 |
Contents Listing - Articles & Features in this issue
Modellers Profile - EE1 Hunter T.7
News - News and forthcoming products from around the worldr including our At a Glance look at this month's new arrivals
Harvard Home - By David Batt - Converting the Revell Texan to a RAF Harvard Mk 1
Previews - An initial glance at kits received for preview, including items from Broplan, Dragon. Eduard,, Hasegawa, Italeri, Pegasus, Planet, Silver Cloud and Special Hobby
Reviews - The review team look at more new and recent releases
Accessories - New releases this month from Aerocast, Aeroclub, Aires. Avionix, Eduard, Parahelium, Quick & Easy, Quickboost, Ultracast
Pick up a Penguin - By Peter Marshall -
Kinetic's NATO Viper modelled in Norwegian Markings
Milton’s Schemes - By Mick Lomax - Revell’s An 124
EZ3 Decals - More new items from DRAW. Kits at War, Peddinghaus, Pheon, Superscale, Tech mod and Vingtor
US Patrol - Who the Dickens is Clara Adams? - Steve Palmer pays tribute to a wel1 travelled lady
Emil Rising - By David Francis - Messerschmitt Bf 109E-1 in 1/32
24-Hour Finnish - By Mike Grant - Building Heller’s Fouga Magister in a day
IPMS USA - Paul Bradley discovers a Gnat in Santa Maria
Scaling Down - by Mike Verier - Amodel’s Lancaster Bi / Bill finished at last
Modelling to the Max - By Lukasz Kedzierski - Building the Trumpeter 1/32 Yak-18
Events
Letters
Books
Shop Guide
Web Guide
Address List & Advert Index
Article Snippets
Oh the Barnyard is Busy
Spring is making a desperate attempt to break through the almost intergalactic depression that seems to have gripped us all, with the constant reportage of economic downturn and imminent doom. Smug in our cocoon of Editorial privilege we have been looking out of our windows and watching the rain stream down the glass. ‘Now,’ it seems to be telling us, ‘is not a good time to venture out of doors.’
No one has told the Editorial frogs this. As usual they have woken up at the first whiff of wanner weather and fallen to with a will. Usually a sharp frost comes along and kills all the spawn, but this year - thanks to educational commitments and the need to introduce the children to the life cycle of Rana Temporaria - we have bestirred ourselves to keep an eye on the weather forecast and once the inevitable freeze was announced for the coming weekend a sizeable proportion of the stuff was scooped up out of the pond into a large Sainsbury's bucket and deposited on the floor in the office, somewhere between
How much will you pay for a 1/48 Vulcan when the time comes? Special Hobby's Silver Wings Skua in 1/48. A good buy at any price my modelling bench and the computer desk.. Here it remains, smelly and singularly unattractive, awaiting the all clear.
This seems to be a long time coming, and the process seems to have accelerated development somewhat, as where initially a glance into the bucket was rewarded by a blank stare from 20,000 or so tiny eyeballs, now the pupils are narrowing to slits and soon they will hatch. This in turn means they will have to wait a week or so before going back into the pond, as they can't be upturned while still feeding on the egg sac, so the 1/144 Starfighter port intake, which fell into the depths, will have to wait until they are hatched and released before I can continue with that project. Memo to self. Be careful with the airbrush while this enormous foster family is in the vicinity of the bench.
We Editors have certainly been venturing out of doors, and the annual SAM Publications trip to Nuremburg allowed us an opportunity to meet with many names and faces from the hobby and see how business was from their point of view. There was certainly little evidence of pessimism throughout Halls 7 and 7a, where most of the relevant manufacturers are located, and looking at the plans for 2009, it would seem that the plastic model kit industry is weathering the worst of the storm.
Domestic shows, too, have suggested that this is largely the case, and our annual trip to Huddersfield was as enjoyable as ever. This event seems to get better every year, and a look from the balcony down onto the throng below suggests that a record attendance may have been on the cards. South Shields anc the Southern Expo are looming, and
Huddersfield simply gets better every year. Once again - a supermarket full of plastic - but just for one day!
hopefully by the time I return from these, the slippery guests will have been evicted from the office and life will be able to return to normal.
As for the credit crunch, the most noticeable effect this has so far produced has been the increase in letters to the Editorial desk complaining about the increase in kit prices, and as readers have been sufficiently moved to write on the subject, some response at least is clearly appropriate. My own position is that I have never complained about the price of a kit, never bought one if I thought it was too expensive, and never hesitated if it was something I wanted. In answer to one reader's query ‘would you pay £100 for a 1/32 Lightning?’ my answer is ’No. But I would for a 1/32 Skua.' Looking at my local model shop only yesterday I was astounded to see a 1/72 diecast Jaguar priced at £42. It resembles a reasonably well-made Matchbox kit, with an ill-fitting canopy, rudimentary interior detail, and joint fines and panel engraving that look like a map of the Somme. Now that is something I would regard as 'too expensive,’ even if I wanted it, but diecasts have been selling for astronomical prices for years. Perhaps we might consider instead that rather than kits now being too expensive, they have simply not kept pace with inflation as the price of bread, petrol, and 'Ecopond Tadpole Food’ has shot through the roof.
