A Project SWORD Toy Shop Shelf?

I wondered what a Project SWORD shop counter might look like. Culled from my old attic shots, here goes.

Stand By For Action! The RCSubGuy Showcases His RC STINGRAY From Gerry A...

https://youtube.com/watch?v=U7VuaMV5TnI&si=cNQTXjCFCQlyZ7jx 

Holy ship!! Check it out!

MJ

Southcoast Base

Auckland March Kits Fair

Auckland has just had its first fair of 2025, and I got some great bargains. Not many die-casts this time, but I did get some really nice kits, including some vintage treasures.

Sitting on a chair behind one table I spotted a couple of vintage Renwal military kits from the USA. Thinking that they had likely been put aside for someone else, I asked anyway, and managed to bag both of these classic kits for a song.

The Nike Surface-to-Air Missile is missing one forward missile fin, and there is damage to one end of the box, but the great box top artwork is intact. The missile is moulded in white plastic, with the launcher and three figures in olive drab.

The 8 Inch Self Propelled Howitzer, or M55, has been started, but again the box top is intact. This one is moulded in green plastic, with black tracks, and a full crew of six figures.

In the 1970s Fundimensions issued a series of four diorama kits, depicting giant insects or arachnids on the rampage, three of which were re-issued in the 1990s by AMT/Ertl. Obviously inspired by all those giant bug movies of the 1950s.

One of the tables had an example of the Rampaging Scorpion kit, which had been started, but was complete. Only the box top remained with the kit, showing the Scorpion attacking a city centre.

The Japanese firm Crown did a series of Model in a Bottle kits in the 1970s. In addition to the usual sailing ships, they also did several steam locomotives sitting on a length of railway track.

I was lucky enough to find one of these kits, almost complete, but lacking the instructions. The bottle is plastic, and has a separate base, so the completed model can be inserted after assembly.

A trio of aircraft kits – a 1960s Frog Messerschmitt Me-410 (I built a later version of this kit in the 1970s); an Airfix Dornier Do-17 from the 1970s; and a fictitious Italeri MiG-37 Ferret Soviet Stealth Fighter to go with their US Stealth Fighter kit. It is the box art which makes these kits.

Finally a batch of modern 1/72 scale armoured vehicles, by Trumpeter and Vespid. A US Sherman tank in Korean War markings; super heavy German Maus tank – it weighed 180 or so tons, and only two prototypes were built; Soviet-era SA-4 Ganef Surface-to-Air Missile launcher.

A nice haul, and a great day out. Several of these kits deserve a more detailed write-up – stay tuned.

Paul Adams from New Zealand

Badges Galore!

This is a great site for all things badges!

The Badge Collectors Circle.

https://www.badgecollectorscircle.co.uk/

See anything you had?

Rack Toy Recess

 With the Missus happy gardening, I've taken a break to bag up my latest mini monster creations for safe-keeping.

Not good enough for the full packaging effort, I've placed the Cronos bug and the Lifeforce ship in simple cellophane bags.

Then I added small 'movie' labels,  which we can print at home and a custom Zodiac price tag each courtesy of Bill. The missus's stamp set provided the price!

Complete and punched, here they are hung on my kitchen 'shop' rack! 

What do you think readers? Mom and Pop store material? 

TERRANOVA47'S STRIP IN SPACESHIP AWAY #65

Hello Woodsy

The latest issue of Spaceship Away, issue 65 is available.

It contains a humorous strip written by me and drawn by Dave Windett.

Once again it is best understood if the reader is knowledgeable of the Dan Dare stories from 1950-1959.

Still here it is for the handful of readers that know the characters.

Terranova47

USA

My Mini Lifeforce Vampire Spaceship

 Here's another of my new horror mood home-made minis.

This is the vampire spaceship from the '80's Tobe Hooper sci-fi shocker Life force.

I made mine using a small paper umbrella from MoonBase Miss's bits chest and some wire all trimmed to shape and painted black.

I took a few shots of the ship in Earth's orbit.

This is an original still from the movie. Have you seen it?

My Toy Cronos Device

 Spring sunshine seems to have lit the last sleepy chamber of my noggin and I'm dreaming up lots of new customs.

Here's one, in a horror mood, the dreadful Cronos bug device from the movie Cronos, a fantastically stylish 1993 debut flick from maestro Guillermo Del Toro before he got famous. Ron Perlman lumbers through it too.

At it's dark clicking heart is a 16th Century gold scarab. It contains an awful creature both wildly animating and terribly vampiric in nature. Hapless victims grasp it at their peril. 

An amazingly vivid film with an iconic prop, there are many pro models and beautiful replicas of this clockwork jeweled wonder online, so many in fact that. I found it hard to locate the original film prop!

This is my much simpler effort using one of Junior's beetles to create a sort of toy finish! 

And here's the hungry golden bug as seen in the actual film.

Have you seen it readers?