# More geeky goodness from Moebius - Moonbus preview...



## GKvfx (May 30, 2008)

It was a good weekend to be a geek in L.A. Frank Winspur stopped by for an impromptu geek night and brought along a sample of his wares:










continued on next post.............

Gene

PS - Before y'all be getting on Frank's case, I need to get one in advance so's I can do a buildup for a magazine article..... The kit should be out in the next 2-3 weeks (I _think_ that's what he said.....)


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## GKvfx (May 30, 2008)

I got an original Moonbus kit back in 1985 for a whopping $8.00 (I talked the guy down from $10....) - mainly built, missing a few minor pieces and the glass, but had the box and instructions.

Moebius's kit is a dead ringer. Right down to the paper wrapped box top and Aurora inspired instructions.

I can't comment on the breakdown of sprues since my original was already mostly built. The new window glass parts are easily spotted.


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## GKvfx (May 30, 2008)

And if that wasn't enough, ever wonder what happens when you get the guy from Moebius in the same room as the guy from Pegasus Hobbies (Larry Thompson) AND Phil Broad (X15-A2)?

Well, let me tell you........










........they weren't talking about politics.....

Oh, yeah, more model eye candy:








....test shot of Pegasus's "When Worlds Collide" Ark that I'm working on for another article.......

Gene


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## teslabe (Oct 20, 2007)

Boy, it would have of been a great meet if all of us in LA could have got together for a drink.....


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## Magesblood (May 12, 2008)

OMG, nerdgasm


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## teslabe (Oct 20, 2007)

Sorry, great shots of the Moon Bus.....


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## falcondesigns (Oct 30, 2002)

Well,I know two guys there,Larry and the guy holding the camera,LOL.


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## Tim H. (Jun 23, 2009)

Cool, thanx. :thumbsup: Interesting - no 2001 titles on the box.


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## Magesblood (May 12, 2008)

GKvfx said:


>


see, I knew they had Moebius shirts!


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## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

And t-shirts that were handed out to volunteers for the Make-n-take at Chiller last October.


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## kdaracal (Jan 24, 2009)

Thanks for posting this!! Great pics! Looks like you guys are having fun.......


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## falcondesigns (Oct 30, 2002)

Tim H. said:


> Cool, thanx. :thumbsup: Interesting - no 2001 titles on the box.


Thats why you are able to have this coming out.......


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Awesome ! Love the Moonbus. And the Ark ! 
Man I can't wait for that either!


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## Matthew Green (Nov 12, 2000)

What is a Moonbus? I have watched a few sci-fi movies but haven't seen this. Do you drive it on the moon? And it's a bus...Do you pick up passengers? Is it like the Great Space Coaster?


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## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

It's from *2001: A Space Odyssey*.


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## Mr. Wabac (Nov 9, 2002)

Looks like a fun meeting. The Ark looks like one heck of a kit - I am assuming it comes with the base as shown ?

The Moonbus is one kit I have wanted for a long time but had resigned myself to never getting one as I was not going to cough up the dollars for an unbuilt Aurora.

Glad to see the MoonBus is almost at my stop


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## rkoenn (Dec 18, 2007)

Matthew Green said:


> What is a Moonbus? I have watched a few sci-fi movies but haven't seen this. Do you drive it on the moon? And it's a bus...Do you pick up passengers? Is it like the Great Space Coaster?


In the movie it was only used in the sequence where the TMA team shuttled from the Clavius moon base to the TMA-1 site. There was probably a bit less than 5 minutes involving the Moonbus. It "flew" on low thrust rocket thrusters I assumed and was shown in the movie flying maybe 30-40 feet above the surface. But is has become iconic of the five or so vehicles in the movie. Now we need to get the Orion 3 space plane in production again and get a styrene EVA pod and Aries lunar lander produced. The Discovery would be a beast to mold and the scale would have to be very high to make it reasonable but I would definitely be interested in a reasonably priced model.

