INCOMING: CLASSIC 'LOST IN SPACE' SCI-FI SERIES REBOOT FROM NETFLIX

LOVERS OF THE OLD 'LOST IN SPACE' TV SERIES have something new to watch. It's the upcoming reboot, due to premiere online in ten episodes from Netflix on April 13, 2018.

DERELICT ALIEN SPACECRAFT KIT FROM THE CLASSIC TV SERIES 'LOST IN SPACE'

LOST IN SPACE is a science fiction TV series that ran from 1965-68. The second episode was called The Derelict and featured a large alien spacecraft. This is now the subject of a 1:350 scale kit from Moebius Models. Also included is the Jupiter 2, a saucer-shaped spaceship flown by the stars of the show, the Robinson family.

BIG 1:6 SCALE ROBOT B9 FROM THE ‘LOST IN SPACE’ TV SERIES

THE ROBOT B9 FROM THE 1960s TV series 'Lost in Space' is one of the best-known screen robots, though its role often seemed to consist mainly of flailing its arms around, while intoning the warning, “Danger, danger, Will Robinson.” However, Robot B9 is an iconic design and one that’s welcome as a 1:6 scale kit from Moebius Models.

MOEBIUS MODELS AT THE 2011 iHOBBY EXPO

Mat Irvine reports:

The 2011 iHobby Expo show took place from October 20-23, at the Rosemont Center, near Chicago, Illinois. It's an amazing place to visit, as it showcases a mind-boggling array of model and hobby products. 

BACK TO THE FUTURE - APOLLO 11 MOON LANDING 42nd ANNIVERSARY TODAY

David Jefferis reports:

Forty two years ago today, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the Moon, while Michael Collins orbited high above in the Apollo Command Module. The Lunar Module (LM) was a four-legged aluminium-skinned contraption that was a true ‘space’ craft, designed for operation in a vacuum, with none of the smooth streamlined shape necessary for flight in a planetary atmosphere.

Apollo 11 models

There are various models available that commemorate the landing, including the 1:72 scale Airfix diorama kit that includes the LM, a neatly sculpted rectangle of cratered lunar terrain and logistics support in the form of surface instruments, a mixed bunch of astronauts, and Lunar Rovers. The terrain base is a good size, somewhat larger than an A4 sheet, at 348 mm (13.7 in) long x 247 mm (9.7 in). Cement, acrylic paints, and a brush are also included.

HISS BOO! LUCASFILM PUTS A STOP TO STAR WARS KITS FROM FANTASTIC PLASTIC

Sadly, the movie studio LucasFilm chose the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing to order Fantastic Plastic to stop marketing its excellent Star Wars kits.

In FP’s words: “On July 20, 2009, Fantastic Plastic received a "Cease & Desist" order from LucasFilm demanding the removal of all unlicensed products from our Website.  In compliance, we have retired all "Star Wars"-related kits to the Virtual Museum Store “Hall of Fame”. We will no longer market or sell these or any other kits that fall under LucasFilm's jurisdiction.”

SMN’s not going to preach about the rights or wrongs of the situation, but we will say it’s a shame that Fantastic Plastic’s Allen Ury and LucasFilm couldn’t come to an amicable arrangement, especially as the range included fascinating kits, such as the 1:72 scale Incom Skyhopper (top pictures) and 1:144 Jawa Sandcrawler (bottom. Hey ho, looks like we’ll all have to bombard Revell with requests for new subjects to release.

On a brighter note, Fantastic Plastic's range blossoms otherwise, and its latest offering is another sci-fi movie subject, a 1:48 scale Bubble Fighter from the movie Lost in Space. The movie was not so hot in the acting department (and may have marked the nadir of Matt LeBlanc’s career) but the special effects were pretty good and the spacecraft designs excellent. So this big kit - standing more than 305 mm (12 in) high - should be on any sci-fi modeller’s wish list.

Visit LucasFilm here, and Fantastic Plastic here.

MAT IRVINE'S 'LOST IN SPACE' CHARIOT MODEL ON SHOW AT SPACEPORT

Mat Irvine worked for several months on the Spaceport project, a space-themed visitor exhibition just across the River Mersey from Liverpool, UK, home of the famed Beatles. One of Mat's exhibits is the made-up Moebius Models Chariot from Lost in Space, shown above.

Spaceport looks well worth a visit, as it includes a planetarium show, and - from July 28 to September 3 - some Moon rock samples collected on the Apollo missions 15, 16 and 17.

Visit Spaceport here.

LUNAR MODULES - APOLLO REALITY AND TV FANTASY

Forty years ago today, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the Moon, while Michael Collins orbited high above in the Apollo Command Module. The Lunar Module (LM) was a fragile aluminium-skinned bug-like contraption that was a true spacecraft, designed for operation in a vacuum with none of the smooth streamlined shape necessary for flying in a planetary atmosphere.

There are various models available for the LM, including Revell’s excellent 78-part 1:48 scale LM and diorama that we’ve shown here before. But there’s also another landing module available, a design that echoes the flavour of the real thing, even down to its insectoid triangular windows, and that’s the Space Pod from the third and last series of the 1960s TV show Lost in Space.

The Space Pod (top picture) comes in big 1:24 scale from Moebius Models, a company that also makes the Lost in Space Chariot ground vehicle to the same scale (bottom). The Moebius Space Pod features an opening hatch, so the possibilities for a diorama open up for spacesuited figures stepping out onto a cratered landscape under the landing pads - or, since it’s a science fiction subject, you could add some colour and even exotic alien lifeforms to add some visual spice.

You can visit the Space Pod at Moebius Models, here.