SPACE FLYING SAUCER 2100: FLYING SUB KNOCKOFF

Continuing the TV and Film vehicle knockoff theme today here's a good one.

The Space Flying Saucer 2001.

Looks like the Flying Sub from Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea to me!

It has lots of added bits and a racing car driver!

The toy's features are all listed on the box.

Looks like it came in three colours and there appears to be a helicopter rotor as well!

Its all too much!

Anyways, I saw it Ebay ages ago.

What do you think?

ANGEL RADIO CONTROL COMMANDER SAUCER: SPANISH GALACTICA?

I saw this vintage space toy, Angel Radio Control Commander Saucer, on Spain's Todocollecion.

It was also described as similar to a Battlestar Galactica spacecraft.

Is this right readers?

RENFIELD'S DENTAL RELISH

Whether its the book I've been reading called Fangland [didn't enjoy it] or my musings about Transylvanians in Whitby for a possible Sarge story, our dog Blue has made the household fly his sworn enemy.

As its summer and the windows are open we have a variety of domestic guests flying round: tiny flies, small moths, huge moths, the impossibly long-legged Crane Flies [ I wrote that yesterday about Kris Kristofferson! Maybe he's a human crane fly!] and the more chunky house fly. If you read my report yesterday then you'll know we nearly had fridge flies too.

Blue isn't keen on any form of incoming. Unscheduled flights near his face, especially when he's busy resting, are guaranteed to raise the security level to DEF DOG 1 [or is it 5?]. Any further incursions into Blue's hairspace will result in immediate and often fatal retaliatory strikes.

Lifted by unseen canine forces Blue will launch himself into the air off the settee like a missile and snap his jaws tightly shut around any stray fly or bluebottle. Sometimes the hunt goes mobile as the fly fleas [can you say that? fly fleas?] to the rest of the house with a crazed dog at its tail.

The chances of success are high as Blue is what the RAF call an ace. In fact he's the local squad leader for RUF but I don't know what it stands for.

Its a sorry sight to see a fly taken out by a dog. Often they are maimed and hobble along the floor fatally wounded. The old adage 'Wouldn't hurt a fly' always grieves me but not for long. Like a noble knight Blue always curtails their misery with a swift bite and a swallow.

Yes, Blue eats flies. A munch, a lick of the lips and they're gone.

He reminds me of Renfield in Dracula. I'm unsure of how this is explained in the novel as its years since I've read Bram's Whitby-inspired tale but I can clearly see the actor in Coppola's film version who plays Renfield locked up in Carfax asylum.

Flies are the lives for the Master. He collects fly-lives in the hope that Bad Vlad will promote him to Chief of Carfax Blood Bank. Small lives will get him there. Bigger lives like mice and even, yes, a kitten, would get him there quicker thinks the ill-advised Renfield.

I wonder if Blue is secretly Renfield. There are certainly no mice in the house and next door's cat drives him wild. He does already have very sharp teeth though, Renfield's dental relish.

Come to think of it Blue could be farming fly eggs in our Fridge! Advanced Renfield Tech. More flies. More lives for the Master!

It puts a whole new spin on the record label HMV, His Master's Voice! That pup is clearly being sent off to capture bluebottles like Blue!

Have you got a Renfield dog?

SUPERCAR TOYS

This is a neat pictorial gallery of Supercar toys by the guys at SuperM.

Do you have any Supercar toys?

http://lester.demon.nl/superm/supercar/merc-gallery.html

ORIGINAL BLAKES SEVEN SPACE CRAFT PROPS AT SMALLSPACE 7

       I love to see original props, and unsurprisingly there was no shortage on display at Smallspace , in particular a large collection of B7 space craft. Here's one I was really impressed with, an original Federation Pursuit ship seen in various episodes.

       Orbit Shuttle seen in season four episode 11,Orbit. The shuttle is sent to transport Avon and Villa to the surface of the planet Malodar. They meet with Egrorian, a scientist who’s developed a powerful weapon called a Tachyon Funnel.  He says he wants to give Avon the weapon in exchange for super -computer, Orac, but Avon soon suspects a certain Supreme Commander might just be involved.

