RED NOSE DAY GREETINGS

Red Nose Day is the International Charity Drive organized by Comic Relief, for ‘A just world free from poverty’ - and it’s been something of a phenomenon, operating in 76 countries all year round. In the 26 years since it started, more than £650 million ($1050 million USD) has been raised.

‘BIG DADDY’ ED ROTH LIVES ON WITH THE REISSUED REVELL ‘OUTLAW’ CUSTOM CAR

Mat Irvine goes custom crazy

Although the wacky cartoonist and car customizer Ed Roth died in 2001, his legacy of amazing ideas and art - and not forgetting the infamous ‘Rat Fink’ character - lives on. Since Revell started making kits of Roth’s ideas in the 1960s, they have rarely been off the shelves. 

ANOTHER MODEL STORY FROM EARTHQUAKE-HIT JAPAN

SMN report

Our best wishes go to all in Japan, and especially those directly affected by this event. 

We are pleased to report that one of our favourite internet stores, Hobby Link Japan (HLJ), has survived, though it did not go unscathed, as HLJ President, Scott T. Hards, relates below.

Weird noises on the telephone

In Scott's words: “The quake started small, as they usually do. We'd had a few little ones in recent days here, so I didn't even think to end the phone call I was on. As it slowly grew in strength, I eventually mentioned it to the person I was speaking with. “Yeah, I can hear some weird noises coming from over there,” they offered. As it continued to grow in power, things around my desk started to jump about, and I finally hung up the phone with a quick “call you back.”

SALUTE TO ALL VICTIMS OF THE JAPANESE EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI

SMN comment

Our sympathies and best wishes go to all the victims and their families involved in this tremendous and still unfolding tragedy. 

Twitter messages from Kyosho

It was brought home to us when we read the Twitter messages from Kyosho of Japan, respected for all its excellent RC products, and admired at SMN especially for its excellent 1:18 scale cars. The latest news is that Kyosho will be closed until the 21 March, so our best wishes to all at the company, and we trust you can restart on schedule.

BRAVE NEW FORD FOCUS RALLY RACER FROM SIMIL'R - A NEW FRENCH NAME TO RECKON WITH?

Mat Irvine spots something new

It’s a brave move to create a new model kit company these days, but that is what appears to be happening with the new French company, Simil’R. 

WRC Ford Focus

Spotted at a recent trade model show was the first Simil’R kit, a World Rally Car (WRC) version of the Ford Focus. This will be a comprehensively produced injection-moulded traditional styrene kit that will also come with high-detail photo-etch and other metal parts.

FREE CLASSIC E-TYPE JAGUAR FROM MODELZONE AND BBURAGO

SMN heads-up

Well, you can't complain about this neato offer from the UK chain ModelZone - just get on down to the website and get your name in for a chance to win this fine Bburago 1:18 scale Jaguar E-Type, in our opinion, definitely the most beautiful car ever built, with or without race numbers and stripes...

Visit ModelZone here.

SPACECRAFT MODELS FROM DRAGON - X-37B, DELTA II, SPACE SHUTTLE, HST SHOULD KEEP ARMCHAIR ASTRONAUTS SMILING... AND THERE'S A BELL X-1 ROCKET-PLANE TOO

SMN report

The Chinese model company Dragon continues to add models to its ‘Space Collection’ range. The subjects vary in scale from 1:72 to 1:400 scale, plus 1:6 scale astronaut figures. Spacecraft are ready-built, mixing diecast-and-plastic parts, and there are several new ones that have just come in, including a variation on the 1:72 scale X-37B ‘mini Shuttle’ we discussed a while back.

X-37B glides in to a smooth landing

Dragon’s latest X-37B represents the automated vehicle in early glide-test mode, which is a neat (if specialist) addition to a tabletop space fleet. As we mentioned before, the real thing looks distinctly more careworn than this miniature version, but no matter, you can always give Dragon’s X-37B a dose of the weathering treatment with an airbrush.

WIN A 1:18 SCALE CAR MODEL FROM OTTOMOBILE

The French outfit OttOmobile has a fast-expanding range of resin-based model cars, mostly in 1:18 scale, with some in the even bigger 1:12 scale. OttOmobile’s story is an interesting one, with the two principals coming from the ‘real’ car industry, where they worked as car design consultants for various manufacturers. The Talbot Sunbeam Lotus shown here, on release this month, is a good example of OttOmobile choosing an unusual subject and taking it as its own. 

