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Interest in UFOs began last century with a claimed sighting by Kenneth Arnold on June 24th 1947, near Mount Rainier, Washington. Though the objects he witnessed were not actually saucer-shaped in themselves, he described their movements as being similar to that of a saucer skipping over water, hence the origin of the term flying saucer.

The saucer shape has found its way into the collective consciousness in a big way since that time, and for decades has been reproduced regularly in science fiction films and TV to represent alien ships (witness the titular craft of Earth Vs the Flying Saucers, Klatuu's saucer from The Day The Earth Stood Still, the motherships of Independence Day and lizard-invasion, TV rodent-eating spectacular V, to name but a few). It has even been integrated into designs for fictitious, earth-originated spaceship, resulting is some classic and iconic images.

Two of the most memorable saucer-based earth-ship subjects are about to be made available to genre model makers as construction kits in coming months - the Jupiter II from Irwin Allen's much-loved (and, in series two and three, very silly) kitsch sixties series Lost in Space, and the redesigned USS Enterprise from this years' awesome movie blockbuster Star Trek.

A lack of mainstream Jupiter II kits has been lamented by genre modellers since they first clapped eyes on the impressive studio miniatures in the sixties (Oh, the pain...THE PAIN, as Doctor Smith might say), the subject having - incredibly - been passed over by science fiction kit making legends Aurora at the time as being 'too boring' a choice for their release catalogue. Various 'garage' (ie: small, independent run) kits of the Robinson family's space-going home from home have appeared over the years, plus a twelve-inch diameter injection plastic kit from Polar Lights in the nineties (this was a very nice rendition, although separating sections at 'roof' and mid-line levels allowing one to view upper and lower interior decks resulted in a model with noticeable gaps and 'seams' around its middle and top sections - see photograph).

The big - and I mean BIG - news, however, is that enterprising sci-fi and fantasy kit manufacturers Moebius, already wowing customers with recent subjects such as their three foot long injection Seaview kit and fourteen inch wingspan Flying Sub, are producing an eighteen-inch diameter injection plastic version of the ship for expected release in October/November of this year. Our early-peek pictures show the impressive parts line-up (over 200) of a 'test shot' of the craft, plus a look at its detailed interior. A kit of this size really opens up exciting diorama and customising possibilities and I'm sure after market products, such as a set of in-scale Robinson family figures, will quickly be made available by intrepid garage subject outputters to further enhance the standard release.

Kit features include:
* Entire upper half of the hull will lift off to reveal interior.
* The kit will have TWO fusion cores (the circular bit at the bottom with the swirling light pattern when the craft is in flight) - one with fins extended, one with the fins retracted.
* Optional position landing gear, with landing gear wells, plus outlines for the Chariot and Space Pod hatches.
* A near-perfect representation of the studio set interior.

Saucer fans can also expect something hot and must-havable from kit company Round 2, though they will have to wait until the second half of 2010 to get their mitts on it. The company has announced that the latest addition to their model kit line will be the production of new Star Trek vehicles, licensed by CBS Consumer Products and based on the blockbuster film that hit theaters here in June.

The U.S.S. Enterprise is set to be the first kit in this new series, the re-imagined ship having been designed for the movie by Ryan Church, a well-known concept artist in the sci-fi film world.

The Round 2 product development team describes the ship as a re-imagined version of the original Enterprise, which has some elements and details reminiscent of the ship as it appeared in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. It is proportioned differently, although it still has a similar silhouette to the original ship. It also shares some of the same basic elements, including a primary hull consisting of a saucer-shaped section anchored by a pylon/neck to the cylindrical secondary hull and twin warp-drive nacelles, which are anchored to the secondary hull by pylons.

"It's still too early in the development of this kit to talk about the scale," Comments Tom Lowe, Owner and President of Round 2. "Although keeping with our 1:1000-scale line would be nice. Our initial release of the ship will probably be 1/2500, which will make the finished kit about eleven and a half inches long."

More details on the complete 2010 line up of Star Trek products based on the new film will be released in coming months.

For modelling news check out Moebius Models, and, for all the latest in Sci.fi & Fantasy modelling check us out at scififantasymodeller.co.uk.

...More genre modelling goodies in thirty. Take care until then.

Mike Reccia

Written by Sci Fi Modeller

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