Moebius Models 1/72 Interstellar Ranger Kit First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

In 2014, the movie 'Interstellar' was released which looked at a last-ditch effort to find a home for Earth's remaining population as the planet grows increasingly uninhabitable. A stable wormhole had been discovered near the orbit of Saturn which lead to a distant galaxy and was the only hope for humans using sub-light spaceflight to move the mankind to a new home. The problem was locating a suitable world on the other side of the wormhole. A dozen explorers had previously been dispatched through the wormhole in one-person ships to scout twelve worlds that had looked promising from a distance. The movie picks up as a follow-up craft is dispatched to look at the most promising worlds and get back to Earth with the good news. If return was not possible, the craft was also carrying a supply of frozen embryos to re-establish the human race in the new galaxy.

The primary exploration vehicle is a craft capable of atmospheric and spaceflight called the Ranger. A pair of Rangers are carried aloft atop a Saturn V and dock with Endurance, their deep space craft which provides living quarters, labs, and especially gravity during the crews' extended stay in space. Once the Endurance has transited through the wormhole and the best candidate planets are selected, the Rangers are used to fly down to the planet's surface to meet with the initial explorers.

Moebius Models had announced that a kit of the Ranger was coming months before the opening of the movie and before most of us knew what a Ranger was going to look like. Well the kit is finally on store shelves and much to my surprise, there are actually two kits in this box. Molded in white styrene, this kit is presented on six parts trees. While there are lots of details in this nicely designed model, the kit does not have an interior, so assembly is going to be straightforward. The paint scheme was also simple - black and white - so even the instructions encourage a little weathering to make the details stand out.

The primary kit is the Ranger itself, which is 1/72nd scale and is designed to be displayed on its landing gear. The surprise kit is 1/144th scale and represents two Rangers fitted into the launch shroud that sits atop a 1/144 Airfix or Revell-Monogram Saturn V kit. That would make for an interesting addition to your manned spaceflight display!

This is yet another nice kit from Moebius Models that provide two nice Vipers to display together or one for your shelf and one for your desk. Give one a try!

My sincere thanks to Moebius Models for this review sample!