KITBASHER'S DELIGHT? THE NEW TEMPEST INTERNATIONAL FIGHTER PROJECT

THE TEMPEST IS going forward as a new project, with a target in-service date from 2035. It will almost certainly replace the current Eurofighter Typhoon fleet, used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and eight other air arms.

FANTASTIC PLASTIC TESTS OUT KIT SURVEY FOR NEW MODEL RANGE

FANTASTIC PLASTIC MAKES A WIDE range of specialist kits, covering space, sci-fi and fantasy models. A recent survey provided an eye-opener into model makers’ preferences.

1:24 SCALE VELOCIPOD SAUCER CRAFT FROM 'THE INCREDIBLES' MOVIE.

'THE INCREDIBLES' WAS A PIXAR animated movie, released in 2004. The plot followed a superhero family, who were drawn into battle against an evil villain and his hordes. Now the specialist model company Fantastic Plastic has released a 1:24 scale kit of the Velocipod, a saucer-like craft featured in the film.

'MILANO' SPACECRAFT FROM THE SCI-FI MOVIE 'GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY'

THE HOLLYWOOD HIT Guardians of the Galaxy was a rip-roaring space opera that punched its way to popularity, and now stands in third place on the Marvel Studios all-time hit list. And now Fantastic Plastic has released a 1:144 scale kit of the Milano, a ship that plays a similar sort of role in Guardians to the Millennium Falcon in the various Star Wars movies.

“I’LL BE BACK” - ARNIE SCHWARZENEGGER’S WHISPERCRAFT SWOOSHES IN AGAIN FROM FANTASTIC PLASTIC

California-based Fantastic Plastic has just released a new 1:72 scale kit of the Whispercraft, a fictional helicopter that featured in the 2000 sci-fi movie, The 6th Day.

ROBOT PLANE RETURNS FROM ORBIT - AND A 1:48 SCALE VERSION LANDS ON YOUR WORKTOP

DAVID JEFFERIS REPORTS:

The X-37B mini-Space Shuttle made a landing recently, after a record-breaking orbital flight lasting nearly 15 months. Its missions are US Air Force secrets, but the appearance is less so - and with this latest 1:48 scale kit, you can add a state-of-the-art robotic spacecraft to your display shelf.

'2001' SPACE WHEEL FROM FANTASTIC PLASTIC

DAVID JEFFERIS REPORTS:

For my money, 2001: A Space Odyssey is one of the seminal science-fiction movies of all time, sharing the podium with the first Star Wars trilogy. Despite its fame, 2001 has not been kitted much over the years, so here’s an opportunity to catch up, with a twin-scale Space Wheel, from Fantastic Plastic.

INCOMING - PLANET OF THE APES ICARUS SPACECRAFT

SMN REPORT:

It’s a science-fiction time at the moment, with the run-up to Wonderfest this coming weekend, and today we’ve got an elegant-looking fictional spacecraft, the Icarus from the classic 1968 sci-fi movie Planet of the Apes.

INCOMING SUMMER 2012 - 'CAPTAIN AMERICA' SUPER-SCIENCE HARDWARE

SMN report:

We’ve got a year of science-fiction models flying our way from Fantastic Plastic - and some of our huge faves are included in the list, starting with some handsome Luftwaffe 1946-style ironmongery from last year’s Captain America movie.

ALIENS BEWARE! ‘AVATAR’ HELICOPTER GUNSHIP KIT FROM FANTASTIC PLASTIC

SMN Report:

The team at Fantastic Plastic (FP) are really in the groove with the ever-increasing range of science fact and fiction kits, choices ranging from NASA aerospace projects to giant starships from science-fiction movies. And the latter is where this latest FP kit comes from - it’s a fictional twin-rotor helicopter that featured in the 2009 box-office smash Avatar from ace director James Cameron, of Titanic fame.

MEGA MOON ROCKET FROM FANTASTIC PLASTIC

David Jefferis reports:

Great news for ‘what-if’ space fans from Fantastic Plastic, with this month’s release of a reworked and upsized 1:72 scale version of Revell’s 1950s-era XSL-01 Moon Rocket. The original kit, designed by US aerospace engineer Ellwyn E. Angle, was a 1:96 scale production, making the FP edition half as big again.

STAR TREK KITS ON MARK-DOWN SALE THIS WEEK AT FANTASTIC PLASTIC

SMN report:

We’re a bit tardy with this info, but there’s still time to bag a bargain. Fantastic Plastic, which styles itself as: “The Virtual Museum of Flying Wonders!” certainly gets our vote for creating and marketing the widest range of rare and odd machinery, both real and fictional.

There’s plenty to choose from in the sale, though as we’re in Star Trek mode just now, there are three kits that look particularly interesting.

