INCOMING: SECRET BLADE RUNNER FLYING ‘FUTURE CAR’ FROM FUJIMI

SMN REPORT:
Did you enjoy the classic sci-fi movie, Blade Runner? Did you laugh at the Back to the Future (BttF) time-travel trilogy? If so, we bet you didn’t know that Blade Runner’s Spinner cop car also appeared in the second BttF movie. And now here it is again, coming shortly as a 1:24 scale kit, from Fujimi of Japan.


The latest Fujimi 1:24 scale sci-fi kit, simply titled ‘Future Car’ features a vehicle that’s said to be briefly seen in Back to the Future II - so very brief, in fact, that the SMN Crew fast-forwarded the DVD last night without spotting it. However, we live in hope and will sleuth some more tonight!

Sleeker Spinner
The new injection-moulded car is essentially a standard Fujimi Spinner kit, less police accessories such as the roof lights, though they are included in the box. As you can see from the box-top art (header pic), the overall look of the Future Car is somewhat sleeker than the police Spinner, so it’s none the worse for being minus some items.

Parked Spinner
We’re told that the BttF prop was an actual Spinner, which had been parked in the studio back lot. Kudos to the movie-makers, and another cute car (a befinned Cadillac also cruised around in a scene or two) for sci-fi nerds like us to search for.

The original Spinner kit
This injection-plastic kit has plenty of tidy detail, and - suitably - can be posed in either ground-car or flying-car modes. Components are mostly supplied in white and transparent, though the police lights are red and blue, with two more in clear, ready for painting orange. The Italian specialist decal outfit Cartograf has supplied a comprehensive decal sheet, and there are also three photo-etch Spinner logos, for decorative purposes.

Time-saving Fujimi paint job
Fujimi also makes a pre-painted Spinner, which has the main components supplied in a finished state. This could be a useful desktop quickie for you, though as usual with pre-finished models, the keen enthusiast will want to make it look better with some extra work, especially with panel detail, and some overall light weathering to give it a ‘working machine’ sense of reality.

Deckard Sedan  
Fujimi’s Blade Runner set is finished off (only for the moment, we hope) by the 1:24 scale Deckard Sedan kit. This is the ground-car driven in the movie by the robo-hunter Rick Deckard, played by Harrison Ford.

Summation
The Future Car is an unusual kit from Fujimi, and we’re looking forward to its May arrival immensely. Let’s hope Fujimi carries on with the 1:24 scale Blade Runner series, as there are plenty more vehicles lurking in the rain-washed streets of near-future Los Angeles.

More Spinners at SMN here.

See the Fujimi future cars in 1:24 scale here at Hobby Link Japan.

Fujimi stuff here, including Blade Runner kits.

Blade Runner movie poster (above) and (below) stills with Spinners. The movie was released back in 1982, the plot setting the story in 2019. 

Model pictures courtesy Fujimi and Hobby Link Japan.

AFRICA CORPS SOLDIERS AND INSIGNIA FROM TAMIYA

SMN report

A useful release for 1:35 scale military fans is this group of five World War II Africa Corps infantrymen. The figures include an officer, NCO, rifleman, machine-gunner and loader. As usual with Tamiya, detail is precise and plentiful, with uniforms that feature goggles, boots, helmets and other equipment.

1:35 scale insignia decals from Cartograf

Tamiya works closely with Italy's specialist decal company Cartograf, and this latest set is well up to the high standards that have won Cartograf so many clients in the scale model world. The World War II  German Military Insignia decals are for Africa Corps, Military Police, and Waffen SS uniforms, and there are medals and armbands, as well as insignia.

There is also a beautifully produced 1:35 scale Africa Corps vehicle set here.

