1:18 SCALE HOBBYBOSS HARRIER: GIANT-SIZED JUMP-JET REALLY LOOKS THE BIZ

HERE'S AN ACE HARRIER to the BIG scale of 1:18. This vid is well worth watching, and is the eighth in a highly-watchable series of build chapters.

SUPER SOUNDS: ULTRA-DETAIL 1:24 SCALE AV-8S MATADOR FROM MODEL-MAKER GEORGE R. MUSTAFA

Here’s a prize-winning build of the 1:24 scale Airfix Harrier, remodelled as a Spanish Navy Matador. The kit is based on the old-mould Harrier, marketed a few years back with additional parts to build the GR3 version. Creator of the sound-enabled display model is US model-maker George Mustafa.

APRIL ITALERI - MARKING 30 YEARS SINCE THE FALKLANDS WAR

Yesterday’s 30th anniversary of the Argentina-UK conflict saw Italian kitmaker Italeri releasing models of some British aircraft used in that short but bloody conflict.

INCOMING - MORE NEW-TOOL DIECAST AIRCRAFT FROM CORGI

SMN report:

We noted the big new 1:72 scale Short Stirling heavy bomber earlier this week, and now here’s a pair of smaller aircraft to the same scale, a Hawker Hart inter-war period biplane, and a Hawker Hurricane from World War II. Both releases look interesting enough, the Hart looking especially attractive, with fine interplane rigging a highly appealing feature.

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.

WEEKEND MODEL WINDOW

Weekend Model Window is an occasional spot to show you some interesting stuff we've come across recently.

The 2008 F1 Championship winning McLaren MP4-23 race car is the latest offering from partwork publisher DeAgostini, and the launch issue looks terrific. The 1:8 scale kit will measure some 594 mm (23.4 in) long when assembled, and has been developed with Kyosho, so should build into a fine replica. How long it will take to collect all the necessary parts is not revealed.

A recent AFV from Revell is the 1:35 scale Marder 1 A5, with supplied markings as used in the Kosovo and Afghanistan conflicts. The 196-part kit has detailed Milan missile launcher, machine gun and tracks, aspects which have earned it some very good reviews.

STEALTH FIGHTER F-35 LIGHTNING II SOON TO RULE THE SKIES

SMN report
After years of development, and seemingly endless delays and price hikes, the ‘5th generation’ fighter jet from Lockheed Martin, the F-35 Lightning II, has at last been ordered into limited production.

It’s a bit better than recent news that the UK has dropped the F-35 STOVL version in favour of a standard configuration for launching from its as-yet unbuilt Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier. Along with other news that the UK Harrier force is being disbanded, it looks as though the UK is in for an entire decade without carrier-borne air power. Let’s hope it’s not needed.

5G helmet design
Back to the F-35: it’s not been a massive hit with the model companies yet, but the rumour mill indicates that things will improve in 2011, not least with a Lindberg version to 1:32 scale. That’ll be interesting if it happens. Meantime, apart from the old Italeri 1:72 and Panda Models 1:48 offerings there’s so much to wait for. Still, we couldn’t resist showing you the latest in ‘5G’ fighter helmets - Star Wars, eat your heart out, 5G pilots tote serious stuff!

RC Lightning II
However, even if there isn’t yet a really good F-35 injection kit - and no sign of a production-standard machine - there are various radio control scale and semi-scale versions to build and fly. The video (without sounds on our system, but you may have better luck) shows one of the most aerobatic ones available.

Visit one of the RC F-35 suppliers, Esprit Models here.

The pictures show, top to bottom:
1  5G fighter pilot helmet.
2-3  Panda 1:48 scale kit.
4  Cutaway plan of the F-35B, clearly showing the engine and front lift fan arrangement. To design-purists like us, this layout is not a patch on the Harrier’s elegantly simple four-poster exhaust system.

DRAGON KITS ON DISPLAY AT JAPANESE MODEL SHOW

SMN report
Last week saw the 2010 Tokyo Hobby Show, and Hong Kong-based DML - Dragon Models Limited - put on quite a display there. Founded in 1987, DML is well-known for its excellent action figures, ready-built diecasts, and of course an ever-expanding range of plastic kits.

Farewell to the Harrier - in UK service anyway
So what’s on offer from Dragon at the moment? Well, there’s a smorgasbord of choice, so we’ll just pick and choose a few current faves. The Harrier II-Plus twin-kit to 1:144 scale makes up into a pair of tiny but tasty aircraft - and for this reviewer at least, a sad reminder that next year the Harrier will be phased out of UK military duty. But (grrr) the UK is the country that developed this formidable flying machine in the first place. Let’s hope that UK politicians don’t regret that decision...

Tanks and ships
On the humanoid front, the 1:35 scale 1940 German ‘Ghost’ Division tank crew kit assembles into a four-man set of beautifully sculpted and detailed figures. Away from World War II and up to date, the USS Independence LCS (Littoral Combat Ship) is a trimaran stealth vessel, built to project seapower as a seaborne assault transport. The LCS is a 2800-tonne design, yet can race through the water at more than 80 km/h (50 mph). Dragon’s kit is to 1:700 scale, which allows for a decent level of detail including Seahawk helos, Phalanx defence system, and nicely crafted photo-etch parts for the nets which surround the flight deck.

