Hi all,
Flying Saucer time. Let us start at the beginning, in 1954 US model company Lindberg released a plastic kit of a Flying Saucer. Some of these kits were used by low-budget film maker Edward D. Wood Jr to represent the alien spacecraft in his masterpiece, Plan 9 From Outer Space, originally called Grave Robbers From Outer Space.
Some have claimed this is the worst film ever made. In my opinion, this is not true, and the movie is certainly fun. It stared Bela Lugosi, who managed to appear a few years after his death, thanks to the use of old footage, shot for another film.
Also, Vampira and Tor Johnson, who have been modelled in HO scale by Noch, in their Vampire and Zombie sets. The Lindberg kits were modified somewhat for filming, with the engine nacelles being omitted, and the transparent dome in the centre being painted over.
This kit has been re-issued a few times over the years. This Polar Lights version dates from 2019, according to the site Scalemates, which covers the family tree of various kits.
It has been issued as the Plan 9 From Outer Space version, with great box art, and stills from the movie on the box sides. It is described as A Bizarrely Authentic Scale Model Flying Saucer.
This You Tube video covers building the kit, which can be assembled as per the original 1954 kit, or as the revised movie version. The box-top photo is from Amazon.
Paul Adams from New Zealand
I read somewhere that the saucers in the film were actually car hub caps...
ReplyDeleteIncorrect! In late 1957, Ed Wood went to Regis Toomey's hobby shop in L.A. to pick up three of the Lindberg Flying Saucer model kits, which are easily visible if you actually watch the film. Beware of urban legends!
DeleteI've been in love with this beautiful model since I was a teen. I never managed to snag the square-boxed original issue, but bought the late 1960s "Glow in the Dark" UFO kit, and much later purchased several of the 1990s Glencoe reissues. There's a great documentary about the making of Plan Nine From Outer Space, called "Flying Saucers Over Hollywood," which goes into detail about the "actual" spaceships used for that remarkable film. Still, some folks seem happy spewing out the old lies about these saucers, a lie started in the Medved Brothers' "Golden Turkey" books, stating that the saucers were hub caps, trash can lids, paper plates, etc. But if you actually look at the movie, they are clearly the Lindberg models, one reason I think this kit is so iconic. I must have built this kit a half dozen times in my lifetime...
ReplyDeleteLindberg eh. Isn't that kit the first sci-fi kit as well Zigg? I saw one at a car boot sale a few years back. I assumed it was a re-issue for some reason.
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