BY BILL ENGAR

TEST OBJECTIVE:  ATLANTIS H213 -- 1/54 D-558-2 SKYROCKET MODEL KIT WITH SWIVEL STAND -- ASSEMBLY KIT WITH 24 STYRENE PLASTIC PARTS -- RECOMMENDED FOR AGES 14 AND UP -- PAINT AND GLUE SOLD SEPARATELY -- 11 INCHES IN LENGTH -- 5.5 INCH WINGSPAN -- MSRP (2025) $US 24.99

Revell Models was one of the biggest early model kit companies.  Their first designed kit, a 1/535 Missouri, was an instant hit when it debuted in 1953.  Aircraft kits followed and in 1955, Revell  made a model kit of the D-558-2.  At the time it was a new US Navy test plane which had recently set a Mach-2 speed record.

Atlantis' 1/54 D-558-2 Skyrocket utilizes original Revell box art from 1955!  

Revell USA imploded a few years ago after then-owner Hobbico went bankrupt.  Atlantis Models literally saved their vintage tooling from being scrapped.  Now owners of the classic D-558-2 kit and artwork, Atlantis has re-released the Skyrocket.  This is one of our all-time favorite vintage Revell kits!  We were thrilled that Atlantis gave us an evaluation kit.  How did Atlantis treat this Revell Classic?  Stick with us and find out!

Atlantis' D-558-2 is a simple kit with just 24 parts.  Count 'em!  Atlantis has high-quality decals.

We love Atlantis' growing inventory of vintage box-scale kits.  In 1/54, the Skyrocket happens to be the same scale as Atlantis’ F-11F Tiger, another of our faves.
 
Overall, this is a fairly simple kit.  As of 2025, time of posting, that tooling is 70 years old!  With this in mind, be prepared for a vintage kit-build experience.  Even at that age, though, the tooling is in nice shape.  While the kit was in and out of production at various times during its history, it has held up well.

You'll experience just a little bit of flash.  Seams aren't too bad.  There is not a lot of surface detail (the D-558-2 was a very "slick" aircraft and didn't have a lot of external detail anyway).

A closer look at fuselage and wings.  Note the raised decal guides!  Sand those puppies off!

The pilot is nicely detailed as is the rocket exhaust endplate.  We used a small drill bit to open up those rocket exhausts.

The biggest single giveaway that this is a 70-year-old kit is the raised markings on the model intended to help young builders place the decals.  We'd recommend sanding these off.  You won't lose any other detail if you do this.  All other details on the fuselage are engraved!  That's right; this kit has NO raised fuselage rivets!  There are a few rivets on the exhaust endplate, but the actual aircraft had these.  They're nicely executed on the kit. 

​We suspect the Revell Riveter called in sick the day the kit was tooled.  Access doors, panel lines (what few there are) and control surface lines are ALL engraved.  Very unusual for 1955.  We'd recommend sanding off the raised decal locator lines with 400 or 320-grit "wet-or-dry" sandpaper Use a little water to keep sanding residue from clogging the sandpaper (this is referred to as "wet sanding" -- it works great!).  A coat of primer will let you know if you need to re-sand until the decal locator lines are no longer visible..

A closer look at the "small parts" sprue.  Cleanup is minimal; a few mold-parting lines and some ejector pin marks.  Those interested in a quick-build probably won't need to care about these.

There are some minor sinkholes that will likely bother the contest modeler.  Wing parts have a few spots opposite the internal guide-pin posts and the fuselage has some minor spots in the cockpit area and a half-dozen or so opposite the internal guide-pin posts.

Small parts have some minor injector-pin marks.  Gear doors have some on the backsides.  Gear struts, ladder, and cockpit canopy strut each have some very small pin marks.  Use your favorite filler putty to deal with these.  The wheels have a small amount of flash that needs cleanup.  None of this will require a lot of work and if it's left alone, it really won't detract from the construction of a very nice model.

The cockpit canopy and transparency.  

Wheels and landing gear struts.

In our model, the transparency fit nicely in the cockpit canopy piece.  The small frames between small and large windows are fragile; be careful around those.  We used Testors Clear Parts Cement and Window Maker to attach the transparency to the canopy after painting the canopy.  It does a neat job and won't fog the clear part.

