Hi Woodsy,
On Max's Models Livestream 199, the film The Final Countdown (1980) came up. Which reminded me of the Monogram Final Countdown set.
'On maneuvers in the Pacific in 1980, the nuclear carrier USS Nimitz disappears...and reappears December 7, 1941...off Pearl Harbor'. The Nimitz, and her Air Wing, travel back in time to the day before the Pearl Harbor attack...and prepare to launch a strike against the Japanese fleet.
Modern Tomcat jets do battle with WW2 Zero fighters (guess who wins that one), but the ship returns to the present day before she can change history. Actually filmed aboard the Nimitz, there is plenty of air action in the film.
As a tie-in to the movie, Monogram Models put two of their existing kits in to a box, and labelled it as 'From the movie The Final Countdown'. The kits were the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier in 1/825th scale; and the Grumman F-14 Tomcat naval fighter in 1/72nd.
The box art is based on the movie poster, and shows a Tomcat launching from one of the bow catapults. According to Monogram Models by Thomas Graham, the original poster was by Revell artist Jack Leynnwood.
Stills from the movie run down the right side of the box, in a film strip. In the lower left-hand corner is a photograph of the two models.
The set was Monogram kit number 6032. It was released in 1980, but it was not available for very long.
Two photographs from Worthpoint.
Do you like it?
Paul Adams from New Zealand
The Final Countdown was a hell of a film, very loosely based on the supposed "Philadelphia Experiment" wherein the US Navy made a ship "disappear" and go somewhere else. Whether you believe the story or not, its a very cool concept, and made for a heck of a movie. Never saw the model tie-in though, so good to see! SFZ
ReplyDeleteNot checking Mr.Google, I seem to remember the Time Tunnelling SFX in the movie were created by Maurice Binder, creator of the James Bond movies Title sequences...
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