From 1:1 scale to table-top size

Of the model car industry, Ottomobile’s comment about making the move from the real thing is: “...we enjoy making mini car. Pressure was stronger than in the real car business, but the product was so nice”.

FREE iMODELKIT APP FOR YOUR iPHONE AND iPOD TOUCH

SMN report

Here is an interesting item for all you iPhone and iPod touch owners out there - it’s an App for model makers, called iModelKit. Using the basic version, you have to share screen space with banner ads, but that’s fair enough, as it’s a free App. If you don’t like the ads then you can opt for the paid version - for UK buyers that’s £3.99.

NEW 2011 VW BULLI vs. OLD HIPPIEVAN, PLUS NEW CONCEPTS, DIECASTS TO LOOK AT

David Jefferis looks at the VW Bus

Mat Irvine’s VW Microbus article stirred up some comments, especially when we invited comparisons with the new Bulli version, unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show, which ends on 13 March.

Other ideas out there

Seems as if VW’s Bulli is a bit plain-Jane for VeeDub fans, and too similar to people-movers like the Ford Galaxy et al. Also, the 2001 concept was - and remains - sooo much cooler. So I thought it might be interesting to see what else is out there, and ran across a couple of concepts. First off, the Photochop from ‘D nice’ at VW Vortex smooths off the nose and blacks out the glass to bring back some character - compare them above and see what you think. I know which I like! Then there’s also the work of Canadian designer Alexandre Verdier, whose ideas are very nice indeed, especially his ‘woodie’ version, shown after the 'read more' jump.

75th ANNIVERSARY SALUTE TO THE SPITFIRE

David Jefferis looks at the aircraft and two excellent kits

Today’s the day, 75 years ago, when the Spitfire took to the skies on its maiden flight. The designer, RJ Mitchell, had already built up experience with high-speed aircraft through his Schneider Trophy seaplane racers, and for the Spitfire, Mitchell sketched a design with unusual elliptical wings that could be armed with no less than eight machine guns. There was a closed cockpit, with oxygen supply for the pilot at high altitude, and a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine that made it faster than any other British aircraft.

SUPER PERSHING - THE FIRST ALLIED TANK TO BEAT THE GERMAN KING TIGER

SMN report on the Tamiya T26-E4

As World War II was drawing to an end, the M26 Pershing was coming into service in Europe, and was the first US tank that could take on powerful German armour such as the Tiger I and Panther on reasonably even terms. Tamiya’s 1:35 scale kit represents the T26-E4, a developed version of the Pershing, armed with a long-barrel 90mm main gun with enough power to throw armour-piercing shells punching through the front plate of even the ultimate German tank, the King Tiger.

LEONARDO DA VINCI AUTOMOBILE 'SELF-PROPELLING CART' KIT FROM ITALERI

Mat Irvine inspects

Here is another model in the growing range of Leonardo da Vinci designs, a 1:12 scale (or thereabouts) kit originated by Academy in South Korea, but made and marketed in Europe by the Italian firm Italeri.

The kit models Leonardo’s idea for a mechanical self-propelled cart, which would be, I suppose - if it had ever been built - the first example of a perfectly feasible ‘automobile’, predating Karl Benz’s three-wheeler by some 400 years.

REVELL VW MICROBUS AND A NEW VERSION AT THE 2011 GENEVA MOTOR SHOW

Mat Irvine looks at the 1:24 scale Revell VW Microbus kit

Way back in 1957, Revell Inc was based in Venice, California, close to the sea and surf of the Pacific Ocean. The company produced a kit of what was becoming one of the vehicles in which to carry your surfboard. But this wasn’t a product of one of the major American car companies - instead, it came from the other side of the Atlantic, for it was a kit of the German VW Microbus, also known as the Samba or Combi. 

Revell and Hasegawa link up

The kit used a multi-piece body, in that you got separate side, front and rear panels, roof and four doors, plus hatches at the back. Over the years the kit was modified (the rear hatch was enlarged) and reissued in a number of guises. But the kit was slightly showing its age and when Hasegawa also decided to make a VW Bus, (with van and pickup versions as well), Revell (which had a tie-in with the Japanese company for some time) reboxed the kit and issued it as its own. This time the body was the more usual one-piece, though features such as opening doors and separate engine were not a feature of the Hasegawa version.