This model was built many years ago (1990's) from the Revell SSP version.  The plastic is identical to the current Atlantis kit.  The only modification to the model, a minor one, was to remove the small air intakes at the front of the fuselage.  Stay tuned; later in the article you'll see a built Skyrocket with the intakes present.

If you're an advanced modeler interested in building a contest model, you might want to consider cutting out the triangle-shaped "web" at the back of the transparency, but only if you plan on displaying the canopy in the open position.

We believe that Atlantis has the best kit boxes in the industry with great graphics and relevant information

The cockpit is rudimentary; there is a sort-of seat molded into the fuselage with a considerable seam down the middle.  This is another area you might consider adding some detail or bits of plastic resembling a pilot's seat in order to cover up the seam, again only if you want to display your model with the cockpit open (don't replicate an ejection seat--the D558-2 didn't have one!).  A closed canopy makes all this effort unnecessary.

To ease construction, I left the canopy only slightly ajar to hide the seam down the middle.  The lance-like nose probe was sanded and painted separately, glued on after the rest of the model was painted.

I liked the rivet detail on the rear engine plate.  The openings will need to be cleaned up with a hobby knife; there is a small amount of flash that makes them off-round.

Our build was minimal and quick with no weathering.  We simply propped the canopy open just slightly enough so the viewer couldn't see the back of the transparency or the seam on the rudimentary seat.  We also painted our cockpit interior a very dark color which made seeing anything inside difficult.  Even with a minimal approach to the build, our model (a 1990's Revell release of the same kit) has won awards at a number of contests; the judges couldn't see our cockpit seam.

Atlantis decals are much better than those in the previous releases of the kit.  The insignias are much improved; the decals shown here are from the 1994 release of the kit.

There’s a pilot figure on a ladder.  Paint him with dark hair, and he'll resemble Scott Crossfield, preparing to make history during his famous Mach-2 flight in the Skyrocket!

Note that the kit includes an "Atlantising Stand."  The graphic is a vintage Revell drawing from the boxtop art.  When Atlantis took possession of the tooling from Revell, they also received a large archive of artwork and documentation.

The model is designed to be built with landing gear up or down.  Positioning the main struts to get the proper angle needs some attention; if glued against the stops, the wheels will toe in.  Photos tend to indicate that the wheels should be straight up-and-down if viewing the aircraft from the front, not toeing in at the bottoms.

Scratch-builders beware:  The D-558-2 sat low on its landing gear and the main gear doors at the rear don't open very far so it'll be hard to see any open gear wells if you decide to expand the shallow kit wheel wells.  Unlike many early aircraft kits, they are not open to a blank cavernous empty fuselage.

If building gear-up, the doors fit nicely into the fuselage openings fore and aft and the model can be displayed on the included swivel-stand.

The D-558-2 had minimal markings and the decal sheet reflects that.  The large "meatball" is designed for the included Atlantis swivel-stand.  We like the nicely executed "star and bar" insignias!

Note that the swivel-stand has a round space for that round decal.

Don't forget to put a little weight in the nose to prevent a tail-sitter.

The model is molded in a nice, opaque white plastic so the modeler desiring minimal painting will have an easy go since the D-558-2 was overall white.

If you've never done any type of scratch-building or modification to an airplane model, we have a great suggestion of a place to start with a simple conversion.  The D-558-2's were originally intended to be "hybrid airplanes."  This means they were both jet and rocket powered.  The jet engine was intended to prevent the need for the airplane to be air-launched like the X-1.  However, it was soon learned that the Skyrocket couldn't break any records leaving the ground under its own power.  So the jet engine was later deleted.  The intakes and exhaust were faired over.  We simply shaved off the raised inlet lip and filled the depression with sheet-styrene and puttied the remaining gaps.  They're not visible at all on our completed model.

Instructions are a 2-sided, 8-1/2X11" piece of high-grade coated paper utilizing vintage Revell artwork.

Vintage instructions are English-only.  Three diagrams show simple assembly.  Remember, glue and paint will be needed to assemble model.

We really like Atlantis' execution of Revell's first test plane model.  The tooling has aged well so the modeler won't have to go to too much effort to execute a nice model of this famous aircraft.  It was one of our quickest-ever contest builds!  Decals are nice quality and the inclusion of Atlantis' swivel-stand makes the kit a nice value.

The 2Modeler guys give Atlantis' D-558-2 Skyrocket Four Enthusiastic Thumbs Up!  This model kit was nicely engineered from the get-go to be easy to build and finish in "Simple White" and it looks great either with canopy open with landing gear down.

