WHAT-IF AIRFIX KITS.. WELL, WE CAN BUT DREAM!

MATTHEW TEEVAN IS AN illustrator who shows his work on Art Station, an online centre for the visual creatives community.

PROFESSIONAL MODEL MAKERS OF 1968

HERE'S A NICE  LITTLE FLASHBACK movie. We particularly like the large-scale Spitfire, made for the air battle sequences in a World War II movie.

'LADY PENELOPE' OF THUNDERBIRDS TV SERIES, SYLVIA ANDERSON DIES

SYLVIA ANDERSON, CO-CREATOR OF THE famed Thunderbirds puppet series, has died aged 88. She was best known for being the voice of Lady Penelope, one of the show’s star names.

SMALLSPACE 4 - GERRY ANDERSON TV SERIES

GERRY ANDERSON ENTERTAINMENT ruled children's TV in the 1960s and 1970s, with series after series, all achieving great popularity. Above, the Mole, from the all-time classic, Thunderbirds.

THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO - MODELS THAT MADE IT BIG

WE MOSTLY THINK OF MODELS as miniature versions of the real thing, 1:72, 1:48, 1:87 and so on. Well, every now and again, the models get their revenge and make it the other way round - from small-size original to full-size 1:1 realization.

MPC MOONSCOPE LUNAR ROVER POSTSCRIPT - WHY DID THE ORIGINAL BARRIS DESIGN FEATURE SIX WHEELS INSTEAD OF FOUR?

A QUESTION WAS ASKED THIS WEEK: Why did the first Space: 1999 George Barris Moonscope have six wheels? The real-life machine (above) was built by Barris Kustom, and made an excellent basis for MPC kits that have featured both six and four wheels.

FROM FILM TO DIGITAL: KEITH McNEILL RAISES THE ART OF SCALE-MODEL PHOTOGRAPHY TO NEW HEIGHTS

Here’s an in-depth article from Keith McNeill, a master of not only model-making, but also the art of studio photography and Photoshop.

SMALLSPACE MODEL SHOW GOES BALLISTIC: SUCCESSFUL SECOND MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

The second smallspace show - featuring space, science fiction and fantasy models - was a wild success.

THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO AGAIN: NEW GERRY ANDERSON-BASED PROJECTS KICK OFF WITH A NEW LOGO AND TEASER VIDEO

The British design studio IDO has revamped the logo and website for the estate of the late Gerry Anderson, creator of cult TV sci-fi series such as Thunderbirds and Space 1999.

'THUNDERBIRDS' GERRY ANDERSON DIES

Gerry Anderson, creator of a host of children's TV series, including classics such as Stingray, Thunderbirds, and Space 1999, has just died, at 83 years old.

TIME TO MUSE MORE WITH AOSHIMA VARIATIONS ON THE HAYABUSA MUSES-C SPACE PROBE TO 1:32 SCALE

MAT IRVINE REPORTS
On August 14, 2010, SMN featured a 1:32 scale kit of the Aoshima Japanese Hayabusa asteroid sample-return mission space probe, originally known as MUSES-C. Since then, Aoshima has issued two variations of this model.

MORE FROM SMALLSPACE - THUNDERBIRDS PUPPETS FROM DUNCAN WILLIS

The smallspace show displayed UK science-fiction models at their best. And for nostalgic fans of the Gerry Anderson Supermarionation TV shows, the puppets of Duncan Willis took some beating.

SMALLSPACE - MODEL SHOW REPORT

The new model show smallspace was a huge success - outside the hall, Daleks rampaged the streets, while inside model-makers showed off their skills.

SMALLSPACE - THE NEW MODEL SHOW FROM THE HAMEX TEAM

The new model show from the HaMeX organisers is arriving soon, with liftoff planned for Stardate: July 1, 2012. The smallspace event will feature a galaxy of space, science-fiction and fantasy modelling.

TRIBUTE TO THE SPACE SHUTTLE FROM AIRFIX

Weekend read from Mat Irvine:

As the last of the Airfix space launchers to receive a makeover, the updated 1:144 scale Space Shuttle was released to coincide with the last-ever Space Shuttle mission, STS-135 in July 2011, when the Orbiter Atlantis made its 33rd and final flight. So how did Airfix do with the makeover?

“THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO” - AGAIN!

“Thunderbirds are go!" quickly became a popular phrase for schoolkids when Gerry Anderson’s soon-to-be-famous series first aired in 1965. Featuring ‘Supermarionation’ for its puppet stars, led by Jeff Tracy and his sons Scott and Virgil, plus their glammed-up friend Lady Penelope and Brains the scientist, Thunderbirds was soon an international hit.

