Plus: News, Views, Reviews, Tests, Shows, Pro Secrets, Source Finder, and much more

Masterclass: Make a digital dioramaClassic kits: How to value your collectionSuperdetail: When to add it – and when to stop

Readers’ Showcase: Your finest models revealedThe Wow! factor: How to win prizes and make money

ScaleModelNewsBringing model makers together

A ScaleModelNews eBook Test Issue

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WelcomeThe creators of ScaleModelNews magazineinvite you to explore these pages: toimprove your skills and techniques, tosee other modellers at work and be amember of the world-widebrotherhood of craftsmanshipthat is modelling today. Oursubjects range right acrossthe modelling spectrum– from ships to sci-fi,aircraft to cars, youshould findsomething tointerest you!

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Turn the page for a modelling feast...

Plus...RegularsWelcome to thisfree digitalversion of thehardcopy testissue producedin 2008. Weneeded thatpaper phase toproceed with theSMN website.What you will

read in thesepages is realenough, exceptthe contributors’names, whichare made up fortest purposes.

The concept cars are coming! Seenews pages for the lowdown.

10 ShowcaseYour finest models revealed to the world at large, but onlyone of them is the ScaleModelNews Gold Medal winner...

18 What’s new?The hotline on all that’s new and interesting in the worldof creative modelling, from kit releases to show reports.

24 Questions and answersYour modelling problems and queries, answered andexplained by our panel of experts.

30 The odd spotModelling’s unusual side, and this month we look at K9from Doctor Who, dubbed ‘the dog’ by keeper Mat Irvine.

94 Blast from the pastLooking back at the history of scale modelling.

95 DVDIncluded with every issue, a jam-packed DVD, full ofuseful information, videos, pictures and much more.

12 Talking modelsWords of wisdom from your kindlyeditor, Mr J.

14 MicrotipTiny tip for better models. This month,what to do with old wine corks.

38 I want it now!Readers’ requests for that unobtainablemodel. Here Dave Simmons makes hiscase for a 1:24 scale Vulcan jet.

40 SubscriptionsSave loads of dosh – and get a freemodel – with an annual subscription.

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Features

Cover story

Tutorials

Reviews41 Revell’s secret plansWe go to Germany to gain a super-spy peep at some ofthe tasty treats coming from Revell over the next 12months – there’s some awesome stuff on its way.

48 How it is madeInside a kit factory, part 1: This month, we investigate thecreation of a prototype model. It’s a look at the awesomeskills of craftsmen who actually get paid to make models!

56 Hollywood model-makersIt’s not all computers or camera tricks in the movies – niceto know there’s still a thriving model-making industry,making everything from weapons to warriors.

60 Create new worlds with PhotoshopHow we created the main cover image with a table-toprace car, a ‘Luft 1946’ jet, bits from a car spares store andto combine them, withPhotoshop on an Apple computer.

64 Beginners’ specialEvery issue we go over the basics, but reckon that even youadvanced modellers stand to gain something, too.

66 Preparing for showtimeSprinkle magic dust on your favourite miniature to give it thebest chance of a medal-winning exhibition performance.

68 Power plantsTry motorizing with this neat conversion of a 1:700 scalebattleship (above). The Iowa may be small, but it sure goes!

70 Custom cornerMat shows you how to make that model car just a littledifferent with some top tweaks and ace mods.

74 Dragon WagonThis huge tank transporter could take pride of place in yourcollection – but at something of a price.

78 Formula 1 racerHas this 1:12 car got what it takes? Find out the best (andworst) features in our detailed build-up review.

This spectacular Corgi diecast sci-fi creation is from the Gerry AndersonCaptain Scarlet TV series. It’s made to approximately 1:100 scale.

ShowcaseLooking at your finest scale creations

On these pages we show a selection,month-by-month, of ‘la creme de lacreme’ of modelmaking skills – andif there are extras in there as well,such as imaginative diorama work,or particularly good photographictechniques, then so much the better.And for the best of the best eachmonth, there’s a tasty prize, just tomake it all worthwhile!

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Antony Stokes of Newquay,Cornwall, photographed this1:18 scale Corsair againstthe view from his seasidehome. The sea is an entirelyappropriate backdrop, forthe aircraft was among thebest naval fighters of WorldWar II. Paul is a keen fan ofthis large scale and has ahuge collection of vehiclesand fighting vehicles in hisbarn. We plan to show youinside in next month’s issueof ScaleModelNews.

