AMT Interplanetary UFO/Leif Erikson kit question
Chris Marchand
I understand the old AMT kit "Interplanetary UFO" (the glow in the
dark kit) was a reissue of an even older AMT kit called the Leif
Erikson Space Cruiser (or something like that.)
Does anyone one know what parts were different/altered/omitted in the
reissue? And, more importantly, does anyone have pictures or diagrams
of these parts, or a good description of them?
_________
You know what to remove to reply.
The Surgeon General has determined that virtual spam
is as unhealthy as the real stuff.
RAucutt
I had both kits (years ago) and as I recall, the only diference was the plastic
used, and different decals. That's it. The Lief Erickson also had cooler box
art.
Maybe Ertl has some historic info on the kit. I'd hurry though. They have been
in process of closing out their Dysersville Iowa plant (in favor of Mexico) so
hard telling what will happen to their historic records.
Bob Aucutt
Robert Vancel
The last incarnation of that kit I saw (and bought and then blew
up....hey, I was kid!) had the "Star Trek" logo on it.
Robert "Hollywood" Vancel
new WorldModeling order
nWMo
Cross the line
Chris Marchand
On 21 Jun 1998 15:50:42 GMT, rau...@aol.com (RAucutt) wrote:
>I had both kits (years ago) and as I recall, the only diference was the plastic
>used, and different decals. That's it. The Lief Erickson also had cooler box
>art.
The reason I am asking is that I understand there were some
chrome-plated parts, some red-clear parts, and a wheat-bulb light
system on the original Erikson ship.
I believe that some of the parts were some sort of "turbine" front and
exhaust back panel for the large side-engines and tiny landing gear
for the shuttle. Can someone confirm this?
Does anyone out there have an Erikson version of the kit and know what
the extra parts were/are? I've always thought the UFO/Glow ship needed
something in those huge outside engine intakes to make it look
slightly better.
And dammit, AMT *MUST* reissue this cool ship again!!!
Doug Jones
>On 21 Jun 1998 15:50:42 GMT, rau...@aol.com (RAucutt) wrote:
>>I had both kits (years ago) and as I recall, the only diference was the plastic
>>used, and different decals. That's it. The Lief Erickson also had cooler box
>>art.
>
>The reason I am asking is that I understand there were some
>chrome-plated parts, some red-clear parts, and a wheat-bulb light
>system on the original Erikson ship.
>
>I believe that some of the parts were some sort of "turbine" front and
>exhaust back panel for the large side-engines and tiny landing gear
>for the shuttle. Can someone confirm this?
>
>Does anyone out there have an Erikson version of the kit and know what
>the extra parts were/are? I've always thought the UFO/Glow ship needed
>something in those huge outside engine intakes to make it look
>slightly better.
>
I have the remnants of the original issue Leaf Erikson kit and a
complete built-up of the UFO re-issue. The way I understand the
background for this kit was that it was originally a prototype Star
Trek kit (maybe a proposed Klingon design?). When it became apparent
that Paramount was not going to use the design, AMT decided to market
it as an original starship kit based on the adventures of a Lance
Corporal crewmen complete with backgound
story lines with the instruction book. I believe the Leif Erikson
came out in the early 70's. AMT later re-issued it in the late
1970's as a UFO Mystery Ship (dropping the original concept) using
glow-in-the-dark plastic and tying it into AMT's Star Trek kits.
The only differences between the two are that the original was molded
in a grey-green plastic, and the original did indeed have
grain-of-wheat lights and a clear red `turbine' engine that fit inside
the side panels. Both the original and the re-issue had the
shuttlecraft but, I don't recall landing gear for the shuttle since
it was about the size of a quarter.
I have read a more detailed posting on this kit here on the rms about
a year ago... maybe that person could give you more detail. Hope this
helps.
Doug Jones
Dave Williams
> And dammit, AMT *MUST* reissue this cool ship again!!!
>
Oh yes! Please!!
Alan
Chris Marchand wrote:
>
> On 21 Jun 1998 15:50:42 GMT, rau...@aol.com (RAucutt) wrote:
> >I had both kits (years ago) and as I recall, the only diference was the plastic
> >used, and different decals. That's it. The Lief Erickson also had cooler box
> >art.
>
> The reason I am asking is that I understand there were some
> chrome-plated parts, some red-clear parts, and a wheat-bulb light
> system on the original Erikson ship.
