MORE MODELS FROM SINGAPORE

MORE INTERESTING STUFF from Peter Chiang with these entries from his Hobby Bounties mini-Airfix James Bond competition 2019. The cars are all in 1:32 scale, the James Bond Aston Martin (above) being fitted with an ejection-seat cutout in the roof, and much else besides.

JAMES BOND ASTON MARTIN DB5 GOES UP AGAINST OTHER GREAT TOYS

THE 007 JAMES BOND-MOBILE featured recently made us look up the best known of all 007 cars, the Aston Martin DB5.

“THE NAME’S BOND... OR CORGI… OR SCALEXTRIC.” 007 AT HORNBY HOBBIES

TO WRAP UP THE LONDON TOY FAIR we returned to the Hornby stand, though not to Airfix this time, but to two other names in the Hornby stable, also involving a third.

JAMES BOND ASTON MARTIN AND JAPANESE WARSHIP: EAGLEMOSS HAVE THEM COVERED AS PARTWORK COLLECTIBLES

The partwork publishers are hard at it with model products these days, and we’ll doubtless be seeing a bunch of new items launched after Christmas. Meantime, here are a pair of ready-built models to inspect, coming piggy-backed with collectible magazine-style publications.

JAMES BOND ‘SKYFALL’ OR DEMOLITION DERBY ‘METAL ALIEN’? IT’S YOUR CHOICE, WITH RACING SETS FROM SCALEXTRIC IN BIG AND SMALL SCALES

MAT IRVINE REPORT
Scalextric features the latest James Bond movie as the subject of the Micro Scalextric 1:64 scale Skyfall set with track.

BOND BEAUTIES FROM CORGI, FABBRI

The popularity of James Bond cars - particularly Aston Martins and BMWs - just never goes away. So here we are with Corgi’s latest releases, a 1:36 scale BMW Z8, and a 1:43 Aston Martin DB5. They are both OK, and would look fine in any James Bond collection.

However, it’s fair to say that neither Corgi offering breaks the barriers of diecast modelling - unlike the really rather good 007 James Bond Care Collection mini dioramas, published in partwork form by the Italian company Fabbri. The series started off quite some time ago, with the more well-known Bond vehicles, but Fabbri seems intent on featuring everything that’s ever been in a single frame of film - it’s currently past the 65th fortnightly issue and still going strong! But that’s not a criticism in any way - for completists, every one must be a step on the road to model nirvana.

The pictures here show (top to bottom) Corgi BMW Z8, Corgi DB5, Fabbri BMW Z8, and Fabbri Jaguar XK. The Corgi models are available from retail and online outlets. For Fabbri models, you need to buy a subscription.

You can visit Corgi here, and Fabbri here.

MAT’S US TRIP REVISITED - WHEN JAMES BOND WENT TO AMERICA

The Airfix 1:32 scale Aston Martin DB5, as modified and issued by MPC for the American market, was one of my acquisitions during my last US trip in April, and especially to the Kane County Toy Fair. I didn’t have a chance to examine the the DB5 fully until my return, but it now deserves a bit more of an explanation.

During the 1960s Airfix and MPC had a tie-in that led to Airfix kits being issued in the US market by MPC, and vice-versa. MPC made mostly cars, so that is what Airfix released for British modellers, including such classic kits as the Mako Shark and Monkeemobile. But for the UK ‘all’ Airfix did was to re-do the box-art using its own logo, while crediting the originators by adding - and this was a rare event - “Created by MPC”.

However Airfix did make - and still does - a much wider range of subjects, and those deemed suitable for the US market were invariably not only re-boxed for the US market, but sometimes had the parts content altered as well. With aircraft, it led to adding figures from the separate Figure Sets. With tanks and military vehicles, some of the Trackside Accessories - which wouldn’t normally fit in with American railroad layouts - were used. For example, the Travelling Crane became a dockside fixture, maybe for lifting seaplanes out of the water.

However, one major problem Airfix had with all its 1:32 scale car kits was that famous subjects such as the DB5 - which was certainly known to a US audience - did not come with features associated with home-grown American car kits from AMT, Jo-Han, MPC, Revell or Monogram. In particular, items such as chrome-plated parts and ‘rubber’ (actually vinyl) tyres were lacking. This led to many modifications for the MPC edition (top picture). Adding vinyl tyres wasn’t straightforward, but what could be done relatively easily (middle picture) was to chrome-plate relevant parts, which is what occurred with this Aston. But that wasn’t all. Racing decals were added, and a scene was printed on the side of the box showing a suitable backdrop, maybe the Pacific Coast Highway. There were even newly-tooled parts to make a stand to hold said background!

Some kits went even further. Although this could be deemed sacrilege, many veteran cars had customised parts added as well. The 1907 Lanchester (bottom) had a blown Chevy V8 engine added, along with racing slicks!

Mat Irvine