Leif Ericson Scout Craft Vega

In 1967, shortly after the successful release of its 1:650 scale "Star Trek" U.S.S. Enterprise model kit, AMT models commissioned "Star Trek" art director Matt Jefferies to create designs for a new line of wholly original starships it hoped to market under the "Strategic Space Command" moniker.

In 1968, it launched the first kit in this proposed series, the "Leif Ericson." Later the inspiration for the starship U.S.S. MacArthur in Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle's classic sci-fi novel "The Mote in God's Eye," the "Leif Ericson" contained a large shuttle bay that housed a small, in-scale scout craft, popularly known as the "Vega."

Just as the "Leif" herself carried echoes of other Matt Jefferies designs -- most notably S.S. Botany Bay sleeper ship from the "Star Trek" episode "Space Seed" -- the Vega scout ship's main body and layout took unmistakable inspiration from his Klingon D-7 battlecruiser.

Although the "Leif Ericson" kit was a hit among sci-fi modelers and was subsequently re-issued by AMT as the "Mystery Ship" and "Glow in the Dark UFO," sluggish sales put the kibosh on any subsequent "Strategic Space Command" entries.

Models & Model Kits are supplied unpainted and unassembled unless otherwise noted.