Thats no moon - thats a SPACE STATION!

From the workbench of Frank May once more, what must be one of the largest toys/models so far! Any astronaut worth his salt needs a space station and as Mattel seemed to overlook this rather important piece of astronautic equipment, Frank got down and built his own! Fully scaled to the six inch Matt Mason figures, this vast project took some time to build as Frank himself relates:

To me, von Braun's wheel-shaped space station epitomized the space stations of the '60s, as several plastic models & numerous books chose that design over other designs. About 4 years ago, I began the task of making our Major & crew an Orbital Space Station. On & off, over the last 4 years, I've worked on this. My original plan was to use a large tractor tire inner tube for a pattern & lay fiberglass over it, much like paper mache' is done over balloons. I soon found that would be way too much trouble & reconciled myself to having flat surfaces. It's just under 4 ft in outer diameter, & the compartments are 7 1/2 inches high & deep. It's made of plywood & PVC pipe & just about anything else I could conjure up. I did, however, strive to maintain my 'pre - 1970' (AKA 'stuck in the '60s') rule regarding interior equipment & furnishings. I don't think I have anything in it that would look out of place prior to 1970. I was going to originally have all 8 sections opened, & just partitioned off, but decided blocking off 4 would be easier to conceal the PVC supports & I could add markings & flashing beacon lights. Also, you know, in the '60s, everything in space 'beeped'. I found an old beeper from a vehicle, like a key warning or something, & it sounds just like Sputnik! The automotive strobes I adapted for the flashers have an adjustable flash rate, so they are timed nearly perfectly with the 'transponder beeper'. The whole thing is mounted on a stand made from an office chair roller frame bottom & tubing. This isn't a tabletop toy! So, finally, here it is. 

And just to add another missing element to Major Matts vehicle line up, and to address the issue as to how was he intending to reach the Moon without a rocket - Frank built his own Nova rocket! This a currently unfinished project, but even at this stage its still totally awesome! 

"Look at the size of that thing...!"