“The Last Starfighter” was one of the first movies that brought computer animation to the silver screen during the 1980’s, shortly after the release of “Tron”. It told the story of young Alex Rogan, a teenage boy from Earth, who was stuck between life in the trailer park where he grew up or going off to college and leaving his girlfriend Maggie behind. Little did he know that playing the “Starfighter” game at the park’s mini mart, and setting the high score, would lead to his departure from Earth and going to Rylos, home of Starfighter Command.

The Gunstar is the primary fighter of Starfighter Command, which is tasked with “defending the Frontier against Xur and the Ko-Dan Armada.” It is a space superiority fighter with a boatload of weapons. Unfortunately for Alex, the Ko-Dans attack and wipe out Starfighter Command. He’s the “last starfighter”, and with his navigator, takes off in Gunstar 1, an advanced fighter with the Death Blossom weapon, to attack the incoming fighters.

This kit is molded in light beige resin and has incredible detail. The cockpit is closed, so the builder will only be able to see the canopy sections. But other detail includes a full-rendered Death Blossom, with opening and closing panels in the wings. It’s a beautiful kit, and well worth the money, if you can find one. I have been in contact with Andrea from T. M. Lindsey from time to time over the past 10 years, and they sustained damage to their home and workshop courtesy of Hurricanes Rita and Katrina. They were hoping to go back into production, but nothing has happened yet. I haven’t heard from them in a few years, and e-mails to them have gone unanswered.

At the time of this writing, there are three known models of the Gunstar. The largest is made by Monsters in Motion and is in 1:48 scale. The “middle kit” is the one featured in this article. The smallest kit is made by Mini Model Madness and is about 4 inches in overall length.

The completed kit is about 7 inches long.

The photo that accompanies this article was taken at WonderFest 2010 in Louisville, KY, and shows the completed kit. I don’t have any information as to the name of the builder, so I can’t provide credit for the beautiful build-up of this kit.

Review by: Rich “Lonewolf” Dula

Entry created: 08-15-11