DO YOU LIKE DIRTY MODELS OR CLEAN ONES? WITH HUMBROL, THE CHOICE IS YOURS

MAT IRVINE REPORTS
When Hornby acquired Airfix, it got Humbrol as well, providing an ideal addition to Hornby’s modelling portfolio, for Humbrol is one of the world’s major model paint and accessory manufacturers.


Actually, some aspects of the Humbrol range were missing at the time of the takeover, but the gaps are now being filled, and one of these is a must for any modeller interested in more than just putting a kit together.

Wash and weather
These are weathering powders and enamel washes, long-time staples for diorama builders, the Humbrol selection coming in various shades, suitable for all scenarios. There are currently eight powders in the range, augmented with 10 washes.

Showpiece quality
The weathered and washed models on display at Humbrol’s LondonToy Fair 2013 stand showed how such products can be used to elevate a simple assembly kit to being a superior showpiece. The added realism - when carefully applied - that weathering can provide has to be seen to be believed.

Quality models
Showing off the Humbrol weathering products were a Hornby 1:76 scale Diesel Shunter (above), an Airfix 1:32 scale Ford Fiesta WRC (top) a 1:48 scale Land Rover and a 1:76 scale Panzer tank (below). They all looked amazing (especially so when inspected closely) so hats off to the mystery modellers who put in all the hard work.

Return to base
As we reported previously, it’s good to note that at least two-thirds of Humbrol production is now being carried out in the UK. Hopefully this proportion will rise further, with most production returning to the original manufacturing base.

HORNBY BRINGS BACK HUMBROL PAINTS FROM CHINA - RESTARTS PAINT PRODUCTION IN BRITAIN

SMN REPORT
The Hornby company’s model paint brand, Humbrol, known for its familiar enamel paint tinlets, has shifted some two-thirds of production back to Britain, around ten years after such operations went to China.



US-UK story
It’s an interesting story of swings and roundabouts on the world economic stage, echoed by similar events in the US, where computer maker Apple is planning to return some production to home shores.

Paying more
Hornby’s chief exec, Frank Martin, said that rising Chinese labour costs were responsible. They have gone up 300 percent in the last seven years, and show signs of doubling again by the early 2020s.

Rustins in the frame
According to Martin, “If you include the expense of freight then the cost differences become negligible.” In London, Humbrol enamels and finishing products are now made by Rustins, a family business established back in 1924 that offered Hornby a winning combo of price, quality and speed.

Into the future
Still, most things haven’t yet returned to Britain - adhesives are manufactured in India, and kits are still made in China. But the door to European production has opened a crack, and if prices continue to go up in China, then perhaps even Airfix kits themselves will once again be made in Britain.

AOSHIMA H-IIB SPACE LAUNCHER KIT

ROCKET REVIEW BY MAT IRVINE

Give that the H-IIB launch rocket is the mainstay of Japan’s satellite launch industry it’s somewhat surprising that there has been no kit of it before - this kit from Aoshima is a first.

Small scale

The H-IIB is number four in the Aoshima ‘Space Craft Series’, and is produced in a small 1:350 scale. Even so, the kit still makes up into a comprehensive model with several interesting features. The pic above shows H-IIB with clear sections. Inside these are the rocket stage and H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV).

Clear and white runners, as supplied in bags. Note the small decal sheet in the clear bag on the right. Only two components - the third stage and payload shroud - are moulded in both white and clear plastic. 

What’s in the box?

You get two runners, one in white styrene with 34 parts, the other in clear with 22, and you can build up the rocket to be displayed in four ways. The H-IIB is not a difficult kit to build, and it’s likely you’ll have more difficulty deciding which way it will be displayed than actually building it. 

Paint choices

However, the paint scheme is slightly more taxing. Aoshima recommends Gunze Sangyo paint, which although available in the West, are less common than Humbrol, Testors, Revell-Germany, or even Aoshima’s Japanese stablemate, Tamiya. Because of this some compromises were made, and in the end I used colours from the Testors range, including Competition Orange and Metallic Platinum. Humbrol was used for Satin Black.

The box side panel (below) shows some of the display options.

Multi-finish launcher

The rocket is finished in mainly white, orange and gold, though two other shades are needed - black, and a dark coppery-orange. This affects mostly the main rocket structure, while the four strap-on boosters are fortunately plain white - it’s easiest to leave these off and paint them separately. The H-IIB’s third stage and payload components are supplied in clear plastic as well as white, so you can build these up without paint.

Another display option (below) holds the rocket at an angle, traditionally the sort of attitude you see used for model aircraft stands.

