Earth Defense Directorate Starfighter

from "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" (1979-1981)

Scale: 1:48
Initial Release: 1979
Medium: Styrene
Kit Rarity: 4

About the Design

Although Glen Larson's "Buck Rogers" TV series was even campier than the "Battlestar Galactica" series that begat it, the design of the Earth Defense Directorate Starfighter (aka "Thunderfighter") was far and away more creative than anything his design team developed for BSG.  Its abbreviated "A"-frame wing structure, massive needle-like engines and underside tail fins gave the Starfighter a unique profile that was decidedly lean and mean. 

Ironically, this had been the first design for the BSG "Viper" -- note the forward "fangs" -- but had been rejected in favor of the quasi X-Wing design we're now more familiar with.

About the Kit

One of only two "Buck Rogers" kits produced by Monogram in the late 1970's (the other was the Draconian Marauder), the Starfighter was actually released before the series' September 1979 premiere.  It was briefly re-released briefly by Tsukuda under its short-lived "S.F. Old Time" label in the mid-1980s.

This model was built from an original issue.