What's in the box? - Tronico 10080 Massey Ferguson

for this "What's in the box" I've taken a bit of a step away from my usual plastic kits. We recently took delivery of a new range of products, Tronico Metal Kits, This is a range of DIY tractor/construction kits we picked up at the Nuremberg Toy Fair earlier this year.

I've picked one kit to have a look at, the 1/16th scale Massey Ferguson 8690. First of all Tronico recommend ages 8+ and adult help for children under 12, The kits also come with a 2 year warranty, that's a better warranty than I got with my last car! The first thing you notice is the weight, this is a big solid metal kit consisting of 1024 parts, 95% of the parts are metal but there are some plastic parts, steering wheel, tyres and the lights.

What you get on opening the box, everything is packed well and neatly which makes planning your build a lot easier

The instructions look a little daunting at first but they are very well illustrated and seem easy to follow.

With everything laid out on the floor you get a better idea of what you get.

All tools needed to build the Massey Ferguson are included in the kit, very handy!

The rubber tyres are very accurate replicas of the originals, they give the kit a great finish

Some of the many many metal parts, all are very well finished, no rough edges which adds to the quality finish of this kit 

 Plenty of nuts and bolts to keep you busy! The good news is that we keep spares for the kits so if any part is missing we can replace it.

The only plastic parts in the kit (apart from they tyres) The coloured rubber are for lights and indicators, You also get decals with each kit.

Over the coming week(s) I'll be assembling one of these beauties, I'll take photos of my progress, hopefully swift progress. This is currently available on our site for €59.95

Thanks for reading.  

Nuremberg Toy Fair 2012 Part 2 Revell

I have to admit I love going onto the Revell stand, They are one of the few companies with a permanent stand at the show so they are able to put extra effort into their display. They always have somebody demonstrating their RC range or demonstrating one of their new 2012 products but best of all is seeing the new 2012 kits professionally built, a quality I can only dream of achieving.....

As I stated in part one there are some small price increases, mainly paint, but overall prices are ok with revell.

There are a lot of new items in the pipeline for 2012, I'll try cover as many as possible.

On a quick note there is no real change to their Airbrush/Tool/Paint range for 2012. There is a slight re-design of the basic airbrush which they say makes it easier to hold and easier to change the paint.



So onto the kits, I would love to do a full report but there are so many new items that I'll just select a few that caught my eye.

First up is the Airborne command Post, it should be called Air Force One but due to licence problems it is called Airborne Command Post. The kit is impressive but maybe a little plain (pun intended) looking.....It 1.144 Scale and out now to order, selling for €22.95

Next up is the Ta 154 Misteal & FM 190, lovely and slightly unusual kit, technically its 2 kits in one so not bad value at €44.95

Another new new tooling, 04277  1/72 Supermarine Stanraer, lovely little kit selling for. €22.95, Should arrive into stock mid June.

Revell retired the large Corvette 2 years ago which was a shame as it was a very popular kit. The good news is they are going to relaunch it this year in the Platinum range. It will have far more detail including photo etched parts and wooden decks. We expect this later in the year, end of November, judging from their other Platinum models it will be worth the wait! price will be €119.95

Next up of interest is the 05110 U.S.S. Kearsarge (LHD-3), scale 1/700 and arriving in April, this will sell for €21.95 also arriving is the 05814 U.S.S. Nimitz (CVN-68) (New Tooling) this will sell for €11.95.

Below are a few more interesting kits coming during the year....or already released.

Star Trek 04880 €31.95

The New 1/12th scale 2010 Shelby GT500, Fantastic looking kit €59.95

03098 Henschel 33  D 1, two different finishes, this is due out very soon €23.95

One of the new 'truck' models from Revell, 07408 International Lonestar. this is also due out very soon €58.95

Great little diorama showing some of the very 1/72 scale figures in action!

That's the main news from Revell, there are a good few more new releases coming during 2012, as soon as our new site is up and running they will all be available for pre order.



Nuremberg Toy Fair 2012 Part 1 CMC Diecast

It was nice to finally meet Darth Vader.....nice chap.

Hello all,

Well we made it back from the Toy show, second year in a row it's been unbelievably cold (-13.5) in Nuremberg.


The show was as good as ever, maybe not so much new stuff , that probably reflects the current climate, but still plenty of new exciting items for 2012. We picked up some new lines which will be announced in a few weeks as stock arrives in. The one negative I took from the show would probably be continuing price increases for 2012, this is not good news but overall most increases are 2 or3  percent. The main reason for the price increase is labour costs in china and exchange rate problems. (Bla Bla Bla)

As always I'll put up some photos and give an idea what is coming up in 2012....