H-II Transfer Vehicle

The clear parts can then take the HTV, used Japan’s JAXA Space Agency to resupply the International Space Station. The illustrations also indicate that the HTV and its orbital rocket stage can be displayed separately - so maybe making for a fifth option!

Exhaust flame stand

So the Aoshima H-IIB model can be displayed in three basic ways, plus variations.  It can be set on the supplied base, standing vertically. Or it can be mounted on the additional stand that displays the rocket at approximately 10 percent from the horizontal. And  thirdly, and perhaps the most interestingly, the H-IIB can be displayed atop a simulated lift-off rocket blast exhaust liftoff (above), and this option is built up from many of the supplied clear parts. These obviously need colouring with suitable ‘rocket exhaust’ effects, and clear paints are the best here, with both Humbrol and Tamiya making examples in their respective tinlets and bottles. Some colours are also available in Testors clear ranges, including aerosols.

Bigger kit please

In all, this is an intriguing model, and my only comment really is that it’s a pity that Aoshima couldn’t have made the kit bigger - it measures just 160 mm (6.25 in) long. It would be so impressive in the far more common 1:144 space launcher scale.

Thanks to Hobby Link Japan for the review kit.

More rocketry available here.

  

HORNBY GETS GROWN-UP - 2012 AD CAMPAIGNS TARGET ADULTS

SMN market report:

Hornby Hobbies are expanding the company image away from pocket-money-price ‘small boys’ toys’ to moneyed-and-mature ‘big boys’ toys.’ Well, that’s our take on the plan. In advertising marketeer-speak, Hornby has launched: “a long-term brand campaign as part of a big push to introduce adult consumers to its products.” Having said that, Hornby traditional strengths remain, with updates to the rail range that include the 4-4-0 locomotive above, and the ready-weathered 4-6-0 Black 5 shown after the jump.

Movie ads

Cinema and TV ads have already started to show people playing with Hornby train sets through the decades, while featuring the teaser line: “A passion for every generation and the next”. Which sounds a bit “ugh” to SMN, but we get what the ads are trying to do, and heartily approve - anything that takes at least an element of the scale model world up and out of the kidstuff swamp is OK by us. Unsurprisingly, brand logos for Airfix, Corgi, Hornby, Humbrol, and Scalextric, appear at the end of each advert. 

Rising sales
Hornby has previously run its ads during children’s TV shows, so adult ads are a big departure, and campaigns will run throughout 2012. Hornby is doing pretty well at the moment, especially considering the financial upheavals in the Eurozone, and it’s good to see confidence in the future. Hornby saw first-half 2011 UK sales rise by some 4 percent, while Euro-sales ballooned by around 50 percent, though from a much lower base. With this as a track record in difficult economic times, it’s great to see Hornby pushing to be on a rising wave as we (hopefully) come out of recession through 2012 and beyond.

 
Powerful punch for Hornby

Nat Southworth, marketing director at Hornby Hobbies, says showcasing the brands aims to: “emphasise the power” and adds that Hornby is more than one brand these days: “It is a family of brands and each one invokes a passion in the consumer.” SMN says: “Go for it, Nat!”

New Bus for London expected soon
Hornby has also signed a deal to produce models in various scales of the swoopily-designed New Bus for London. There'll be key-ring collectibles as well as 1:76 scale miniatures, sales being aimed at a wide range of buyers, from serious collectors to casual tourists.

More on the New Bus for London bus here.

View Airfix kits here.

View Hornby stuff here.

View Corgi here.

Humbrol here.

Scalextric here

And here's one of the 'generation' ads :

AIRFIX DAMBUSTER LANCASTER DIORAMA TO 1:72 SCALE

David Jefferis reports
Airfix takes us back to the night of May 16-17, 1943, and the classic raid ‘Operation Chastise’ on German dams in the Ruhre river valley. The aircraft featured is a 1:72 scale Avro Lancaster, containing 125 parts and a wingspan of some 430 mm (16.9 in).

There are plenty of Lancs around from manufacturers that include Revell’s 1:72 version, but Airfix is the granddaddy of them all, with its first kit dating back to the early 1960s. This ‘Chastise’ edition is considerably better than that early kit (and so it should be!) but still features a not-quite-right fuselage cross-section.

Section of dam
Not to worry though, as the kit makes up well and looks great with the included section of dam, which turns the whole assemblage into something of a shelf-filler. There has been some license taken with the actual architecture, but the general effect is impressive.

Upkeep bomb
Also included in the kit is a separate ‘bouncing bomb’, inventor Barnes Wallis’s brainchild device that made the Dambuster raid possible in the first place. Named ‘Upkeep’ the cylindrical bomb was spun up to 500 rpm by an auxiliary motor before being dropped, then it skipped across the water to sink down the face of the dam, where it exploded.

