Covered before on MC, Starcruiser was one of several Gerry Anderson television projects from the 1970s that did not make it in to production. However, it did lead to a comic strip in the weekly Look-In magazine (1977-79), and two plastic kits from Airfix.
I recently came across a pair of unusual, and short-lived, American issues of these kits, which I thought deserved an article. Along with a quick look at the various boxes.
The Starcruiser 1 kit appeared in 1978, and was last listed in the 1984 Catalogue. It was followed by the Starcruiser Interceptor around 1980/81.
The Starcruiser 1 was a large ship, which broke down in to four separate units - Command Module (nose section); Main Unit (central fuselage with wings); Command Base (like the Eagle pods, a simple box-shape); and Interceptor Unit(atop the fuselage). It was a Series 7 kit, number 07170-9.
This was a clip-together kit, although Airfix barely mentioned the fact. There were 44 parts, in white and clear plastic, with a colourful decal sheet.
The first box (copyright date 1978) had a comic strip along the bottom.
The second box (copyright date 1979 on the side) deleted this, and made the main image larger.
Airfix kits had been sold in America under the MPC name for a number of years, but in the late 1970s this changed to USAirfix, which was a single word. The USAirfix version of Starcruiser 1 had a new box, with a photograph of the built-up model.
Kit number 7100 was shown in both the 1979 and 1980 USAirfix catalogues, and even made the cover of the 1979 edition. Both can be found under Airfix, on the Box Art Den site.
The kit was still moulded in white and clear plastic, but came with a new decal sheet. This time the model was clearly referred to as a Snap-Fix kit.
USAirfix was short-lived, and Airfix kits were soon back in MPC boxes. Including the Starcruiser 1 and Starcruiser Interceptor.
Shown only in the 1982 MPC catalogue (which can be found on the Internet Archive site), these two kits got a major re-vamp, with new colour schemes, and decals. The box top said 'It's A Snap Model Kit'.
MPC kit number 1-1802 Starcruiser (the number 1 had been dropped), was now moulded in black plastic, matching the new colour scheme, with NASA decals in orange. Given the Interceptor Unit, it seems NASA now has a combat role.
According to the catalogue, the various units making up the model had been re-named. They were now the Control Ship; Power Module; Transporter Pod; and Interceptor.
The catalogue says copyright Gerry Anderson Marketing Ltd., 1982. Given that the kits only appeared in one catalogue, and the fact that there are very few sales listings for them, they do not appear to have been big sellers.
The moulding of these kits in black plastic reminded me of the Revell Alien Invader, which was a normal Space Shuttle kit in black plastic, with clear red parts and red decals. An attempt to get more sales from an existing kit, with a minimum of effort or expense.
Do you own any of these models?
Next up, the Starcruiser Interceptor.
Paul Adams from New Zealand
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