I realise I stand at risk of accusations of pandering to an industry that pays to advertise in these pages, but to be honest I can't understand what all the fuss is about. This is a hobby, and while
This grainy captured image depicts members of the modelling glitterati discussing the C-wing, One well aimed water balloon lobbed off the balcony would have settled the issue...
it is also a passion, it is not so much our ability to enjoy building models that will be affected, but our ability to stockpile more than we will never get round to building. If we don't like the price we don't have to buy, and there will always be many, many more kits we want to build that we can afford, and perhaps, if we want to shell out for that essential purchase, we might liquidate some assets first? Some of the second hand bargains going at Huddersfield were astonishing...
This, of course, is a simplified view, but it takes me literally months to finish a kit, and the value for money I get from even the most expensive is considerable. Perhaps one thing it might be worth considering, though, if in doubt over a hefty outlay, is 'what am I going to do with it when I get it home?' • SAMI
Gary Hatcher
Spring is making a desperate attempt to break through the almost intergalactic depression that seems to have gripped us all, with the constant reportage of economic downturn and imminent doom. Smug in our cocoon of Editorial privilege we have been looking out of our windows and watching the rain stream down the glass. ‘Now,’ it seems to be telling us, ‘is not a good time to venture out of doors.’
No one has told the Editorial frogs this. As usual they have woken up at the first whiff of wanner weather and fallen to with a will. Usually a sharp frost comes along and kills all the spawn, but this year - thanks to educational commitments and the need to introduce the children to the life cycle of Rana Temporaria - we have bestirred ourselves to keep an eye on the weather forecast and once the inevitable freeze was announced for the coming weekend a sizeable proportion of the stuff was scooped up out of the pond into a large Sainsbury's bucket and deposited on the floor in the office, somewhere between
How much will you pay for a 1/48 Vulcan when the time comes? Special Hobby's Silver Wings Skua in 1/48. A good buy at any price my modelling bench and the computer desk.. Here it remains, smelly and singularly unattractive, awaiting the all clear.
This seems to be a long time coming, and the process seems to have accelerated development somewhat, as where initially a glance into the bucket was rewarded by a blank stare from 20,000 or so tiny eyeballs, now the pupils are narrowing to slits and soon they will hatch. This in turn means they will have to wait a week or so before going back into the pond, as they can't be upturned while still feeding on the egg sac, so the 1/144 Starfighter port intake, which fell into the depths, will have to wait until they are hatched and released before I can continue with that project. Memo to self. Be careful with the airbrush while this enormous foster family is in the vicinity of the bench.
We Editors have certainly been venturing out of doors, and the annual SAM Publications trip to Nuremburg allowed us an opportunity to meet with many names and faces from the hobby and see how business was from their point of view. There was certainly little evidence of pessimism throughout Halls 7 and 7a, where most of the relevant manufacturers are located, and looking at the plans for 2009, it would seem that the plastic model kit industry is weathering the worst of the storm.
Domestic shows, too, have suggested that this is largely the case, and our annual trip to Huddersfield was as enjoyable as ever. This event seems to get better every year, and a look from the balcony down onto the throng below suggests that a record attendance may have been on the cards. South Shields anc the Southern Expo are looming, and
Huddersfield simply gets better every year. Once again - a supermarket full of plastic - but just for one day!
hopefully by the time I return from these, the slippery guests will have been evicted from the office and life will be able to return to normal.
As for the credit crunch, the most noticeable effect this has so far produced has been the increase in letters to the Editorial desk complaining about the increase in kit prices, and as readers have been sufficiently moved to write on the subject, some response at least is clearly appropriate. My own position is that I have never complained about the price of a kit, never bought one if I thought it was too expensive, and never hesitated if it was something I wanted. In answer to one reader's query ‘would you pay £100 for a 1/32 Lightning?’ my answer is ’No. But I would for a 1/32 Skua.' Looking at my local model shop only yesterday I was astounded to see a 1/72 diecast Jaguar priced at £42. It resembles a reasonably well-made Matchbox kit, with an ill-fitting canopy, rudimentary interior detail, and joint fines and panel engraving that look like a map of the Somme. Now that is something I would regard as 'too expensive,’ even if I wanted it, but diecasts have been selling for astronomical prices for years. Perhaps we might consider instead that rather than kits now being too expensive, they have simply not kept pace with inflation as the price of bread, petrol, and 'Ecopond Tadpole Food’ has shot through the roof.
I realise I stand at risk of accusations of pandering to an industry that pays to advertise in these pages, but to be honest I can't understand what all the fuss is about. This is a hobby, and while
This grainy captured image depicts members of the modelling glitterati discussing the C-wing, One well aimed water balloon lobbed off the balcony would have settled the issue...
it is also a passion, it is not so much our ability to enjoy building models that will be affected, but our ability to stockpile more than we will never get round to building. If we don't like the price we don't have to buy, and there will always be many, many more kits we want to build that we can afford, and perhaps, if we want to shell out for that essential purchase, we might liquidate some assets first? Some of the second hand bargains going at Huddersfield were astonishing...
This, of course, is a simplified view, but it takes me literally months to finish a kit, and the value for money I get from even the most expensive is considerable. Perhaps one thing it might be worth considering, though, if in doubt over a hefty outlay, is 'what am I going to do with it when I get it home?' • SAMI
Gary Hatcher