    

      System Chase Craft as seen in the episode, Redemption.   They attack and take control of The Liberator, escorting it to the’ Spaceworld’ space station, which is run by the servants of The System. It is revealed that the System complexes originally built The Liberator and refer to it as Deep Space Vehicle 2. 

        Andromedan scout craft seen in the episode, Star One.  The Scout Craft makes a very brief appearance in Star One. It carries the former Federation officer, Travis, who has turned traitor, and is helping Andromedan invaders take over the Terran Empire. Even though you’d never tell on screen, most Blake’s Seven fans now know that the model is made from two Morphy Richards hairdryers stuck together, with a few recognisable kit parts stuck on.

         Atlay Shuttle seen in the episode, ’Voice from the Past. The model featured in a rather elaborate, if slightly wobbly landing sequence.

       Blake’s Flyer seen in season four final episode Blake. These flyers are used by bounty hunters and gun runners on the planet of Gauda Prime. The model is missing its cockpit cover.

       The Nova Queen first seen in the episode, Star One.  The ill-fated Nova Queen Space liner carried 4000 passengers and through a computer malfunction collided with an un-manned Ore Carrier killing everyone on board. The Federation suspect that the powerful Star One complex is at fault. Little do they know that Star One has been infiltrated by alien invaders.

                 A surviving Vac-Formed Federation Pursuit Ship used for special effects explosions.

      Ore Carrier seen in the episode Star One. This is the un-manned Ore Carrier which collides with the Nova Queen Space liner.

Two ships on display here - The Space Master and the Wanderer Class K47.

Space-Master from the episode, Orac.  The Space Master series 5 carried two crew members, and was sabotaged by the Federation. One of the crew members was the son of Ensor, the creator of super computer Orac  .

       Wanderer Class from the episode Killer. Blake’s tells Jenna that these ships were the first Earth ships to reach deep space, and is hundreds of years old. It has the designation K47, and had a three man crew.  It also carries a deadly plague.

        One of two Escape Capsules ejected from the Space Master ship as seen in ‘Orac’.

BY THE LIGHT OF AN OPEN FRIDGE I ENTERED .....

Well, after a two month heatwave the weather has finally turned in the West Riding and overcast skies engorged with rain have made a welcome return. Judging by the news we have got off lightly in the UK. Many parts of the world - Japan, California - are suffering terribly with sky-high temperatures. It does seem like a global warning this year.

But I shall move onto more domestic affairs and lighten the mood I think. The subject matter for this morning's 'kaffeeklatsch' is ..... our 'cold cupboard'.

On Friday I opened our 'fridge' and noticed a slight niff. I put this down to some cheese. However the niff played on my mental nose and I wondered if the fridge was conking out. I had recently chucked the bottom door tray, which had split open, so I wondered if I'd somehow broken the seal around the door. 

I took a look on Saturday morning. The milk for my coffee had turned lumpy! Uh-oh! That was a bad omen. If there is one thing that is guaranteed to make me gip its sour milk. The effect is instantaneous and I am always in awe of how biology has created such an effective alarm system; that uncontrollable heaving of the chest and throat just a few carrot cubes shy of actually chucking up! 

So I gipped on Saturday morning and new then the niff wasn't just the cheese. Composing myself whilst still clutching the sink I went in for a second look. The fridge door felt wobbly and it wasn't very cold in there either. A warm fridge is an oxymoron. Like a living corpse or a popular dentist. The niff was evidently stuff going off so I set to and dragged everything out.

I took out all the shelves and trays and faced what was now an empty fridge. Things had been happening. The drain was full of gunk and stuff Van Helsing would have run a mile from spattered the nether regions. I checked the food and binned anything iffy or warm.

Grabbing a disinfectant cleaning spray, as bold and brave as Peter Cushing with wooden stake, I took charge of that fridge and whupped its ass. By the time I'd sprayed the undead back to hell the thing looked pristine again and worthy of its function once more, to refrigerate for the living.

