FAB FIVE: REVISITING THE GLORY DAYS OF AURORA KITS

Five years ago, we looked at Aurora kits which, "...represented a goldmine of exotica in years gone by. While other companies were giving us familiar (even then) P-51 Mustangs and Spitfires, Aurora teased us with luridly marked P-36 Peashooters and of course, movie monsters like The Mummy…"

FROM FILM TO DIGITAL: KEITH McNEILL RAISES THE ART OF SCALE-MODEL PHOTOGRAPHY TO NEW HEIGHTS

Here’s an in-depth article from Keith McNeill, a master of not only model-making, but also the art of studio photography and Photoshop.

‘2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY’ SPACECRAFT KITS FROM AJA MODELS

SMN REPORT

Having reviewed the excellent 2001: The Lost Science, we thought you’d like a look at the model kits AJA Models has on offer. If you have the slightest interest in the classic movie, then AJA could be the place to source your next kit.

'2001' SPACE WHEEL FROM FANTASTIC PLASTIC

DAVID JEFFERIS REPORTS:

For my money, 2001: A Space Odyssey is one of the seminal science-fiction movies of all time, sharing the podium with the first Star Wars trilogy. Despite its fame, 2001 has not been kitted much over the years, so here’s an opportunity to catch up, with a twin-scale Space Wheel, from Fantastic Plastic.

SCIENCE-FICTION CLASSIC MOVIE ‘2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY’ REVISITED 40 YEARS ON

SMN report
Here’s a mouthwatering taste of things to come for science-fiction enthusiasts - Douglas Trumbull, the special-effects supervisor for the 1968 movie 2001: A Space Odyssey is working on a ‘making of’ docu-movie 2001: Beyond the Infinite, which will include heaps of never-seen-before material, plus dozens of star interviews. His interesting video seems to have been pulled from the internet, perhaps for copyright reasons, but Trumbull's own site is packed with interesting stuff that anyone with an interest in the genre should have a look at. The address is shown below.

Orion spacecraft kits
In the model world, the movie has been served less well, especially by the mainstream kit manufacturers. About the only injection kits to be freely available have been of the elegant Orion passenger shuttle, with models from both Airfix and Aurora. Neither kit is perfect, but each will assemble into a reasonably handsome spacecraft model.

Orion Cargoship from Stargazer Models
Still, there are people with fresh ideas and angles out there, including Ian Walsh of Stargazer Models, who came up a while ago with a very nifty concept, the Orion Cargoship, complete with wide-opening Space Shuttle-style bay doors. Inside, there’s the orbital satellite as seen in the movie, plus a single one-man space pod. The included decals depict a military craft sporting US Air Force markings - the movie’s Orion was a civil spaceliner in Pan American livery.

Not for beginners
This is a resin kit and not suitable for beginners, but for anyone with a little skill and patience, there’s a fine model waiting to be built. It’s to 1:144 scale, with an overall length of some 445 mm (17.5 in) plus the twin tail antennas.

Visit Stargazer Models here.

SMN reports on other 2001 stuff are here and here.

The excellent Starship Modeler website has a rundown on available kits here.

Visit Douglas Trumbull here.

The pictures show, top to bottom:
1  Poster, painted by famed US artist Robert McCall - who sadly died in February this year - shows an Orion leaving the vast space station that also features in the movie.
2-4 Views of the Stargazer Models Orion Cargoship.

'2001' MOONBUS FLIGHT CREW IN POSITION

Here's a bigger picture of the Moonbus, to show the crew seated in the flight deck, which you couldn't see before. It looks like a spacious place to be.

As an aside, what a shame it is that the combined vision that 2001 Director Stanley Kubrick and author Arthur C. Clarke had of the future development of spaceflight has never come to pass.

If the US had just kept turning out those Saturn 5 rockets, then there would surely be a permanent Moonbase by now, and the Moon itself might even be the 51st state.

As it is, Chinese or Indians are odds-on to be the next humans on the Moon - and good luck to them, if their governments have the cojones and vision to get on with it.

MOONBUS KIT FROM THE CLASSIC MOVIE 2001 REISSUED BY MOEBIUS MODELS

Mat Irvine reports
The Moonbus from 2001: A Space Odyssey was first issued as a kit by Aurora in 1968, along with Aurora’s take on the Orion spaceplane from the same movie. The Orion was reissued in 1975, but the Moonbus never reappeared and prices for the kit have tended to go through the roof on certain on-line auction sites.

Retro-engineered Moonbus
Moebius Models - one of those new model companies often dubbed the ‘New Aurora’ - has been contemplating the Moonbus for a couple of years, and now it is available online and in stores. The approximately 1:55 scale spacecraft is a retro-engineered kit - one that is copied from an existing original, with subtle changes made to improve assembly.

Useful improvements
Changes include the addition of locating pins and the like, which are hidden once assembled. But there have also been improvements to visible parts. The cockpit windows on the Aurora kit were single-layer transparencies, with an inner window canopy missing. Moebius have rectified this error. Also, the side passenger windows have been corrected and are now individual window panes, instead of one long strip on each side. The kit includes nine decently sculpted figures, so the craft can be fully occupied if you wish.

More 2001 spacecraft in the wings?
If the Moebius Moonbus is successful - and the way the kits are selling, it seems more than likely - there may be more spacecraft from this most famous science fiction movie coming soon. Apart from the Orion, none have been made in conventional injection-moulded kit form.

The pictures show, top to bottom:
1 The original Aurora box.
2 The Moebius Models reissue - the only real difference is that movie references are absent.
3 Aurora components (left) came in grey and light green, the new kit is in white.
4, 5 My Aurora kit-build shows the removeable roof and interior.
6, 7, 8 Views of the Moebius kit, which looks extremely convincing when completed.

Sample kit supplied by Moebius Models. You can visit the site here.

The Moonbus is also available here.

A recommended reference book to the movie is Piers Bizony’s Filming the Future published by Aurum Press. It is available here, though the last reprint was in 2000, and used copies are not cheap.