Reviews of products for scale space and science fiction vehicle models.


Review Author
Gino Dykstra
Published on
May 25, 2017
Company
Round 2 Models
Scale
1/1000
MSRP
$32.95

The U.S.S. Excelsior has been a Star Trek favorite for quite some time now – one of the most elegant designs ever made for the Star Trek universe. I didn’t notice this at first, but the designer was strongly influenced by the 1930s Art Deco Streamline Modern style, which features rounded shapes with straight fluting – quite a retro look when you stop and think about it. I remember a friend of mine, upon first seeing the Excelsior in detail, quipped “This model isn’t so much a spaceship as a fashion statement.” When you look at the extensive use of piping and other fine details, it’s hard not to see his point.

AMT released a model of this lovely ship quite some time ago – almost 20 years, if recollection does not betray me. As a hard-core Star Trek fan and modeler I built this kit when it first came out, and still have it in my collection today.

Review Author
Gino Dykstra
Published on
May 18, 2017
Company
Round 2 Models
Scale
1/1000
MSRP
$37.95

Round 2 Models has released a large 3-sheet decal set to accompany their newly revised and released U.S.S. Excelsior kit from the Star Trek series. Printed by Cartograf, these decals are commendably thin and for the most part, feature little to no carrier film to deal with. They respond quite well to MicroSol, which I used to help them conform to some of the compound curves found on the model.

These sheets actually perform two functions rather than one; first, they provide decals for virtually all of the elaborate paint scheme for this model, eliminating an incredible amount of extremely tedious masking and painting. Second, they provide surface texture in the form of tiny panels. Let me deal with these two aspects separately.

Review Author
Allan Murrell
Published on
March 9, 2017
Company
Hasegawa
Scale
1/20
MSRP
$74.99

For a long time now I have loved the look of this range of kits and have wanted to build one, so I jumped at the opportunity to build this kit. It is an excellent kit in the Hasegawa Machinen Krieger series. The kit is very easy to build as long as you watch the instruction details carefully.

In the Box

  • 11 x red sprues
  • 1 beige sprue
  • 1 clear sprue
  • 1 dark grey vinyl sprue of polycaps
  • 1 vinyl/rubber sprue
  • 1 decal sheet
  • 1 painting guide / collectors card
  • 1 instruction booklet
  • 1 small correction sheet for the instructions

All the sprues are extremely well molded with no flash and great detail. The decals allow you to finish the Mk 44 in many different ways. The painting guide shows 4 more, and 2 more on the back of the box.

Book Author(s)
Dan Sharp
Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
February 17, 2017
Company
Crecy Publishing, Ltd.
MSRP
$44.95

Dan Sharp studied history at the University of Liverpool and has worked as a writer and editor since 1998. As a hobby he began doing primary source research that has resulted in quite a few historical aviation books. These include Cold War – Sex, Spies and Nuclear Missiles (2013), Messerschmitt Me 262: Secret Projects and Experimental Prototypes (2013), Messerschmitt Bf 109: Secret Projects and Experimental Prototypes (2013), Dueling Above the Trenches – Sopwith Aircraft of the Great War (2014), D-Day Operation Overlord and the Battle for Normandy (2014), Luftwaffe Secret Jets of the Third Reich (2015), Spitfires Over Berlin (2015), The Hated Volksjäger: Histories of the Heinkel He 162 (2015), and Luftwaffe – Secret Bombers of the Third Reich (2016). Dan Sharp currently lives in Nottinghamshire with his wife and two children.

Review Author
Allan Murrell
Published on
February 3, 2020
Company
Revell, Inc.
Scale
1/2256
MSRP
$44.95

This is a re-issue of a first released a few years ago by Revell Germany.

This is a kit of a Republic Star Destroyer from the Clone wars era of the Star Wars saga.

In the box is:

  • 4 x light grey sprues
  • 1 Upper Hull Section
  • 1 Lower Hull Section
  • 1 Decal sheet
  • 1 Instruction booklet

All the sprues are extremely well molded and great detail; the instruction booklet is easy to follow and well-illustrated.

