Lindberg 1/96 U.S. Moon Ship Kit Quick Build Review

By Michael Benolkin

Quick Build Review

For a look at this kit out of the box, look here.

No sooner than I had confirmed that the first-look images had been in-focus, this kit and I headed to the bench for a quick-build. This is one subject that I has been wanting to build for decades but the kit was either a collector's item or I had just missed the kit in one of its releases. Now that it was in my hands, I could finally scratch this kit off my 'bucket list'.

The kit is molded in a hard white styrene which is the only way this kit would ever work. Many of the parts are thin, especially the tanks, and the kit requires a bit of time to clean up mold lines, sprue stubs, and the little bits of flash here and there. If you take the time to do this right, the model falls right together. One of the tank halves has an alignment lip that goes into the other half and the two parts go together with a gratifying 'snap'. The rest of the parts build off of the tanks and assembly takes little time.

Now that its finished, I might have to do this one again. The raised details on the surface of the tanks and capsule would be removed and the slight seams addressed. If it weren't for the trough and dish antennas, all for sides of the vehicle would look the same, so a bit of paint with photo-instrumentation markings will solve that need. The clear red motors can be painted accordingly, while the red port holes could be eliminated and the holes filled with white glue to simulate glass.

If you want something different to add to your spaceflight shelf, this is definitely old school and will provide a nice retro look between your V1 and your Space Shuttle.

My sincere thanks to Round2 Models for this review sample