Richard Marmo’s latest installment in his “The Marmo Method Model Building Guide” series is booklet # 14, Building The 1/96 Scale Atlantis Moon Ship. These booklets are a great reference for scale modelers of any experience level. I would like to thank Mr. Marmo and Scale Publications for providing a copy for this review.

Revell released the XSL-01, 3-stage rocket kit in 1957 and later in the same year, released just the 3^rd stage, the Moon Ship as a stand-alone kit. Both were highly successful kits of the day. In 2021, Atlantis re-released the Moon Ship under their brand but it’s the same tooling and kit as the 1957 version.

In October of 2021, Mr. Marmo published this booklet to describe the materials, tools and techniques he used as he went through the processes of building, finishing and displaying the Atlantis kit.

Under the brightly colored cover and the 2^nd page with publishing information, license statement and Table of Contents, you’ll find:

• an introduction by Mr. Marmo followed by a description of the Atlantis kit including a bright photo of the kit itself and photos of each page of the instructions and of the decal sheet.
• Next, Mr. Marmo takes you through his methods for cleaning up the parts and preparing for priming, painting, and assembly. As the author points out, in words and photos, the prep work will identify areas that require more attention for clean-up before assembly and then he describes, in detail, how to go about doing that. Issues with the kit and decals are also identified and corrections described.
• The next few pages concentrate on the Moon Ship’s crew compartment and cover assembly, painting, and interior decal placement – all with detailed descriptions of the techniques, paints, glues, decal setting solutions and tools needed for the tasks.
• Similarly, the next pages cover the ship’s final assembly, exterior painting, and decal placement. Lastly, the author describes (again, in words and photos) the buildup of the display stand and display options.
• The last couple pages contain a quick introduction to IPMS/USA and how to join, a few words about the author and a list of some of the author’s other publications.

I highly recommend this booklet as it is a thorough and detailed builder’s guide produced by an experienced, professional modeler. There is a bright, clear photo or two on almost every page to go along with text descriptions. Of course, it’s a great reference for the Atlantis Moon Ship kit builders out there but the detailed building and finishing methodologies described can be applied to any model. The booklet is inexpensive and easy to get and for the amount of information in it, it’s a highly valuable reference.

When you’re ready to purchase this booklet, simply visit Scale Publications (link above) and hit the “Buy Now” button. You’ll be taken directly to your PayPal login screen. Within just a few seconds of completing that process, you’ll receive an email with a link (valid for a short time) to download the booklet directly to your PC. It doesn’t get any easier or faster.

Once again, I would like to thank Richard Marmo for the excellent builder’s guide, Scale Publications for providing the review copy and IPMS/USA for allowing me the opportunity to review it.