GERMAN HEINKEL JET BOMBER ‘LUFTWAFFE 1946’ KIT

SMN report:

Fantastic Plastic is at it again with an interesting ‘Luftwaffe 1946’ offering, a Heinkel long-range jet bomber design. The project never left the drawing board, but as with all these Luft 46 designs, offers a fascinating insight into the direction World War II could have taken if Hitler’s secret projects had reached fruition.

Last-ditch wonder weapon

As Fantastic Plastic puts it: “Even as the Allies were advancing on Nazi Germany, German aircraft companies were scrambling to create new ‘wonder weapons’ for the Luftwaffe.” And one of these is the subject of FP’s latest model kit.

Swept-back wing

The Heinkel project was a jet-powered 60-tonne weight long-range bomber. It reached only a preliminary design stage, but had several radical components, especially the cranked wing, featuring a 45-degree sweep at the root, reducing to a 35-degree sweep further out. This was echoed by later bombers that did ‘make the metal’, including the UK’s Handley-Page Victor and Vulcan V-bombers. 

Six engines

The Heinkel had a multi-glazed nose, a conservatory-like element that featured in most heavy bombers of the time, with a massive pair of air intakes to feed the engines. The design was good for four or six of these, and FP has chosen to model the six-engine version, powered by a sextet of Junkers Jumo 004s. Had the plane flown in anger, it could have carried a three-tonne payload up to 14,000 km (8700 miles) away, before returning to base - which was enough to bring the US West Coast in bombing range. 

What’s in the box?

It’s a resin kit, so you need to take more care than with a mainstream injection model, but with only 26 components, the 1:144 scale Heinkel bomber should be an OK project for anyone with reasonable modelling skills, though getting the wing dihedral right, and the landing gear assembly just-so are aspects for care and attention. When assembled, the Heinkel measures 140 mm (5.5 in) long, with a wingspan of 230 mm (9 in), and would look good if displayed with some other World War II bombers to the same scale.

Box art

The neat box art was created by Martin Letts, who has a fascinating site, XPlanes3D, which is well worth a visit, as he features other what-if designs from the US and UK as well.

Visit Fantastic Plastic here.

Visit XPlanes3D here.

REVELL CITROEN 2CV TEST SHOTS - A CLASSIC FRENCH CAR KIT COMING IN AUGUST

SMN report:

Here’s a set of pictures that should tempt French car fans. The subject is a moulding test shot for Revell’s upcoming Citroen 2CV ‘Deux Chevaux’, a classic set of wheels from the land of garlic and escargots. The new-tool kit is due for release in August 2011, and will have 126 components. Produced to 1:24 scale, the 2CV model will measure 160 mm (6.3 in) long. 

The real thing - Citroen 2CV Charleston.

Economy design

The Citroen 2CV dates back to 1948, and represents a post-World War II economy approach to European mass-motoring, with a design brief demanding that the driver should be able to wear a hat, while driving across a ploughed field, carrying a crate of eggs on the passenger seat without breaking a single one. The engine was a tiny, air-cooled twin-cylinder design.  

Don’t break the eggs!

The economical car that resulted from that unique brief was easy to maintain and simple to operate, with a soft suspension that made driving on the poor French roads of the time easy and comfortable - and fully capable of keeping those eggs safely in their shells. Revell’s model features a later two-tone machine, the Charleston model that was first released in a rich burgundy-and-black paint scheme, later replaced by the somewhat brighter yellow and black. 

The Revell kit

The specs to the new Revell kit look pretty good, those 126 parts contributing to a fully-detailed engine bay and car interior that includes the unique diamond seat pattern, plus chromed headlamps and wheel hubs. The kit will include a typical 2CV keep-the-price-down feature: front side windows that flipped up, instead of winding down into the doors. Tyres are rubber-look material and the decals will feature number plate registrations for seven European countries. 

Crazy custom: the Semi Citroen.

2CV model choices

More than 5 million 2CVs had been made by the time production ended in July 1990, so there’s a galaxy of colour schemes out there for you to play with. Or even better, for kit-bashers there’s the bizarre customized ‘Semi Citroen 2CV Speciale’ two-seater, made by sawing a car into thirds lengthwise, taking out the middle, then welding the leftovers back together again. Amazingly weird, but deeply cool - IWOOT.

