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2001: Discovery XD-1 FruitPACK (FP05) 1:144 GreenStrawberry 2001: Space Odyssey is possibly one of the most well-known, ground-breaking and most revered movies in Sci-Fi circles, filmed by genius director Stanley Kubrick, years before Star Wars re-broke the mould, with previously unseen quality of special effects and a grown-up story. The ships were believable both in their design and execution with a number of memorable craft that had a practical harshness to both the design and cinematography. The main ship that carried the crew to Jupiter to meet with the second monolith after discovering the little one on the moon was named Discovery and had a massive long hull to keep the atomic engines from irradiating the crew, who were located in the spherical module at the bow. In the middle was a huge dish to communicate with earth, with its troublesome EA35 unit that cost Frank Poole his life when his EVA pod went rogue. Released in 1968, it was initially greeted with a mixed reception partly due to the psychedelic ending and sparse use of dialogue, but over the years the fan base has solidified and turned its standing into that of a true classic. It is still occasionally shown in cinemas and has recently been remastered onto 4K UHD Blu-Ray so we can all enjoy it at the highest possible resolution and fidelity. It's well worth a watch, and the special effects still stand up to scrutiny although if you're expecting an all-action space opera you're looking in the wrong direction. This is more what's known now as Hard Sci-Fi that revolves around realism and takes physical constraints such as gravity and the fact that sound doesn't propagate in space into account. The Kit Moebius released their massive kit in 1:144 scale in 2017 to many a dropped-jaw, myself included. Measuring in at over 40", it is a stunning piece of plastic engineering that would be an awesome centre-piece to any collection, and deserves to be built and finished to the highest standard that we're capable of. GreenStrawberry love Sci-Fi as much as we do and have crafted a bunch of sets that can be used to detail and upgrade the kit to a higher level of crispness. They have three sets and have now brought them together in the FruitPack as a simple way of getting them all with a discount into the bargain. The set arrives in a printed box and has the three sets within, the corresponding instruction booklets with them alongside some decals, acetate sheet and paper consoles. In the box you get the following: 06819-1/144 EVA Pods 06919-1/144 Cockpit and exterior 07019-1/144 Hangar bay The focus of the set is the spherical crew compartment that really ramps up the realism and gives the module a very deep 3D look thanks to the Photo-Etch (PE) and resin parts used to create internal compartments that appear in the film. The external set also includes parts for the engine module and antenna, so it's not all up front. EVA Pods (06819-1/144) The EVA pods perform a pivotal role in the film, enabling the crew to repair the dubious antenna issue, then making off with Frank Poole when HAL 9000's psychosis overcomes him. It also features in the dramatic re-entry that gave us the immortal "Open the pod bay doors HAL" line from Keir Dullea playing Dave Bowman. This is the simplest set of the three with a trio of EVA pods in crisp grey resin that are completed by the addition of the manipulator arms and decals once painted, which even includes the red warning messages on the rear access door. The arms are folded-up from PE and can be cut short when they are stowed or left longer if you see fit with alternative splayed claws giving more flexibility – you could even use those with a separately sourced Frank figure if you are going for the slightly ghoulish look. Cockpit and exterior (06919-1/144) This set includes two PE sheets, a set of printed instrument panels and a clear sheet with windscreen (spacescreen?) facets printed upon them. Construction begins with the engines, which are skinned inside with detailed fluted interior wall and a louvered interior that has perpendicular rails added later on. This would look great with some LEDs behind them, and there are three pods so you'll need to perform the task three times in total. The smaller enginelets also get a detail part, and around the narrow rear of the pods which are actually further toward the front, the moulded in detail is removed to be replaced by small raised detail panels. Moving forward the antenna is raised slightly by the addition of an insert between the two base parts, details are added to the sides of the raised section and the supports for the dish, while the two ancillary dishes are detailed at the rear with support structure, and all three are given delicate cross-braces for the centre signal collectors. Moving inside the cockpit area and the corridor that leads back into the ship are made up from PE parts that are tailored to fit within the sphere, and instruments are