Summation
All in all, a useful addition to the annals of World War II era aircraft models, and one that will look mightily impressive when displayed. It will almost certainly take a lot longer to put together than the ‘four flying hours’ suggested by Airfix though, even though brushes, cement and eight Humbrol acrylic paints are included in the box. Perhaps that’s just for a quickie basic-build, because the SMN crew plans to allow a week of evenings to do the kit justice.

Upkeep bomb picture courtesy Martin Richards.

The Mohne Dam pictured above was taken after the raid by Flying Officer Jerry Fray, flying a Spitfire PR IX.

For a video view out of the bomb-aimer's nose bubble, visit The English Eye here.

The Airfix Dambuster kit is available from Airfix directly or model stores and online suppliers, including Amazon here.

The Airfix 1/72 Avro Lancaster B1 (Grand Slam)bomber is also available as a kit.

AIRFIX 1:24 SCALE MOSQUITO BREAKS COVER AT IPMS SHOW

Report: Mat Irvine
The UK branch of the IPMS (International Plastic Modellers Society) held its annual National Meeting at the International Conference Centre, Telford the weekend before last. There were two main halls, plus a slightly smaller one used for the competition area. The main halls were packed with trading stalls and club stands, which incorporated SIGs (Special Interest Groups) the ‘Interests’ of which ranged widely - Korean War, seaplanes, NASA, Wallace & Gromit and much more besides.

One of the show's prime interests for aircraft fans was the sneak peak of what has to be the most anticipated model kit ever - the Airfix 1:24 scale de Havilland Mosquito. Airfix Product Manager Trevor Snowdon talked kits with customers, while in front of him stood the ‘wooden wonder’ (well, plastic in this iteration) itself, a Mosquito in part-assembled test-shot form. And very nice it looked, with pale-grey parts laid out around. The box was there too, and really showed off the excellent design trend exhibited by Airfix these days - brightly attractive for general buyers, yet clean-looking and serious for experienced ones. Just right.

The Airfix 1:24 scale Mosquito will be available shortly. Meantime, other Mosquito kits are available here.

The pictures show, top to bottom:
1 Box-art for the initial version of the Airfix 1:24 scale Mosquito.
2 Test-shot of the Mosquito on display.
3 Trevor Snowden, Airfix Product Manager and one of the driving forces behind Airfix since the Humbrol days, discusss models with a customer.

SMN note:
Mat Irvine took many pictures at the IPMS show, and we’re planning to release these in Freeebook form for you shortly. There are many tasty items, so keep checking for the Freeebook release.

A NEW TAKE ON THE ’57 CHEVY FROM REVELL

A MAT IRVINE REVIEW
One of the most popular American cars ever made was the 1957 Chevrolet. The US ‘Big Four’ in the model car field - AMT, Monogram, MPC and Revell - have each made their own kits of the ’57, some dating from decades ago, which have been issued, reissued, and modified over the years. So why has Revell come up with a brand-new 1:25 scale 1957 Chevy kit? It’s mainly because previous models have featured the top-end Bel Air version; this new one is the exact opposite, the entry-level 150 Utility Sedan.

The 150 was more the sort of car you would take racing, rather than the top-of-the-range Bel Air, and it was also the cheaper model that Joe Public would drive, and was often used by travelling salesmen with the back seat removed, to leave more room for samples.

This Revell 2’n1 kit comes with optional parts that allow either stock or race-ready versions to be built, the racer dubbed ‘Black Widow’, reflecting a popular showroom scheme of mostly black with white rear quarter-panels and trunk (‘boot’ to UK readers). Among the changes made by Chevrolet for the Black Widow were to install a 233 cu in fuel-injection engine, add an internal roll bar, leave off the wheel embellishers and wipers, and fitting covers over the headlamps - and these parts are supplied by Revell for the kit, as is the simple racing numbers scheme.

Modern model touches include decals for the interior door panels and seat patterns, and separate chrome-plated door handles - in earlier years these were usually moulded into the bodywork. The ‘V’ emblem Chevy used at that time can either be applied as a decal along with the word ‘Chevrolet’, or they are supplied as separate chromed parts.

The interior of the model I built for this review was finished in Humbrol paints, mostly shades of grey. For the exterior, I used Testors spray paints - Classic White for the white bits, and the new black lacquer for the, well, you can probably work that out. When these coats were thoroughly dry, the whole car was finished off with Testors High Gloss Clear.


Visit Revell-Monogram here.

Visit Humbrol here.

Visit Testors here.