WELCOME TO THE EXPERT GUIDE LIBRARY

You might notice a new picture box at top right. This is the 'Expert Guide Library', which is SMN's term for ebooks on a wide range of model subjects, produced in a unique and easy to view screen format.

You can flip from page to page, zoom in and out, read online, or download to pdf for offline viewing. There are just the two entries there at the moment, but we've new titles in the works, from Air Shows to Traction Engines, Model Displays to Doctor Who, Robot Collectibles to Model Trains.

We'll flag out new additions in future, as and when they are ready to view.

STILL SUPERB - THE MONOGRAM ULTIMATES

Palm-of-the-hand sized 1:43 is the most popular scale worldwide for diecast vehicles, and quite right too - for both display and storage, it’s ideal. Not too big, not too small, and with enough real estate for a good manufacturer to pack in the detail that’ll please most of us.

In the kit world it’s a different matter though, with the bigger 1:24/25/32 scales being far more popular than 1:43. There are some exceptions, including a selection offered by the French Heller company, but while these are OK enough, they're not the absolute state of the art for detail and presentation.

The prize for 1:43 detail really belongs to Monogram’s short-lived ‘Ultimates’ kits, produced in 1990-91. There were just two kits in the ‘range’, a Chevrolet Corvette and an AC Cobra. Nearly two decades on, an Ultimates kit still looks good, presented in a biggish box containing a fine combination of plastic, rubber, and photo-etched metal components, plus decal sheet. The shiny bits are neatly chromed, and the one-piece body free of flash or distortion, just as it should be. The box-top shows the kit’s quality off well - the photo is about twice life-size, yet looks very good indeed.

It’s a pity production lasted for such a short time, and that the range never expanded past these two desirable sports cars. Still, if you’d like to try one or both, Monogram Ultimates appear on eBay from time to time, and are not expensive. It could be worthwhile getting two of each - one to build, one to lay down for the future. We came up with these items here.

Here are some Heller kits to various scales, including a Lotus F1 racer to 1:43 scale here.

The pictures above show:
1 Boxes for both Ultimates kits.
2 Parts for the AC Cobra.
3 Assembled Ultimates Chevy Corvette.
4 A pair of Monogram Corvettes, to 1:43 and 1:8 scale.

Assembled Corvettes supplied by Mat Irvine.

'IRON SKY' - LUFTWAFFE 1946 FANS JOIN THE QUEUE RIGHT HERE

Iron Sky looks like it’s going to be an intriguing 2010 movie. Judging from the video clip we show here, Iron Sky should have Luftwaffe 1946 enthusiasts in seventh heaven (and we’re keen L46’ers here at SMN) as it includes so many popular themes and memes. Secret advanced technology - yes! Secret UFOs - yes! Secret moonbases - yes! There’s even a military sidecar outfit bopping along a lunar highway, though we’re guessing that, conceptually at least, it’s not powered by a BMW flat-twin internal-combustion engine. Pressurized gas from that big tank behind the handlebars might push the cylinders though...

These days the Luftwaffe 1946 fan has a huge range of choice, with even mainstream manufacturers like Revell providing some excellent kits to build. Among Revell’s L46 squadron is the 1:72 scale Focke Wulf TL Jager Flitzer (‘Hunter Streaker’) pictured above, which is a little more ‘real’ than many Luft 46 models, because the original did get as far as wind tunnel testing, though it was cancelled before entering production. The twin-boom layout echoed other designs of the era, including the British Vampire, which test-flew as early as September 1943, and the Flitzer’s predicted single-engine performance was as good as the Messerschmitt Me262 flying on two engines. A rocket booster could have increased speed to nearly match the climb-rate of the famed Me 163 Komet interceptor.

To Revell’s model - the Flitzer is neat and tidy, though it's a confirmed tail-sitter, so you need to pack the forward fuselage with lead-weight if you want the aircraft to stand on its undercarriage unaided. Panel detail is crisp and neatly done, and the general fit of components is good too, which means little filling is needed at the seams. The kit was first released some ten years ago, but it’s lasted well, and would look good in any lineup of Luftwaffe 1946 aircraft. Next year, let’s have some Iron Sky UFOs to build!

There’s an excellent review of the Revell Fw Jager Flitzer by model fan Adam Rehorn here.

You can obtain the Fw Jager Flitzer here.

UNIQUE HALLMARK CHRISTMAS KEEPSAKE ORNAMENTS OFFER SOUND AND LIGHT

Christmas is coming, and for those living in the US at least, it’s also time for the Hallmark Corporation’s annual Keepsake Ornaments to decorate the tree. Hallmark’s early Keepsake offerings (the line started in 1973) included Santas, fairies, elves, polar bears and the like. But today Keepsake subjects range across the spectrum.

