Space Shuttle Orbiter Atlantis
1:72 Revell of Germany
1:72 Revell of Germany
The Space Shuttle is probably one of the most recognised air and space vehicles on this planet, so I won't go into raptures over its proud history, or the two tragic losses of ships and crew during its long and illustrious career. This year should mark the last flights of the remaining Space Shuttle airframes, so it's not surprising to see that Revell have rereleased their large scale kit.
The kit is in one of Revell's large top opening box, with a fetching painting of the shuttle in orbit on the front. Inside are 6 sprues of white plastic, one small sprue of clear parts, the instruction booklet and a set of decals.
The mould is based upon the original that was released during my younger years, although Revell have not rested on their laurels, but have added some extra detail to the kit in the shape of raised lines of insulation tiles on the underside and the large "blankets" on the upper surfaces of the big delta wings. Additional detail has been added to the opening bay doors, flying (gliding?) surfaces, auxiliary motor housings and the rear thrusters boxes. Raised detail has also been added to the rear bulkhead onto which the main engine bells attach, which is a welcome addition, as these looked very blank in previous releases.
The hull consists of two main parts split vertically, which sit on the one-piece wing underside, with the two wing tops dropping on top to complete the main structure. There is the option of posing the internal payload bay open, and the doors can be hinged open if you choose this route. Parts for a basic payload bay are included, but these date from long long ago, so are essentially fictitious. If this isn't a problem, you have the option of modelling your orbiter doing a job of work outside the earth's atmosphere, added to which you also get 2 astronuats. If you choose to model the bay closed, it's probably still a good idea to add the internal parts for the structural rigidity they confer on the assembly.
The crew cockpit is included, with basic consoles and crew seats, which are detailed up by the addition of a comprehensive set of decals for the instruments - over 10 in total, which should give the impression of plenty of detail through the small windows of the flight deck. This marks a significant improvement compared to the original release. Another crew member is provided to add to this area, in a waving stance, although his shirt-sleeves dress seems a little out of place on a space craft.
The "roof" of the cockpit area has been made removable, so that the observer can have a proper look into the crew area, so care must be taken when putting this area together. If you opt to glue it closed, some careful sanding and filling of the seamline will be needed to avoid damaging the raised tile pattern around the area.
It may be my imagination, but I suspect that the engine bells have also been improved from the original release, as they have the coolant hoses running down each bell and look cleanly moulded. The ancillary and thrusters engine bells are less well detailed however, and the larger ones will need some cleaning up, being made up of two halves.
If you choose to model the shuttle on the ground, a full set of gear legs, wheels and bay doors is included, but the bays themselves contain only minimal detail. Some research will be needed to do them full justice.
To model Atlantis in flight, the gear bay doors are glued shut, and the payload bay should be modelled open, as the solar panels are usually deployed during the largest proportion of their missions. The solar panels are mounted inside the bay doors, and are portrayed here as separate parts - another addition not present on the original release. They are of course a little overscale in thickness, but some careful sanding should remedy this. The rest of the bay consists of a u-shaped trough with endcaps, a piece of ESA hardware - perhaps a part of the International Space Station, and some kind of telescope arrangement in a framework.
The shuttle's manipulator arm is included in a number of parts this time, allowing you to position it as you see fit if you are going for an in-flight pose, with some additional rams and an antenna finishing off the bay fit.
Back in the noughties I bought the Real Space Models payload bay set for my original of this kit, along with the replacement engine bells (large and small), which improve the accuracy of the kit, although you'll still need to buy or scratch build the contents of the bay, and I'm happy to say that these are still available from their website.
The decals allow you to portray either the titular Atlantis, or Endeavour or Discovery, the other remaining in-service shuttles. The sheet has been expanded significantly from the original, and includes all manner of black and white decals for various areas of the shuttle, as well as the clearly visible details around the hinges of the payload bay. The NASA "meatball" logo also seems to be accurate, and you get a couple of ESA logos for their chunk of space station (if that's what it is).
Conclusion
I'm very happy to see this released in time for the last flights of the Space Shuttle, and to see it released with some significant improvements to detail shows that Revell have been listening. It will still require care during the build process however, as it is a large kit made of large and sometimes flexible parts. Take it slow and steady however, and you will end up with an excellent replica of this awe inspiring behemoth.
Review sample courtesy of 
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