I remember seeing this movie the summer of the year it came out. I had become a real space geek and was building model rockets and reading everything I could on the space program and Apollo. We lived in Tarpon Springs near Tampa, FL and the movie came to a Cinemascope theater in Tampa so I managed to talk my dad into taking me and my 2 brothers over for a showing. That was truly an astounding way to see the movie for the first time. The screen was huge and the seating area was very small along with the fact the theater was probably only about 20% full that day. I also remember my 9 year old brother saying very loudly when the words displayed on the screen: "The Dawn of WHO, man?" I was so embarrassed I couldn't believe it! LOL I have seen in numerous times since and when my wife has insomnia I suggest she just get up and pop the DVD in the player. She typically falls asleep during it!


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## Mitchellmania (Feb 14, 2002)

I thought the best part of 2001 was the cavemen, for a nine year old, the rest was boring! lol! I had a box partially built moonbus I traded for a resin kit, but I'm glad Moebius is making collectors happy with it.


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## rkoenn (Dec 18, 2007)

Mitchellmania said:


> I thought the best part of 2001 was the cavemen, for a nine year old, the rest was boring! lol! I had a box partially built moonbus I traded for a resin kit, but I'm glad Moebius is making collectors happy with it.


In general I was infatuated with the movie. And I always wondered about the stories of the druggies who went to see it over and over again because of the surrealistic space trip at the end. I personally got very bored with that sequence and feel they could have shortened it a bit. But I suppose coming up with something to simulate what he wanted and what was in the book would be difficult. I believe the book described flying over large dormant space ship fleets, planets, and other things that Kubrick would have had great difficulty simulating. It has been a long time since I read it and I may not be recalling it that well.

I will say though that it probably simulated actual space flight and long periods of nothing to do quite accurately. I also liked the rather antiseptic way they portrayed the spacecraft and environment. So many of the scifi fantasy type films show gritty dirty everyday type environments. Maybe someday in a far off future if might get that way but while NASA type organizations run it that is unlikely. I will admit though, from working for NASA at KSC, that the station has become in many areas a somewhat messy environment, at least along the lines of stuffing things in nooks and crannies to stow it and just lots of stuff everywhere. In space you can never hear your mom nag you to clean up!


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## Tim H. (Jun 23, 2009)

falcondesigns said:


> Thats why you are able to have this coming out.......


So having the title on the box would have upped the licensing fees? Not that I need them, know what it is and where it's from, thought it might be +marketing for the dvd and blurays.
And The Ark will be nice to have on my shelf too, when is it expected?


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## GKvfx (May 30, 2008)

Mr. Wabac said:


> Looks like a fun meeting. The Ark looks like one heck of a kit - I am assuming it comes with the base as shown ?........


Yeah, a good time was had by all. Frank and Larry got to chat it up with Greg Jein and Bill Creber (the production designer from "Apes", "Voyage", "Poseidon Adventure", etc...... )........










....Carson Dyle is the guy with the J2.

As for the Ark, what you see is a test shot. Larry wasn't too pleased with the base, so it's going back for another pass. But yeah, essentially what you see is what you'll be getting - an 11" rocket, the sled it sits on, the launch rail (1 single piece + 5 pylons) and a vacformed base (14" long) with a nice nameplate. The Ark is a real simple build (like.... a weekend) and with the rail, you can easily do some diorama bases. Really fun to build. I'm not going to post too much more as I'm working on an article for Sci-Fi and Fantasy Modeller and want to save a few surprises. Larry seems to think it will be out by the end of June.

So, we got the Viper at the beginning of this month, the Moonbus at the end of this month/beginning of May, and the Ark kit some time in June. Who said Sci-Fi modeling was dead?

Gene


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## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

GKvfx said:


> Who said Sci-Fi modeling was dead?


Everyone ...

Luckily people like Frank and the guys at Pegasus, R2, Atlantis, etc. etc. have resuscitated it! :thumbsup:


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