Still, that’s good for us model fans, as Hallmark includes items that are much more interesting than a bunch of mere elves. 2009 includes sci-fi offerings such as the speaking Robby the Robot from the movie Forbidden Planet as featured by Mat Irvine in our video above. The picture shows another movie tie-in, the Ecto-1 Cadillac from Ghostbusters, to roughly 1:50 scale. It too has a good quality sound chip, this time with an excellent rendering of the Ghostbusters musical theme.

Earlier Hallmarks have included spacecraft and characters from Star Trek and Star Wars. You knew Christmas was changing forever when you were presented, not with a festive Santa, but a laser-firing Klingon Cruiser! Hallmark's earthbound styles of transportation currently include both American pickup trucks and classic American cars. Although the scales are not stated, they are pretty detailed representations.

Robby the Robot is in the ‘Nostalgia and Fun’ section of Hallmark’s Keepsake Ornaments site here.

To give you a feel for prices on older items, there’s a collectible Star Trek shuttlecraft on eBay here.

There are other collectible Forbidden Planet items to look at here, and Ghostbusters stuff here.

BRAWN GP TRIUMPHANT PARADE THROUGH BRACKLEY

Jenson Button was testing tyres in Japan, so we didn't manage to see him yesterday. Even so, Brackley town centre came to a cheerful halt as just about every spare body in the town turned out to cheer on Team Principal Ross Brawn and CEO Nick Fry, plus three open-top buses loaded with smiling members of the Brawn GP race car team.

Strictly speaking this is not a ‘model fan’ video, but we thought you’d enjoy a look even so. Locals I spoke to all reckoned that Ross Brawn is a decent guy, and the team has certainly put this sleepyish market town on the map. After the speeches, the cameras went among the fans to peek at Ross signing some autographs.

Visit Brawn GP here.

Have a look at some F1 diecast models here.

And some Jenson Button stuff here.

SWEET LITTLE SIXTEEN HOT WHEELS BEAUTIES

Here’s a great little video featuring that ‘Sweet Sixteen’ group of model cars, the very first set of 1:64 scale Hot Wheels introduced way back in September 1968. Ten of them were custom versions of production vehicles of the time, the remaining six were show and track cars.

What marked Hot Wheels out from competition such as Corgi and Dinky were a number of unique features - super-gloss Spectraflame paint, high-speed wheel bearings, and redline-rimmed tyres that echoed the stylish look of many US muscle cars of the era. The other big feature that set Hot Wheels apart was the low-friction plastic race track you could buy. Running on this, a Hot Wheels car could easily hit a scale 320 km/h (200 mph), and you could race a pair of them using a two-lane starting gate.

Hot Wheels are still going strong, though redline wheels were phased out in 1977. It’s reckoned that some 10,000 different models have been introduced - quite a task then, for the completist collector! Interestingly, the ‘Hot Pink’ paint scheme that was regarded as a bit ‘girlie’ for the average Hot Wheels owner, is a rare shade that commands premium prices at sales and auctions cars.

Thanks Randy for the video.

Have a look at a mouthwatering range of Hot Wheels cars and tracks here.

JENSON BUTTON AND BRAWN FORMULA ONE TEAM CRUISE THEIR HOME TOWN

The Formula One world champions this year are UK driver Jenson Button and his Brawn GP race car team. Home town for this winning crew is the market town of Brackley, Northamptonshire, where Brawn’s gleaming new high-tech HQ has been rising during the last few months. And after lunch today, Brackley’s main street will host a homecoming parade and presentations from the town’s worthies to its local heroes. The event should be great fun, and if the weather’s good for the calvacade, we’ll be posting a video here ASAP.

However, Brackley is also home to a model fan or two, including ace designer David Bartlett, who has created some superb paper-engineering projects. Among them is a pair of classic F1 racing cars from the early 1990s, Michael Schumacher’s Benetton B192, and Nigel Mansell’s Williams FW14. These are big models - the Benetton is some 600 mm (23.6 in) long, while the Williams measures 450 mm (17.8 in). The FW14 is one that you could build yourself, for David has made it available as a downloadable pdf on his fascinating paper sculptures website.

The pictures above show:
1 Jenson Button powering to victory in his Brawn F1 car.
2 Benetton B192 paper sculpture.
3 Williams FW14 paper sculpture.

Visit David Bartlett’s paper sculptures here.

Visit Brawn GP here.

Have a look at a mouthwatering range of F1 diecast models here.

And there’s a 1:43 Minichamps diecast in the markings of Button’s teammate, Rubens Barichello here.