Finished Photos of Masterpiece Models 1/48 Scale Luna Spaceship Diorama From the Movie Destination Moon

Phillip1

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Nov 1, 2024
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Fellow Modelers,

Below are photos of Masterpiece Models'1/48 scale spaceship Luna from the 1950 USA Movie Destination Moon. The movie told the story of man's first attempt to reach the moon by rocket and it was the second major motion picture made about manned space travel. Honestly, the acting in the movie is poor and the story line is weak, but the science behind the space flight is based in fact (for what was known at the time). It is pretty entertaining and won an Academy Award for Best Special Effects. Most importantly it gave us a very cool rocket design named Luna, which looks pretty much like a glorified German V-2 missile. This is a very large kit with the rocket height being 37". This is the same size as the main miniature used in the movie. The kit only consisted of six resin pieces, with one of those being the lunar base! The astronaut figures are 3D Printings I purchased from Shapeways.com. All the miscellaneous ground equipment was either scratch-built or came from my "spare parts stash". The lunar surface was given a multicolor finish to match what was in the movie. The finished product is simple but still eye-popping due to its size and attractive lines. The last photo shows me kneeling beside the model to show how large it is. I hope you enjoy the photos.

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Nice work! I take it this is a vacuform kit? I would imagine a resin cast kit would weigh a ton in this scale.
 
trekriffic-Thanks! It is a resin kit. The fins are solid and the body is partially hollow, so yes the model is very heavy.

Phillip1
 
WOW! Love that satin finish, what I thought everything would look like in the future as a kid in the early 60s!
...never saw the movie, but brings back memories of reading the French Tintin comic albums in primary school!

Way cool!

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BarleyBop-Thanks for the compliment. From the image you posted it appears the Tintin creation copied the 1951 Destination Movie spaceship and spacesuits!

Phillip1
 
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