AMT MAN IN SPACE MODEL KIT

Hi,

At a fair last year, I picked up an AMT Man in Space kit, containing all five American manned space rockets from the 1960s. This had already been started by someone else, but what a great kit. All in 1/200th scale. According to the Scalemates site, this kit dates from the 1960s sometime (obviously late 1960s). 

It was re-issued in 1999 under the AMT-Ertl name, then again in 2013 with the original box art and as an AMT kit. My example has 'AMT Made under License in New Zealand by Tonka Manufacturing Limited' on the side of the box. 

I am not sure if that means the whole kit was made locally, or if the kit was moulded in the US, shipped to NZ, and boxed locally. The instruction sheet and decal sheet also say Printed in N.Z.

The rockets are designed to be assembled in to separate Stages, just like the real thing, so they can be taken apart. Very educational. Some of these parts have already been cemented together, so full disassembly is no longer possible, and I do not want to damage the models trying to separate the Stages.

The five rockets are:

Mercury Redstone - built, only needs a tidy up

Mercury Atlas - mostly built

Gemini Titan II - unbuilt

Saturn IB - mostly built

Saturn V - mostly built

The two Mercury rockets and the Gemini come on one sprue; the smaller Saturn on one sprue; and the big Saturn on two sprues. Then there are two small sprues which are identical, and cover the Apollo Command and Service Modules, and the Lunar Modules, which fit on top of the two Saturns. All moulded in white plastic. The box is big, but it is packed with parts, even in 1/200th.

Originally there was a cardboard stand, with a launch tower for the Saturn V, and the other rockets posed in front. This was missing from my example. Only one fin from the lower Stage of the Saturn V seems to be missing, and that is easily replaced with plastic card. The only other problem is how dusty the parts are.

They clearly need a good and careful wash in warm soapy water before any further work is done. Old joins and blobs of cement will also need to be attended to. Then I will have to make a suitable stand for them. Sounds like fun. I have a few other models I am working on, or which are in the 'to do' pile, so it will likely be a while before I get around to finishing off this set.

The Saturn V was also available on its own. Not sure about the others. I could not find a mention of these being available as separate kits, which seems odd, as AMT already had the moulds for them. AMT also do a 1/200th Space Shuttle, so you can display the entire US manned space programme, even on a fairly small shelf.

The difference in size is amazing. I knew the Saturn V was big, but it is not until you actually hold one in your hand that you realise what a monster it was, especially compared to the little Mercury Redstone.

This You Tube video looks at various Round 2 kits, and shows the parts still on their sprues. It also has a different (?) cardboard display base to the original.

OOBReview: Five Kit Review from AMT/MPC - YouTube

I sent Max at maxsmodels the box photos, and he used them in one of the Viewer's Builds, even though I did not build the models.

I have scanned the instruction sheet.

Yours Sincerely,

Paul Adams from New Zealand