We were so happy to see this historic kit re-released by Atlantis and pleased that they gave it the attention to quality that they always do!  Why not order one today!
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BONUS FEATURES

HOLLYWOOD CALLING:  THE D-558-2 ON THE BIG AND SMALL SCREEN

Outside of aviation circles, the D-558-2 is a "forgotten classic."  It didn't have a fancy "X" designation like the more famous X-1 or X-15.  The X-Planes were U.S. Air Force programs, and the U.S. Navy was known more for "alphabet soup" names used for its aircraft.
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THE RIGHT STUFF:  HAWKER HUNTER?

A classic 1980’s movie was The Right Stuff, first released in late 1983.  The film was based on Tom Wolfe’s 1979 book.  Casting included a number of then-emerging stars such as Jeff Goldblum, Fred Ward, Dennis Quaid, Sam Shepard, Scott Glen, and Ed Harris.  While The Right Stuff didn't do well financially upon initial release, it was praised by critics.  Aviation/space historians take issue with depictions of some events in the film (the depiction of Gus Grissom's Mercury flight comes to mind). Regardless, the movie has grown in stature over time and some consider it one of the best films to come out of the 1980's.

Production staff preparing to shoot a "Right Stuff" scene with a Hawker Hunter standing in as a D-558-2.

Note that the actual D-558-2, pictured at roughly the same angle, is "close but no cigar" compared to the Hunter.

The D-558-2 had a small role in the film.  Actor Scott Wilson portrays Scott Crossfield and a Hawker Hunter is loosely disguised as the Skyrocket.  In a scene supposedly taking place near Edwards Air Force Base, the Skyrocket appears to buzz a group of pilots (composed of some of the aforementioned actors) at a home barbecue.  In reality, the D-558-2 would likely not overfly civilian areas or base housing, particularly at such a low altitude but the film of the aircraft streaking by is rather spectacular.  

Actor Scott Wilson plays Scott Crossfield making history during his Mach-2 flight.  That Hunter canopy is quite a bit different than the actual D-558-2​

The scene from the film where the D-558-2 makes a low pass over a barbecue.  The Hunter’s wing-root intakes were not present on the real Skyrocket.

CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT AND THE SILVER DART

"Captain Midnight" began as a 1930's radio program.  It went through various iterations including a movie serial.  In 1954, it was adapted as a TV show first shown on Saturday mornings.  Its popularity led to a prime-time weekday broadcast slot.  Actor Richard Webb played Captain Midnight, leader of the Secret Squadron.  Webb is remembered today by Star Trek fans as antagonist Ben Finney in the Original Series episode, Court Martial.
 

Richard Webb (as Captain Midnight) hawks Ovaltine on Captain Midnight (1954).

Captain Midnight was remembered for its mail-in promotional items and premiums including this ring and an Ovaltine Secret Squadron Decoder Pin!  Where have we heard that before?

Captain Midnight’s aircraft is the Silver Dart, basically a D-558-2.  In 1954 when the TV series debuted, no doubt the D-558-2 was seen as a futuristic, sleek aircraft that would likely be flown by a hero-pilot on many secret missions.

The "Silver Dart," Captain Midnight's ride of choice for the Captain Midnight 1950's TV series.

Modeler Mike Turco built this Silver Dart from the Revell 1/54 D-558-2, now available from Atlantis Models.

Our friend Mike Turco enjoyed this TV series.  He built a Silver Dart from a (formerly Revell) D-558-2 kit that he displayed at the 2019 IPMS/USA nationals in Chattanooga, TN.  It’s a fun suggestion of another option you can consider to decorate your Atlantis d-558-2 model and it's not too difficult.  Mike simply masked the wing and tail-scallops and used red stars to recreate the scheme seen on the Silver Dart.

Mike masked the fuselage and wings to give the model a Thunderbirds-like scheme that the Silver Dart wore.  Note the stock-kit air intakes visible here.

Mike made no modifications to the kit itself except the markings.  ​He airbrushed a silver finish covered with a thin layer of clear gloss.  Decals are generic red stars.

We were very sad to hear that our friend Mike Turco passed away in 2024.  He made major contributions to our Monogram Air Power Set page and our Atlantis Space Missiles Review Page.  He was an amazing modeler and all around awesome guy!  He'll be missed.