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.
Talking of airliner models, this delightful old ad for Frog airliners turned up recently. For some reason I thought all Frog airliners were made to the same 1:96 scale - but no, there's variety there, though nowhere near the profusion of fit-the-box scales (more like non-scales) that were popular at the time with makers such as Revell, Lindberg and others.
For lovers of exotic and complex markings, this one’s a winner, and ought to be the subject for a garage-kit decal job... please! Last week, a 41-tonne king salmon landed in Anchorage, Alaska, to a rousing welcome from crowds of workers with Alaska Airlines and the state seafood industry.
MAT IRVINE REPORTS:
Cast your mind back to my May 2012 review of the 1:12 scale Airfix Doctor Who ‘Welcome Aboard’ kit. It was the one I hadn’t completed, as I was trying to summon up energy to finish the complex paint job. One thing on the waiting list was the intricate pattern on Martha’s fashionable pink top, mainly as it was, well, intricate! I’m pleased to report that a quick solution has arrived.
MAT IRVINE REPORTS:
Who would have thought that there would be resurgence of interest in 1950s-era model kits? Even more so, with kits that are not existing-tool reissues, but are brand-new.
Here’s a really useful set of 1:72 scale figures, featuring modern NATO combat pilots (men and women!) from the air forces of three countries: Germany, United Kingdom and United States.
Sad to say, the pretty little 1:72 scale de Havilland Heron airliner depicted on this old Airfix box-top wasn't at the 2012 Jersey Air Show, either in model form or the real thing. But there were plenty of elderly aircraft flying at the display held a couple of weeks ago.
Mr J REPORT:
I can remember my very first airliner kit, a 1:96 scale Frog de Havilland Comet IV. The kit came with minimal detail, but did have looong decal strips for the fuselage sides, and a daunting amount of white paint was needed to cover the upper surface. After much careful application of tape, on went the paint and, well, to my chagrin much of it seeped underneath, and the kit was never the same again. I soon learned to mask with the best of them, but somehow never really returned to airliners with any degree of enthusiasm!
How I wish I'd had the facilities shown here for a Thomson Airways revamp from old insignia to swoopy new markings. I wish!
Revell’s output of ships is strong at the moment, and here’s an up to the moment 1:350 scale kit of the USS New York, a tech-packed amphibious warfare ship.
More temptation for you helo fans, in the form of this eye candy from Revell, showing build-up pix of the 1:32 Sea Lynx Mk 88, and very handsome it looks too, especially in the optional anniversary markings shown here.
For anyone who saw or built the original Matchbox kit, this Revell Platinum Edition must bring back memories. Even better, this 2012 version, due in November, will bring the Flower-class ship to new levels of detail.
This could be the 1:72 scale kit sensation of the year, and it’s about to land in the model stores anytime now. The Short Sunderland, nicknamed Fliegendes Stachelschwein (Flying Porcupine) by enemy aircrews for its defensive firepower, has been somewhat shortchanged in the kit department until now.
The ‘futuristic’ title may now seem slightly dated, as we are after all now living in the 21st Century, but when this model - the 1:25 scale AMTronic futurecar - was first issued, there were still 30 years or so to go before we hit the then-fabled ‘Year 2000.’
“Build up your Chopper Squad” is the rallying call on the sales video for this latest UK partwork release, Part 1 available now. And it looks an interesting buy for helo fans, as there’s a 1:72 scale model included with every issue.
Italy’s home-grown model company, Italeri, is one of those still producing a wide variety of kits. However, as is so often the case in the world of takeovers, it has over the years acquired virtually all its rivals in the country, including Protar and ESCI. These have greatly increased Italeri’s own vehicle catalogue, especially those from ESCI, and has led to a new kit trio ‘of mixed parentage’.
Here’s another Tamiya kit about to hit the model stores, a beautifully produced 1:72 scale Mitsubishi Zero Type 21 fighter. The kit joins Tamiya’s new War Bird Collection, and it’s really to be welcomed as 1:72 has been looking something of a Cinderella scale in recent years.
Talking of yesterday's 1:200 scale miniature figures, we reckon they'd be highly suitable for showing off next to the neat productions from dedicated 1:200 scale outfit, Shed Models from the UK, whose tagline is "The One True Scale". True or not, Shed makes an interesting 1:200 range, including the Bristol Sycamore helo shown above.
Following Aoshima’s 1:350 scale H-IIB launch vehicle, the company has come up with another Japanese launcher, the four-stage Lambda L-4S. This fired Japan’s first satellite into orbit in 1970, the Ohsumi 5, making Japan the fifth country to launch its own satellite with its own rocket.
