Search the Community

Royal Mail Ship (RMS) Titanic (MOE-001) Meng via Creative Models Ltd There can’t be many people on this blue marble of ours that haven’t heard of the tragedy that befell the RMS Titanic on its maiden voyage where a combination of bad luck, bad design and poor decisions led to the ship sinking and the loss of over 1,500 lives, mostly from the lower class cabins, due to the well-documented failure to fully utilise even the inadequate lifeboats the ship was carrying. Over a hundred years later it is still oft discussed, and there have been many films on the subject, most notably James Cameron’s eponymous Titanic, the research and his obsession partly responsible for finding the location of the wreck deep in the ocean over 12,000ft down at a pressure of 450bar, which are some astonishing numbers in themselves. The Kit In this super-sensitive era this kit could seem a little incautious, but taken alone and as part of their cartoon range, it has an appeal, and as someone that would like a full-sized Titanic model but doesn’t have the time or room for one, this might be an acceptably simple solution. It’s a new tool from Meng, and fits into their cartoon line, with their new MOE branding in the corner, which led me to wonder why? Apparently, Moe in Japanese means cute in popular culture, and the Chinese version of this is Meng. Coincidence? I don’t know. Kawaii desu ne? The kit is a snap-together model, and has pre-coloured parts with much of the external detail of the real Titanic, while having the (don’t say egg, don’t say egg…) shape of a cartoon, which we understand to have been designed in collaboration with Mr. Liu Naizhong. The kit arrives in a chubby top-opening box, and inside are six sprues and three separate parts in anti-foul red, black, off-white and yellow, as is appropriate for the parts and their location. There is also a tiny sticker sheet and a suitably minuscule instruction booklet in full colour with 3D isometric drawings for each step. Construction begins with adding a pair of inserts for the port and starboard propshafts, then the screws, including the central one behind the single rudder that gave insufficient steering authority to properly avoid the iceberg. Then the hull is pressed together from four layers, red, black and white, with the deck pressing inside the top part. A pair of anchors are hung on the bow (I almost said “front”), and the superstructure is pressed together with three layers, then decked out with four runs of three lifeboats and two extras at the front of the superstructure, before having the bridge pressed into the front so that the completed assembly can be joined to the hull. The four funnels are moulded in yellow with nicely detailed black inserts in the top, and these are pushed into holes in the top deck four inline. The front and rear masts are in the same colour, and there is a little white crane on the bow, with a spoiler (I’m kidding) at the stern. Markings If you aren’t painting the model, you might still consider adding a red stripe to represent the boot-topping, which could be made from red decal strip for ease. The sticker sheet has two white Titanic name plates for each side of the bow, plus a larger golden one for the stern that is positioned centrally. They have a thin clear backing, so there won’t be any annoying edges to cover. Conclusion I quite like it, but you decide for yourself. It’s nicely detailed, simple to make and I wish it came with a stand. A fun project to share with a child, with an opportunity to also share the history of the ship with them, and tell them how hard-won the lessons it taught maritime designers really were. Recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Type VII U-Boat Meng Model Warship Builder Cartoon Ship Normally we review highly detailed models of famous ships and submarines but in this instance, give your pedantry about colours and accuracy a rest and feast your eyes on this cartoon Type VII U-Boat. The Model The model comes in a small but quite deep box with an artists impression of the submarine cruising underwater scaring the local fish. Inside there are four sprues of dark and light grey styrene, a black styrene stand and a small decal sheet. Whilst it is a cartoon model the parts are nicely moulded with no sign of flash, which is a good thing as it appears to be more of a snap together kit rather than a glue it together one, although you might want to glue it together just in case it decides to fall apart. Construction, as you’d be right to guess, is very simple, the two inner hull parts are joined together followed by the two upper hull sections. One of the lower hull sections is then fitted with two pegs, the two sections are then fitted to the previous assembly with the separate keel sandwiched between them. The anchor, forward dive planes, propeller shafts and propellers are next to be attached. Strangely, even though it’s a cartoon, no aft diveplanes are included. The three deck sections are then fitted into position along with the wire cutter at the bow and the two railings, one on either side of the tower, which is the next part to be attached. The two, two piece periscopes are fitted, as are the tower mounted 20mm cannon and the two piece deck gun. The completed model can then be displayed ont eh provided stand. Decals The single sheet of decals provides items for four different emblems. The decals are nicely produced with good register and slightly matt. The nameplate that goes on the stand is of the self adhesive type sticker. Conclusion Well, what can I say about this kit? It will certainly be something different in your display cabinet and will be quite a fun build that should take all of 10 minutes to build and a bit longer to paint. It will be good for a bit of fun after a day on a bigger build and would be great for a child to start modelling with. I think it’s a little pricey, but you should be able to get it cheaper if you look around. Review sample courtesy of

A fun site, not really for experts but more for children, i think. Sorry for clogging this otherwise very accurate resources section! But i think it can be a nice read for a modeller who is stalling on a build for example. Here is: A beginner's WWII aircraft camouflage and markings guide. (there are a few mistakes however, sorry but i have no connection what-so-ever with the site so cannot change anything about it) http://www.fritzthefox.com/camo_guide.html Also, a funny speculative article about the F-35 versus the spitfire, the EE Lightning against the spitfire, and other dissimilar warfare ideas. http://www.fritzthefox.com/f35_vs_spitfire.html Or google "fritz the fox". Regards, Johnny.

Homer Simpson Heller 79500 no scale stated Background The assembled model is 175mm tall, which would give a scale of 1:10 if Homer is "really" 5ft 9inches in his shoes. Apparently Heller aquired the moulds of a vac-formed Homer and turned it into an injection moulded kit. Comments on the Kit: Advantages, a rarely seen injection moulded kit of a popular TV cartoon character. Disadvantages Poor fit: the vac-form heritage shows in very thin plastic parts with lots of gaps. The moulded recesses for the strands of "hair" are very shallow and do not seem to match the parts. Ditto the eye sockets. The hand grasping the beer can does not have any surface that it can be located on. The decals are slightly too small for the beer can. My Build notes This is my first figure kit and I (foolishly) rushed into the build. With the benefit of hindsight I should have test fit and measured everything and carefully worked out how to locate the parts and how to hold them while painting. I used Micro-Sol to apply the decals and this worked very well. Conclusion With care this can build to a nice model. Further remarks I filled the gaps in the body halves by applying filler from inside using a long stick. The gaps in the head and arms were filled from the outside. If I were to do this again I would make a plasticard inner overlap for the joins and then fill from the outside. I would cut the ends off the head and arms so that the inside would be accessible after the halves were glued. This would also allow a clamp to be used to hold the parts for painting. I would make a little pin on the right hand to locate the beer can. I would paint the can silver overall before applying the decals, then any gaps would appear silver and not need touching in after the decals were applied. I would also try to mix a rather brighter "banana" yellow colour.