The final thing was to check the door, clean the trays and put decent food back. The door problem was obvious. The fridge had slid backwards and the kickboard was stopping the door from closing. I just moved the fridge forward and the seal stuck once more like a vampire's kiss.

So to the trays. All fine except the veg tray. It stank. I lifted the bag of carrots. Wilted. I lifted the net of onions. Mildewed.. I came to the bag of spuds. Liquified and that was just me. What I found underneath the spud fluid made me gasp. Only the rank soil bed of Vlad the Impaler would have been worse.

In front of me was a long raft of fly eggs. In the fridge for God's sake! Fridge flies!!!

They were unmistakable as I'd seen them before. A neat sheet of small white cigars all stuck together like tiny bleached coffins. So innocent looking but hells bells. Flies in the fridge! I was horrified and fascinated in equal measure. 

How did the Mama fly get in there? I suppose it flew in. How did could the eggs survive in a fridge? Well, I suppose there are flies in Siberia. Where would the flies go once hatched out? They'd fly out of course like leaving an aiport! And worst of all, would the eggs have turned into maggots and crawled allover the other food? That particular thought sent me scurrying round the kitchen with a broad rictus grin as I yelled 'Urrrrrrrrrrhhhhhhhhhhhh!'

Now I wouldn't normally hurt a fly [I don't need to but that's another shaggy dog story] but yesterday morning I drew the line with fly eggs in the fridge. I poured boiling hot water over them and flushed them down the plug hole. Probably an over-reaction, the hot water. I probably just warmed them up. Still they've gone and hopefully gone further than just the inside of my sink hole, back to their maker, the Lord of the Fridge Flies!

I am now left with that strange after-taste when something odd has occurred. Questions remain and I can't help thinking that if flies can live in a fridge then what can live in a lake on Mars?

I look down to see Blue the dog staring up at the window pane ....... to be continued!

TEXAS RANGERS, BURIED RIFLES AND CONSPIRACIES AT THE MOVIES

Well my first week of shore leave is over and I've not done a great deal nursing a stubborn and pesky summer cold. I'm now left with internal plumbing full of unwanted snot. Any more and I'll be leaving a trail!

Me and the Missus did go to the great Steel City of Sheffield on the train this week, which with its huge aluminium water wall near the station, looked gleaming and bright in the sunshine, a hint of what a chromium future might be like. Our business concluded, a South Korean noodle dish was the perfect city lunch. I think I'd like South Korea. Has anyone been?

I have watched some movies too, using up the final days of our Amazon Prime. They're not great on new films but I found enough flicks to keep me entertained. For some reason I had an appetite for Texas Rangers/ JFK/ conspiracies and courtroom dramas and combinations of all four.

There is something appealing about the harsh desert lands and mesas of Texas. Equally intriguing are the cowboy-like Rangers and the mythos that surrounds them. How they fit into the State's law enforcement hierarchy as compared say to a sheriff I don't know but what the hell. 

I kicked off appropriately with Hell or High Water, a recent film about two Texan bank robbers and their persistent adversary, a wily old Ranger played brilliantly by Jeff Bridges. Jeff's voice seems to have got grittier with age and now sounds like he's chewing a cactus. Its terrific and I enjoyed Hell or High Water immensely. Its like a No Country For Old Men without the psycho gas man.

This took me to JFK, the conspiracy marathon by Oliver Stone. I like Kevin Costner and enjoyed his role in that other Kennedy portrait, 100 Days. JFK deals with 'that' day in Dallas and a supposed New Orleans connection. The slow paced revelations and frequent backwaters make for a great legal tale.

The Pelican Brief was another conspiracy I enjoyed, this time starring Julia Roberts as the fugitive law student Darcy Shaw who stumbles across avian skullduggery with the guano leading straight to the White House. A young Denzel Washington is the tireless reporter who helps Darcy out of the swamp.

