CORBY SCI-FI SHOW – BRILLIANT MIX OF ALIENS AND MACHINES

WE SAW SMALLSPACE 9 reaching out to sci-fi model fans recently. Last weekend, it was the turn of the sci-fi enthusiasts of Corby, a town in the UK’s East Midlands.

VIDEO MAKES THE STAR WARS AT-AT LOOK CUTE AS A PUPPY

AT-AT day afternoon from Patrick Boivin on Vimeo.

David Jefferis reports
The Evil Empire’s prime assault weapon during the Battle for Hoth, as featured in the Star Wars movie Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back, was the four-legged AT-AT, or All Terrain Armoured Transport.

The AT-AT has been a favourite with sci-fi fans ever since, and is just one of a range of walker designs created for the Star Wars universe. Conceptually the AT-AT was a heavily-armoured assault machine, armed with lasers and blaster cannon, and with room inside to carry half a dozen speeder bikes and up to 40 Imperial Stormtroopers (surely the worst shots in the history of shoot-em-up movies).

In the model world, the best kit currently available is from Revell, and this makes up into a fair representation of the Star Wars machine. There are toy versions available as well, and these have the ‘play value’ demanded by the younger market - and it’s one of these, from Hasbro, that features in the movie we show above. Crazy but cute, as they say.

Back to scale modelling, and at SMN Towers, we’re busily doing a hack-n-chop conversion of the Revell kit, turning it from an AT-AT, into an AT-AA (Armoured Attacker). The camo paint job makes the AT-AA suitable for operations on a jungle planet, with extra weaponry to take down the defences of rebel forces. Extra weapons demand more ammo storage and power systems, so the body is packed with these instead of seating room for those Stormtroopers. The vulnerable AT-AT neck joint has been replaced with a simple armoured cylinder, making the AT-AA a more difficult target to damage, while underbody electro-nets stop a repeat of the lasso tactics used so successfully by rebels in their snowspeeders at the Battle of Hoth.

The pictures show the SMN AT-AA halfway through conversion. We’ll show the finished thing (minus the experimental drag racing decals) when she’s ready for power-up and blasting those rebs to bits!
   
The pictures show, top to bottom:
1  Still-frame from the 1980 space-opera movie The Empire Strikes Back.
2-4  The SMN AT-AA halfway in the kit-bashing process.

The Revell AT-AT is available here.

And a smallish diecast version on a mini-diorama base here.

SCREEN MACHINES - FOUR MASTER MODELS FROM THE MOVIES

Here is some eye candy for you - four nicely made model-show stars, featuring well-known subjects from the cinema and TV. From the top:

The Ghostbusters Cadillac, based on the long-wheelbase ambulance version of the gorgeous yank-tank original. This model is to 1:24 scale, and is missing only a wailing siren and some oozing ectoplasm. At upgrade time, it could be improved by adding a set of flashing LEDs, and maybe a multi-voice sound chip.

Everyone’s favourite peacekeeper, the star of Robocop. The movie franchise may have died a little in recent years, but it’s still a popular subject. This one is to 1:6 scale, and comes on a nicely made piece of future-city paving.

Star Wars is a hardy perennial, and one that’s been given yet another boost since the release of the recent anime series. The various ‘walker’ combat machines are still state-of-the-art on the model-making scene, and don’t forget the AT-AT walkers from The Empire Strikes Back - we’ll be showing off our post-war civilian version soon.

To the small screen now, with a Gerry Anderson TV series called Captain Scarlet - and flying these Angel Interceptor skycraft were the prettiest* pilots ever seen, the Harmony Angels. Just one thing - the Interceptor might look better on a more modern stand - how about perspex or steel?

* Editor's note: not quite true - that honour presently belongs to the Russian gals flying aerobatics for real in their Sukhoi single-seaters, at air shows around the world.