VAN DAMME: ZERO GRAVITY SPLIT REVEALS LINK TO SCALE MODEL DIORAMAS

Aaah… the 'Little Belgian' aka 'The Muscles from Brussels' strikes the Internet again with this oh-so-fun CGI splits-in-space. Last time we looked, it was heading toward the million-hits mark, with no end in sight.

MIND-BOGGLING JAPANESE KITBASH: PLASTIC KITS TRANSFORM COMPUTER INNARDS TO MAKE AN AMAZING MINIATURE TECHSCAPE

Designer Hiroto Ikeuchi has produced something far out with this extraordinary conversion of a computer into a fantastic miniature world, mixing plastic kits with high-tech computer geekery.

ED ‘BIG DADDY ROTH FROM REVELL: RAT FINK FIGURE AND 'CRAZY PAINTING' GARAGE KIT TO 1:25 SCALE

Here’s a homage to the late, great ‘Big Daddy’ Ed Roth, king of the Customizers and creator of the bulging-eyed Rat Fink rodent. Excellent news for all custom car fans, it’s available now from Revell.

RARE TREASURE - A BEAUTIFULLY MADE U-BOAT, HARBOUR AND RAIL-HEAD

Here's a good example to show that it's well worth keeping an eye open for interesting stuff, even in non-model emporia, as we found out this weekend. Here, among the bric-a-brac of a Cotswold antique shop, was a beautiful World War II diorama.

STOP THE TRAFFIC WITH THIS 1:24 SCALE ITALERI HIGHWAY

REPORT BY MAT IRVINE

Italeri is a kit company that besides making a wide variety of cars, trucks, ships, aircraft and military, also produces many accessory and diorama kits.

One brand-new release is this 1:24 scale ‘Guard rail and road section for display’, a diorama base intended for trucks or other road vehicles.

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.

RAMPAGING ROBOTS FROM TERMINATOR: SALVATION

It seems to be sci-fi week at SMN, after a viewing of the latest blockbuster in the Terminator movie series. Accompanying Terminator: Salvation is a deluge of collectibles and (hopefully) kits to come. The first wave of collectibles is already here, mostly figures of one sort or another.

The Wacky Wobbler Bobble-Head (top picture) is a quite nicely done ’toon variation, if a little at odds with the doomy flavour of the movie. This one comes with light-up eyes, so it has earned a space on my nighthawk workzone!

Also available is a matched A-10 and Skynet Hunter-Killer combat duo, with figures (middle picture). The A-10 is a bit toy-like, but you could use it as the basis for kit-bashing an existing model. With some work, the Hunter-Killer robot would make the basis of an excellent sci-fi diorama.

We’ll have to wait a while for more ‘adult’ stuff, such as the 1:6 scale T-600 figure, which isn’t due until after Christmas. Mind you, this one is definitely a save-for item, as it’ll likely retail at some $225.00 USD (£142 GBP).

You can buy Bobble Heads at Amazon here. The other two items can be seen at the action figure and collectibles site, Entertainment Earth here and here.

HORNBY MAGAZINE: 140 PAGES OF TASTY TRAINS

Here’s a look at the May issue of Hornby Magazine. It’s a treasure-trove of interest for British model rail fans, with a spectrum of articles covering most aspects, mainly in 00 gauge, but with nods to other scales as well.

As an aside, it’s a sore point with me that the UK should be at odds with the rest of the world in its use of model rail scales. I have many nice locomotives from distant shores, and have always felt it’s such a shame that I can’t display my H0 (1:87) US Big Boy next to my 00 (1:76) UK Mallard in a meaningful manner. Ho hum!

Rant over, and back to the magazine. Of particular interest (as we ran a story on it not long ago) is the article on Oxfordshire’s Pendon Museum, which houses one of the most fascinating miniature rail exhibitions anywhere.

Icing on the magazine-cake is that Hornby has hooked up with internet outfit Scalescenes to provide a FREE 00 gauge model garage. It’s a card model that builds into a typically grimy locally-owned garage from the 1960s. It’s a beautiful piece of work, with attention to detail that’s second to none. Graphic designer John Wiffen of Scalescenes has really done the biz on the signs and adverts that covered the walls of garages like this. Hornby Magazine has played its part by making the garage pages perforated, so you don’t have to wreck your mag when pulling them out, though a light scalpel cut will help detach them perfectly. Well done all!

The two pictures show Hornby Magazine's May cover, and the pulled-out pages that make up into the garage. You can visit Hornby Magazine online here. Scalescenes offer many downloadable buildings, which you see by visitng Scalescenes here.



Hornby, Hornby Magazine, Scalescene, John Wiffen, Pendon Museum, OO gauge, 1960s, diorama

Tasty diorama makes a great display

Nice as a model car may be, there’s nothing like a diorama to set it off nicely. Dioramas are not limited to scale either, except that they do take up quite a bit of room at bigger scales, like 1:18. However, that’s true of the cars as well, hence the popularity of 1:43 as a near-universal size that fits most collector’s shelves.

You can make your own diorama easily enough, and populate it with figures to give a good idea of the real thing’s true size. But there are also companies out there who make ready-made dioramas, as well as the bits and pieces to put in them.

One of these is the US GMP Diecast company, which has a nice range of ready-built dioramas, including the particularly attractive item shown here. GMP also sells figures, such as the sheriff, and nicely detailed racing car tool sets. You can visit GMP here.