Advantages: Hilarious and interesting Disadvantages: None in particular
1950s America. A time of postwar boom when everything was perfect - people lived in suburban comfort, housewives prepared wholesome meals and children played freely in the street. Except it wasn't quite like that. Underneath this outward perfection, people were terrified of polio, nuclear war and alien invasion. Black people continued to suffer, exemplified by a case in which a fourteen year old black boy was beaten and killed - for whistling at a white girl. The murderers didn't bother covering their tracks, but the all-white jury found them "not guilty". They later confessed openly, knowing they couldn't be retried. Amongst all this perfection, fear and racial crime, The Thunderbolt Kid was enjoying a childhood of the like that has never been seen before or since.
The term "biography" doesn't quite describe this book. Bill Bryson ...
Advantages: Pure, innocent fun for all the family, and especially fans of steam trains. Disadvantages: The crash scene where models were used, are a bit obvious.
For all lovers of Ealing comedies this film is definitely one NOT to be missed! A great film in the grand traditions of British Comedy, starring Stanley Holloway, John Gregson, Sid James, Hugh Griffith and the locomotive 'Lion' (the Titfield Thunderbolt) built in 1838.
Directed by Charles Crichton, the film portrays a lovable group of railway enthusiasts who decide to run the branch line from Titfield to Mallingford themselves, after the decision is made by British Rail to close it down.
After a meeting in the local pub, Mr. Valentine (Stanley Holloway) a local business man and heavy drinker, agrees to finance the line purely so that he can have a bar built in the carriage.
However, their efforts are not without opposition, in the form of 'Pearce & Crump, the local bus operators, who will stop at nothing to sabotage ...
Advantages: Fabulous Attention to Detail. Delight to Assemble. Excellent Value. Disadvantages: Fiddly bits may confound younger modellers.
kit weighs in (on average) at an astonishing £4.50. That?s almost a third of the price of its much vaunted ?superior?. That?s what makes this kit such great value. Its exceptional quality makes this a no-brainer for the serious modeller, yet its value for money means it can be bashed together by a 10 year old ? and if he/she messes up? Who cares? It?s only £4.50!? On top of all that, it is widely available (currently in stock for £4.99 at Amazon.co.uk).
VERDICT
I am seriously impressed. I would have easily ? and very happily - parted with £10 to buy this kit, so to have this kind of quality available at half that price is a notable achievement for Revell, an achievement for which they should be roundly applauded. It?s honestly quite difficult to find anything negative to say about it (it should be more expensive probably doesn?t ...