Further courtroom battles were had in the Southern US drama A Time to Kill starring Samuel L. Jackson and Matthew McConaughey, an actor I always get mixed up with Woody Harrelson. A Time to Kill is a difficult film about racial prejudice and the Ku Klux Klan and also stars erstwhile thriller queen Ashley Judd [what happened to Ashley?]

The final film I watched in this Southern States bonanza was an old favourite of mine, a perfect coming together of old style Texas Border Patrol, JFK conspiracies, CIA, FBI, goodies and baddies: namely, Flashpoint, released in 1984.

I managed to see it this time round free of charge on Daily Motion or Vimeo. Starring the impossibly long-legged Kris Kristofferson and Treat Williams, it describes the misfortunes that befall two Texan border guards who run across a stash of old cash in the mesas and dream of the big time.

Similar to the stunning No Country For Old Men, with its central message that there's no such thing as a free desert lunch, Flashpoint is a sobering tale of why you should leave bags of buried loot and rifles clutched by skeletons in the sand well alone.

There are lots more films of similar grit but they may require payment if I wish to see them again online: A Simple Plan, the brilliant Blood Simple, The Net and Parkland to name a few.

Then there are some flicks I've never see, which is always a gamble: The Onion Field with John Savage, Badlands with Martin Sheen [set in Montana] and Extreme Prejudice with Nick Nolte.

Which Texan and/or Conspiracy films do you like readers?

THE WHEELS OF THE IMAI THUNDERBIRD 7

Today's fascinating discussion about the LP Moon Explorer Car tyres reminded of the mysterious wheels on another model I have, Imai's Thunderbird 7.

Its the orange ATV in the middle of some of my toys lined up here, next to the red LP Moon Explorer Car.

Here's the white version close-up, in which you can see the 5 spoked wheels inside the tread [image: akasikogouru]

They aren't the same as the other pod vehicles by Imai such as this Mole [image: akasikogouru] All the others lack 'spokes'.

Now it may be that the origin of Thunderbird 7's tyres lies in its own origin as a vehicle, namely the Snow Train by Eric Eden in the TV21 Summer Extra 1966

or the heat-shielded version of it, the Beetle, in the 1968 Project SWORD Annual. 

What do you think readers?

LP MOON EXPLORER CAR WHEELS: POSSIBLE ORIGIN BY ANDY B

Hi Woodsy,

I have always liked the LP Moon Explorer Car you featured recently , which was the Spanish version this time.

It led me to wonder about the inspiration for the LP wheel system. It is pretty definitely a WW2 German tank, either a Tiger or Panther. 

I wonder if the wheels were copied from the much smaller Roco Minitanks Panther model pictured above?

Andy B

UK

*

LP Moon Explorer original pictured below for camparison.

THE MODELS USED IN THUNDERBIRDS BY MARC J. FRATTASIO

Years ago I used to correspond with a Marc J. Frattasio. Mark was an early online authority in the 90's on the models used in Gerry Anderson's TV shows. 

Marc knew about the die-casts which appeared, the model kits bashed and the actual materials used for the shows' vehicles.

All of his findings were originally on the TV21 and the SuperM websites.

Here's a taste of his old Thunderbirds observations on SuperM.

http://lester.demon.nl/superm/technology/sfx/tbirds/models0.html

What do you think?

THE MANY COLOURED LAND

Continuing my daydream into glacial and polar lakes I remembered posting this photoshoppery I did years ago on the blog; the great Mars Explorer OX traversing an ancient ice hollow on the red planet.

Discussing submersibles voyaging through polar seas also reminded me of a novel I read as a 17 year old some 40+ years ago, The Many Coloured Land by Julian May. It was the first book in the Saga of the Exiles and at least one other was called the Golden Torc.

What I recall more than anything is a passage describing a spaceship zooming through the icy seas of the Pleistocene. It was a a fabulous image and the book's ice-age roots were hinted at on the beautiful cover it had back then in the 70's with the central motif being a Mammoth's skull. I imagine this cover has changed many times as the book was reprinted over the coming interbellum.

Do you remember this book?

GLACIAL DREAMS

The new Lake on Mars has be mesmerised.

