JAMES BOND ‘SKYFALL’ OR DEMOLITION DERBY ‘METAL ALIEN’? IT’S YOUR CHOICE, WITH RACING SETS FROM SCALEXTRIC IN BIG AND SMALL SCALES

MAT IRVINE REPORT
Scalextric features the latest James Bond movie as the subject of the Micro Scalextric 1:64 scale Skyfall set with track.


The standard Micro Scalextric Skyfall set includes an Aston Martin DB5 and DBS, plus 3.7m (12.1ft) of double track with triple curves and a flyover straight. The 1:64 scale was a model racing format pioneered by Aurora in the 1960s, since become one of the industry standards.

Tight on space?
The micro scale is useful if you have limited space - the supplied track needs an area measuring just 1200 x 680mm (47.2 x 27in) which makes it easy to set up on any reasonably-sized table.

Grip in the bends
The cars themselves are fitted with magnets to help them stay on the track, and construction is described as, ‘super resistant’, aka ‘child-proof’ so they can crash many times over, yet stay in running order.

Bigger format
The Skyfall set is also available at twice the size, 1:32 scale, just right for including the extremely detailed supplied Astons in a diorama scene - big-scale aircraft would be ideal - if you wish to mix and match ‘models’ with ‘toys’.

Demolition Derby
The 1:32 scale Demolition Derby set is something very different, featuring cars called the Metal Alien and White Skull. More than 300 visiting journalists to the recent London Toy Fair 2013 gave Demo Derby their thumbs-up for the ‘Toy of the Show’ award. It makes you wonder, given how many crashes occur during any Scalextric race, that it hasn’t been done before!

What’s unusual about the Demo Derby cars?
New to Scalextric is the way the jalopy-like hot-rods are constructed, using clip-together components that allow them to break apart when they collide - and put back together again afterwards. Scalextric has also added a measure of customization, with clip-on wheels, decorative decals and various mix-n-match parts.

The pic (above) shows the Demo Derby car components and in built-up form. There is also a sheet of peel-off/stick-on decals. So, race them customized as you wish, and if bits fall off, well, just stick ’em back on again!

***SMN Note: Many of the latest Scalextric cars are fine models in their own right, some of them so beautifully produced that it seems a shame to risk them in track races.


Skyfall and many other Scalextric sets available here.

Scalextric home page here.

BOND BEAUTIES FROM CORGI, FABBRI

The popularity of James Bond cars - particularly Aston Martins and BMWs - just never goes away. So here we are with Corgi’s latest releases, a 1:36 scale BMW Z8, and a 1:43 Aston Martin DB5. They are both OK, and would look fine in any James Bond collection.

However, it’s fair to say that neither Corgi offering breaks the barriers of diecast modelling - unlike the really rather good 007 James Bond Care Collection mini dioramas, published in partwork form by the Italian company Fabbri. The series started off quite some time ago, with the more well-known Bond vehicles, but Fabbri seems intent on featuring everything that’s ever been in a single frame of film - it’s currently past the 65th fortnightly issue and still going strong! But that’s not a criticism in any way - for completists, every one must be a step on the road to model nirvana.

The pictures here show (top to bottom) Corgi BMW Z8, Corgi DB5, Fabbri BMW Z8, and Fabbri Jaguar XK. The Corgi models are available from retail and online outlets. For Fabbri models, you need to buy a subscription.

You can visit Corgi here, and Fabbri here.

MAT’S US TRIP REVISITED - WHEN JAMES BOND WENT TO AMERICA

The Airfix 1:32 scale Aston Martin DB5, as modified and issued by MPC for the American market, was one of my acquisitions during my last US trip in April, and especially to the Kane County Toy Fair. I didn’t have a chance to examine the the DB5 fully until my return, but it now deserves a bit more of an explanation.

During the 1960s Airfix and MPC had a tie-in that led to Airfix kits being issued in the US market by MPC, and vice-versa. MPC made mostly cars, so that is what Airfix released for British modellers, including such classic kits as the Mako Shark and Monkeemobile. But for the UK ‘all’ Airfix did was to re-do the box-art using its own logo, while crediting the originators by adding - and this was a rare event - “Created by MPC”.

However Airfix did make - and still does - a much wider range of subjects, and those deemed suitable for the US market were invariably not only re-boxed for the US market, but sometimes had the parts content altered as well. With aircraft, it led to adding figures from the separate Figure Sets. With tanks and military vehicles, some of the Trackside Accessories - which wouldn’t normally fit in with American railroad layouts - were used. For example, the Travelling Crane became a dockside fixture, maybe for lifting seaplanes out of the water.

However, one major problem Airfix had with all its 1:32 scale car kits was that famous subjects such as the DB5 - which was certainly known to a US audience - did not come with features associated with home-grown American car kits from AMT, Jo-Han, MPC, Revell or Monogram. In particular, items such as chrome-plated parts and ‘rubber’ (actually vinyl) tyres were lacking. This led to many modifications for the MPC edition (top picture). Adding vinyl tyres wasn’t straightforward, but what could be done relatively easily (middle picture) was to chrome-plate relevant parts, which is what occurred with this Aston. But that wasn’t all. Racing decals were added, and a scene was printed on the side of the box showing a suitable backdrop, maybe the Pacific Coast Highway. There were even newly-tooled parts to make a stand to hold said background!

Some kits went even further. Although this could be deemed sacrilege, many veteran cars had customised parts added as well. The 1907 Lanchester (bottom) had a blown Chevy V8 engine added, along with racing slicks!

Mat Irvine