Miniatures News, April 1981

At one time, miniature aeroplanes were commercially available in some numbers, from the rubber-driven Frog flying models to small-scale kit-form replicas of various famous fighters, bombers, and civilian machines. Today the rubber-driven models have been ousted by radio-controlled i.c-powered machines and commercial kits for building static miniatures have ebbed away. So it is satisfactory to be able to record that Vintavia, of 10, Gerrans Hill, Portscatho, Truro, Cornwall, TR2 5EE, are now making the latter. Their 1/24th-scale kits cover many of the DH Moth family, such as Tiger Moth, Moth Minor, Fox Moth and Hornet Moth, but in addition there are kits for making-up replicas of the sporting Mew Gull, the Miles Hawk Major, and the Arrow Active biplane. One rather unusual kit covers the building of he DH “Humming Bird”, that little monoplane designed for the 1923 Lympne Light Aeroplane Trials, at which the full-size machines were powered only by motorcycle-size engines.

Prices of these Vintavia kits range from £7.90 to £13.90, plus 40p for postage and packing, and we are informed that kits of DH Puss Moth, DH Leopard Moth, DH Gipsy Moth, BA Swallow, Chilton DW1, Miles Magister and the Blackburn B2, a fine selection of monoplanes and biplanes of the pre-war flying days, will soon be ready. The kits are of hardwood and balsa, with ready-to-assemble components, and while we have not yet completed one, nor have we seen a completed Vintavia model made therefrom, so cannot vouch for quality, we think this information will be of interest to aero-modellers.

On the car front, Revell (GB) Ltd., tell us that among their latest plastic kits are those for assembling a Chevrolet State truck (Ref. No. H7310, price £2.99) and a variety of off-road American vehicles. They also do a turbo-supercharged six-wheeler truck model which can be assembled without cement, and, for ship enthusiasts, a 22¼“-long “Great Eastern”, costing £9.50. The maker’s address is: Cranborne Road, Potters Bar, Herts., EN6 3JX. Finally, on the model-book front, Albion Scott issue, periodically, very complete lists of these, in catalogue form. – W.B.