Its not so much the science more the science fiction that's sweeping through my mind whipping up fast eddies of new hope.

For some reason the thought of a large body of clear water on another planet close-by almost brings a tear to my eye, which is sort of fitting really. A martian tear so to speak.

What gleaming craft, what chromed propellers would glide through that crystal pool, piercing its untroubled surface and breaking through the icy crust like a marlin!

It is the stuff of dreams, where glacial waves lap shores of frosted Martian sand and the distant sun glints on the virgin sea, warming it's currents like an invitation to life.

But therein lies the rub readers. How do we enter such an ancient off-world lake without changing it forever?

TERRANOVA47'S FIDEL CASTRO DOLL

So here he is.

Sold as a Fidel Castro doll, I purchased him in Havana, Cuba, July 1959.
This is not Che.

His moustache fell off years ago but otherwise he is correct including the made in Cuba label.

The badge on his left arm, 26, refers to July 26, 1953 when the Castro lead revolution began. The date became the name of the revolutionary movement who in January 1959 succeeded in ousting the dictator, Batista.

so, the back story: 

My mother had family in Cuba she had never met. As children under 12 could travel half fare back in the 50's and my 12th birthday would be September 1959 that summer my mother and I went to the US and Cuba.

July 26 was a great national Holiday that year, the first since the end of the fighting. Every one was for Fidel at that point and he was on TV live, giving a speech that must have lasted 24 hours.

There was no hint yet of either communism or American boycott, this was a time of National rejoicing. A few years later all my Cuban cousins, aunts and uncles would be in the US.

It was the end of this trip on the return to the UK on BOAC that those ridiculous paper aeroplanes of mine you blogged came from.

Terranova47
NYC

THE GHOST IN THE MACHINE

I saw a phrase I hadn't seen before the other day. It was 'ghost site'. It refers to a dormant website on the net. I had seen the phrase 'ghost sign' before and indeed I live across the road from one, an old Hovis Bread sign fading slowly on an old shop wall.

Ghost site sums up perfectly that strange thing you find online, a site that hasn't been updated for years and despite still existing on the net its been more or less abandoned.

Dormancy like this can be for many reasons. There maybe nothing new to say. There maybe nothing new to find. There maybe be personal reasons on the part of the author not least of which could be getting on with other parts of their life.

The first ghost site I came across was the much-missed Stingray Museum. It was alive and swimming when I first hooked up to the net. I even corresponded with the site creator back in the 1990's. After some time though it became dormant and even worse disappeared altogether. Fortunately its ratemaster was still whirring and it resurfaced on that portal to lost worlds, The Wayback Machine.

I have met with many ghost sites since then and lament the passing of many others into the ether. The Gerry Anderson Complete Comics History or GACCH was such a work. Comprehensive and monumental, it vanished completely only to again fortunately rise in some form on the Wayback Machine, fast becoming the web's official ghost town.

Ghost sites worry me. I know that one day Moonbase Central will be such a one. OK, its rather maudlin' to think like that I know but as we fast approach the tenth anniversary this Autumn I do wonder how much longer it can run. I suppose what is most on my mind is whether I still have anything new to say. My co-authors still do but personally my own collecting days are largely over and without new stuff to play with its hard to stay fresh.

Yes, I do still have a large space toy collection, especially Project SWORD, but how many more times can I talk about these? Virtually all the research that is possible has been done into this line with new material few and far between these days. Being a blog Moonbase Central relies on newness. Readers have been brilliant these last couple of years, providing many articles and titbits to bolster the effort of the three of us at MC, for which I am eternally grateful as it has indeed helped keep the blog fresh and relevant to its audience.

I dunno. Those ghost sites are on my mind. Any advice on what to do with ghosts?

SOVIET BOOSTER SPACE TANK

Hi Woodsy,

Found these while trawling the 'net. 

Although it's from 1950, can't help thinking of 2001 when I look at that space station image.

Also, perhaps the strangest "take" on the booster rocket yet?

all the best,

Andy B

LAKE DISCOVERED ON MARS!