Bigger and bigger
Dragon has a wide range of kits, and in bigger scales, the 1:48 Messerschmitt Bf110 is particularly well-crafted, as is the 1:35 scale Bell UH-1N Huey, the combat vet chopper that formed the backbone of helicopter operations throughout the Vietnam War. This is such an excellent scale for military fans - and aircraft to the same scale are just so darned BIG! We love ’em.

See the Dragon 1:48 scale Bf110 kit here.

The ace 1:35 scale UH-1N Huey helicopter (our all-time fave helo) kit is here.

The pictures show, top to bottom:
1-2  Tokyo Model Show.
3-6  Dragon kits to various scales.
Pictures courtesy DML.

AIRFIX ‘ILLUSTRIOUS’ AIRCRAFT CARRIER TO 1:350 SCALE

David Jefferis reports
Airfix is busy as a beehive these days, with product after product striding out the doors - the breath of life from new ownership means that times are almost back to the company’s glory days, when schoolboys the length and breadth of the UK could be seen treading the wooden floorboards of FW Woolworth (a chain that’s now history - sigh) on the hunt for the latest Airfix kit-in-a-bag.

1:350 scale carrier video

The latest offering gives both maritime and aerospace model fans a treat, as it’s a 1:350 scale model of the Royal Navy’s HMS Illustrious - 'Lusty' to her crew - and it’s loaded for bear, with a flight deck packed with aircraft, helicopters and neatly-cast detail. Airfix has released a video overview of the carrier, which you can see above. The model is a test shot, so all you get to see is the bare plastic - for a taste of what the final result could look like, just have a look at the box, which is illustrated with a photo, rather than the CGI-based imagery that’s becoming standard across the rest of the Airfix range. 

What’s in the box?

First off, that 1:350 scale means the kit builds into a BIG ship - the Lusty scales out to some 603 mm (23.7 in) long, which is slightly more than two sheets of A4 paper laid end to end. And even the aircraft aren’t too miniscule - the Harriers have a wingspan of around the 21 mm (0.83 in) mark, while the Merlin and Sea King helos are accurate enough: the Merlin’s paddle-shaped rotors look particularly convincing. In all, there are some 276 components, enough for most model fans, especially as painting those aircraft is a several-nights job all by itself.  

Summation

Nice one Airfix - of course HMS Illustrious is hardly the biggest carrier afloat, as you can see from the pic showing her next to the USS John C Stennis - but she’s a fine warship nonetheless, and will make an excellent member of a desktop battlefleet. The kit also comes with 15 pots of paint, a pair of brushes, a bottle of polystyrene cement and an eight-page information booklet. The paints aren’t much good for serious modelmakers, but are doubtless useful for beginners, and some extra poly cement always comes in useful.

Pictures courtesy Airfix, US Navy, Royal Navy.

The Airfix HMS Illustrious kit is available from model stores and online suppliers including Amazon here.

There are also other warships available in smaller scales here.

NEW YEAR’S GREETINGS FOR 2010 - AND HERE’S A GLIMPSE AT WHAT AIRFIX HAS IN STORE FOR US

The SMN crew trust you had a good Christmas break, and offer you all best wishes for a great model making year in 2010.

And the manufacturers have some cool new items on the stocks, ready to tempt us in the months to come and to start, here's a look at some of the kits coming down the road from the revitalised Airfix.

If you’re an Airfix Club member then the ‘Club-only’ kit should be interesting. The box contains a pair of 1:72 scale V/STOL Harriers, a Harrier II GR7 and a new-tool Sea Harrier FA2. They will make a handsome pair that will look good on display together.

For ship fans, Airfix will be releasing a 1:350 scale Trafalgar class submarine. There are six remaining boats in the fleet (one was decommisioned in November 2009) three of which are fitted with the 2076 sonar, reckoned by the Royal Navy to be the most advanced such system in the world. The Airfix sub scales out at some 244 mm (9.6 in).

Military 1:76 scale enthusiasts will find the Ruined European Workshop useful for diorama scenes, while aircraft model makers will be lining up round the corner for the 1:72 scale Vickers Valiant jet bomber. This was the first of Britain’s V-bomber nuclear strike bombers to fly, back in May 1951, and was in service from 1955 until January 1965. The rather plain-Jane Valiant has not been a star on the model front, so this Airfix kit will fill the gap for many model makers keen on aircraft of the Cold War years.

You can visit Airfix here.

US MARINE HARRIERS LAND ON HMS ILLUSTRIOUS

Here's a short movie showing US Marine Corps Harriers landing on this British aircraft carrier two years ago, when 14 AV8B Harriers joined HMS Illustrious ahead of a joint US-UK-NATO exercise off the eastern seaboard of the US.

It's worth watching, just to see the bunjee-jump landing style - you've never really seen undercarriage action until you see Harriers hitting the deck of a ship! And to think the UK Gov is planning to ditch the Harrier carrier force before replacement F-35s arrive, so the Royal Navy will have no fixed wing aircraft for years. Are they mad? Rearrange these letters for the answer: ESY.