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Moonraker Space Shuttle Gift Set (05665) James Bond 007 Moonraker – Roger Moore 1:144 Carrera Revell After the success of Star Wars (where’s he going with this?), the Sci-Fi themed Moonraker was bumped up the schedule of Bond films to ride the huge wave of Science Fiction movies that followed during the next decade. Released in 1979, and after a slow start it went on to be the most successful 007 film until 1995’s Goldeneye. The film’s premise was based upon the fictional manufacturer of the Space Shuttle, Drax Industries pinching a shuttle whilst it was on loan to the British to give 007 the impetus to go gallivanting around the world and beyond to track down the shuttle, then upon finding out that Hugo Drax intended to kill almost everyone on earth to start his master race in the rubble, shipping the intended progenitors to his space station on a fleet of Space Shuttles that he had built in secret. Why did he need to steal one? Because one of his developed a serious fault during production, of course! Mr Bond and his new friend Miss Goodhead end up closely escaping incineration and take the last of the fleet of shuttles up to the space station, causing chaos when they get there, switching off the cloaking device that resulted in the US Marines coming up in their own shuttle that just happened to be ready in order to engage in a massive laser fight in their space suits outside the station. The station was destroyed along with the poisonous chemical that was intended to kill everyone, although Drax escaped into custody, whilst Mr Bond took possession of Moonraker 5, getting caught up to his usual tricks when M called to congratulate him on a successful mission, even though he’d spent most of the film being captured and lurching from one disaster to another, including a boat race through Venice. The Moonraker Shuttles were simply re-badged NASA Space Shuttle models, and although the shuttle had yet to leave the earth’s atmosphere, its design had already been established, and Enterprise had been seen since in publicity during the mid-70s. The Shuttle needs little in the way of introduction, flying from 1981 to 2011, carrying out 135 missions, but with two sad losses. The Challenger exploding during lift-off due to faulty O-rings on the Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs), the Columbia being lost due to damage to its wing leading edge on lift-off, that led to its break-up on return to earth during the difficult re-entry phase, bringing two painful reminders that human space exploration is a dangerous exploit. All crew members were lost in both instances, and will never be forgotten. The Kit The kit originated in 1978, and the initial boxing shows the simplified layout of the heat-resistant black tiles that it uses to deflect the hot plasma of re-entry. It was reboxed in 1979 as a Moonraker edition with Roger Moore in a silver space suit prominently on the cover, and has been reboxed numerous times in the intervening decades as the NASA shuttle. The kit arrives in a modest end-opening box, and inside are four sprues of white styrene, a clear sprue, two sheets of decals, and the instruction booklet that is printed in colour, with profiles for painting and decaling on the rear pages. There is also an A3 poster inside the booklet, a thumbnail of which can be seen on the box top, plus a set of six thumb-pots of acrylic paint, a 12.5ml bottle of Contacta Professional glue with needle applicator, and a #2 paintbrush. Detail is as you would expect from a kit of this age, and you must bear in mind that it was designed and tooled before the operational shuttles were built and flown, so there may be some minor issues with shape and detail when compared to an operational shuttle, but as the film was made in 1978 for release the next year, it should be close. Where this kit benefits from previous incarnations is in the decals, which includes a full sheet of decals that depict the heat-resistant tiles on the underside, which although they started life as a black shade, they gradually weathered out to a chalky grey, and newer replacement tiles appeared much darker by comparison. Construction begins by putting together the two layers of the rear-mounted elevator, then trapping it between the two fuselage halves, which also traps the clear windscreen, and if you are mounting it on the supplied base, a slot in the floor of the model will need to be opened, clearing the flash from the pre-formed shape. Bulkheads are installed at each end of the payload bay, sliding a faceted interior into position, locating on raised guides moulded into the bulkheads. If you are posing the bay doors open, there is a generic payload package supplied that consists of an equipment palette, a cylindrical laboratory, a telescope unit in a suspension frame, and an airlock that permits translation from the crew compartment into the pressurised lab. This is mounted on a base and installed in the floor of the payload bay before the bay doors are made. The outer doors are each single parts, with a two-part interior layer to depict the solar panels that are used to produce additional power to supplement the batteries once the bay is opened. They can be flex-fitted into the bays, but if you wish to portray a more accurate rendition of the Moonraker, the doors could be glued closed to give a flush finish, which can be