>
> I believe that some of the parts were some sort of "turbine" front and
> exhaust back panel for the large side-engines and tiny landing gear
> for the shuttle. Can someone confirm this?
>
> Does anyone out there have an Erikson version of the kit and know what
> the extra parts were/are? I've always thought the UFO/Glow ship needed
> something in those huge outside engine intakes to make it look
> slightly better.
I have the Leif Erickson packed away somewhere but as I
recall, the chrome parts included an optional "nose piece"
weapon-like item (stupid looking), landing gear legs for the
shuttle, possibly a ball-shaped item for the "sail" and I
think that there was a piece that went with the translucent
red engine parts.
Here's another question: I have a built-up of the UFO. It
came assembled with no chrome parts, no landing gear for the
shuttle etc. Did AMT not include anything to replace the
chrome items or are the parts just missing from my ship?
Alan
Tom Leber
> The reason I am asking is that I understand there were some
> chrome-plated parts, some red-clear parts, and a wheat-bulb light
> system on the original Erikson ship.
>
> I believe that some of the parts were some sort of "turbine" front and
> exhaust back panel for the large side-engines and tiny landing gear
> for the shuttle. Can someone confirm this?
Yes, the original did have ther lighting system. The "tiny landing gear" for
the shuttle were nothing more than three chromed nozzles
that it sat on. They really spoiled the streamlined look of the
shuttle.
And yes, I'd like to see a re-issue as well...
WinBear
Chris Marchand <gort...@nospamhere.worldnet.att.net> wrote in article
<6mjhui$h...@bgtnsc01.worldnet.att.net>...
> On 21 Jun 1998 15:50:42 GMT, rau...@aol.com (RAucutt) wrote:
> >I had both kits (years ago) and as I recall, the only diference was the
plastic
> >used, and different decals. That's it. The Lief Erickson also had
cooler box
> >art.
Thought it was interesting, so I thought I'd pass it along. The book "The
Mote In God's Eye" had its main spacecraft copied from this kit. In other
words the authors used the kit to visualize what was going on and where.
WinBear
RSorensen
Even though my Leif Erikson is long-gone, I still have the embossed
plastic-on-fiberboard record that came with the kit. It has a photo of the model &
may show the 'engine' details. The shuttle's langing gear were (I thought) rather
ludicrous: 1/2"-long or so pegs starting at a small diameter and stepping out to a
larger diameter in the middle, then stepping out to a footpad. Many years ago, I
found the UFO Mystery Ship version at a convention - it's on my build-someday list.
Roger Sorensen
------------------
Doug Jones wrote:
> ...AMT decided to market
bbsy...@pop3.concentric.net
Alan wrote:
> Chris Marchand wrote:
>
> Here's another question: I have a built-up of the UFO. It
> came assembled with no chrome parts, no landing gear for the
> shuttle etc. Did AMT not include anything to replace the
> chrome items or are the parts just missing from my ship?
>
> Alan
I bought the UFO kit, and the parts you're asking about weren't included.
Wonder - were the molds for those extras thrown completely, or do they still exist?
if there were to be a re-issue, I'd hope for the original kit in it's entirety, at
least for the side engines.
D. Fox
Chris:
I have both kits...the major diff is, of course, the decals; the Leif
Erickson was a "Galactic Scout Ship" or some such (it had a really neat
little story sheet included, I'll have to look around & see if I can find it
in the files) and had some really big "SS LEIF ERICKSON" decals; the UFO
lacks these.
Aside from that, there are a few chrome parts on the LE that don't seem to
be in my UFO kit (but they may just be missing from the UFO) - the specific
one I'm thinking of is a "laser projector" cap on the nose of the ship (on
the LE) that's missing from the UFO.
The LE kit came in a much larger box (similar in size to the original USS
Enterprise box - with the grain-o-wheat bulbs) from AMT; the UFO was
released in the smaller size AMT box (similar to that used by the K-7 space
station & later issues of the Galileo, Bridge, etc.).
For my money, I enjoyed the LE kit a lot more - a much "cooler" starship
than the Big E; I had a lot more fun "whizzing" it through the universe!
(My LE had grain-o-wheat bulbs in the engines that made them light up red -
many a summer night as a kid I flew a lot of flights between my LE and Big
E - Today, I'd be afraid to let my son "play" with kits, as expensive and
delicate as some of them are! <grin>)
Have fun in your search. Hope you find one of each!
