DIECAST COLLECTIONS AND THE DINKY TOYS STORY

DIECAST SCALE MODELS are traditionally a collector's market, rather than one for builders. But there are plenty of times when ready-built models make perfectly good sense.

BUILDING A BANDAI DEATH STAR II MODEL KIT

BANDAI HAS WHAT IS probably the best selection of Star Wars kits today, even if there are plenty of competitors out there.

1:25 SCALE JEEP vs GIANT GODZILLA IN 'INVASION OF ASTRO-MONSTER'

IF YOU LOOK HARD enough, you can usually find an interesting anniversary. And in 2019, Round 2 used the 65th Anniversary of Godzilla, perhaps the most famous of all movie monsters, to add a creature-feature to its list.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2020: AND A LOOK AT YESTERYEAR'S SCI-FI FUTURES

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL and we hope 2020 brings you as many models and kits as you might wish for. And if you enter model competitions, well, we hope you win a few prizes!

FESTIVE GREETINGS TO YOU ALL

BEST WISHES TO ALL OUR READERS and have a truly excellent scale time over the festive break. And of course, we also wish you a prosperous and productive 2020.

FANTASY FIGURES INTERNATIONAL: NEW MAGAZINE TO HELP YOU MAKE BETTER MINIATURES

IT'S ALWAYS GOOD TO SEE A NEW MODEL MAGAZINE, so we are pleased to see the latest from Guideline Publications, the fascinating Fantasy Figures International which is in stores now.

SCALE MODEL PORSCHE STARFIGHTER: ONE-OFF DESIGN CELEBRATES THE LATEST STAR WARS MOVIE

Porsche and Lucasfilm have created a 60-inch long concept spacecraft, the Tri-Wing S-91x Pegasus Starfighter, in time for the launch of the new movie Star Wars Episode VIII: The Rise of Skywalker. The Tri-Wing will be unveiled at the film’s world premiere on 16 December 2019, in Los Angeles, California.

SIR ROD STEWART'S RAIL MODEL BOOST

IT WASN'T A TOP SECRET but the fact that old-style rocker, Rod Stewart, was also a model railway enthusiast was probably not that well known, to many of his music fans, at least. But in the scale model world, Rod (‘Sir’ Rod since he was knighted in 2016) is yet another famous face who is a keen rail modeller.

'WAR OF THE WORLDS' SCI-FI INVASION FEATURES IN MODEL RAIL LAYOUT

THIS LAYOUT COMBINES traditional model rail construction with a dash of science fiction. The Edwardian sci-fi story War of the Worlds by HG Wells makes for an interesting, and very different, diorama setting.

NEAT BUILD-AND-IMPROVE 1:48 SCALE KAMOV KA-50 HELICOPTER

IS THIS NICELY-BUILT model more than the sum of its parts? Look and learn to see how careful work can result in something that really looks the biz.

1:48 SCALE FUEL TANKER FROM ATLANTIS MODELS: A NEW TAKE ON THE REVELL ORIGINAL

THIS EXCELLENT LITTLE RETRO MODEL will make a useful accessory for dioramas based on US 0-gauge railroads, and aircraft kits to 1:48 scale.

AIRFIX PRESENTS THE 1:72 SCALE AVRO VULCAN B.2

ENJOY THIS VIDEO giving details of the upcoming 1:72 scale Airfix Avro Vulcan B.2. This is looks to be a very exciting kit for anyone with an interest in military aviation of the Cold War era.

BATTLE OF MIDWAY COMPETITION WINNERS

THE BUSY HOBBY BOUNTIES store in Singapore recently had a model competition to coincide with the launch of the new Midway movie.

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE: CHEVROLET FLOWER TRUCK CONVERSION

FOLLOWING RECENT JAMES BOND articles, here’s a piece on converting two kits into one of 007’s more unusual forms of transport.

MORE MODELS FROM SINGAPORE

MORE INTERESTING STUFF from Peter Chiang with these entries from his Hobby Bounties mini-Airfix James Bond competition 2019. The cars are all in 1:32 scale, the James Bond Aston Martin (above) being fitted with an ejection-seat cutout in the roof, and much else besides.

BOND IN MINIATURE - IN SINGAPORE

SOME INTERESTING PIX HAVE ARRIVED from our man in Singapore, Peter Chiang, of Hobby Bounties. The classic 1:12 scale Airfix Bentley is boxed here in 007 guise.

1:144 SCALE KIT FROM REVELL: THE ONE AND ONLY SIX-ENGINE ANTONOV GIANT

THERE’S AN OLD AVIATION question that runs, “Why do they put four engines on a 747? Answer: because they can’t fit six…” Well, that doesn’t apply to the Antonov An-225 as it has six engines as standard and holds the record as the largest aircraft in the world currently flying.

STAR WARS VIDEO BUILD - AT-ST WALKER TO 1:48 SCALE FROM BANDAI

WE FEATURED THE BANDAI AT-ST WALKER in July 2018. Here it is again, with a video to show you the way this delightful kit goes together.

CHUCK YEAGER'S BELL X-1 SUPERSONIC ROCKETPLANE

MODELLED BY REVELL AT 1:32 SCALE, this is the largest conventional kit of the first aircraft to break the sound barrier, a mission achieved on 14 October 1947. The flight was made ten years to the month before the launch of the Soviet Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite.

CUSTOM TRUCKS – 1:24 SCALE WONDER WOMAN CHEVY AND 1:1 TESLA

THIS HANDSOMELY PACKAGED 1:24 scale cab-over engine (COE) Chevrolet pickup truck from the 1950s adds a gleaming retro flavour to a neatly sculpted Wonder Woman figure.