Flying Scale Models

Vol.5, No.30, May 2002

Reviewed by Jim Schubert

This is unusual; a review of a magazine about flying scale models in a magazine devoted to static scale models!  Well, I was browsing at my favorite newsstand, The Daily Planet (Yes, they have a phone booth for Clark Kent) the other day when I came across this magazine.  The first thing that caught my eye was the lurid cover painting of Billy Barker's Snipe in the battle that won him the Victoria Cross and nearly cost him his life. 

Once past this my eye was caught by a horribly executed 1/14th scale Aichi M6A1K Nanzan along with full size pull out plans for same.  Then came the good stuff:  a short article on the Seiran/Nanzan, a longer article on the IJNAF plan to attack the Panama Canal and a good explanation of how the locks there work - it's not as simple as you might think.

Then the meat of the issue for me - a six page photo spread/article on Peter McDermott's unbelievably realistic 1/5th scale radio controlled Sopwith Snipe.  The Snipe's dummy Bentley BR2 rotary actually rotates with the propeller, both driven by a well hidden Laser 360V, V-2 engine.  The close-up photos of Peter's model are indistinguishable from the photos of actual airplanes.  A center spread of a so-so general arrangement drawing in 1/40th scale is included.  This is followed by a reprint of the Peter Endsleigh Castle color renderings from the old Profile No. 50.  A three page, illustrated technical description of the Snipe is followed by a two page recounting of Billy Barker's famous 60:1 combat with the Germans.  The whipped cream on top of all this good material is two pages containing 17 detail color photos of the surviving fuselage of Barker's Snipe taken by McDermott's brother-in-law.

The next time you are browsing at your favorite newsstand look for FLYING SCALE MODELS magazine.  I'll be checking future issues to determine if it's worth subscribing to as an adjunct to my static scale models interest.