SOPWITH PUP BIPLANE FROM WINGNUT WINGS OF NEW ZEALAND

SMN report
For lovers of World War I and big-scale aircraft models, here’s a gorgeous 1:32 scale kit from Wingnut Wings, the Sopwith Scout, or ‘Pup’, a single-seater that was much loved by its pilots. Some 2100 Pups were built during the Great War, and the Wingnut model builds into a very neat representation indeed.

What’s in the box?
The box features handsome art on the cover, while inside there are 128 injection-moulded plastic components and six photo-etch metal detail parts. The Cartograf decals that include markings for six different aircraft. Optional build items include different side and engine cowls, plus fuselage and upper wing. The LeRhone engine is a miniature masterpiece, while detail work throughout is good - just look at the sewn seams on the rear fuselage and the wood-effect around the cockpit. For the nimble-fingered model maker Wingnut provides a rigging diagram, and this of course sets the aircraft off a treat - in fact, it’s essential to make the best of a biplane to this large scale. In all, a highly recommended kit for the Great War enthusiast, and one that will sit realistically with any of the 54 mm military figure sets also available from Wingnut Wings.

About the Sopwith Pup
The aircraft was officially called the Scout, but the ‘Pup’ nickname stuck, and Sopwith used animal names from then on, including the later Camel and Snipe. The Pup's light weight and generous wing area gave it a good rate of climb, ailerons on both upper and lower wings making it a very agile aircraft. It had far less power and armament than the German Albatros DIII, but was more maneuverable - as British air ace James McCudden put it: “The Sopwith would turn twice to an Albatros' once ... it was a remarkably fine machine for general all-round flying. It was so extremely light and well surfaced that after a little practice one could almost land it on a tennis court.”

Deadly deck-landing trials
Sopwith Pups were used in pioneering carrier experiments. On 2 August 1917, a Pup flown by Sqn Cdr Edwin Dunning became the first aircraft to land on a moving ship, HMS Furious. Sadly, Dunning lost his life on the third landing, when the Pup went over the side into the water. Even so, the trials pointed the way to operational deployment, and a few months later Pups began carrier operations. At first, they were fitted with skids instead of wheels, using wires to trap the aircraft on landing. Later versions reverted to wheels, which made deck handling by ground crews easier.

Visit the Sopwith Pup at Wingnut Wings, where there is masses of extra information to look at, here.

The pictures show, top to bottom:
1  Sopwith Pup boxtop.
2-6  Views of the assembled Pup, courtesy Wingnut Wings.
7  Dunning makes flight trials on HMS Furious.

F-22 RAPTOR FIRST FLIGHT

Today’s the day in 1997 that the Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor made its first flight, marking the start of a program that’s been been a bit of a mixed bag, with sky-high costs and politics playing major parts in the aircraft’s development. Technically it’s a different story, with the F-22 being second to none as the most effective combat aircraft in the skies.

Apart from its radar-resistant stealth design, the F-22’s main technical advance has been the ability to supercruise - that is, fly at supersonic speeds up to about Mach 1.7, without needing fuel-hungry afterburners.

In the model world, one of the best F-22s available is the Academy 1:48 scale kit, released earlier this year. It’s better (though more expensive) than the Italeri version to the same scale, and features crisply-moulded parts, neat panel detail, clear and smoked options for the canopy, a full range of missile, bomb and fuel-tank ordnance, plus - a nice touch - separate parts for the engine thrust-vectoring petals. The decals are extremely well printed, and have been supplied by the excellent specialist company, Cartograf.

When assembled, the 196-part Academy F-22 is quite a biggie for a single-seater, with a wingspan that scales out to more than 280 mm (11 in). It’s available through model stores, and online suppliers such as Amazon here.

The pictures show (top to bottom):
1 Academy 1:48 kit box.
2 Neatly moulded cockpit tub.
3 F-22 in flight, showing ‘shock diamonds’ in the engine efflux.
4 An F-22 flying at transonic speed through damp air, showing pressure patterns around the airframe.

