Lindberg 1/96 Star Probe Space Shuttle

The 1950s produced a wealth of speculative articles on what space travel and spaceships would look like.  Among them were a series of Colliers articles based on designs by Willy Ley and Werner von Braun.  Model makers of the era took many of these designs and used them as the basis for various kits.  Among the most famous (and expensive) is Revell’s XSL-01 Moon Rocket.

 In the late 1950s, Lindberg produced several speculative kits including a much sought after Space Station, a rare to find flying saucer, a rocket ship, satellite launcher and a moon lander.  Several of the kits were reissued and renamed as man reached space and landed on the moon (went from the Moon to Mars to the Stars.)

This is the 1976 release of the Lindberg Lunar Lander, now renamed Star Probe Space Shuttle.  The kit contains a decal sheet and 25 different parts (42 total) that are mostly white plastic and including 9 red plugs that represent cabin windows.  It is the same issue I built as a kid and after some test fitting; it is pretty much what I remembered.  The parts are slightly warped on all the major components so the fit is not so great.  The details are raised but okay as they are not oversized.

 Glencoe re-released this as a Moon Lander in the mid 90s and that was the last time this kit was commercially available, but I have heard that new Hawk/Lindberg company might bring back these kits.  Otherwise, anyone interested is stuck with going to eBay (like I did) to buy for this kit.

I have a fondness for speculative spaceships even if impractical or not the best design.  Landing this thing would not be fun as the overly tall design and narrow stance landing gear would probably have toppled over as soon as it touched down.  Also, assuming it remained upright; it begs to ask the question of how the crew would get out as there is no ladder provided.

 Despite the small number of parts, I suspect that this is going to be a bear to build.  I’m not a kit collector and hopefully will probably tackle the kit when I have enough putty and an idea of what I actually want to do with it.

Dan Lee

October 2007