A READY-MADE HIDEOUT FOR THE FRENCH RESISTANCE

Mat Irvine looks at a useful diorama structure 

It is somewhat ironic, given that the name ‘Hornby’ equates with model trains, that when the company acquired Airfix in 2006, items that were not included in the purchase were railway trackside buildings and accessories, which had been sold to Dapol in 1985. The exception was the Airfield Control Tower as, although it started off as a trackside accessory, it had been - probably logically - moved to the aircraft section of the catalogue before the Hornby sale!

You get a one-piece resin moulding, with separate window frames and acetate glazing. Note the sturdy expanded-polystyrene packing.

All sorts of uses for buildings

Actually, the control tower is a good example of the fact that these buildings were not the sole prerogative of rail modellers. As they were 1:76 HO gauge, they would certainly fit alongside 1:72 aircraft, AFVs and the like, plus the parts could be widely adapted to other uses - hence many an Airfix Girder Bridge part turning up in science fiction spaceships, built for film and TV. 

Painting instructions are on the back of the box.

Resin ready-made structures

Although Airfix no longer has this staple of its original range, in recent years it has introduced ‘Ruined Buildings’ as a variation on a theme, although these, due to their name and state, have a specific role for wartime dioramas. There is also a difference in that they are not moulded in polystyrene, or come as standard construction kits. Instead, they are ready-made in resin with only window frames (in etched brass) and windows (in acetate) being separate items. However, they do need to be painted, which is usually where the fun begins with these types of model anyway. 

My finished Ruined Workshop in a World War II setting. 

Paint instructions

Given that they are ready-made, there are no separate instructions, just painting details printed on the boxes. The example shown here is the European Ruined Workshop, which is depicted as it might have appeared in northern France, but frankly could be just about anywhere that a brick structure would look appropriate. The state of the building could also be purely down to wear and tear, not necessarily being hit by shells, which gives it an even wider use - in a modern scene, for instance. 

Neat figures and Citroen car bring the scene to life.

My diorama

I built a World War II diorama, in which the building features as a hideout for French Resistance partisans, while they prepare to meet an RAF Lysander on a spy-delivery mission.

I included a classic Citroen 11CV Traction Avant, just the sort of car Resistance fighters often used. This 1:72 scale cast-resin model comes from the Czech company, Extra-Tech. The figures are from the WWII Underground Resisters (sic) set, by Caesar Miniatures. It’s worth pointing out that this is marked as discontinued, so you may have to hunt around to find a set still available - it's worth doing, as the figures are neatly sculpted, and look suitably realistic, especially as a female is included.

Detail is good, even including pockmarks in the door. It could be improved at a later stage by adding rubble around the damaged walls.

Review kit supplied courtesy Hornby  

Visit Airfix here.

See the Extra-Tech Citroen 11CV here.

Visit Caesar Miniatures here.

HORNBY GAINS FROM 2012 OLYMPICS AND WINS STAR WARS

SMN report 

Hornby has just hit the headlines with exciting Scalestric news. In the words of Hornby CEO Frank Martin: “We are delighted that we have secured the worldwide licence for a range of Star Wars Scalextric products. As the films are converted into 3D format by Lucasfilm over the next few years, we anticipate that we will get an encouraging reaction to our new range of speeder bikes and X-wing fighters. We also have high hopes for our products associated with the new Disney/Pixar movie "Cars 2".

The future looks bright

As well as these new names, Hornby is starting to see sales rise with its 2012 Olympics range, which includes some 150 items, from trains to a Scalextric cycling velodrome set, and those multi-coloured London taxis we mentioned recently. As for Star Wars, the original movie first hit the silver screen 34 years ago, yet the mix of heroes and spaceships, aliens and robots, continues to grip the imagination of today’s generation, and 3D Star Wars movies will doubtless feed more excitement into the media system. So Hornby would seem to be in the right spot at the right time.

Apart from anything else, having these known brands in the portfolio gives Hornby muscle to sell into mega outlets like Tesco and Argos. For model fans, higher sales translates into more finance to develop new stuff, and an assurance that one of the best - and oldest - brands is going to survive and thrive in years to come.

A century of toys

Hornby has a storied history, starting way back in 1901, when Frank Hornby applied for a patent for 'Improvements in Toy or Educational Devices for Children and Young People'. He got the patent, and his device was at first sold as 'Mechanics Made Easy', but by 1907 it had changed name to the catchy and memorable Meccano. Huge success led to factories being built in Germany and France to meet export demand. Perhaps surprisingly, Meccano is not in the current Hornby stable - its present owner is Nikko of Japan.