To the rescue

Based on the remote Tracy Island, the Tracy family made heroic disaster-rescues across the world, using their fleet of Thunderbirds rescue craft, and also fought the bad guys, especially the loathsome Hood. Even so, only 32 episodes were made - a warmed-over live action movie was released in 2004, but was not a success.

T-Bird stamps

Still, times may be changing, as the UK Royal Mail has a set of T-Birds stamps on sale, and Gerry Anderson (now a sprightly 81 years old) confirmed this week that there is a new TV series in the works. Whether it’s live-action or Supermarionation is something we’ll have to find out.

CARVED WOOD DISPLAY MODELS FROM AIRPLANE MODELWORKS

David Jefferis reports
What about wood for a change, instead of plastic? That’s what’s on offer from the Arizona-based Airplane Modelworks outfit.

Wide range from Airplane Modelworks
Airplane Modelworks has a huge range of display collectibles on offer - aircraft of all sorts naturally, but also for sale are tanks and spacecraft, not forgetting some sci-fi exotica, such as the machines from Gerry Anderson’s TV series Thunderbirds and Supercar.

Short on detail, long on elegance
It’s important to realise that these are ready-built display models, and as such they are best used to decorate your den’s shelf or desktop. The purpose of these models is just that - display - and there is little of the intricate detail that’s available in even the cheapest plastic construction kit. But no matter, these are attractive craft objects, and work very well for their purpose.

1930s air racers
Among our favourites from the Airplane Modelworks range are the many single-seaters from the days of air racing in the US, the glory years of which were in the late 1920s and 1930s. Competitor aircraft were often one-off designs, and all were unusual and exotic - and are subjects, it has to be said, that have been very badly served by the plastic kit industry. Scales vary with these aircraft, so unified-scale fans need not apply.

Carved wood air racers are available here.

The pictures show, top to bottom:
1 The 1:20 scale Gilmore Oil-sponsored Weddell-Williams ‘Red Lion’ air racer of 1932 has a wingspan of 400 mm (15.75 in).
2 Folkerts SK-3 Jupiter air racer, as flown to victory in the Thompson Trophy air race of 1937, by ace pilot Rudy King. The 1:16 scale model has a wingspan of 318 mm (12.5 in).
3 Gerry Anderson’s Supercar makes a retro-feast for fans of the puppet TV series. A pity though that it has no transparent canopy and Mike Mercury figure at the controls.

RORY McLEISH - SCI-FI GENIUS AND KITBASHER’S INSPIRATION

Scots-born Rory McLeish spent much of his childhood sketching, painting, building plastic model kits and sculpting dinosaurs out of Plasticine. But these days, he uses different model skills, using computer software to create amazing worlds of fantasy. 

Thunderbirds are Go
Rory’s early influences included the likes of Gerry Anderson (of Thunderbirds fame) and this led eventually to his present role in conceptual work for commercials and feature films. All of which brings things round full-circle, because although computers are used for the CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) content of so many movies, the plastic kit manufacturers now bring many of those creations to ‘reality’ by making kits of them - which is terrific news for science fiction fans.

Star Trek Nemesis
Among the many McLeish screen commissions was to work on the Scimitar spacecraft used in the movie Star Trek Nemesis, which you can see in the YouTube clip shown above. And of course, Star Trek modelmakers are served pretty well by the kit industry, as you can see from the selection shown via the links below. Which one of these is SMN’s selection for afficionados? Hmmm, it’s hard to say - we want ’em all!

Kit-bashing
Meantime, if you don’t want to buy ‘yet another’ Star Trek or Star Wars kit or collectible, then Rory’s concepts open the door to some serious kitbashing possibilities. As you can see from the samples shown above, there’s a galaxy-full of possibilities for those of us (including this writer) who love make real models from fantastic dreams.

Visit Rory McLeish here.

Browse among some Star Trek kits here and here.

Supersize creature atop a retro-tech clock

If the Thunderbirds vehicles maxed up modelmaking to 1:1 scale, then this amazing retro-tech clock in the university town of Cambridge takes things even further. By my calculations, the beautifully-made metal ‘grasshopper’ on the clock is about 25:1 scale! Note that the critter is not strictly a life-like model - it’s actually a fantasy-style ‘Chronophage’ or time-eater.

The circular clock face is gold-plated, and encircled with a whirl of blue LEDs that mark the seconds. At various times, the whole thing, Chronophage and all, does an impressive back-flip before catching up with itself, and time, again.

All in all, the clock is an amazing fusion of concept, tech and skilled craftsmanship – the Chronophage was made by sculptor Matthew Sanderson, and the whole thing conceived by John C. Taylor. if you live within reach of Cambridge just go RIGHT NOW to gawp and be mightily impressed.

The video shows Taylor’s take on his concept, and is well worth watching.