(Thumbnail image source:
Fantastic Plastic)
Testors (kit number 576) 1:48th scale Area S4 UFO
Lindberg (kit number 91006) 1:48th scale Area 51 UFO
This is a good example of a mold being used by another company to release the same model kit with a new name with the same tooling as the original model kit.
This post is intended to allow discussion on various ideas and perhaps solutions to problems and not something to show my WIP unless I get far enough along to deem it worthwhile to share such images. For now, the kit I am working on is still in the box, taken out occasionally to inspect it and do some check-fit on various parts I have rediscovered in my stash of spare parts that looked suitable for inclusion in the project.
The Testors interpretation of the popular UFO/flying saucer was produced and made available for sale to the public sometime in 1995-1996. Fantastic Plastic has a nice description plus an image of the box top and finished model at this link:
Testors' Area S-4 UFO Revealed!Another page on the Testors Area S4 UFO with images of the instruction sheet plus box top and bottom images can be viewed at this link:
Area S4 UFO Revealed 1:48 Scale Model Kit As you can see from the images at the above link this is not a complicated model to build. It only gets complicated when you try to use logic and a common-sense approach to what you would expect to find inside of an alien craft modified to allow human (Terran) occupancy to control and fly the craft. The three tiny and very plain looking seats included in the kit obviously are not going to work for a 1:48th scale human size figure of any proportion unless you are modeling a child. The only other pieces included in the kit for the top of the deck are three rectangular shapes that are supposed to interface with three cylindrical objects on the deck bottom. Taking the easy way out would be to just do as Fantastic Plastic suggests and paint it after assembly to be done with the thing. The two saucer halves look like something that was originally some kind of light fixture cover for a ceiling light or maybe a hub cap. The bottom saucer half is very plain looking, no surface details at all and again, a ceiling lamp or hubcap shape. A third part molded in grey plastic looks like a small salad bowl with some engraved rectangle shapes around the circumference, nothing spectacular to be honest.
After opening my own kit and inspecting the contents I decided to remove the figures, deck parts (top and bottom) and the seats. The top of the deck has a small hexagonal area engraved into the deck that is supposed to be the access port to the lower area of the craft. I sanded this feature off of the deck along with the details on top of the areas where the seats and rectangular shapes were to be glued. This was a good start but I feel that at some point I will need to sand or cut away the remaining raised surfaces to achieve an overall smooth surface for the upper deck in order to allow placement of new seating and various pieces of equipment to make it look like a craft capable of flight in the atmosphere or space. Why? Well the layout is too simple in appearance and it begs for interior details of some kind or another. The interior is pretty much a blank slate awaiting your input, things like black boxes, tanks, proper seating for human occupants, control panels, circuit breaker boxes, cabling and some kind beg to be included. In addition to the desired internal clutter it would be nice to also include a series of bulkheads and internal framework to suggest a structure of some kind beyond the engraving in the top half of the saucer shape. I did cut open the door engraved in the clear plastic top half and was not pleased with the fracturing of the plastic around the area of my cut. While I did try to be careful by scribing the area to be cut and following up with razor saw it was still a fail from my point of view. The door part was a write off as it shattered and that means additional work to make a new door.
Another issue I found with this model is the lack of any kind of display stand for the thing. Your only choice is to let it sit on a flat surface or hang it from the ceiling. I found a solution to this issue by purchasing the
Lindberg Independence Day Alien Attacker model kit (link to Fantastic Plastic). The display stand from that kit is perfect for a UFO shape since it is an inverted tripod that will hold your Testors UFO model without overwhelming the model.