seen on the filming miniatures along with a substantial amount of shading of the panel edges that seems to have been applied all over the ship. The Orbital Manoeuvring System hardware is enclosed in a large cowling on either side of the fin, adding a small part to the overhanging end, and creating the Reaction Control System nozzles on an additional fairing that is made from two parts and is mounted on the rear of the OMS fairing. The OMS nozzles are made from two halves each, and are installed at the rear of the cowlings, fitting the main engine nozzles on the rear bulkhead on keyed notches, detail painting the RCS nozzles to add depth to the assembly. Each wing is made from top and bottom halves, and these fit into fairings at the bottom of the fuselage halves, with the outlines of the white insulation blankets depicted as raised lines in the central portion where tiles weren’t needed or practical. Inverting the model shows three shallow gear bay depressions, which you can either cover with closed bay doors for in-flight, trimming them to improve fit, but if you intend posing your model in landing configuration, the nose gear is inserted into a hole in the rear of the bay, adding a retraction jack to the front, and fixing twin wheels to the stub axle at the bottom. The bay door is cut in half and glued one half to each side of the bay. The main gear legs are similarly constructed, but with a different shaped leg, and the bay doors are fitted to the outer edge of the bay without cutting. The last option other than mounting the model on the stand is to install the three-part Canadarm to the side of the payload bay, and an optional spaceman on a long tether than can jiggle around supported by the tether as if he is floating in space. If you elected to open the slot under the belly and close the bay doors, the two-part clear stand can be used for an in-flight/space option, and the base has a simplified earth engraved into it that you can paint blue and green to give the impression of the model being in a very high orbit if you squint. If you forgot to open the slot, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to see it, as our sample had the flashing almost disappear due to the age of the tooling. If you don’t wish to use the stand, a piece of scrap styrene sheet glued to the inner face of the hole and a little filler will soon sort that out. Markings There were six Moonraker shuttles in the film, numbered 1 to 6, with No.5 being the laser-equipped ship that destroyed the poison-filled globes near the end of the film. You can depict any of the shuttles, thanks to the additional tail numbers included on the decal sheet. Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Most of the tile decals are provided on a separate sheet from the colourful orange-themed Drax Industries branding, and those for the underside are a variety of grey shades with only a few replacement tiles in black. Those on the upper surface of the elevator and the nose sides around the forward RCS control nozzles are printed in black however, and the contrast with the underside decals that cover the curve of the fuselage might be too much for some. Similarly, the forward RCS nozzles also have black tiles around them, and the OMS cowlings have a few black tiles supplied for the hot-spots on the leading edges, which weren’t present on the filming miniatures, or the USS Enterprise. You may consider leaving those on the sheet for accuracy’s sake, and Google a few photos of the filming miniatures to ensure everything is shaped and shaded correctly. The filming miniatures also have large areas of white tiles drawn on, adding more visual interest, as well as the differential shading of the larger panels, as previously mentioned. Conclusion After the initial flurry of Space Shuttle kits in most scales during the 70s and early 80s, there has been only one kit in this scale that is more recent, and that isn’t readily available or cheap. Revell’s kit is a nice uncomplicated model of the type, and can be readily adapted to the film’s eponymous vehicle, so it makes sense to rebox it as part of their James Bond link-up. Purists may wish to get some aftermarket main engine nozzles for a bit more real-life accuracy, although the kit parts are actually pretty close to the cone-shaped stepped nozzles the miniatures used, so it will still build up into a fun depiction of this movie hero. Highly recommended. Carrera Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

Aston Martin DB5 Starter Set (A55011) 1: 43 Airfix Aston Martin’s Grand Tourer, the DB5 rose to prominence above almost anything they had produced to that date or since, when it got a starring role in the James Bond film Goldfinger, driven by Sean Connery as the eponymous hero, fitted with guns, oil-slick dispensers, bullet-screen and an ejector seat to name but a few of the gadgets used. Like all of Jimmy’s cars, it ended up crashed into a building and JB in the hands of the bad guys, which is a surprisingly common outcome for such a supposedly accomplished spy, although he always managed to escape. Developed from its predecessor the DB4, the DB5 was so named after the owner of the company David Brown. The engine was a light-weight aluminium straight-six block with three carburettors that propelled it to over 140mph thanks to its 280bhp output that was sent to the rear wheels via a 5-speed box that was bought in from