ROB'S STROMBECKER

Woodsy

All the way from 1958, here is my stab at the Strombecker RM-1 Rocket Ship model, based on the Walt Disney motion picture, “Man in Space.” 

Reissued in 1993 by Glencoe Models as “Retriever Rocket,” I got this copy directly from Nick Argento, who was getting rid of excess inventory about ten years ago, and sold me this kit - minus box and decals - for $10!

A beautiful design, with a streamlined fuselage, seven (count ‘em, seven!) fuel tanks, two glorious radar arrays, and a little one-man exploratory capsule, the RM-1 is sort of a “dream machine” of early rocketry concept vehicles. 

I used random decals, including “SS” markings from the Strombecker/Glencoe Nuclear Space Station I built many moons ago. A couple of tricky spots - that front ring attaching the fuel tanks to the fuselage is too skinny and fragile - but overall a simple and fun build. 

You can even see the ghost of the old “Strombecker” logo on the display stand, but I was not intrepid enough to paint it - leave that to the show-offs on Facebook! 

That weird little silver pod on the bottom of the craft holds a tiny astronaut, shown in detail photos. Looks like a tomb to me - you wouldn’t get me in one!

Rob C

USA

ROB'S GLENCOE MARS LINER

Woodsy,

It’s been awhile! Believe it or not, this is my first model build of the year. The Glencoe Mars Liner, a 1990s reissue of the legendary Strombecker Kit, “Disneyland Rocket to the Moon,” from 1955.

This iconic rocket ship was a main attraction at Disneyland in California for about twenty years, and there are several webpages devoted to this great vehicle and its history.

Disney also had the famous “Man in Space” program, with many groovy spaceship designs by Wernher von Braun and others.

This kit was pretty crude to begin with, being basically a toy, and the repop was still quite rough. Lots of sanding! As you can see, the worst part were the crummy ink jet decals, but I did the best I could.

Still, a fun example of the golden age of impossible spaceship design...

Rob C

USA

Glencoe Models

Hi Woodsy

Having another look at You Tube, I found this brief history of Glencoe Models from Maxsmodels. The company mainly re-issued older kits from the 1950s and 1960s by some of the smaller US companies. 

Often of subjects that no one else did, although the scales could vary. Maxsmodels does several of these company histories, all worth a look. This one includes spacecraft, missiles, dinosaur skeletons, and X-plane models.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quiNTQ17zqM&pbjreload=101

Yours Sincerely,
Paul Adams from New Zealand