SCALE MODEL NEWS

THIS TRAILER FOR TOMORROWLAND: A WORLD BEYOND marks the movie as one that we're looking forward to very much. Disneyland visitors may recall that Tomorrowland was an important part of the original California theme park, and to lure you in, a third-scale Moonliner stood on its three landing legs, resplendent in the red-and-white markings of TWA (Trans World Airlines). So this reinvention of the concept looks a good 'un. As for the original Strombecker kit, it has since been reinvented as the Marsliner - same ship, same kit, different destination. We looked at the Marsliner here and the article is well worth another read, the kit itself earning a must-build, especially if you are into retro space age stuff. The original was a beautiful design, and looked magnificent, as displayed at Disneyland ( below ). Picture ( above ) courtesy Bananaphone5000. Attractive sales display from Strombecker ( below left) and an assembled Moonliner with legs folded into the hull. Note the retract...

This elegant spacecraft model is a reissue of the Glencoe Models Marsliner, itself a reissue of the original Strombecker kit of the TWA Moonliner that stood in Disneyland from 1955-1962. Mat Irvine: There is a new box, still with the Ron Miller artwork. It occupies the whole box-top, with no lettering to spoil the illustration. Underneath, poster-style art invites you to, Travel to Mars the Fastway . The kit tooling dates from 1956, and is now approaching 60 years old, so some allowance has to be made for its age. But Glencoe Models is owned and run by Nick Argento, and part of his company’s work is general injection moulding, so if anyone can get this half-century old tooling to run, it’s Nick. The component layout (below) shows that most parts are in white styrene, with portholes and flight deck windows in clear. The original Strombecker kit had these in a tasty shade of green, with instructions to fit a pencil-torch through the rocket nozzle to illuminate them at night. Given the k...