[john guard]

ok, i wanna but a Planet of the Ape's Icarus model!
can anyone tell me which is better, the Monsters in Motion Model or the Wilco Model??

i need pro's and con's of each!!


thanks!

 

[Dave Hussey]

I haven't got the Monsters in Motion kit so I can't compare them directly for you. However, CultTVMan is $10 cheaper for the Wilco - $39 vs $49.

Huzz

 

[lisfan]

hi
i have the huge MIM icarus kit. while 99.00, it is exceptional for a resin kit. mine had no air bubbles in the casting. the casting was very clean. it fits together like a glove as advertised.i had to wait close to six months to get it as they were doing the molds over. the only bad thing is that it doesnt have the hybernation beds like the wilco.
i have'nt got the wilco yet but i heard some things about bubbles in casting but i cant be sure. it is next on the list to get though

 

[Dave Hussey]

I have a Wilco Icarus from his first run of that kit. While there were some problems with the first run, bubbles in the casting was not one of them and is not evidenced in my copy. The problems related to blow outs in the molds and were apparently fixed on the subsequent run.

If you contact Wilco directly, you can ask Bill (AKA Sarge) to ship you one of the later kits with those problems fixed.

Huzz

 

[lisfan]

thanks for the update. i will be getting one of these too

 

[Sonett]

I have both kits and cannot emphasize enough about how much better the Wilco kit is. While the MIM kit is well cast and a slightly larger size, the Wilco kits knocks it dead when it comes to accuracy. The MIM kit comes with an interior that only slightly resembles the movie ship.

Dude, do yourself a favor and get a Wilco!!

 

[PerfesserCoffee]

I have quite a few of Sarge's kits and can't recommend them highly enough! :thumbsup:

Compared to other resin model makers, his are absolutely astounding! His accuracy is very high and there is little to no pitting. :hat:

 

[veedubb67]

I have to agree with Perfesser Coffee. I have three Wilco kits (Luna, Pan Am Clipper and the Icarus) and they are incredible. If you haven't seen his work, you're missing out. In additon, he really knows how to treat his customers. I have one of the first run Icarus' and he offered to replace the blow out piece before I even asked! Nice guy - active duty Air Force. Do yourself a favor and buy a Wilco Icarus.

Rob

 

[BatFanMan]

I'd like to put in my vote for Skyhook Models as well, another great kit to consider. Dave, the owner, puts out great product at reasonable prices.

Check them out at:
http://www.skyhookmodels.com/models.htm

- Fred

 

[flyingfrets]

I'm going with the Skyhook model to start with. I'm doing a dio of the astronauts escaping the sinking ship AND Dave was kind enought to sell me just the parts I needed too (didn't need the base). Seems like a good guy to do business with.

Eventually, I'll get the Wico version as well, but I always wanted to do this dio since I saw the film 36 years ago and don't see any point in chopping up the Wilco when the Skyhook was designed with the crash scene in mind, so I guess another question to ask (besides which kit to buy) is how do you intend to display it?

Let you know how it works out...:thumbsup:

'Frets

 

[Dave Hussey]

As an Icarus nut too (and a Proteus/Nautilus/Martian War Machine etc etc nut) I have to agree that the Wilco is just too nice to chop up for that sinking diorama.

I would hazard to guess that its fairly easy to make an accurate Icarus exterior model. But the Wilco's interior accuracy is noteworthy. At the beginning of the movie there are many views of the interior of the ship taken from a mid point in the cabin looking towards the front windows, as Taylor/Heston babbles on philosophically. I taped my Wilco together, removed the rear bulkhead and peered in. I thought I had been transported into the movie! The only real inaccuracy that I am aware of is the cockpit seats which apparently are not perfectly accurate, but they do suit the model and thus do not look out of place. Everything else looks to be extremely close to the way the ship appears in the movie.

Like, ya owe it to yourself to get one!