Rail in miniature

In the 1920s, Hornby trains were a big hit, the first electric sets arriving in 1925. The half-size Hornby Dublo came out in 1938, with cast-metal locomotives allowing a more realistic appearance than even the finest tinplate could achieve. For more than 30 years, Dublo’s three-rail system was a model rail standard, but eventually began to suffer from competing two-rail designs, so in 1959, Hornby killed it off and standardized on the more realistic two-rail track we see today.

Electric racing cars

The first electric-powered Scalextric cars were displayed by inventor Freddie Francis at the Harrogate Toy Fair in 1957, and were an instant hit. A year later new owners Lines Brothers, better known for their Tri-ang name, bought Scalextric and one of the first things they did was to start producing cars with plastic bodies instead of metal, a far better all-round solution. Despite hot competition from an assortment of brands in the years since, it remains the grand-daddy racing system.

Plastic kits from Airfix

Airfix was set up in 1939, to make inflatable rubber toys. The first Airfix kit was the 1949 Ferguson tractor, while the first aircraft hit the shops in 1955. This was a 1:72 scale Spitfire, actually a scaled-down version of a 1:48 scale Aurora model, and brisk sales set the scene for the huge expansion of Airfix through the 1960s and 1970s. However, in 1981, Airfix was sold to General Mills, then to paint maker Humbrol. Present Hornby ownership dates back to 2006.

Corgi diecast

The last major label in the present Hornby lineup is Corgi. The first Corgi diecasts were released in 1956, featuring popular British cars of the time, such as the Austin Cambridge and Rover 90. The come-on for schoolboy buyers was that Corgi Toys were ‘the ones with windows’. This, and other play-appeal extras - spring suspension, opening doors, gem-like headlights and more - all went to make the new name a strong competitor to the long-established Dinky Toys. Corgi became a Hornby name just three years ago, in 2008.

Today, Hornby has a strong management focus and this has really made a difference. For example, Airfix has become a brand to be reckoned with again, with decently designed boxes, new-tool and leading-edge kits (1:24 Mosquito anyone?), and a crack-on energy that proves a change of ownership can infuse a tired brand with purpose and a bright future. Great stuff Hornby!

AIRFIX VOSTOK ROCKET PART 3 - SPUTNIK OR LUNIK?

Mat Irvine discusses Vostok's background

To finish this three-part appraisal of the reissued Airfix Vostok launcher, it’s worth pointing out that you don’t just get the version that launched the Vostok spacecraft. Because 2011 is the 50th year of humans in space, the kit has been issued with cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin’s orbital version to the forefront, but other options have included Soyuz and Sputnik - or have they?

The first satellite

First, a bit of background. Sputnik 1 was the first artificial satellite to be launched, on October 4, 1957, and so began the ‘Space Age’. The launcher as a whole, usually called the A-type in the west, or R-7 or Semyorka (‘Seven’) by the Soviets, was based on the SS-6 Sapwood ICBM.

Airfix Vostok, Luna version. 

After World War II

The SS-6 resulted from Cold War enmities, when the USSR (having been our ally during World War II) retreated behind the so-called ‘Iron Curtain’. However, this was not before it shared in the spoils of victory over Germany, sharing with the US much of what had been the V-2 rocket programme headed by Wernher von Braun. Large stockpiles of V-2s and equipment were taken, though von Braun went to the US, later to become architect of the Apollo program.

Soviet scientists had been working on rocketry for decades, and continued to do so, but largely in secret. But whatever their nationality, any rocket scientist or engineer knew that orbiting an artificial satellite was not a case of if it could be done, but when.   

Donald Fagen’s The Nightfly, featuring the song IGY. This is a vinyl LP, a well-established format in 1957, having been introduced as early as 1948.

International Geophysical Year

The 1950s were a busy time for aerospace industries around the world, peaking in mid-1957 with the start of the International Geophysical Year (IGY), which involved almost all countries. This was time of great expectation for scientific research, including orbiting spacecraft, and was summed up in Donald Fagen’s classic The Nighfly album track, IGY: What a Beautiful World, in which he imagined: “Undersea by rail. Ninety minutes from New York to Paris”, and “Get your ticket to that wheel in space. While there's time”.

OK the last two haven’t happened even now, but 1957 did see the shock Soviet launch of the first artificial satellite. Perhaps Sputnik 1 shouldn’t have been a great surprise, as using military missiles as launch vehicles was already an established idea - instead of a warhead, you replaced it with a satellite, precisely the recipe for Sputnik 1. The Soviets took the SS-6 rocket, consisting of a main core and four tapered strap-on boosters, and placed the Sputnik 1 shroud directly on top. 