a third-party to solve previous problems that their home-grown box had encountered, although a four-speed box was used in early editions. It was also available with a 3-speed automatic box, but who’d want that unless they had leg issues? Like modern Astons, it was lavishly appointed, with leather trim, thick luxurious carpeting, and traditional chrome wire-wheels with knock-on/off nuts. The magnesium alloy body had two doors, and could seat two comfortably, with additional space for children or adults with no legs, and luggage in the boot. It was initially launched in 1963, and the production run included a small number of custom-built cabriolets, some of which had more powerful Vantage engines, and at the very end of production some were kitted out with the upcoming DB6’s engine. During its last year of production in 1965 they released the Vantage option with an extra 40+bhp of power squeezed out of the engine thanks to improved carburettors and more aggressively profiled camshafts, with only 65 being made before the DB6 replaced it in their line-up. The DB6 was an evolution of its forerunner, with improved aerodynamics and luxury, developing into a closer representation of the later DB series cars that we’re probably familiar with from our childhood and beyond. The Kit This is another new tooling from Airfix’s new range of 1:43 car kits that is turning into a gold mine of compact and bijou kits of famous classic and modern sports cars and supercars. This is a Starter Set, so the red-themed end-opening box has a display header built in for vertical mounting, and comes with a set of four thumb-pots of acrylic paint, a tube of plastic cement, and a #2 paintbrush with plastic tube protecting the synthetic bristles. The kit is separately bagged, and consists of two sprues in grey styrene, a clear sprue, decal sheet and instruction booklet printed in colour. The painting and decaling instructions can be found in full-colour on the back of the box. If you have seen any of this new range before, you’ll know that they’re thoroughly modern, with good detail where it will be seen, and they build up into creditable replicas of the originals, although taking up a lot less space, and a tiny fraction of your bank balance instead of a huge number with several zeros attached for the real ones. Construction begins with the floorpan of the vehicle, into which the rear seat and parcel shelf part is installed, with small diagrams showing where the parts can be found on the sprues, which removes any hunting around from the equation. The front seats are each made from the comfortable leather upper surface, and the lower/back part that are joined together and painted brown, a common theme throughout the interior, which is everywhere on this vehicle, which was wall-to-wall leather and matching carpeting inside. The dash has two decals applied to the dials after painting, and the steering wheel is inserted on the right (correct) side, painting the wheel and coaming leather brown to match the rest of the interior. It is mated with the interior in the cabin, then is supported by the two door cards that extend front to back. With the model inverted, the two axles are installed, and these parts are purely functional, as they are then buried by a representation of the underside framework of the vehicle, then the lower portion of the engine, transmission and exhaust system. The bodyshell is supplied almost complete as a single part, adding the distinctive grille that has since been appropriated by Ford into the front of the car, and inserting the glazing of the windscreen to the frame from outside, and the rear quarter-lights and screen as a single part in the rear from the inside. The two sub-assemblies are then brought together, with the instructions helpfully showing the glue points in yellow, which is a feature that appears throughout the booklet. The front bumper and headlight lenses are next, with the rear bumper slotted in under the boot. All that’s needed now is a set of wheels, which are made from two halves, one half having the complete hub and half of the tyre, while the other is a toroidal part that brings the other half of the tyre to the assembly. The four wheels are identical, and each one is glued to the ends of the axles to complete the model. Some of the small external decals are called out during the last stages of the build, but are all replicated on the back of the box in colour. Markings The decal sheet is small, as are the decals themselves, and as cars can be any one of a myriad of colours, the instructions show the car in the famous silver in which it appeared during the Bond movie, which will forever be linked to the DB5 because of this. Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion It’s a good time to be a 1:43 car modeller, as Airfix are bring new kits to the market almost every few months, and they’re well-detailed models with nice details without being over-complicated. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

