In my previous post I talked about building the “Interplanetary UFO” model, which I has recently been re-released and which I had built when I was younger. Well, I have since pulled out my bin of old models and located my original “Interplanetary UFO” as well as one a friend gave me that I subsequently modified. There are several differences between the old version and the new version. The first thing I noticed is that the old version is much more translucent than the new one and doesn’t glow as brightly. It’s possible that this could partially be fading that occured over the years, but I don’t really think so.
Another difference is that there are some pieces that the new version comes with that the old one didn’t. Frank’s Home Page > AMT Leif Ericson Galactic Cruiser and U.F.O Mystery Ship gives a complete explanation of why this is but basically the parts that were in chrome in the original Leif Ericson kit weren’t included in the original U.F.O. kit but are included in the new kit, although not in chrome. These include the “Phaser cannon” on the tip of the nose, a small ball piece on the top of the conning tower and three pieces of landing gear for the small shuttle.
Another major difference is the original release the upper and lower pieces main body and neck were each one piece. At some point AMT decided to make the UFO fit into a smaller box and the ships neck was cut. This is also the case with this newest release, although interestingly in the new version of the Leif Erikson the neck has been reconnected.
This adds an extra ring to the neck, but doesn’t look too bad:
A friend of mine had also built the UFO kit but didn’t want to hang onto it so he gave it to me and I proceeded to paint it and start gluing extra pieces to it. It’s got some chrome parts from an R2D2 kit, some parts from a Klingon D7, a few parts from “USS Cygnus” from the movie “The Black Hole” and I think a few missiles from a random tank model. On the bottom is also a bridge piece from some sort of “USS Enterprise” There’s also a couple miniature stands that I thought made good sensors, and some straight sprue pieces. I think there are also a few “Space Shuttle” parts as well. It predates the Firefly T.V. series but could have made a good “Reaver” ship for that show.