This ED-209 from Robocop is yetanother fine marriage betweentraditional modelmaking and thedigital world. Reader Anton Robert,of Versailles, France, superdetailedED-209 from a ready-madechildren’s toy. To the photograph, headded a red moon, hills and lakeusing the Bryce computer program.Finally all elements were broughttogether in Adobe Photoshop

Most modellers are male, so it isespecially good to see the ladiesshowing off their skills in thesepages. Anne Leach, of MiltonKeynes, hand-crafted this 1:6 scaleBuzz Aldrin figure from modellingclay. The spacesuit was sewntogether from specially-chosenfabrics that simulated the real thing.

GoldSMNAward

Create new worlds with PhotoshopEven the finest model stays just that in the realworld, a miniature version of the real thing.Many modellers, particularly those interested inmilitary subjects, like to take things a stepfurther by creating micro-worlds in the form ofdetailed dioramas.

Here is another, digital, way to make yourmodels shine and it’s ideal for sharing yourimages across the internet or in printed media.The key to this new addition to the modeller’sarmoury is the Adobe Photoshop computerimage-editing program, which is available forboth Windows PCs and Apple Macs. You’ll needdeep pockets to purchase the full program,which costs several hundred pounds, but Adobealso makes a cut-down version called Elements,which is much cheaper, and even comes freewith many printers. Simplified it may be, butElements is still a good program and can do all

the things we show you on these pages.The other vital tool for a new-style diorama

is a digital camera. We are well past the stagewhere the image quality of these cameras is anissue; in fact, camera makers are rapidlyphasing out production of film products, so itwon’t be too long before film-using die-hards arean extinct species. But the main argument forusing digital cameras is also about quality – youcan shoot and shoot again, until you are entirelyhappy with the results, without the cost of filmor development coming the equation – it’s a niceplace to be.

Still, even the best digital tools aren’t toomuch good if your model is not up to scratch inthe first place, though you can get rid of smallimperfections in Photoshop. The best plan is tostart off – as we did here – with first-classminiatures that look good in the first place.

At last – home computers let you rival the pros with ‘Air Race 2020’

ScaleModelNews tutorial: Digital diorama

Adobe Photoshop is the leadingimage manipulation software, andrightly so – it’s a pleasure to use.

5 Combining the elements in one imagePhotoshop works by having the various parts of the picture as ‘layers’. Here, the mountainsare on the ‘background’ layer with vehicles on a ‘foreground’ layer. To blend the two, theback of the grey mat was blurred to give an impression of distance.

6 Details, details...You can add a little blur to the racers’ tailsto suggest speed. Now add soft airbrushvapour trails for the final touch.

3 Choosing the final angleOnly you can decide which picture you like best. If in doubt use some technical basics asyour deciding factors. Is the colour good? Is the focus crisp and sharp? Is the image easy tocut out against its background? Does the foreground look convincing?

4 Choosing a backgroundWe wanted a sci-fi flavour, so choosing animage like this seemed a good idea. Butyou can choose anything you like!

1 Table-top photographyYou don’t need an expensive studio, butyou do need lots of light for sharp images.A sunny or bright-overcast day is best.

2 Side views and different anglesWith a digital camera you can afford to take as many pictures as you like, photographingyour subject from all angles – one of the extras might come in useful later. For example,this shot was used as the basis for one of the airborne racers in the main image.

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Blast from the pastThe 1950s wasa period of hightension as theUS and USSRsquared off inearly rounds ofthe space race.In these years,the US firm ofStrombeckerbrought out arange of ‘spacefaction’ kits thatshowed realisticideas for futurecraft. One of thebest of thesekits was thiswheel-shapedspace station,based on theideas of Germanspace scientist,Dr Wernher vonBraun.

The spacewheelwas popularbecause itwould havegiven occupantsa feeling ofweight as itrotated. Thismodel wasproduced byanother US firm,Lindbergh. Itincluded a pairof space taxis,docked to thecentral hub.This would haveremained still, toto allow safeconnectionsbetween stationand spacecraft.

Leading-edge creations from scale modelling’s younger days

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Eye candyGreat looking scale models caught in the camera lens this month

Seen against the setting sun, this Revell 1:48SE5a is depicted just after takeoff on a nightinterdiction mission in 1918, its target, giantmarauding Zeppelin airships.

The kit was constructed ‘stock’, apart from thequartet of brass-tube rocket launchers mountedunder the lower wings. The black finish was

sprayed with automotive-quality satin primer.The aircraft was photographed with a Nikondigital camera on a garden table, to bematched up in Photoshop against a sunsetpicture from the same camera. The only othertweaking in the final image was a smallamount of blur applied to the propeller, to givea hint of motion as it spins around.

ScaleModelNewsBringing model makers together

A ScaleModelNews eBook

SMNPrint

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