Forever in the annals of great Science Fiction movies is the groundbreaking 2001 of 1968. In this movie so many of the effects that we see everyday on the small and large screen got their start. It is also one of the few sci-fi movies to portray accurately the physics of space. No swooping space fighters, no groaning low frequency noises as gigantic vehicles pass overhead. All motion is determined by reality and not by earthly atmospheric effects. One of the most visually interesting scenes is early in the movie as the Pan Am spaceliner slowly, serenely, and accurately maneuvers itself into position for entry into the space station. It is in many ways quite unfortunate that most modern movies do not portray space in the way it is; instead relying on earth bound physics and fantasy to portray motions in space. Nonetheless, 2001 is a movie that I watch frequently; not only for its historical import but just to see those neat spacecraft!

The Orion spaceliner is a kit that has been mass marketed only by Aurora and Airfix, though there have been quite a few garage resin kits available from time to time. Aurora's is now a collector's kit, while this is the third release from Airfix. The first was in Pan Am markings and the second in the rather fanciful and ugly ones shown on the box top. Fortunately, the Pan Am decals are included in the kit.

Well, what does one get in terms of vintage plastic?  Actually, despite the size of the box (due to the long fuselage), there are darn few pieces. Including three clear bits there are 15 parts to the spaceliner and two for the stand. That is it. No landing gear, no opening canopy. The kit itself is mostly raised panel lines with the rest of the detailing a bit overdone and blocky. See the image to the right. The kit is too big to fit on my scanner for a complete parts rundown. Again, this is a 25+ year old kit! I won't comment on its accuracy; after all, it is a movie model. However, it does look just a bit different that what I can recall from the movie. Mostly the nose, I guess. It seems to me to be more oval and a bit cut back on the top on the movie version. I'll be dragging out the DVD on this one and doing some stop action comparison before building it.

The decal sheet is adequate for the Pan Am version, and why they included the other markings is beyond me, but they did. Maybe the kiddies will like the nice colors. The instruction sheet is the standard pictorial diagram version in 5 steps. Color callouts are by Humbrol paint numbers, without any indication of what the colors are. Frankly this type of thing is irritating at best. At least Airfix could say that 33 is flat black and 22 is gloss white. Humbrol paints are not available everywhere, you know. 

Anyway, it is nice to see this one back in circulation. Probably makes the kit collectors cringe now that this kit can be had for less than $50! I plan on getting a few more to tide me over the next 15 year drought after this production run is over with and to try out a few more airline liveries on! With the stand provided, it isn't going to take up much room and will look very cool amongst the other sci-fi movie and TV stuff I have on the shelf. 

Review copy courtesy of me and my wallet! 

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