DETAIL - GREAT DETAIL

MAT IRVINE REPORTS

Ask any film enthusiast, and probably many non-enthusiasts, to name the best science-fiction movie of all time, and you will probably get 9 out of 10 voting for Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. For all those fans - and for space modellers too - comes the new book, 2001: The Lost Science by Adam K. Johnson.

KIT HISTORY FOR SALE ON NOVEMBER 6, AT VECTIS AIRFIX ARCHIVE AUCTION

 

DAVID JEFFERIS REPORTS

On November 6, Vectis Auctions, the world's largest toy auction house, will hold an auction featuring an impressive collection of Airfix kits. And that’s not all, for the sale includes the magnificent Roy Cross box art ‘Bomb the Tirpitz’ shown here, reckoned to be in with a chance to fetch between £9500-£15,000 GBP ($15-24,000 USD).

LEGO FELIX BAUMGARTNER MAKES A JUMP

Well, it just had to happen - a LEGO replay of Felix Baumgartner's supersonic high jump.

We're not quite sure what scale this model is, as estimates of LEGO's manikins range from around 1:30 to 1:40. Whatever, this is a fun piece of video making to promote the Austrian Model Maker's Fair.

Great stuff!

1:25 SCALE AMT PHANTOM VAN KIT - OR IS IT A VANTOM?

KIT REVIEW BY MAT IRVINE
If any decade turned the van from commercial vehicle to a statement of cool, it was the 1970s. Until then, the humble panel truck was most likely seen carrying building materials, making store deliveries, or toting tools-of-the-trade. But in the 1970s, vans were tricked out with custom paint jobs, sound systems, maybe a kitchenette, even - if you were lucky - a double bed. And now in 2012, comes a Round 2 Models reissue of such a custom creation, the AMT 1:25 scale Ford Econoline Phantom van.

DOWN IN THE UBER-COOL LEGO BAT CAVE...

SMN REPORT

The LEGO name derives from the Danish words leg godt, meaning ‘play well’, which is an apt title, but in the 63 years since manufacturing started, LEGO has far outgrown its ‘kids-only’ beginnings. Here we have an amazing 20,000-brick Bat Cave, built by adult enthusiasts, Wayne Hussey and Carlyle Livingstone.

STOP THE TRAFFIC WITH THIS 1:24 SCALE ITALERI HIGHWAY

REPORT BY MAT IRVINE

Italeri is a kit company that besides making a wide variety of cars, trucks, ships, aircraft and military, also produces many accessory and diorama kits.

One brand-new release is this 1:24 scale ‘Guard rail and road section for display’, a diorama base intended for trucks or other road vehicles.

FROG KITS - AAAH... NOSTALGIA!

Talking of airliner models, this delightful old ad for Frog airliners turned up recently. For some reason I thought all Frog airliners were made to the same 1:96 scale - but no, there's variety there, though nowhere near the profusion of fit-the-box scales (more like non-scales) that were popular at the time with makers such as Revell, Lindberg and others.

CHALLENGE-AND-A-HALF FOR AIRLINER LOVERS - ALASKA AIRLINES ‘KING SALMON’ PAINT JOB ON A BOEING 737

SMN REPORT

For lovers of exotic and complex markings, this one’s a winner, and ought to be the subject for a garage-kit decal job... please! Last week, a 41-tonne king salmon landed in Anchorage, Alaska, to a rousing welcome from crowds of workers with Alaska Airlines and the state seafood industry.

DECAL PACK TO IMPROVE THE 1:12 SCALE AIRFIX DOCTOR WHO ‘WELCOME ABOARD’ KIT

MAT IRVINE REPORTS:
Cast your mind back to my May 2012 review of the 1:12 scale Airfix Doctor Who ‘Welcome Aboard’ kit. It was the one I hadn’t completed, as I was trying to summon up energy to finish the complex paint job. One thing on the waiting list was the intricate pattern on Martha’s fashionable pink top, mainly as it was, well, intricate! I’m pleased to report that a quick solution has arrived.

WIDE WHEELS - 1:25 SCALE 1955 CHRYSLER 300 FROM MOEBIUS

MAT IRVINE REPORTS:
Who would have thought that there would be resurgence of interest in 1950s-era model kits? Even more so, with kits that are not existing-tool reissues, but are brand-new.

MAKE SURE YOUR COMBAT BIRDS CAN FLY WITH THIS 1:72 SCALE MODERN PILOTS SET

SMN REPORT

Here’s a really useful set of 1:72 scale figures, featuring modern NATO combat pilots (men and women!) from the air forces of three countries: Germany, United Kingdom and United States.

JERSEY AIR SHOW - TASTY STUFF FOR AIR FANS

Sad to say, the pretty little 1:72 scale de Havilland Heron airliner depicted on this old Airfix box-top wasn't at the 2012 Jersey Air Show, either in model form or the real thing. But there were plenty of elderly aircraft flying at the display held a couple of weeks ago.

THINK PAINTING A MODEL AIRLINER IS HARD WORK? HAVE A LOOK AT THE REAL THING IN THIS FOUR-MINUTE VIDEO

Mr J REPORT:
I can remember my very first airliner kit, a 1:96 scale Frog de Havilland Comet IV. The kit came with minimal detail, but did have looong decal strips for the fuselage sides, and a daunting amount of white paint was needed to cover the upper surface. After much careful application of tape, on went the paint and, well, to my chagrin much of it seeped underneath, and the kit was never the same again. I soon learned to mask with the best of them, but somehow never really returned to airliners with any degree of enthusiasm!

How I wish I'd had the facilities shown here for a Thomson Airways revamp from old insignia to swoopy new markings. I wish!