If you are old enough, you may remember a great science fiction movie in 1952 called “When Worlds Collide”. The story line was that astronomers have discovered a sun and a planet on a collision course with the planet Earth.

After a great deal of discussion it is decided to build an “Ark”, a large rocket, capable of evacuating the best minds of science, engineering, animal husbandry, farming and other “best and brightest” citizens of the planet Earth to a new planet, and there to start a new race in peace and harmony. As would be expected, chaos erupts at the last hour, caused by the unfortunate people who are to be left behind. The Ark is launched just in time to avoid the collision and proceeds to the new Earth, finding it a paradise.

Description

This is my second review of Sci-fi & fantasy modeller and I am a bit disappointed. I like to challenge myself to present a balanced review of the Good, Bad and Ugly and at the same time keep it very objective. However, as in my first review, I can not find any Bad or Ugly to report on. Once again, the fine editorial staff and writers have produced a magazine filled with a variety of high quality articles produced on high quality materials and definitely worth the purchase price.

The publication consists of 100 pages, about 7 X 10 inches on heavy stock semi-glossy paper. The isssue is very article dense with only a few advertisements with over 98% of the page space being given over to relevant content.

Space, the final frontier…..these are the voyages… Whoops, digressing already. To most people, these words are very familiar as they are the opening of the original Star Trek TV show. Polar Lights has come out with a nice snap together kit of the original USS Enterprise. The kit is loaded with options and is targeted for both kids and the causal builder. There are over 50 pieces made from clear and white styrene along with a very comprehensive decals sheet and stickers. You can make four versions of the Enterprise from the kit. First, the ship as was seen in most 78 episodes of the series. Second, the first pilot version, third, the second pilot version and lastly Mirror Universe show. The main differences are the nacelles and the decals. There are three separate sets of warp nacelles to get this done and the instructions are very clear on what goes where for each version. The difference between the second pilot version and the Mirror Universe is decals.

All right, a new Star Wars kit. AMT has finally released the Corporate Alliance Droid from the Revenge of the Sith©. This kit features 37 parts molded in light gray plastic and instructions. There are no decals or painting instructions provided with this kit, even though the instructions call out 11 different colors of paint.

The molding is fairly sharp with some ejector pin marks and mold separation lines. One part has the Lucasfilm copyright marking right were it will be seen, rather than on the inside of a part. The tracks are molded in one piece with separation lines down the middle and mold stubs all over the inside that will require some careful cutting to remove.

Overall this is a welcome kit from the Star Wars universe and with a little research on painting should make up into a very nice model.

© 2005 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All rights reserved.

The IPMS Reviewer Corps was recently contacted by the folks from TSDS Incorporated, asking if we would be interested in reviewing some of their products. The company is producing interiors, decals, and lighting sets for the Jupiter 2, Space Pod, and Chariot from "Lost in Space" that are produced by Moebius, as well as decals for the "Land of the Giants" Spindrift kit. Decal/detail sheets are available for the Aurora/Monogram "Invaders UFO" kit and the Moebius "Invisible Man" and "Seaview" kits, and four different Flying Sub interior items are made for the Moebius 1/128 and 1/32 scale kits. If you are a fan of this particular genre, I would recommend checking out their web site to see what all is available, as well as their pricing.