"Last Hope" from "Rocket Jockey" (1952)

Scale: 1/288
Initial Release: 2022
Medium: Resin
Height: 5 inches
Kit Rarity: 2

About the Design

Published in 1952, "Rocket Jockey" by science fiction Golden Age writer Lester Del Rey (writing under the pseudonym Philip St. John) follows the adventures of a young Space Academy reject and his older brother who are determined to win an around-the-solar-system race dubbed "The Armstrong Classic." (Although written nearly a decade before the first manned space flight, Del Rey predicted that the first man on the moon would be named Armstrong!) Their entry is a refitted asteroid mining ship they name "Last Hope," its secret weapon being a super-duper rocket fuel developed by their late father.

In the tradition of early 1950s rocketships, "Last Hope" is basically a winged bullet, its clean, classic lines captured in the book's cover art by award-winning illustrator Alex Schomburg. 

"Rocket Jockey" was published as part of the Winston Science Fiction Series, a line of post-War juvenile/Young Adult sci-fi novels credited with inspiring a whole generation of Baby Boomer-age science fiction fans.

About the Kit

The "Rocket Jockey" Last Hope was created exclusively for Fantastic Plastic Models by Millennium Models International (MMI). Released in late 2022, it was #10 in Fantastic Plastic's 1:288 scale "Classic Rocketship" series.