READY OCTOBER - FORWARD-SWEEP HARRIER, ‘WHAT-IF’ DESIGN FROM 1980

SMN report:

Ready for release in October is this what-if proposal for a supersonic Harrier replacement, from way back in the early 1980s. The team at Fantastic Plastic has revived the design with a 1:72 scale kit, patterned and cast by Anigrand Craftswork, of Hong Kong.

GERMAN HEINKEL JET BOMBER ‘LUFTWAFFE 1946’ KIT

SMN report:

Fantastic Plastic is at it again with an interesting ‘Luftwaffe 1946’ offering, a Heinkel long-range jet bomber design. The project never left the drawing board, but as with all these Luft 46 designs, offers a fascinating insight into the direction World War II could have taken if Hitler’s secret projects had reached fruition.

CAN’T MAKE WONDERFEST? SAVE MONEY INSTEAD!

SMN report

The folks at Fantastic Plastic are visiting the WonderFest international hobby event this weekend, and have a sale on to mark their escape from the office. Up to 30 percent savings are in place, and if you like to model interesting, unusual, or simply bizarre aerospace and sci-fi subjects, then FP is the place to visit.

Competed model, ready for takeoff.

BIG AND SMALL ‘DESTINATION MOON’ ROCKETS FROM FANTASTIC PLASTIC

David Jefferis looks at some classic science fiction

It was couch potato time the other evening, with a chance to munch some sweetcorn while eyeballing a sci-fi movie from more than 60 years ago. George Pal’s Destination Moon of 1950 remains one of the best of its kind - a realistic future vision, dressed up as fiction by the addition of a lukewarm plot and wooden actors. Destination Moon may have been shot in black-and-white, with indifferent acting, but... it also featured a handsome spacecraft, the Luna, looking like a sleeked-up version of a World War II German V-2. And Luna became the prototype design for virtually all sci-fi rockets of that era, streamlined beauties that soared through the midnight depths of space. 

FANTASY FIGHTER FROM FANTASTIC PLASTIC

An SMN reader asked this week: “Can I buy Fantastic Plastic products direct in the UK?” Well, we don’t think so, but if there’s a supplier out there who we don’t know about, contact SMN and we’ll give you a mention.

Hammerhead space fighter

But talking of Fantastic Plastic, there’s an interesting new release from this US company, in the form of the Hammerhead air-space fighter from the TV sci-fi series Space: Above and Beyond (S:AAB), which aired for just one season in 1995-6. Thanks to the likes of the YouTube clip shown above, S:AAB lives on as a cult military-tech-drama, and the 31-component Hammerhead, released on December 21 2010, is a neatly-produced reminder of the series.

Fantastic Plastic supplies the canard-design Hammerhead to 1:72 scale, and parts for the single-seater are cast in resin, with a clear canopy.

Pusher-prop plane

This  month sees a host of Fantastic Plastic releases, including the pusher-prop Douglas DS-312A heavy fighter from 1939. It never went into production but paved the way for a number of pusher designs through the 1940s. Incidentally, this appears to be a remarketed version of the DS-312A from Unicraft Models, a company that produces the most amazing collection of weird, wonderful, and just plain extraordinary aircraft. Many of them are of unrealized projects, so visit Unicraft if you have a thirst for the world of what-if aviation.

The best way to get Fantastic Plastic stuff is direct here.

Visit Unicraft Models here.

IS IT A UFO? NO, IT’S A FANTASTIC FLYING DISC!

Mat Irvine reports
Aeronautical designers have a history of fascination with aircraft that are round - in the ‘flying saucer’ sense. There have been dozens of designs over the years, though the vast majority have been impractical, were ‘paper projects’, or would likely never have flown even if a prototype had been built.

Flying Discs
However, flying saucer planes remain fascinating, and specialist model producer Allen Ury, who runs Fantastic Plastic, has slaked his enthusiasm for these bizarre designs with a kit of the US Air Force ‘40 foot Flying Disc’, a design that was supposedly proposed in the 1960s. As Allen says on his website: “In 1967, former US Navy aviator and aviation writer Jack D. Pickett and his business partner Harold Baker visited MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, to gather information for an Air Force-sponsored article on historical experimental aircraft.  At the edge of the base, they were shown four decommissioned X-planes - all of them flying discs - measuring 20, 40, 70 and 116 feet in diameter”.

Skyrocket or Flying Disc?
Whether Pickett and Baker actually saw such discs is open to speculation - certainly no official photos were ever released, and images of many other ‘black designs’ have become unclassified and made public over the years. And the two parked on the tarmac (top picture above) are neat cheats by artist Gino Marcomini, who has replaced the original B-29 Superfortress and Douglas Skyrocket with a pair of Discs, large and small. Pity the pic isn’t for real though - don’t those Discs look just great!

