Updated: August 14, 2021

I decided to make my own Spindrift, or what I thought it would / could be if a budget-limited studio weren't in charge of dragging Art Crukshank's ( sp? ) design into TV land. ( BTW: Art also designed the Seaview's minisub, not surprisingly around the same time as LG ). I decided to abandon historical accuracy in favor of what I would have loved to have had if I were a 12 year old kid again. Plus at 12 years old I had no idea what was in the studio model really, Christ, I wanted it to be real. So, the 12 year old was in charge.

The only pieces I used from the original Lunar Models kit are the upper hull pieces ( fore and aft pieces ), the lower hull ( 1 piece ), the clear ( now F-16 canopy-like glazed ) upper dome ( 1 piece ), and the resin front grill work ( 1 piece ). That makes six pieces from the original kit. The rest: why limit myself? I had the resources of a well-paid and very single 31 year old with a clear memory of what the 12-year-old me really wanted way back when, and I had discovered the secret of model building: Delayed Gratification, something that is almost completely absent in today's world, and utterly absent in today's youth. I added it up once; there are about 2300 separate pieces of styrene plastic in the version I built. It was, and still is, a labor of love and an expression of my own power to turn my own imagination into reality.

Only a real modeler would understand I think. It is grotesque to think that a price could be put on that. The model reminds me of a simpler and more innocent time when I valued such things, and the building of it many years later - and continuing - reminds me, somewhat guiltily at 45 yrs. old next month, of a simpler time in my adult life when I took the time to enjoy simple pleasure of creating something with my own hands and time, for no better reason that that it makes me happy because it's a thing I think is beautiful.

Here are a few pics just for grins and just because I got in the mood to take some, for the first time ever. I bought the model in 1991 ( I think ) then built a few 1/48 scale modern jets to build up some skills. I started this model in '92, and thanks to various female involvement's it's still not done, but that story is as old as Cave Man days. I haven't touched it in at least 8 years. Needs some weathering I think, just a bit, done just right. I may have to guild a few more jets before taking another crack at it.

Thanks for making the effort to share your work. Looking forward to the next installment,

A fellow modeler,

Shawn Charland Ottawa Ontario Canada

( * ) Thanks Shawn for sharing your incredible Land of the Giant's Spindrift diorama with all of us. This is one of the best Spindrift's I've ever seen. I think the many fans that see it here will agree with me too!