BUY YOURSELF A SUB-ORBITAL XCOR LYNX SPACECRAFT - WELL, A COLLECTIBLE MODEL ANYWAY

David Jefferis reports

For a limited time, the California-based XCOR Aerospace rocket engineering company is offering a numbered, limited edition of hand-carved 1:24 scale display models of its Lynx spacecraft, currently under development. Only 100 models were made and there are still some available. Many are now on the desks of various VIPs and XCOR investors, but the rest are on offer to space fans.

THE WONDER OF WONDER WOMAN - A SUPERHEROINE KIT FROM MOEBIUS MODELS

A Mat Irvine review

Although Wonder Woman is most likely best known from the 1970s TV series starring Lynda Carter, the character existed long before that. In fact, the original Aurora kit of 1965 was based on the comic books that first featured the character in the 1940s. Along with Wonder Woman, Aurora issued others in the same vein, such as Superman, Superboy, Spider-Man, Batman, Robin, and The Penguin. However, amongst all those boys (and a bird), Wonder Woman never seemed to have quite the appeal - must be all that testosterone (and fish) - and the Wonder Woman kit was only available for a couple of years.

ANOTHER BIG JET FROM REVELL WITH A 1:32 SCALE RED ARROWS HAWK

David Jefferis reports
The BAe Systems Hawk is one of the best known jet trainers, and the Red Arrows one of the world’s top aerobatic teams, so it’s great to see a new-tool kit of the two-seater on sale. The Hawk is not a large aircraft, but at 1:32 scale the wings span 294 mm (11.6 in) and the fuselage is some 368 mm (14.5 in) long, so the benefits of sheer size are clear. There are 158 components in the kit, including the ventral tank carrying the diesel fuel used by the smoke system. As a vet of many a Reds display, I reckon they use more smoke during a show than any other team I’ve seen - in Guernsey one year, a vast mist of the stuff wafted across the crowd in a multi-coloured haze, but everyone loved it!

NOTE TO WORLD NAVIES - CANCEL F-35, BUY NAVAL TYPHOON. NOTE TO MODEL MAKERS - HERE’S A GREAT KIT-BASH OPPORTUNITY

SMN report

Eurofighter has released details of its proposed navalised Typhoon jet, and a glance at the details makes it seem the answer to a defence planner’s budget problems. The basic aircraft is already in service and proven, the development cost would be far less than a clean-sheet design, and best of all, there’s enough power from the two EJ200 engines to allow carrier takeoffs using a ski-jump - no catapult equipment needed.

Typhoon-N to replace the F-35?

For the UK’s Royal Navy, the Typhoon-N looks particularly interesting. Here’s a way to cut out the F-35 completely, and keep the cost of new aircraft carriers down as well, for ski-jump installation and operations are far cheaper than using catapults. Commonality between Typhoon and Typhoon-N has another benefit too - maintenance ought to work out cheaper, from flight and technical training to the supply and cost of spares.

LEONARDO DA VINCI LIVES ON WITH THE REVELL ‘AERIAL SCREW’ KIT - A RENAISSANCE-ERA HELICOPTER DESIGN

Mat Irvine inspects an interesting mixed media kit

In the middle of 2010, Scale Model News carried a report on one of the new kits from Italeri, originated by Academy, that explore the technological design marvels from the pen of that Renaissance Man, Leonardo da Vinci. At the time it was said that this literally was a rebirth of interest as you would be getting models from not one, but three different kit companies. Two would use conventional plastic - as does the Academy/Italeri - but Revell planned kits that would use materials that Leonardo would certainly be familiar with - wood, cloth, and cord.

AIRFIX TSR2 SCI-FI VERSION NOW AVAILABLE

SMN report.

The 1:72 scale Airfix TSR.2MS, a rocket-boosted, missile-equipped aircraft designed to destroy deadly space rocks, is now available. And the good news is that if you change your mind and decide against the sci-fi version - based on the Japanese anime series Stratos 4 - then the box still contains the decals that allow you to finish the aircraft as an epitaph to British aerospace achievement and while you’re at it, a blaming finger at the sadly misguided politicians who cancelled so many brilliant projects in that era.