REVELL SCALE MODEL AWARD 2011 - RESULTS POINT TO THE HIGHEST QUALITY EVER

SMN report:

The Revell-Germany annual Scale Award competition could be the biggest international modelmaking contest sponsored by a kit company. Revell’s criteria for the judging panel's votes were clear: “the creative performance of the model builder and the attractiveness of the model itself.”

Interesting hexagonal diorama display base.

More entries in 2011

Hendrik Dresruesse, coordinator of Scale Award 2011, saw an increase in model pictures received this year, and reckons the models show: “an even higher quality than in the previous years.” Jury members were also pleased to see so many foreign entries and from younger builders.

Hobby Fair connection

An unusual feature of the Scale Award contest is that the top ten models are displayed at the Modell Hobby Spiel, a big model, game, and creative design trade fair held in Leipzig, Germany. This year’s visitors to Modell Hobby added their votes to create the final mega-model list below.

Night-fighter winner

Overall contest winner was Ingo Hartmann with his model of a 1:48 scale Revell Messerschmitt Bf110E. Besides the excellent build-quality, the Bf110 was lauded for its interesting diorama concept. Hartmann showed the World War II night-fighter on a test range, having its nose weapons adjusted, with various miniature Luftwaffe personnel busying themselves with this vital pre-combat maintenance task.

Receiving the Scale Trophy

Ingo received a handsome Scale Award trophy from Hans Ulrich Remfert, Revell-Germany’s President, while each of the runners-up could look forward to a pile of kits up to a value of €200 EUR ($268 USD). Here’s the list:

1 Ingo Hartmann (Messerschmitt Bf110E).

2 Marcel Stark (Ferrari F1 2000).
3 Marcel Stark (Yamaha YZR M1 Estoril).
4 Ruedi Stoller (Panzer JS-2 Josef Stalin).
5 Roger Unternäher (BMW 635 CSi Spa 1984).
6 Thomas Mayer (Junkers Ju 88A-1).
7 Felix Spiske (Voroshilovets Tractor).
8 Andreas Dyck (Spitfire Mk Vb).
9 Torsten Hofmann ( Open Day at JG74 diorama).
10 Gerhard Doppelhofer (Buessing 8000 with trailer).

We guess Marcel Stark earned a double-size pile of kits! Rest of the winning entries shown in order below:

Entries from young modelmakers

For the first time this year, under-16s got a chance, and the winner here was Lars Golly, 15, with his model of a Volkswagen T3 Campervan.  Here’s the list of winners:

1 Lars Golly (VW Campervan).

2 Moritz Spiske (GAZ-MM).
3 Jurjen Brouwer (Sherman M4).
4 Max Schwenke (SPz Marder 1 A5).
5 Luisa Crepin (Apollo 11 Command and Service Module).

The six-strong jury for the Scale Awards were:
Helge Schling and Berthold Tacke from the respected Model Fan magazine, Thomas Gernhuber, President of Hanover Model Club, Ullrich Taubert, Jürgen Zurnieden and Hendrik Dresruesse of Revell-Germany.

More pictures here.

Revell kits here.

1:48 scale Revell Messerschmitt Bf110 here.

DRAGON KITS ON DISPLAY AT JAPANESE MODEL SHOW

SMN report
Last week saw the 2010 Tokyo Hobby Show, and Hong Kong-based DML - Dragon Models Limited - put on quite a display there. Founded in 1987, DML is well-known for its excellent action figures, ready-built diecasts, and of course an ever-expanding range of plastic kits.

Farewell to the Harrier - in UK service anyway
So what’s on offer from Dragon at the moment? Well, there’s a smorgasbord of choice, so we’ll just pick and choose a few current faves. The Harrier II-Plus twin-kit to 1:144 scale makes up into a pair of tiny but tasty aircraft - and for this reviewer at least, a sad reminder that next year the Harrier will be phased out of UK military duty. But (grrr) the UK is the country that developed this formidable flying machine in the first place. Let’s hope that UK politicians don’t regret that decision...

