Toymaker Bandai Co. said Monday [URL=http://tamashii.jp/special/o_chogokin/spec/index02.php]it will release[/URL] on December 3, a zinc alloy 1/144 scale model of the U.S. space shuttle Endeavour, which carried astronaut Mamoru Mohri as the first Japanese payload specialist in 1992.
Credit: [URL=http://tamashii.jp/special/o_chogokin/spec/index02.php]Bandai[/URL]
The 39-centimeter (15.3-inches) long, 1-kilogram (2.2 pound) model will sell for 47,250 yen ($540 US). The model will represent the progress of the space shuttle's mission from launch through its return to Earth, and will feature a detachable fuel tank.
Bandai plans to sell 6,000 units in one year. The model is the second of its 'super alloy' series following the
Apollo 11 Saturn V, released in March.