[Carson Dyle]

I'm dating myself here, but about 30 years ago then-FX artist/ now-film director/ eternal "Forbidden Planet" buff Bill Malone produced a simple, two-piece, vacu-form model of the C-57D. Some of you older sci-fi enthusiasts may recall seeing the ad, which ran exclusively on the inside back cover of StarLog magazine (see blurry foto below).

The model, which measured about 20" across, was extremely accurate, the molds having been pulled from one of the original production miniatures. With all due respect to Lunar Models and Polar Lights, no other kit producer has managed to so successfully reproduce the subtle contours of this ship. I've been trying to track one down for years, but they're pretty scarce. Anyone out there got one?...

 

[bil4miller]

Comet Miniatures offered a fiberglass 20" C-57D some time ago. Could this be one of the elusive Malone models? I got one off ebay about five years ago.

 

[Carson Dyle]

Comet Miniatures offered a fiberglass 20" C-57D some time ago. Could this be one of the elusive Malone models? I got one off ebay about five years ago.

I'm honestly not sure... do you have any pix?

 

[Trek Ace]

I have one of those vacuform C-57D's. It is a very good kit, and very accurate.

 

[bil4miller]

Here's the fiberglass 20" C-57D I got off Ebay a couple of years ago. It was originally offered by Comet Miniatures and is a flight mode type kit.

 

[Lee Staton]

Carson, I have one of those Malone vac-forms. As soon as I saw it advertised I sent my order! Wish I could offer it for sale, but I love the thing--it's not too big and not too small. It is very accurate, and very simple. Of course, one of the factors that has kept me from building it was the thought of casting a clear copy of the bottom dome...though I think painting it "lit" would be enough for me! Then I'd build that incredible PL interior kit as a stand-alone.

I've never known anyone else that had one. I wonder if Malone still has the vac form "bucks" to pull a few more? I don't know him personally, but I have friends who do....

Lee

 

[Ignatz]

Looks great from the pix. MAN! There was a ton of stuff that ran in Starlog that I wanted to get but never got around to it. That's one of them! 20 inches is a good, manageable size for this craft. The PL effort had loopy proportions, but a nice interior. But if Mr. Malone were to produce another run of his C-57D, I would certainly be up for one!

 

[Carson Dyle]

Carson, I have one of those Malone vac-forms. As soon as I saw it advertised I sent my order! Wish I could offer it for sale, but I love the thing--it's not too big and not too small. It is very accurate, and very simple. Of course, one of the factors that has kept me from building it was the thought of casting a clear copy of the bottom dome...though I think painting it "lit" would be enough for me! Then I'd build that incredible PL interior kit as a stand-alone.

I've never known anyone else that had one. I wonder if Malone still has the vac form "bucks" to pull a few more? I don't know him personally, but I have friends who do....

Lee

Oh for heaven's sakes Lee, if you haven't built it by now you never will. It's only got 2 pieces for God's sakes!

Razzing aside, if you ever do decide to sell please let me know... I'd give you an EXTREMELY fair price. In the meantime, why not bug your friends to bug Malone. Who knows, maybe he still has a few of the old kits gathering dust somewhere (like yours).

 

[Carson Dyle]

Here's the fiberglass 20" C-57D I got off Ebay a couple of years ago. It was originally offered by Comet Miniatures and is a flight mode type kit.

This is not the Malone kit, but thanks very much for the pix. Mystery solved.

 

[Lee Staton]

Oh for heaven's sakes Lee, if you haven't built it by now you never will. It's only got 2 pieces for God's sakes!

LOL! I couldn't have said it better about myself! Not to make excuses, but I spent 15 of those years putting on a model show that kept getting bigger! I've hardly built anything in the last 12 years because the show work ate my "free" time. Always told people I was working on a 1:1 scale model of a convention. Now that I've retired from it, I'm actually building models again! So you never know, it could be built soon...right after all of those other models in my vault!

Ya gotta admit, two pieces is very tempting!

Lee