Betta Bilda Rocket Set

The Airfix Betta Bilda Rocket Set was released in 1969, in the midst of the Apollo Space Programme.

Issues

With an outline similar to a NASA Saturn V rocket, the desirability of the set for adults was rather compomised by design decisons intended to make the set more suitable for youngsters:

• The set only contained 23 pieces, to make the model quick to assemble and robust as a plaything, but this meant that the sections were full rings rather than half-rings or quarter-rings ... which limited what else the bricks could be used for.
• The rocket was bright blue (with a red end). If it had been white (like a //real// Saturn V), then it would have looked less like a plastic kiddie toy. In real life and in science fiction, space rockets tend to be either white or silver ... but instead of using their existing Betta Bilda white plastic, Airfix seems to have decided to use the same blue colour used for the cabs of the contemporary Big Trucks and Teeny Trucks sets. The result was not tasteful ... about the only colour choice that might have looked worse would have been purple.