Full size Luna-1 mockup. 

No Sputnik from Airfix

And that’s why the Airfix kit doesn’t depict the Sputnik launcher, as the kit supplies the payload shroud atop a second stage, and that wasn’t added until later missions. So, if the kit can’t be built as the Sputnik 1 launcher, can it represent anything else? And fortunately, the answer is: “yes”. It matches the launch configuration of Luna 1 and 2, the first Soviet Moon probes. Consequently the kit now states that it can be built as Vostok, Soyuz, or Luna.

Lunik or Luna?

Incidentally, the first Soviet Moon probes were called ‘Lunik’, but around the ninth probe, the name changed to ‘Luna’, so for simplicity earlier ones have tended to be ‘retro-renamed’ to the Luna name. And let’s not forget the third Airfix option - an early Soyuz launcher. The three-seat Soyuz has been developed a great deal since its flight flight in 1966, and external details have changed considerably, but the kit can be built as a reasonable representation of an early Soyuz launcher.

Soyuz 19, used for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) in 1975.

Into the future

2011 marks another development. With the US Space Shuttle approaching its final flight, Russian craft will then be the only means for US astronauts to make space flights for several years to come - not bad for a rocket design that goes back more than half a century! As the saying goes, which must also exist in Russian: “If it ain’t broke...” 

A current-model Soyuz TMA.

Vostok available here.

More on building the Airfix Vostok in Issue 5 of Airfix Model World. Order a back issue here.

Donald Fagen’s album is available at iTunes, where you can also listen to track previews, including IGY. iTunes is a free download for Mac or PC here.

NEW LONDON BUS NOW A RUNNING PROTOTYPE - SO WHEN WILL WE SEE A KIT OF IT?

David Jefferis reports

London’s new double-decker bus is coming along nicely by the looks of things. A few days ago London Mayor Boris Johnson test-drove the prototype around a test track, and in his typically ebullient form, praised it like a brand-new toy - which in a sense it is, as he was the man who gave the green light to the concept development.

Past-perfection returning with new style

I loathe hugely-long bendy buses, so I’m all in favour of a return to two decks, if only for the views from up top. The new bus will have an open platform at the back too - no more being trapped by closed doors when you are a couple of metres from the bus stop! And with the swooping glass areas, even going up and down the stairs ought to be an eye-opening experience, though I guess ladies in short skirts might have to check their modesty from the gaze of street-smart oglers, even through tinted panels.

Reduced exhaust emissions

As planned, the new design will be a green machine, with an eco-aware 40 percent drop in emissions, so with the first production machines due in service by March 2012, it looks like a win all round, but especially for us bus passengers.

Revell kit due later in 2011

As for models, we don’t yet have a kit of this new prototype - and are unlikely to see one until the design is finalized - but Mat Irvine gave us the lowdown on an upcoming model of its predecessor, the RM Routemaster, back in February. This is the Revell 1:24 scale RM double-decker plastic kit (link below) that should nicely partner the existing Revell Cityliner coach kit to the same scale. The RM is due after summer, so could make an extremely pleasing project for those chill Autumn evenings. Pity we have to wait though!

RM Routemaster from Sun Star to 1:24 scale.

Diecast alternatives

Keeping to 1:24 scale, Sun Star from China produces beautiful ready-built 1:24 scale RMs in a variety of marking schemes, though these of course are diecasts, not kits. The ‘Last Routemaster’ is a particularly nice model, and one that really benefits from the detail that can be packed into this large scale.

Sun Star's 1:24 model of the RT double decker.

Other big scale Sun Star buses include the earlier RT bus, again an extremely fine diecast model. And if it’s single-deckers you want, then the range also include retro-style Bedford coaches and Volkswagen’s classic hippie-bus, the Samba.

London buses and VW Samba here.

See Mat Irvine’s article here.

If you’re visiting London, the London Transport Museum is well worth a visit here.

SCALE MODEL NEWS MOBILE EDITION UPDATE

SMN report

Just a reminder that for smartphone users, SMN is available in the small-screen Mobile Edition. You can read it wherever you have a phone signal - though it’s fair to say that, as ever, 3G or wi-fi is best for downloading the pictures.

Zoom pix with SMN Mobile Edition

SMN-ME comes up automatically on your phone (we use the iPhone 3GS at SMN) and is simple to use. Just place a finger on an article and the main piece opens up. If you want a bigger picture, tap it and a zoomable finger-spread version will appear. Comments are easy to make, and you can view the standard web version by tapping the link at the bottom.