11 June 2010
Weekend Warriors!
putting the fun back into our hobby…
That’s exactly what we are doing with this new series of projects. From the box and having fun… that’s what this is all about and we start this week with Les Venus and his 1:35th Desertised Tamiya Challenger 2. From the box – start to finish in a weekend. In fact it’ll probably take longer to get you the whole build than it took Les to complete the thing! But I want to try and get this Weekend Warriors (WW) theme off to a positive, enthusiastic start and who better to do that than the Big Man?
Unable to resist, your Editor will also be taking the plunge with one of Hannant’s own Xtrakits – probably the 1:72 scale Supermarine Swift FR5 very soon – watch this space!
Here’s a challenge for you – why not give this a go yourself, take some pics of the build and add some captions – one for each pic and send it in to me at: geoff@scalemodellingnow.com and I will do my best to publish it in the WW area of Club Model – go on, go on, go on – you know you want to!
Aircraft – Flogged to death!
I hope that this doesn’t refer to Les for his fantastic efforts to complete the new 1:32nd scale MiG-23MF “Flogger”? In fact, no, he’s been sucked back into the sea with the release of the stunning White Ensign Models (WEM) HMS Abercrombie in 1:350th scale. This will be in Here Now imminently, so watch that space!
So, back to our Trumpeter MiG-23… all done now and an amazing package awaits you in Finished Now, although many of you will have been following Les’s build for the past two weeks in Build Now. What do you get in that review? This is what…:
141 images
51 pages of A4 (no, it’s not a misprint!)
5,754 words
This has got be nearly a book’s worth and that is just one of the reviews in your SMN. How much reading can you cope with…!
More Inter-War era on the way…
With the release of the very nice Xtrakits of the Supermarine Swift FR5 and Gloster Meteor F.Mk.8 in 1:72nd scale we will be building both of these very soon. Check out the Swift in Here Now for a full in-box review and the Meteor will be in there very soon. Both are about to become Build Now projects.
Armour…
Lots have been happening in here. Andy Argent’s stunning 1:35th GWH Flak 43 Schlepper is almost complete and you’ll learn some great weathering techniques along the way in his full review. Speaking of techniques – what about Filters? What’s that all about?
Filters…
Check out the Techniques Bank for this new addition from Andy where he explains simply what’s involved so that you too can easily apply some incredibly realistic weathering to your armour projects.
Now those of you that know me will probably also know that I know precious little about building armour, hands up… you can’t do everything? Well, maybe you can! Les V has undertaken an amazing armour build project. He too is new to this area and wanted to show how you can get really nice results from a project from the box in just one weekend! No, really he has done it and sitting in my ‘In-box’ is Les’s article, just come in for the 1:35th Desertised Tamiya Challenger 2. I will get this edited and into SMN next week, so don’t miss out on that.
Maritime…
Plenty going on here too with the WEM HMS Abercrombie just in and about to go into Here Now. With your Maritime Editor Mat moving house and all that that brings, we haven’t been quite as prolific, but that’s set to change as we ring up ‘Full ahead’ and get things moving up a few knots.
WEM Photo Etch for Airfix Invincible
And this is in too and Gareth has gone off to get that detailed build under way with our second build of the already very good Airfix scale model in 1:350th.
Fletcher steaming ahead
Part 2 of this Revell USN Fletcher Class Destroyer awesome build goes live in the next few days and with just one more update after that to complete this magnificent Revell project all you maritime guys out there have plenty to look forward to.
Ok, that’s me done for now but back to that sublime Fisher Model and Pattern Hawker Hunter T7 – the cockpit’s all but done and the front resin section attached to the fuselage – just loving it!
One question before I go…
What kit/project would you most like to see a review or feature article of in SMN? Let me know… Geoff
