“Destination Moon” is a classic Science Fiction movie from 1950, and the first attempt to make a plausible, scientifically correct movie about space travel. The nuclear powered spaceship Luna became an icon.
Skyhook Models sells a series of small and simple resin models of spacecraft from classic 1950s SF movies. Their kit of the “Luna” is simple (four parts, including the base) and inexpensive. At 3.75″ (95 mm) tall, it’s about 1/480 scale.
The parts are well cast with only minor flash, a handful of tiny pinholes (which appeared after I removed the mold line flash) and a couple of easily repaired dings along a fin. Cleanup took about 20-30 leisurely minutes, including some fine sanding/polishing of the resin.
The landing leg looks too long and doesn’t seem to match the drawings in Spaceship Handbook (Jack Hagerty and Jon C. Rogers, ARA Press, 2001) … that is, until you notice the two fine lines in the resin, one at each end of the leg. I cut the excess resin off at the lines, ran a sanding stick over the edges and it fit and looks correct.
The fin fit well with very little putty. I used Cyanoacrylate glue + talc to glue the fin, and removed the excess before it hardened; that was enough to cover the locator holes that peek slightly past the edge of the fin.
There’s no surface detailing on the fuselage so the hatches, ladder and portholes will have to be supplied with a home made decal.
I finished the kit less than 24 hours after I started, although actual work time on it was probably less than 4 hours. I didn’t produce a contest winner by any means, but for the price, it was a bargain in terms of fun and just the cure for AMS. The giant cat in the first picture is Espresso (2000-2019). She was my modelling assistant.
Updated August 5, 2020