27 May 2010
Can you keep up?
Hello, and thanks for visiting us here at SMN – glad you checked in because there’s so much going on it’s hard to keep up sometimes – but we will because I have a fantastic team all pulling together to help us make your Mag a great success.
So…you find me catching breath after pausing in the middle of a UK tour! We had a great time in the North at South Shields and the Northern Model Show – what a good event this is. Lots of clubs and traders – loads of space to walk around and enjoy everything on offer – well organised… it doesn’t get much better. Then last weekend down to London and the RAF Museum, Hendon where IPMS Barnet and Harrow put on what appeared to be a very successful day. I’m compiling my Show Report for that event with some nice pics of lots of excellent models featuring RAF subjects for your enjoyment – keep an eye out in your Events area for that shortly.
You’ve seen the title above and with the seemingly relentless stream of new releases, especially from Trumpeter and HobbyBoss, what are you doing about it? Buying everything you can (and can’t) afford and adding it to your stash? Only buying what you can afford and being extremely disciplined hoping that all those wants will still be available when you decide to part with your hard earned? Or are you paralysed into inactivity because there’s so much new stuff coming out – maybe waiting to see what the reviews throw up, or until your mate has built theirs – so you reserve judgement for now? Well, we will certainly do our bit to help you out. What you can do is:
- Check out your Here Now area where we review in detail as much of the new stuff as we can get our hands on
- Get stuck into Build Now, where we have as I speak 16 major builds in progress
- Absorb yourself in Finished Now – no seriously, there’s so much in there (currently 886 pages of A4 to read!). You’ll find honest, straightforward objective reviews and feature articles that you can print off or not as you please
Flogger in Build Now…
Speaking of new projects, do check out what we think is the first detailed assessment of Trumpeter’s large 1:32nd scale MiG-23 “Flogger”. Les V. takes you through a clear in-box review in Here Now. Moreover, his build is nearly complete and you can find the first parts NOW in Build Now.
A Hunting we shall go…
And I must steer you to the stunning new release from Fisher Model and Pattern – their two-seat Hawker Hunter T.Mk.7 conversion for the Revell 1:32nd scale kit – in Here Now as I write and Build Now this week. Resin detail at its best. One of my builds – I just had to do it!
Airfix’s new and re-release programme continues apace and I managed to finish my 1:72nd scale BAe Harrier GR-7 pretty much from the box with a few scratched items and some Eduard RBF tags has resulted in a model I really like – my first excursion for ages into 1:72 scale and I’d recommend it to anyone looking to put the fun back into their hobby – probably best to avoid the small Airfix Bucc though (if fun is what you want)! See Dave Cs build on that in Finished Now.
Armour rolls on…
The Armour area was the third area to go live behind Aircraft and Maritime in SMN and so has been playing a bit of catch-up – but is getting stronger all the time I’m happy to report. From now it’s highly likely that you’ll always find at least 4 or 5 builds in progress, so your Finished Now armour area will be growing rapidly over the coming weeks.
For all you armour guys out there – exciting times continue and with Neil’s Eduard ProfiPACK M-4A3 Sherman in 1:72 scale the theme continues – imminent in Build Now.
Andy Argent is at the stage we’ve all been waiting for – the painting and weathering of his GWH Flak 43 and that’s fully in progress in Build Now – check it out.
And just look at Neil’s great AFV Club British CVR-T FV107 Scimitar in 1:35th scale – all Finished Now and from the attention it attracted at Hendon, you’ll love it too.
Sailing now…
Les Vs 1:72nd scale Revell GATO Class sub is all done and you’ll find some great weathering techniques on show in his build – really excellent work. And if you think that’s inspiring, just look at his Fletcher Class Corvette from Revell in 1:144th scale – his build gets under way this week! I’ve photographed the finished model and it’s awesome!
Due very soon will be the continuing build of Revell’s great USS Wasp – watch this space and of course, the final images of Gareth’s lovely HMS Illustrious build featuring some good etched detail.
So much to do…so little time…
See you soon, Geoff
Geoff