I mentioned this Atlantis set, M6871, some time ago. It is a re-issue of an old Monogram U.S. Space Missiles set from the 1960s, which itself was an up-dated version of the U.S. Missile Arsenal set first released in 1958.
Despite the name on the box, these are all military missiles, although a few were adapted for launching space satellites and even manned missions. All are U.S. types, but some were used by other countries.
You get 36 missiles, from small air-to-air and anti-tank types, up to Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles, so there is a wide range of sizes. The set is made to 1/128th scale - half of 1/64th - which was once used for larger aircraft types and missiles, but died out many years ago.
Two figures are included for comparison. These are only 14mm tall.
There are 69 missile parts, plus the two figures, in white plastic. A decal sheet is included for the various markings.
The angled display base is blue plastic, and has the name of each missile, its role, and operating service (Army, Navy, or Air Force) in raised lettering. Each of the assembly diagrams includes painting and decal placement instructions.
The base is 320 mm x 143 mm. Height once assembled is nearly 270mm.
Some of the missiles are one-piece mouldings (16); others have two parts (11); three (7); four (1). The most complicated model is the winged Bomarc, which has six parts.
There is a leaflet, reproduced from the Monogram kit, giving details of each missile type. The bottom of the Atlantis box also has a full-colour star field, against which to display the finished models.
Although rather on the expensive side, this is a really nice set, with a pretty full box. Much later, Monogram did a joint U.S. and U.S.S.R. Missile Display set in 1/144th scale, with 9 US and 11 Soviet missiles.
Paul Adams from New Zealand
As a teen, I had the AMT manned rocket set, which had the Atlas, Redstone and Titan II as spacecraft launchers.
ReplyDeleteHave looked at this set several times as it has been occasionally reissued through the decades but have not acquired one. A trivia note: 1/64 is used for the model train scale known as S scale. At one time 1/64 was also a fairly common scale for architectural models. It works out to 3/16 of an inch per foot. The kit's 1/128 scale would be 3/32 inch per foot. While we're talking scales which are half the size of another one, half of 1/128 scale is 1/256 scale, or 3/64 inch per foot & there have been some miniatures game pieces made in the scale. As far as I am aware 1/256 is not as common as 1/285 has become for small miniatures.
ReplyDeleteI found a part-built example of that AMT Man in Space set at a fair a few years ago. My example was made in New Zealand by Tonka Manufacturing Limited.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the extra information on scales.
I always found this set ironic, in that missile model kits were never that popular in their day - one hobby salesman stated that they were as exciting as "Ball Point Pens!" The only cool part about missile models were the launch gantries and transport mechanisms, and this Monogram/Atlantis set excludes all of that fun stuff. To me, it is just a large collection of "Ball Point Pens!" SFZ
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