Fantastic Plastic Flying Disc kit
Real or not, the 40-foot (12.1 m) Flying Disc is a great kit subject that sits well with other offerings in Fantastic Plastic’s wide range of exotica. Like many kits from this stable, the 1:72 scale Flying Disc is mostly resin, with a clear vac-form for the canopy, and a set of decals. It’s a simple kit, with just 16 parts, though there are some aspects to consider when building it. Most importantly, resin tends to warp, so it’s important to clamp upper and lower halves of the airframe firmly together. As you can see from the picture, I didn’t spare the clamps and pegs to ensure all went well! Other than that, the Flying Disc went together well, and is supplied with a conventional tricycle undercarriage. This works perfectly well, though reports indicate that the ‘real’ thing might have had as many as six legs in a circle. But who knows which is correct so no worries there. An ejector seat is supplied to fit under that extremely clear canopy, but you will have to provide your own USAF pilot.

The pictures show, top to bottom:
1, 2  Gino Marcomini’s splendid retouch job (blue) with the official shot of the same scene at Edwards Air Force Base below.
3  Fantastic Plastic kit box.
4  Parts laid out before assembly.
5  Pegs ensured the disc halves mated properly.
6  The finished model.

Incidentally, Gino Marcomini is a talented artist, who produces many aerospace images. Have a look at his work on the alternate-history Luftwaffe 1946 site here:

Visit Fantastic Plastic here.

CONVAIR XAB-1 ATOMIC BOMBER FROM FANTASTIC PLASTIC

SMN reports
More gorgeousness from our friends at Fantastic Plastic this month, with yet another weird and wonderful ‘never-flew’ project from the Cold War era. This blast from the past is a 1:144 scale kit of the Convair XAB-1, originally released by Hawk Models in 1959, to the fit-the-box scale of 1:180.

Rare original kit from Hawk models
In keeping with the heroic concepts of the 1950s, the XAB was a biggie, and FP’s 30-component resin kit scales out to a length of some 432 mm (17 in) with a wingspan of 305 mm (12 in) when built. As you can see from the pictures, it looks great when assembled.

Cold War project
A word about the XAB project itself: in the 1950s, US designers explored many ways to gain air superiority over the rival USSR. As planned, the XAB incorporated nuclear power, with engines that could theoretically provide near-infinite range, and flight-times limited only by human endurance on the part of the flight crew. The two parasite jets could be released when necessary to fight off enemy aircraft, allowing the XAB to fly on unmolested to its target.

There’s lots more information at Fantastic Plastic here.

1:72 SCALE A9 LONG-RANGE ROCKET MISSILE FROM SPECIAL HOBBY

SMN reports
Here’s a look at the A9 piloted missile we brought back from the La Coupole rocket base in northern France. The A9 was one of many ‘Luftwaffe 1946’ secret projects that never saw military action before World War II ended, in this case luckily for the Allied towns and cities that could have been in the target zones.

 

Vengeance weapon
Developed from Wernher von Braun’s V-2 ‘Vengeance’ weapon (technical name A4) the A9 was the winged upper stage of a two-stage rocket, the A10 first-stage boosting it to high speed and altitude. Blueprints of the time showed that the wings would have given the A9 range enough to hit targets as far away as Scotland, more than doubling the standard V-2’s reach of some 320 km (200 miles). It wasn’t good news for the pilot however, who was expected to bale out and parachute to safety moments before impact - a fairly unlikely scenario.

Later A9/A10 designs had bigger wings, and were planned for attacks on US targets such as New York and Washington. You can see how this might have worked in the video, and also the pages from ‘Popular Science’ magazine, shown above.

Special Hobby A9 kit
Back to the Special Hobby kit, which comes neatly boxed, with art that should be useful as a painting guide. The 52 parts are presented on three runners, with a vacuum-formed cockpit canopy, which needs trimming out before cementing in place. There is an attempt at cockpit detail - seat, stick, floor, bulkheads - but no pilot figure is supplied. The long, vane-like wings are supplied separately, though there are no fitting stubs, so assembly will have to be careful.

The A9 itself has just 19 components - the other 33 are for the stand, which is something of a fiddly job, recommended for the patient model maker, equipped with fine tweezers. The smaller parts need some cleaning up before assembly, but there’s nothing major to worry about.

Summation
An interesting kit, though it’s hardly a new release, and can be quite difficult to obtain - you’ll probably have to search around for one, but for Luftwaffe 1946 fans, it’ll be worth the hunt.
  
Visit La Coupole here.

There are further A9/A10 project details here.

For a look at a nicely assembled A9, visit our friends at Fantastic Plastic here.