BIGGEST HORNET KIT YET - WELL ACTUALLY, IT’S THE 1:1 SCALE REAL THING

Academy’s neat 1:72 scale Boeing F/A-18 Hornet (and its hugely bigger 1:32 scale cousin, shown top above) is an example of ongoing product improvement, with extra parts and excellent third-party Cartograf decals. For anyone who has assembled one of these bigger Hornet kits, the time-lapse video above is a reminder of the complexities of putting together the real thing.

Like all big aircraft projects, construction and assembly of the Hornet is an international business, with parts big and small arriving at the assembly hall from thousands of separate suppliers. The final flying machine is a triumph of systems integration.

However, this approach doesn’t always work the first time. For example, on the much-delayed Dreamliner passenger jet, Boeing has had real problems with the supply chain - among other issues, thousands of fasteners had to be replaced. Still, Boeing reckons most of these problems are now solved, and the company aims to have the new jet taking off on its maiden flight later this year.

Visit Academy here, and the Boeing company here.

The video is via Live Leak, here.

THIRD QUARTER KIT QUARTET FROM ACADEMY

South Korea’s Academy model kits are on a roll this year, so SMN has no qualms about another post. Academy’s releases for the third quarter - July to September 2009 - show a mix of subjects and kit extras. From the top then -

The ever-popular F-15E Eagle is presented in improved form, with a neat set of Iraqi Freedom ‘nose art’ markings made by the respected Cartograf specialist decal-maker from Italy. Canopy and dorsal air brake of the 1:48 scale model can be posed open or shut, there’s a full set of weapons to hang under the wings.

Matching the improved status of the F-15E in a smaller scale is the 1:72 F/A-18D Hornet. Once again, Cartograf has been commissioned to produce a very fine decal set, and many kit parts are new or polished up. It’s not the world’s prettiest jet, especially in two-seater form, but the highly successful Hornet should be in any modern jet collection - and this one should make up into a goodie.

For marine enthusiasts, Academy have a 1:350 scale World War II Admiral Graf Spee pocket battleship. As with the aircraft, the Graf Spee has been given new and improved parts, and the biggish scale will make it an impressive piece of naval history when displayed on a shelf.

There’s a final aircraft to bring this roundup to a close, with another German veteran from World War II, the 1:48 scale Messerschmitt Bf-109E-3. The box art hasn’t been finalised yet, so here we show a contemporary photo that shows off the splayed legs of the 109’s narrow-track main undercarriage. Like the other Academy releases here, the 109 comes with various new parts.

It’s great to see kit manufacturers refining their kits like this - constant upgrading of parts, and using outside decal sources really shows that companies like Academy care about their clients, which in this case is us modellers. It’s good to be appreciated!

Academy Q3 models will be available through model stores and online suppliers.

GENIUS IDEA! TAMIYA METAL CREW FIGURES

Aaah... it’s the brain-flash that says, “Why didn’t we think of that before?”. The Tamiya 1:48 BAe Hawk Mk66 comes in Swiss Air Force markings, and - ta-da! - a pair of heavyweight pilot figures, made of metal instead of plastic. The result is that they combo duties as crew and nose weights.

At last, you don’t have to pack the nose with assorted bits of lead shot, so for this aircraft at least, tail-sitting is not an option. The renowned manufacturer Cartograf has produced five sets of decals for Tamiya, and in an international hookup, Italeri makes aircraft parts. In real life the Hawk and trainers like it are not large aircraft, so 1:48 scale really suits it - the finely crafted model measures 242 mm (9.5 in) long.

The real Hawk (its first flight was 35 years ago) is a highly successful aircraft, with 900-plus made so far; they are flown by air forces all around the world. The Swiss Air Force flew Hawks for about 15 years, until they were sold to Finland in 2007. The Finnish Air Force currently has 18 Mk66 and 47 Mk51 Hawks in service.

The Tamiya Hawk with its paunchy pilots should be available in stores and online retailers shortly.