RUSSIAN T-50 STEALTH FIGHTER FLYING IN FROM REVELL

SMN report:

Pre-orders are now being taken for the Revell 1:72 scale Sukhoi T-50 Stealth combat aircraft, with deliveries of the kit due to start on April 7, 2012.

BIG-SCALE MOTORIZED FOAM-BOARD CAR KITS

SMN update: GreenLight Toys has unveiled a series of foam-paper car kits for 2012, five American muscle cars and one muscle truck. The MotoBuildz aren't exactly models, they're more like those 500-piece landscape puzzles you find at educational toy stores, only with fewer pieces and less frustration.

LAST F-22 RAPTOR UNDER CONSTRUCTION, BUT THE STEALTH FIGHTER STILL FLIES HIGH IN THE KIT WORLD

SMN report

The last of 195 F-22A Raptors for the US Air Force is now under construction, yet the entire F-22 fleet remains grounded over concerns about the pilot's cockpit breathing system inside the cockpit, which has been under investigation since November 2010, when an F-22 crashed mysteriously in Alaska. No emergency call was received from the pilot, and the assumption is that he passed out from oxygen loss before the crash.

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.