Construction

Stage 1, 2 and 3 is the construction of the ships upper super structure and is very detailed. I decided to paint each sub assembly as I built the kit. I used a light grey spray can primer and this was a perfect match for the paint finish I wanted for the ship.

Review Author
James Binder
Published on
February 3, 2020
Company
Horizon Models
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$34.95

Horizon Models of Australia has released their third kit, the Atlas ICBM in 1/72 scale. This comes after kits of the Mercury Space Capsule and Mercury-Atlas rocket both in 1/72. If you have built either of those then you know you how good Horizons kits are and if not the following review will show you.

The kit is made up of 3 sprues of gray plastic. Two of sprue A and one B. The biggest difference from this kit to the mercury atlas kit is that it is missing the mercury capsule sprue. Horizon gives you three options for payload though, option A is the first SAC launch, option b is the “New Nickle” launch from 1961 and option C is the Mk4 RV test flight from 1960. My choice was to build option C as it launched from the Cape and the other two were from Vandenberg.

Review Author
Clarence Wentzel
Published on
August 30, 2016
Company
Hasegawa
Scale
1/1500
MSRP
$74.99

Background

This is a kit of the mother ship, Arcadia flown by the space pirate, Captain Harlock from the adventure filled world of Leiji Matsumoto. Originally created in 1977 for a manga TV series, Captain Harlock has appeared in various film and TV shows, most recently a 2013 feature film, “Space Pirate Captain Harlock”. This space battleship is used for his interspace travel. The Arcadia carries a number of Space Wolf fighter planes for protection and offense.

The Arcadia is equipped with heavy firepower. The main armament consists of triple-mount pulsar cannon turrets, two on the upper deck and one on the underside. When Captain Harlock’s friend, Tochiro, designed the Arcadia, he must have been influenced by pirate ships of old, because the rear of the Arcadia resembles the stern of a Spanish Galleon. I am not sure of the significance of this but it looks neat.

Review Author
Clarence Wentzel
Published on
May 31, 2016
Company
Hasegawa
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$39.99

Background

This is a kit of the fighter plane “Space Wolf” flown by the space pirate, Captain Harlock from the adventure filled world of Leiji Matsumoto. Originally created in 1977 for a manga TV series, Captain Harlock has appeared in various film and TV shows, most recently a 2013 feature film, “Space Pirate Captain Harlock”. For his interspace travel, Captain uses a mother ship named Arcadia. A number of these Space Wolf fighter planes are carried by the Arcadia for protection and offense.

The Space Wolf is a space fighter plane capable of operating in either atmosphere or space conditions. It is armed by two 75 mm pulse laser cannons mounted in the front cowling and two Vulcan cannons in each wing. It appears that jet or rocket thrust can be directed to the tips of the wings and canards to provide control in high altitude or space conditions. The ventral fin is extended during flight but folds forward for storage during landing.

Review Author
Doug Cole
Published on
May 5, 2016
Company
Round 2 Models
Scale
1/350
MSRP
$33.99

The phenomenon that began with the TV Series Star Trek has permeated American culture since the inimitable sixties when our favorite villains, the Klingon’s, invaded our space. This kit has been issued a number of times since then attesting to the popularity of the show and delighting the Sci-Fi hobbyist as well!

The Kit

This review covers the AMT Klingon Bird of Prey (BoP) 1:350 Scale AMT Model Kit #949. This kit is molded in light green styrene which is a close approximation of the final color and could be built as such. On the other hand, for the best look, painting and highlighting the model is needed.

Review Author
Dick Montgomery
Published on
February 3, 2020
Company
Horizon Models
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$47.95

Following on the heels of the release of the Mercury Capsule model, Horizon Models is breaking ground with the release of a 1/72nd scale model of the Mercury-Atlas. This release includes parts to construct one Mercury capsule with the addition of the parts needed to build the Atlas launch vehicle. In the way of a preview of things to come, Horizon has also announced the release of an Atlas ICBM version in the near future. It will use the same basic parts as the launch vehicle in the Mercury-Atlas kit.