First things first... this will not be a quick build. I am posting this to kind of force myself into finishing my Dalek build over on the Sci-Fi forum ( http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234945056-scratch-build-16-scale-dalek-an-eye-for-an-eye-and-some-painkillers-please/?p=1382230 ), and then commencing with this. Posting this will hopefully force me into finishing one and getting on with the other. I've always had a thing about the Aston Martin DB5, especially the Bond version. I'm lucky enough to own a Danbury Mint version of the Bond DB5, and recently I acquired several more versions. The first one I managed to lay my grubby mitts on was the old Aurora version. Of course, it wasn't officially licensed, so it was sold under the completely different guise of "Aston Martin - Super Spy Car" Good versions of these seem (like the original Airfix version) to go for stupid money. So, me being tight and looking for a challenge found this beast up for grabs on evil bay. What on earth am I getting myself into? These are the original photo's from the listing and you can see just what kind of state it is in. The box itself wasn't too bad considering it's about 50 years old. But as for the kit.... maybe just a tad too much glue methinks! Where do you even begin on something like this? Well, obviously, it has to be taken apart to see what we have got. Fortunately, it's almost complete. There are a few parts broken, but should be able to be scratched without too much difficulty. I also broke a couple of pieces taking the thing apart - no surprise there. I tried the soak in water, then leave in freezer method, but to no avail - there was just too much glue. I eventually discovered that the glue bonds were actually quite brittle, so, some judicious coercing and some downright forcefulness arrived at this collection of parts. As you can see I have already primed a few parts - I needed a break from my Dalek build when it wasn't going too well. At this stage I think I can rescue 95% of the parts. A few others can be scratched, but my biggest areas of concern are around the windows. I just don't know if these will be salvageable at all. The side windows aren't really a problem but the front and rear windshield may be beyond repair and I may have to try molding new ones myself. - That's a ways off yet! I have invested may hours scraping off decades old glue, with some limited success. To give you some idea of just how bad this is... here's a wheel hub and here's what's left of the ejection seat and occupant Okay, intro over, now back to my regularly scheduled Dalek build and I shall return here in a few weeks (probably!) perhaps I should also mention that since winning this on ebay, I also managed to obtain a copy of the Airfix Bond DB5 - in a slightly better state but with some parts missing - that shall also become a WIP in due course.

A recent build on here of the reboxed Doyusha 1:24 Aston Matin DB5 got me thinking about which Bond cars are available as model kits: The aforementioned Airfix / Doyusha DB5 A recent Fujimi Lotus Esprit S1 in both regular and submersible guise Tamiya's BMW Z3 (although with the wrong wheels) Tamiya also did the Aston Martin DBS specifically as the one from Casino Royale. For fans of the original David Niven / Peter Sellers Casino Royale, there is Heller's Bentley Le Mans tourer, also reboxed by Revell (incidently, the Bentley in the books was a different bodystyle). Revell's BMW Z8 For fans of OHMSS, there is the Air Trax resin DBS. AMT have recently released a '71 Mustang as the one from Diamonds Are Forever as a Bond tie-in AMT's Sunbeam Tiger could be tweaked into the earlier Alpine, to represent the car from Dr No. Wasn't there also a mooted but never launched Revell full detail Aston Martin DB5? However, the notable missing one seems to be the Aston Martin V8 Vantage from the The Living Daylights. As a child of the '80s, this was the first Bond film that I saw, and also saw Bond return to a Q Branch edition Aston Martin for the first time since Thunderball (the DBS in OHMSS didn't appear to have any of the special features and played only a very minor role). Oh well - I guess we can only dream...!!

Completed the old 1/24 Airfix Little Nellie Wallis Autogyro. Blog review here: https://miksmodelkits.wordpress.com/2017/09/13/airfix-wallis-autogyro-james-bonds-little-nellie/ Youtube review and build here with more detail pics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-j3l8McmxM&list=PLoJWYG0njom-5OGxASTZqWLjQu3B_7D4g ln1web by mike michael michaels, on Flickr lnnp2web by mike michael michaels, on Flickr

Reading the paper this morning, I see that Hornby has won the International Licencing to sell Corgi and Scalextric-branded James Bond products in 2015.

Hello friends! This is the Tamiya kit Tiger I Late - "Limited Memorial Edition". Add-ons included Voyager PE's, Tracks of resin from Lion Marc, hooks and some tools of J. Peddinghaus, Archer transfers and barrel gun metal of Jordi. Resin figures. Tools to make a Zimmerit are includes in the Voyager set and I have the Tamiya ones. Preparing the way for applying the Zimmerit. I used the tools and the Polyester Putty of Tamiya. Paintings: Humbrol, Tamiya and Vallejo - Pigments MIG and Mexican mark ATL/Rodin and AK Pigment Fixer. Mudguards front and rear, antena, support of MG and some hooks they can be moving. Here is the Tiger Late 007 finished. In a different focus I the Tripulation looks with a different uniforms which they used in past ocassions. (The shiny of the figures is caused for the potence of the 500 watts of my lights, in a normal view it not is visible.). I hope you like my work. Please click on the images for a best view (1300 pix), thanks!. My work step by step at: http://rtvmodelismo.com/Project/Tiger-I-Michael/ Regards! Rodolfo