Hasegawa Space Shuttle 'Eggplane'

I'm sure that there are few beings on this planet that do not know about the Space Shuttle. At least those with access to international news. Though now reaching the end of its operational life and with the loss of two craft and the non-operational use of a third, the Shuttle has done what it set out to do; make the trip to space mundane. Once people realize that going outside our planet is not only possible but can be made nearly routine, then progress can be made to the next steps, whatever those may seem to be.

Some may think that the loss of two craft and crew are too high a price to pay. Perhaps. But when one looks at other types of technology through the last several hundred years, those designed to venture into an environment that is alien to man (submarines and aircraft for example), then the actual cost in lives is actually comparable or perhaps even less.

Though I'm sure not to be around to see it as I thought I was when I was a child, humans will begin to make a more permanent presence in space and the Shuttle is what helped to make that possible.

This particular eggplane is a bit of a rehash with new decals and the parts for the stand missing. I have a 1984 Hasegawa catalog that shows this kit as ES 11 in a series of 15 aircraft that included an SR-71 and P-40 amongst the more interesting types.

Compared to others in this series, the Shuttle has a larger parts count. this is as much to the addition of the cargo bay and materials inside as anything else. There are three large and two tiny sprues, one of the latter with the cockpit transparency. However, there is nothing to see in the cockpit. The cargo bay doors are designed to be displayed open with the robotic arm extended. A section of wire is supplied to attach to the intrepid astronaut. Of course, this will look a bit silly without a stand, but one has no choice but to put the craft on its wheels with all this other stuff hanging out.

With one sprue molded in black, it makes it easier to paint as the lower wing and nose 'radome' area are molded in black. There is a huge sink area on the underside of the wing that you'll want to fill. There is also an unused mounting hole (for the non-supplied stand). The parts appear that one could snap fit many of them, but the wise modeler will glue this stuff. Instructions are well done and you get markings for three shuttles: Discovery, Columbia, and Atlantis. The NASA logos are the old 'wurm' style that was done away with several years ago in a change back to the original NASA style logos. Surprising that the new ones were not included as the sheet is dated 11/2007. The sheet does include some of the additional tile areas around the fin and windscreen so that is much appreciated.