Yep, there's a lake of water on the red planet! Such exciting news. OK, its subterranean but I'm personally thrilled. A Lake! What next?

You can read more about it here https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-44952710

What do you think readers?

INTRODUCING THE HTX1 SARGEANT BILKO HOVER TANK

Woodsy

The Hover Tank Sgt Bilko style on You Tube!

Not quite Gerry Anderson, the film isn't all bad! Any other actor would have been better than Steve Martin tho!

Regards 

Mark J

Southcoast Base

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SUBMIT AN ARTICLE?

Believe it or not the blog will be 10 years old on the 15th September. Yep, a whole decade of Moonbase Central!

A blog like this wouldn't have survived without the enthusiasm of you the readers and your continued comments and contributions.

So with that in mind I would like our Tenth birthday to be largely devoted to you the readers and to celebrate our hobby through your words and pictures.

If you would like to see your thoughts and images on Moonbase Central over the week commencing the 15th September then please send me what it is you wish to publish about our hobby. It could be as long or as short as you wish and pictures always brighten things up.

Collections/ collecting/ model making/ scratchbiulding/ toy stories/ childhood memories/ baby boomer insights/ tales of finding that one special thing/ birthday stories/ art/ displays of your favourite toys and models - like jelly and cake all these would fit the bill and make our tenth birthday your birthday!

I have a couple of nice posts from readers already to get the ball rolling.

My email can be found at the bottom of the page. Keep it clean, non-offensive and relevant and I'll be happy to look at it for inclusion in the Birthday week.

Over to you.

Woodsy

CUSTOM HOVER TANK BOX ART IDEA

I did this ages ago for an idea for the box art for Kevin D's fabulous scratch built Hover Tank, which you can read about again in the link below, the Birth of a Hover Tank.

An amazing prototype toy version of the Hover Tank did actually exist as discovered by fellow toy enthusiast Paul Vreede as featured on his site.

http://www.triangspacextoys.info/SpGApapr/rUKdsgns/MA944883.html

I wonder what they actually planned for the box art?

IAIN McCLUMPHA'S HOVER TANK AND THE DALEKS

Hi Woodsy

I used a Hover Tank in a couple of my Dalek web comic panels.

One thing about that TV21 artwork... it looks like Ron Turner to me!

All the best

Iain
2018

*

Iain first featured on MC 6 years ago! How time flies... or hovers!
http://projectswordtoys.blogspot.com/2012/12/iain-mcclumphas-world-army-hover-tank.html

MIKE NOBLE HOVER TANK IN COLOUR

Still pursuing space tanks, here's another from Mike Noble's Fireball XL5 TV21 strip for the blog!

Andy B

Spoiler Alert

In response to Paul V's query about the LP/Davies rocket shot on the previous post, heres some before shots of similar models. Basically, I try and do asmuch as possible in camera, using mechanical effects. This usually involves hanging the toy up on fishing line and arranging the props underneath. Adjusting the depth of field on the camera blurs out the background slightly, giving a false perspective. Finally, a tight crop to remove extraneous detail and a light Photoshopping to take out the strings!

ROCKETS, JETS AND GUIDED MISSILES: THE BOOK

Hello Woodsy,

As its the Moon Landing anniversary it occurred to me that there was no mention I could find on MC of a book that I bought from a Woolworths in the mid 50's.

The British title was Rockets, Jets and Guided Missiles I think my copy is in a box, and we both know what that means!

I did look for it on eBay years ago and ended up with the US original version from 1951 published by Random House the illustrations are mostly by Jack Coggins born in the UK, moved to US.

These illustrations from the book would have been known to any of the model makers who worked on the Anderson TV shows. I think the book was purchased by my Dad for me as it explained about the V1 and V2 missiles he was on the receiving end of. It was a popular book back when Dan Dare was new.

7634 shows the page that left the most impression on me as to the horror of war.

I hope you find this interesting, sadly the laminated cover has degraded on this copy but the interior is as new.

Terranova47

NYC

USA