Moebius Models 1/8 EVA Pod - 2001: a space odyssey Kit First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

After a black monolith was uncovered on the moon, scientists were able to trace the direction of the pulse of energy it sent into deep space to the moons of Saturn. The research ship USSC Discovery One was built and dispatched to see what was 'out there'. With a crew of five, Discovery was highly automated by an artificial intelligence designated as HAL. During the long trip to Jupiter, the three scientists were placed into cryogenic sleep to preserve resources, leaving pilots David Bowman and Frank Poole to tend to operations of Discovery. Since Discovery is over 140 meters long, the ship was equipped with three extra-vehicular activity (EVA) pods which any of the crew could 'fly' and tend to exterior repairs of the ship.

Moebius Models has released three other kits from the movie 2001, including the reissue of the venerable Pan Am clipper, the moon bus, and more recently, the Discovery. Even though the Discovery kit is 1/144 scale, the assembled model is still over 36 inches long. So, in keeping with their last huge model, it is only fitting that this one-person EVA pod be produced in 1/8 scale. If they'd bumped the scale up to 1/6, you could place a GI Joe figure inside, but the model would be even larger than this one. I knew I was in trouble when this kit was delivered by forklift. Okay, I exaggerate, but there is some serious plastic inside this large box!

This kit is molded in white styrene and presented on 19 parts trees plus two trees of chromed parts and a tree of clear parts. The detailing in the parts reveal a great deal of research into the original designs that were not readily seen in the film.

Among the features and options:

• Straightforward assembly
• Poseable/movable arms
• Poseable/movable crew hatch
• Nice decals included

Given the size of this model, you may want to take some extra time with the smaller details provided in this kit. For example, though the interior layout is simple to assemble, there are numerous computer screens and switches that will need attention. The instructions provide color information for the switches, but you can see in the decals that the panels are provided in black. Before you think about painting the panels instead, look closer to the decals as you'll see the pin-stripes and labels around each cluster of switches to identify their function. The computer screens are provided as clear styrene inserts, and decals are provided to put whichever displays you wish to show on each of the screens.

As I mentioned the small details, you'll also note that there are numerous stencils provided so you can busy-up the exterior of the EVA pod from its otherwise stark black and white finish.

You'll also want to know that this kit was designed with lighting in mind. The interior shell and exterior shell are separate leaving enough space in-between for wiring, and the clear screens can be back-lit as well as adding other appropriate interior and exterior lighting. As noted above, the kit provides the exterior light reflectors as chromed parts so you can insert your LED of choice in each housing before adding the clear lens.

You can visit CultTVman Hobbies to see some of the aftermarket options for this kit including at least one lighting kit, and a photo-etch set from ParaGrafix to provide an alternate solution for those instrument panels.

This will be a fun build, though I am still sorting out the problem of where/how to display this model. I've got a few ideas in mind, we'll see how this project turns out! Kudos to Moebius Models for producing this beast, and perhaps they'll consider a 1/144 Leonov to mount to the Discovery and recreate the escape launch from 2010.