FOCUS ON SPINDRIFT KITS

Continuing my look at Land of The Giants, here are some of the plastic model kits featuring the ‘Spindrift’ spaceship.

Probably the most well-known is the Aurora kit released in 1968 and then re-released   in 1975 shortly before Aurora’s demise.

Polar lights re-released this kit in 2002, along with a reissue of the’ Snake’ kit. This is pretty much identical to the original kit apart from slightly better fixings for the top section.

Like the Voyage flying Sub and LOS Jupiter 2 kits, it features a detailed interior. It does have a couple of inaccuracies – only four passenger seats rather than six, and a hemispherical dome rather than the teardrop shape seen on the television prop.

However, it’s still a nice kit, although in my experience the removable section covering the interior never sits quite right.

Like the original kit, the only decal that comes with the kit is a sticker for the clear display stand.

As it’s a fiddly kit to mask and paint, there’s a set of additional decals sold seperatly made by TSDS which do make detailing it a little easier.

Here’s the Polar Lights kit compared to my Aurora kit which I’m in the process of restoring. As you can see little or no difference.

In 2011 Moebius Models released a much more accurate model, with a teardrop dome, accurate decals and a full colour card interior supplied by TSDS. The downside is it’s little more than 31/2” long, making it in scale with the Moebius Flying Sub.

The box artwork is the same as the 1975 Aurora re-release

Finally, the vintage Spindrift model made by Midori for the Japanese market. This rare kit, like most Japanese kits has various gimmicks  and wheels on the base.

Photo: www.Giantslog.com

Next time - comics and books