Jupiter 2 from "Lost in Space" (1965-1968)

Scale: 1:60
Initial Release: 1998
Medium: Styrene
Kit Rarity: 3

About the Design

Originally called the "Gemini 12," the Jupiter 2 was an interplanetary space vehicle designed to ferry the over-achieving Robinson Family to nearby Alpha Centauri as the first step in interplanetary human colonization.  But sabotage by the nefarious Dr. Zachary Smith sent the craft careening off course, leaving the hapless Robinsons...LOST IN SPACE!!!

The craft itself was a take on the already familiar "flying saucer" concept that peaked 10 years earlier with the C-57D from MGM's "Forbidden Planet."  (Note: The crafts' combination landing legs/stairs are virtually identical. Both craft were the work of the same designer.) Compounding the overall silliness of the design is that fact that its upper and lower interior levels were so enormous that there was virtually no room for any kind of propulsion system -- nor was any precise power source or star drive ever even hinted at.  (In fact, in one third-season episode, characters descended into a never-before-mentioned "engine room" -- which contained nothing but blinking computers -- left over from Allen's other series, "The Time Tunnel"!)

Still, the Jupiter 2 remains a favorite with Baby Boomers, its simple lines standing as one of the last vestiges of Golden Age innocence.

About the Kit

It took more than 30 years for an injection-molded model maker to produce an all-plastic Jupiter 2, but when Polar Lights decided to make this their first original mass-market kit in 1998, they came up with a doozy. Although the kit contains numerous flaws, inaccuracies, and compromises (The pilots' seats are all wrong, and first issues had the main hatch door upside down), the model's sheer size and complete upper and lower decks make this kit a must-have for any serious Fantastic Plastic builder. Later "Collector's Editions" came with silver or gold chrome exteriors.

This kit is an original issue.