Dean
Grendl's Mother
Snipped..
> The reason I am asking is that I understand there were some
> chrome-plated parts, some red-clear parts, and a wheat-bulb light
> system on the original Erikson ship.
>
> I believe that some of the parts were some sort of "turbine" front and
> exhaust back panel for the large side-engines and tiny landing gear
> for the shuttle. Can someone confirm this?
>
> Does anyone out there have an Erikson version of the kit and know what
> the extra parts were/are? I've always thought the UFO/Glow ship needed
> something in those huge outside engine intakes to make it look
> slightly better.
>
> And dammit, AMT *MUST* reissue this cool ship again!!!
I assembled both versions. What I have sitting on my shelf is a what
was salvaged from the two kits.
Here are the parts specific to the Leif Ericson:
(1) Molded in light grey;
(2) Red-clear and chrome "engine" thingies inside the side housings;
(3) Chrome nose cone;
(4) Chrome antenna atop "sail deck";
(5) Chrome "landing gear" (looked like telescoping pods) for the
mini-scoutship;
(6) Viking-helmet decal;
(7) Background short-story about Leif Ericson (I lost this,
unfortunately);
(8) 45rpm "sounds of space" record (this is real hokey);
I believe that there were also some provisions for lighting.
The UFO ship did not have items 1 thru 8, nor did it have decals.
grendl
dtho...@redstone.army.mil
In article <01bd9da7$29d0f020$98e3ffcc@default>,
Galaxy magazine published an article by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
describing how they used the Lief Erickson kit while writing "The Mote in
God's Eye." The cover of the magazine has a nice painting of the ship, but
it's missing the fins. If anyone is interested in details, I have a copy of
the magazine.
Dan
-----== Posted via Deja News, The Leader in Internet Discussion ==-----
http://www.dejanews.com/ Now offering spam-free web-based newsreading
Chris Marchand
Thanks for everyone who took he time to reply.
Now comes the logical follow-up question:
Does anyone have scanned pictures or possibly kit instructions they
could email me of these parts, or diagrams from the instructions?
I'd really like to fabricate the missing parts on the UFO kit I have.
I've always liked it since I was a kid but had no idea then there was
an earlier kit.
Again, dammit, ERTL must reissue this kit! Surely it belongs to the
list of SF kits which deserve re-release? A shame someone (besides
Polar Lights) doesn't try to start a company just to reissue 60s-70s
SF kits from the molds. Imagine a run of the remaining Star Trek TOS
series, 2001, Space:1999, Irwin Allen, etc kits. Now if only Polar
Lights would follow their LIS models with the 2001 releases and (yes,
please god!) a USS Discovery kit...
Braungart
Like Chris Marchand has asked, does anyone have scanned pictures or possibly
kit instructions that they could e-mail (or snail-mail) me? I would also like,
if possible, a copy of the three-(Two?) view drawing from the side of the box.
I picked up a partially made copy of this kit some years ago, and would like to
try to put it together, but will have to fabricate the missing parts on the kit
I have.
Frank Henriquez
I scanned in the box top and sides and the instruction sheet )but not the
story). The pictures are at:
http://www.ben2.ucla.edu/~frank/le.html
This is a CASE SENSITIVE URL. The images are being ftp'd from another
server, so it's going to load slowly. The images are also BIG. I scanned
them in at a fairly high resolution to make the instruction sheet
readable.
Enjoy!
BTW, it's "Leif Ericson" according to the kit...
Frank
--
---
Frank Henriquez fr...@ucla.edu
Programmer/Analyst Jules Stein Eye Institute, UCLA
Dave Williams
Frank Henriquez wrote:
>
> I scanned in the box top and sides and the instruction sheet )but not the
> story). The pictures are at:
>
> http://www.ben2.ucla.edu/~frank/le.html
>
> This is a CASE SENSITIVE URL. The images are being ftp'd from another
> server, so it's going to load slowly. The images are also BIG. I scanned
> them in at a fairly high resolution to make the instruction sheet
> readable.
>
> Enjoy!
>
> BTW, it's "Leif Ericson" according to the kit...
>
> Frank
>
the glow-in-the-dark version, which was too cool for an impressionable
young lad.
Dave