Huzz

 

[Ignatz]

I would go with the Wilco one. Overall it looks very nice. The interior is nice and maybe about 85% accurate. The seats are off, but easy enough to scratchbuild. The bunks are way off, and I think it was done to accomodate either the molding, or the fit of the interior into the exterior shape. Not a big deal, IMHO. If you look all over, the details mostly approximate what was in the interior set, but like I said, overall, it comes together really well. I think the molding is mighty fine. There were only a couple of small bubbles (my sample had a bubble trapped in the wheel lock of the hatch--darn!), mine had the mold problem in the window frame, tough fix but not the blow out problem in the bulkhead--I believe both problems were fixed. All that AND the price is fantastic.

I would go with the Skyhook one also. It looks like a great diorama (who doesn't want at least one diorama with water effects in their collection?! And my experience with buying from Dave has been great. I bought 6 or 7 kits from him and they were all beautifully produced.

 

[Dave Hussey]

Hi Ignatz! Why do you say the bunks (hibernation chambers) are way off? I thought that they were in fact pretty good and incorporate some of the instrumentation details seen in the movie. Although it did seem that the two lower hibernation chambers are slightly "squat vertically" for the apparent purpose of fitting the interior set into the exterior shape, as you noted.

As far as I know, Sarge has fixed the blowout problems in his later production runs of this kit. Mine was from the very first production run and had the big pillow shaped blowout in the bulkhead wall which separates the cockpit seat area from the lower port side hibernation chamber. I used a chisel blade in my hobby knife set to chip it away, without much trouble at all actually. Doing that that removes much of the texture of the bulkhead wall. But it isn't a problem because this area of the model can only be seen through the relatively small front windows of the ship and is also obscured behind the crew seats.

Huzz

 

[Ignatz]

Yeah, Dave. That's mostly it. The bunks should stack on a diagonal line so the glass lids, will line up on the diagonal too. There's a thick-ish partition just forward of the bunks that have an interesting diamond sided profile that's quite noticeable in the set but is not really represented in the model. My first impression of the instruments in the bunks are that they didn't really match up to what's shown on screen and their size was a bit exxagerated. It's nice that they are there, but it's the kind of thing that instantly makes me start assessing what it would take to redo them. In the end I take it with all with a grain of salt. As a total package, the details, kit features, level of accuracy inside and out, price, and availability--you simply cannot go wrong.

 

[Dave Hussey]

Agreed - you simply cannot go wrong with the Wilco!

But I'll have to take a look at my Planet of the Apes DVD to look for those things you mentioned. I had not noticed them before, even though I watched the opening sequences of the movie featuring the Icarus when my Wilco model of it arrived!

Huzz

 

[flyingfrets]

All the little inaccuracies mentioned don't bother me in the least. As has been discussed on another thread, half the fun of modeling is trying to make our kits look as close to the vehicles in the movies/TV shows they're based on.

From what I've heard of The Sarge & his prices, his kits are a great value. I've also heard alot of good things about Skyhooks' kits and their value for the dollar. We've all been in the hobby long enough to know that ANY kit will need some work to get it "just so." Polar's Jupiter 2 wasn't completely accurate (and it was a mass produced styrene kit), but for those of us who've built one, didn't we have a blast "fixing" those little quirks? I think we all expect to put in a little extra effort on resin kits (God knows how long it took Fluke to finish his Lunar Spindrift and that kit was 5 times more expensive than Sarge or Dave's kits and maybe half as accurate).

I'll get the Wilco eventually too, but for what I have in mind right now, Dave's kit fits the bill.

Now when I get around to building a Proteus, there's only 1 way to go...Wilco!:thumbsup:

'Frets

 

[flyingfrets]

Just got my Icarus from Skyhook. Gotta tell you, that's one beautiful casting. NOT ONE pinhole, air bubble or incompletely cast area on the kit. A couple of swipes with fine grade sandpaper on the mold lines (they're very faint) and she'd be ready for paint if I weren't opening up the escape hatch.

VERY WELL DONE! :thumbsup:

Thanks Dave,

'Frets

 

[Skymods]

THANKS! I'm glad you like it. Please take lot's of in-progress pictures of the diorama. I know I personally would like to see how to do the water. It sounds very interesting.

Dave