'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.

  

About the kit

The scale is an interesting one. In the words of Fantastic Plastic: “The size of the 'real' space station is under much dispute.  Sources close to the production insist was meant to be 1000 ft (305 m) in diameter.  However, director Stanley Kubrick ‘cheated’ by optically reducing the size of the approaching Orion III as it approached the station to enhance the drama, causing fans to recalculate the station's ‘actual’ size to twice that... or more.

Orion shuttle choices

Fantastic Plastic adds: "To placate fans, we're including two Orion III miniatures along with the station - one in 1:1400 scale and one in 1:2800, so the resulting 8.6 in (218 mm) diameter model can be which ever scale you choose!” So there you go 2001 fans - the choice is yours, along tiny alternative Orion III space shuttles.

Plenty of parts

It’s not a kit for the beginner I reckon, as there are more than 200 resin and photo-etch parts to assemble, but take care and a decent model should result. When completed it just has to turn, so there’s a further opportunity to bring realism to the finished thing, an easy way being to simply to mount it on a turntable, using a length of steel or brass tubing.

Summation

Fantastic Plastic’s Space Wheel is a salute to the movie-making achievements of Stanley Kubrick and to the late Sir Arthur C. Clarke who co-wrote the script. It was The Sentinel, his short story of 1948, that inspired 2001.

Get better, Allen

Fantastic Plastic’s leading light, Allen B. Ury, recently injured his arm, but he reckons things are looking up: “...thank you to everyone who has expressed good wishes concerned my recent arm injury. I visited my orthopedist yesterday. The X-rays were good, I have 85 percent range of motion and he expects all restrictions to be lifted within three weeks.” Good luck Allen, and keep those kits coming!

Visit Fantastic Plastic here.

More space and science-fiction kits here.

Original poster, showing the Orion III space shuttle departing the Space Wheel. Artwork was by the fabled illustrator Robert McCall, who worked on just about about every space-orientated project of the period.

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.