provided that peel off their backing paper and are stuck down to give a huge detail uplift to the area. The two pilot couches are folded up and added into the assembly then the trunk back toward the access ladder corridor is fitted to the rear with a bulkhead preventing a see-through ending. The visor for the windscreen is made up with a frame to which the acetate sheet is added, then this is inserted into the detailed recess that slides into the kit visor part with vertical stiffeners inserted vertically between the three front panels. Finally, the cylindrical thruster-like protrusions at the rear of the crew orb receive optional detail skins with circular shapes in the recess, and the important emergency airlock on the lower portion of the crew module is detailed with new parts, just begging for an EVA pod to backed up against it. Hangar bay (07019-1/144) This is the largest and most complex of the sets with 38 resin parts, a sheet of PE, a sheet of self-adhesive instrument panels, a sheet of decals and finally the instructions. It recreates a substantial portion of the lower half of the command sphere, beginning with the hangar bay for the three EVA pods detailed above. The pods sit on retractable arms that transport them out through the circular bay doors, so construction begins with the floor some way below. The resin supports for the landing pads are fixed in place with PE braces, then the bay floor level is placed on top with the retractable beams inserted from behind so that they can be left to slide in and out if you wish. The pads are made up from resin bases with PE detail parts, then all three are placed on the rails and cemented in place with a lower PE skin hiding and strengthening the join. The three segments of back wall of the bay are then made up for later joining. The right panel has an octagonal recess made up from two halves with off-centre joins to cater for the shape, an end bulkhead, and a set of very well detailed PE skins to detail the walls plus an optional door that can be left open or off at your whim. Another shorter resin part depicts a doorway with access corridor leading to the location of the emergency airlock. The centre wall panel has a recess for two tanks and the left panel has a window and doorway with a small room behind it that has a computer console and storage/computer racks in the right portion. Another door can be fitted to the aperture unless you want everything to be seen, and throughout all this construction there are stickers and decals applied to improve the detail still further. The ceiling consists of a large fan-shaped part with six recesses and four detail parts added, and this is fixed to the top of the completed structure once it has been brought together and detailed to your liking. The kit parts for the bay doors are hollowed out into rings for later addition, and the main bay is assembled on the layered floor with neatly fitting location between the four assemblies. In the centre of the floor is the large waist-height console where the crew talk to HAL, and this too has stickers that include HAL's upstand, but not his glowing red eye. Perhaps you're expected to add an LED into the mix to give him the correct amount of malevolence, or you could source a small cabochon in the correct colour if you don't feel up to the task of lighting your model. The decal sheet contains a big black decal for the walkways, with extras for the leading edges of the landing pads. Three raised areas have additional PE edging strips fitted with stickers within them, and then the three space suits are fitted to their hanging poles with a small PE spacer between the neck and helmet, but don't forget to remove any that are going to be missing due to your particular posing of the EVA pods, or at a particular point in the ship's journey. Check your copy of the film for that sort of detail. With the suits in place, a ladder is added into the left ante-room and the bay roof it glued in place on top of the completed assembly. Preparation of the lower half of the orb involves removing a number of small protrusions around the edges and under the bay openings, then adding PE rings around the edges of the doors, as some element can be seen from opposing views. Conclusion This is an incredible set for what will likely be the build of your modelling "career", so it makes a lot of sense to push the boat out. As long as you're comfortable handling PE and resin, it's a bit of a must-have for owners of this kit, budget permitting of course. Detail is staggering, the assembly is sensibly documented in the instructions, and the potential finish replicates the detail incredibly well. Your main decision is how many bay doors do you pose open to make the most of all your work? Lastly, don't forget that you can purchase these sets separately if you or your budget don't feel up to the FruitPACK. Phew! I managed to get through the review without any 2001 puns Extremely highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of