First up we have CMC Diecast.

We met with them on Thursday to see what will arrive in 2012, we recently had the Ferrari Transporter arrive into stock which is by far the best 1/18 model I have seen in years. It is expensive but it is great value for money.

The first model they will have for 2012 is the M-097 Maserati Transporter 1/18 Scale, This is the same as the Ferrari Transporter but finished in Maserati logos. Great looking model although at closer to €750 I'm not sure people will rush out to buy it so they can have a matching pair! This will be available for pre-order on the website very soon.

Next up are the 2 limited edition Maserati 250F M-101 and M-102. Both Models are Limited Edition of only 2000 and will be released in April, they will Retail for €280  and will soon be available for pre-order on the site.

Coming in June is the Ferrari 250GT Spider in red (€359), this is a a non limited edition but still a must have, after that they will release 3 Limited Edition Versions M-092 Blue, M-093 Silver & M-094 Black. All three of these models will be slightly more expensive (€369) but will have a Hardtop included.

Later this year they will also have the Beautiful Maserati 300S 1956 Arriving into stock, probably November / December. They did not have any pre-production models but I'm sure they will do an outstanding job on it. This will RRP for €365 and will be also available for Pre-order soon.

And Finally for the moment they will have M100-002 and M100-103 and M100-016 arriving in Later this year. I saw finished samples at the show, they look great. These are the first of a grand Prix Collection they are doing and are Limited Edition of only 2000. So If you plan to collect the full range over the next few years make sure you don't miss the first few as they are always the most sought after. RRP €285 and will be available for pre order soon.

That's all the CMC news for the moment, if you have any questions drop us a mail info@idmodels.ie.

Nuremberg 2012

We just arrived back from the toy Fair in Nuremberg, very sucessful show. I'll have a report later in the week, until then here is a short video from our new Youtube channel.

Whats In The Box? - Revell 06751 1/24th London Bus

As in my last blog post  I decided with all these fantastic kits arriving in I need to give you a better idea of what they are. It is very hard to  judge the quality of a kit from a generic picture off a website so In this section 'Whats In The Box' I will show what each kit contains. This is not a review of the kit as such just a look in the box!

So up for a look this week is the new 1/24 London Bus from Revell. I first saw this in Germany at the Toy Fair this time last year, it was one of the more impressive models on the revell stand, something a bit different for the usual Aircraft and Boats.

First Impression.....its BIG! the box is huge and weighs quite a bit. The finished model is 381 mm long and consists of nearly 400 parts so you will need to make some space before building this beast.

This kit is available on our website for €47.95 including free postage in Ireland.

Some of the decals for the many seats 

                                                               More of the very detailed Decals

The Decal sheet has some really detailed Decals to give the bus a perfect finish.

More detailed decals, seating plan and No Smoking signs

This is just to give you an idea of the quality of the moulding, it seems very good. 

                                                           Bit of Rod Stewart Anybody?

                                                                    Lots of seats but no time to rest.

                                                                 Some of the clear parts.

                                       What you get when you open the box, a lot of kit for the money.

                                      Everything laid out, most of the packs have 2 or 3 stencils in the pack

                             You get 6 rubber tyres with this kit, more thread than the tyres on my car!

Revell 05109 Amphibious Assault Ship U.S.S. IWO JIMA (LHD-7 Plastic Kit

Its not often I feel the need to write a review of a kit but when Revell release a kit like the Amphibious Assault Ship U.S.S. IWO JIMA , I think it deserves a bit of attention.

It's been a while since I built anything but this is tempting me back. although I'm not sure I could do it justice.

The first thing I noticed was the weight, this is a heavy kit! This is not for the faint hearted, with over 1400 pieces this will consume even the most experienced kit builder.

The quality of the casting of parts seems excellent, there is a huge amount of detail, even on the tiny jeeps and forklifts. Apart from the ship itself you have the pleasure of building Helicopters, Hovercraft, Tanks, Cranes, artillery guns, Humvee....the list is almost endless!

 The 36 page instruction will guide you through this complicated build, as with all revell kits the instructions are clear and easy to follow.

For extra detail Revell have included photoetched parts, the quality of which is excellent.

I have attached some extra photos to give you an idea of what is involved in this kit.

 As a special offer we are including the main 9 revell aqua colours needed to complete this kit absolutely free!

If you are looking for something to keep you occupied over the coming winter months this is perfect. . Its not cheap at €149.95 but with the amount of hours you will spend building this kit it is value for money.

 Box

 Some of the 1400 parts, and my toes.

 Contents on opening

 All the Helicopters get their own special little box!

 Even more parts, including the photoetched parts

The hull is very well moulded, nice bit of weight in it.