Tanks and ships
On the humanoid front, the 1:35 scale 1940 German ‘Ghost’ Division tank crew kit assembles into a four-man set of beautifully sculpted and detailed figures. Away from World War II and up to date, the USS Independence LCS (Littoral Combat Ship) is a trimaran stealth vessel, built to project seapower as a seaborne assault transport. The LCS is a 2800-tonne design, yet can race through the water at more than 80 km/h (50 mph). Dragon’s kit is to 1:700 scale, which allows for a decent level of detail including Seahawk helos, Phalanx defence system, and nicely crafted photo-etch parts for the nets which surround the flight deck.

Bigger and bigger
Dragon has a wide range of kits, and in bigger scales, the 1:48 Messerschmitt Bf110 is particularly well-crafted, as is the 1:35 scale Bell UH-1N Huey, the combat vet chopper that formed the backbone of helicopter operations throughout the Vietnam War. This is such an excellent scale for military fans - and aircraft to the same scale are just so darned BIG! We love ’em.

See the Dragon 1:48 scale Bf110 kit here.

The ace 1:35 scale UH-1N Huey helicopter (our all-time fave helo) kit is here.

The pictures show, top to bottom:
1-2  Tokyo Model Show.
3-6  Dragon kits to various scales.
Pictures courtesy DML.

BATTLE OF BRITAIN MEMORIAL KITS AND BOOK FROM AIRFIX

SMN report
70 years ago, the skies over Britain formed the backdrop for the greatest aerial combat offensive ever known, as attacking Luftwaffe forces locked in conflict with Royal Air Force defenders. On August 23, after several weeks of the campaign, Hermann Commander-in-Chief Hermann Goring ordered his forces to bombard British fighter airfields, the first of a wave of heavy attacks over the next two weeks, during which some airfields were hit several times over.

Targeting fighter bases must have seemed like a good move to Goring, but it was difficult to knock out a grass airfield for more than a few hours at a time, and many historians agree that had the Luftwaffe concentrated on reducing radar defences to rubble, the Battle of Britain might have turned out differently. In any event, by late October 1940, the Luftwaffe had taken a beating and withdrew plans for further major air assaults.

Thousands of aircraft in the air
But the Battle of Britain lives on as one of the defining conflicts of World War II, and the aircraft that took part (more than 4500 machines were fielded by the two air forces) remain as popular as ever with kit manufacturers. So it’s no surprise to see the local-hero Airfix company releasing some special Battle of Britain products this month.

Airfix Hurricane and Bf110
Airfix has released a Hawker Hurricane Mk 1, the most numerous British fighter of the Battle of Britain, even if its rather workmanlike looks and performance never earned it the acclaim of the beautiful Spitfire. It’s a nice kit though, to 1:72 scale, and comes with a choice of two decal marking sets. Matching the ‘Hurri’ is a German Messerschmitt Bf110 twin-engine heavy fighter, again to 1:72 scale and also with a choice of markings. The real Bf110 was no match in a dogfight with a determined Hurricane or Spitfire pilot, who could both out-turn and out-shoot it - after heavy losses, the Messerschmitt was withdrawn from front-line service over Britain. Both kits look attractive in the now common and highly attractive kit-box art style.

Battle of Britain book
Also released this month is a handsome book, the ‘Special limited edition’ Their Finest Hour: Aircraft of the Battle of Britain by John G. Bentley. It’s a thoroughly decent work, with 80 landscape-format (wide, instead of tall) pages that cover the subject well, with a special emphasis on featuring relevant Airfix kits. The book is well-priced too, with a UK price of just £6.99 GBP ($10.85 USD).
  
Visit Airfix here.

View Airfix kits here, though don’t be surprised if some Battle of Britain-class steam locomotive kits have crept in too - that’s search engines for you! Hmmm... (thinks), those BoB streamliner locos were handsome beasts, so we should look at some BoB models soon.

The pictures show, top to bottom:
1  Airfix 1:72 scale Hurricane.
2  Airfix Bf110 box art.
3  The Bf110 builds into a neat and tidy 1:72 scale model.
4  The Airfix book makes a fine memento for those interested in this period of aviation combat history.