HOBBY MASTER COLLECTORS HAVE THEIR OWN PROFILE PAGES

Hobby Master of Hong Kong makes a wide and expanding range of diecast models, of both aviation and military armour subjects. The aircraft in particular hit a sweet spot, with sizes that range in scale from 1:200 airliners to 1:32 combat types.

ACES HIGH - 21 NEW DIECAST RELEASES FROM HOBBY MASTER IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS 2011

SMN report:

Hobby Master’s December release list looks positively mouthwatering, with diecast collectibles available in no less than four scales.

Smallest scale first

Here we have a trio of 1:200 scale airliners, with two of them especially interesting subjects from the golden age of propliners. The Douglas DC-6B competed with the shapelier Lockheed Constellation, but was the excellent workhorse with which PanAm started its transatlantic tourist-class service, in 1952. HM’s DC-6B is finished in American Airlines markings - plain metal overall, accented by a red AA lightning strip along the fuselage sides.

PT-17 KAYDET BIPLANE TRAINER FROM HOBBY MASTER

SMN report:

Just coming into stores now is Hobby Master’s 1:48 scale Boeing-Stearman PT-17 biplane. The original was widely used during the 1930s and 1940s, with nearly 9800 built in all. After World War II, thousands were released onto the civil market and used for joy-rides, cropdusting and by private sports pilots. The two-seater is still around today, and many remain in flying condition.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AIR FRANCE, 78 YEARS OLD TODAY

SMN report:

Air France is one of the world’s grand old airlines, with a history going back to 1933, when it was formed from the merger of five smaller French airlines. It has added two more French airlines since then, and is now merged with the Dutch airline KLM. The huge company currently flies a mixture of more than 250 Airbus and Boeing aircraft.

DOUGLAS SKYRAIDER - HEFTY SINGLE-SEAT ATTACK PLANE

SMN report
Seeing that beautifully produced Hobby Master Douglas Skyraider made us think that the diecast industry has one more ‘mission impossible’ to fulfill in the quality stakes - and that’s to fill those tiny cockpits with decent-looking humanoids.

Skyraider cockpit
As you can see from the superb pix and video of the real thing above, the pilot sits high and mighty in the Skyraider’s cockpit, the big bubble canopy giving him a terrific all-round combat view. Sad to say, the HM aircraft features a shrunken little man looking half asleep at the controls; in fact, the figure is pretty much on a par with the infamous and malnourished Airfix flight crews of long ago.

Hobby Master pilots
Part of the problem is to do with what’s actually possible. The limits of moulding technology simply don’t allow a canopy of scale thickness (yet!), so the pilot is bound to sit somewhat low in the cockpit. Even so, the average diecast pilot is pretty half-hearted, and in open cockpit machines, the issue shouldn’t arise at all. Now Hobby Master is at least addressing the issue, with several sets of figures now available, and they are better than the in-cockpit bods. But there’s a way to go yet, so that’s our next target for HM and other brands - pilots who look like they really have been to flight school!

Revell 1:40 scale Skyraider
The video in particular reminds us of that old Revell kit from 1960, made to a one-of-a-kind 1:40 scale. It was packed with must-have features of the time, including retractable undercarriage. In the Skyraider’s case this is particularly complex to model, because the wheels rotate 90 degrees to lay flat in the wings. In the kit I built some time ago, the wheels (and other features, such as the massive underbelly dive brake, sliding canopy, and folding wings) worked after a fashion - but only after a fashion. When extended, the landing legs were rather weak at the knees and, combined with the hefty weight of the finished item, made them go splay-legged the moment you tried to sit the plane on them!

You tried so hard Revell - but perhaps there are some things best left alone...

Spooky the Cat’s treasure trove
Incidentally, we chanced on this interesting clutch of kits, purchased at the IPMS Seattle Spring Show 2008. You can see the reissue of that original 1:40 scale Skyraider in the set, picked up for just $10 (fine value, even for a reissue) by model fan ‘Spooky the Cat’. Trust you enjoyed the build Spooky, and that you managed to fix that feeble undercart! Below it is the original box, painted with that early-Revell style and panache. The box subhead describes it as ‘frameable’ art, which just goes to show - never cut up a box at the suggestion of a copywriter!

Visit here for Skyraider kits and books.

The pictures show, top to bottom:
1  Kit selection from IPMS Seattle 2008.
2  Revell box from 1960.
3-4  Skyraider demos its barn-door speed brake, and flying in formation with a Grumman F4F, called the Martlet in Fleet Air Arm service.

Video courtesy ‘octane130’.

DIECAST AIRCRAFT JUST KEEP GETTING BETTER

Hobby Master has some fine new offerings for ready-built aircraft collectors. In 1:48 scale, they include a pair from the 1930s, the Boeing P26 and Grumman F3F. These are nicely detailed (the Boeing has machine guns accurately shown in the engine cowling) and beautifully rigged.

The 1:72 scale selection includes a Bristol Beaufighter. There's a neat radar thimble and well portrayed undercarriage. Among the jet-age ‘heavies’ is a Vietnam-era Republic F-105 Thunderchief, the biggest single-engine fighter-bomber flown by the US Air Force. Again, detail is good, this time extending to the engine nozzle area; well done Hobby Master.

And things get very interesting with the diorama sets. The one we show here (bottom) is for an A-4 Skyhawk (not supplied) and includes seated and standing pilot figures, generator, ladder, and wheel chocks.

These models are feeding into suppliers, and should be generally available shortly. You can see them all at the specialist Hobby Master Collector site, here.