Back in the Day

Im making up for lost time here on Mars Base and i've got lots of new stuff to share. First off though is a literal blast from my past, my old Space Station that my dad built for me out of wood back in about '69.

As I had a constant stream of Spacex toys coming in from Woolworths every week in lieu of pocket money, I needed a central base to work from. He knew I was a big Sword fan too, so you may spot the dirty triangular mark on the tower of the base which originally held a blue SWORD astronaut badge which he'd helpfully glued there. The domes were gum machine capsules and the rocket launcher on the roof of the left side originally comprised of a waist section from a Swoppet dalek and a cereal premium rocket slotted into the hole in its centre through to the wooden base. In front of that would have been a small plastic searchlight which as far as I recall came in a small Hong Kong set with a rocket and a truck. The rocket now sits on the wooden handmade gantry at the front left of the station.

The Nuclear Freighter sits on a moveable launch ramp which was a later addition (hence plain wood) that was added over the 'Helicopters Only' pad on the roof. Its been sat in the attic fo donkeys years, gathering dust and loft cladding fibres, so it was good to roll out the spacex again and revisit those heady summer days when I was on Standby for Action...