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I am just finishing of the building of the Planet X Discovery. This kit is presented in an issue 20 of Science Fiction
& Fantasy Models.
Take that article as a first step to build on this kit because there is a lot more work needed than I have presented here. The best source I have is the video of the movie. Note : there is an article about the Lunar Models Discovery in a French magazine called Modeles Maquettes Actualites issue 38. But there is very little about the building of the kit in it, and it is more a presentation of the completed model.
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I found it for 460 french francs (without taxes) that means near $80. My first impression on this kit was good, but after few
hours turning it around and watching the video, I finally found that it was not a good resin kit.
Its size is 58 cm long and 12 cm large (this will be 23-24 inch long I think).
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There are 48 pieces molded in the classic beige polyurethane resin :
command module,
front neck (emergency thruster unit),
30 cargo pods (3 by module),
antenna module
back neck,
engine module (2 + 4 side panels + 2 back details),
3 engines,
and 3 little bases.
Each part needs lots of sanding to be clean. There was few bubbles on the command pod (not a big deal) but really a
lot on the two-parts of the engine module, especially in the details, where it is really difficult to correct !
There are also 20 white metal pieces :
3 engines exhaust,
2 side panels for the engine module,
12 rings to connect the cargo modules between them
2 parts for the antenna structure
1 rod for the big parabole.
All these parts need a lot of sanding too.
3 vacuform paraboles (1 big and 2 small).
and 5 aluminium tubes (2 for the ship itself and three for the base).
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These are the changes I made on it :
- Replace the aluminium tubes with a brass rod. The diameter is near 0.65 cm. I was unable to find one here in France
so I was obliged to exchange it for a 0.6 cm diameter rod which is not without some
consequences on the mounting of the metal rings and necks. (I think ~0.65 cm may be a subdivision of an inch, easy to find in English speaking countries but here ... !). This brass rod is long enough to replace the TWO aluminium tubes, which will be better for the overall structure of the kit (because of this, I have to have drill a hole for the antenna module).
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Front neck : the part is solid where it appeared the emergency thrusters were located. I finally decieded not
to modify this (too much work for something that is not easy to see).
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Command module : Sand off the horrible raised details to a near smooth surface as it looked on screen. Sand the door
(where Dave jumped out without his helmet) and make a new one in hollow. Create some recessed details.
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First ring/connector tube (the one that is close to the front neck): must be cut along the section (repeat this for the
last one, close to the back neck)
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Cargo pod : Sand the back of these parts to correctly adjust them on the rod (As there are 30 pieces, this takes a very
long time!)
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Antenna structure : Two arms are lacking as follow.
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--===H===--- ---==H==---
H H
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Antenna Module : This part seems to be made from 4 cargo pods (for top, bottom, right and left). But, the top part is
totally wrong. I remade the top from scratch. (watch the video is an obligation here ! there are some perfect top views).
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Paraboles : A cross must be add in front of each one (~1mm large, 0.25mm width). The metal rod for the big one must be exchanged
for two plastic rod of different diameter placed end to end. A disk (~2.5 mm diam. and 0.5 mm width must be add in front of the two smaller paraboles)
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Back neck : As this part of the ship is not clearly shown on screen, and if the Lunar Models Discovery is correct here (from
what I saw in MMA38), this piece is completely incorrect, but, unless you scratch a new one, there is nothing to do here, except some sanding.
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Engine module : This is the piece that needed the most work. The two halves have to be sanded to 5 mm wide --
enough for the side panel to be adjusted precisely along the edges. I filled this with a piece of wood before gluing them (so the base rod will touched it and prevent any damage on the
resin parts by it.) After gluing the side panels, lots of filler is needed here between each part (the fit is awfull !) I added some plastic and brass rods as details (the
brass rod for the ones that need to be fold).
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Engine module : This is the piece that needed the most work. The two halves have to be sanded to 5 mm wide -- enough for
the side panel to be adjusted precisely along the edges. I filled
this with a piece of wood before gluing them (so the base rod will touched it and prevent any damage on the resin parts by it.) After gluing the side panels, lots of filler is needed here between each part (the fit is awfull !) I added some plastic and brass rods as details (the brass rod for the ones that need to be fold).
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Base : the ones supplied with the kit are useless, there are too tiny to assure a perfect support of the kit. It is better to
make a new one from wood (painted black to evoke the monolith). The instruction says to drill holes in the engine, antenna and command modules to put the aluminium rod. Fortunately, they did not
do theses holes themselves because, first, as I change for a brass rod, the antenna module hole is useless. And second, because the command module ball with a this will be horrible for the
look, I prefered drill the hole in the front neck.
Conclusion :
This kit really needs a lot of work and time. When finished, it looks impressive from a certain distance,
but, even modified as I do, it showed imperfections on a close look. But these imperfections are masked by the subject itself, it is really not a classic kit to see. (Note that
all these comments are on a kit that is still not painted.)
I am disappointed by the poor quality of the resin kits sold by Comet Miniatures I also owned a Space 1999 eagle,
recast from the Airfix model, which is really awfull (I plan to re-make most parts from scratch). I am used to Japanese resin kits that are far better in quality than these ones.
-- Olivier Cabourdin
Follow up:
Since I wrote this, I have finished the building and started the painting. I also obtained more info about the
Discovery, but, it was too late for me to change as the kit was already built : The engines are not correct, they would have to be made of hexagonal cylinders and hexagonal
cones instead of round cylinders and cones. Only the exhausts parts (metal parts) are corrects.
Check the completed model
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