FAB TIME AT FAB WORLDS

Coming back down to Earth after The Fab Worlds of Anderson event, which took place at the Leicester National Space Centre last weekend, and I have to say it was a blast.

Thunderbird 2 model built by Ben ten Westenend

There was a fantastic display of original and replica props, plus some screenings and live talks. In fact there was a heck of a lot to see. A lot of people had brought along a lot of Anderson related goodies, for both fans and the general public alike to enjoy.

I have to admit, this time round I wanted to more-or less concentrate on the displays, so I didn’t attend any of the screenings or talks, although I couldn’t resist saying hello to special guests, Shane Rimmer and Brian Johnson. (Unfortunately, Matt Zimmerman, who was also due to attend had taken ill during the week, and couldn’t make it, but by all accounts is on the mend, so get well soon, Matt)

It’ll come as no surprise that there was a big collection of puppets on show, many with original screen- used parts.  Most of these had been saved from the later series’, following Thunderbirds, which used more disproportionate and caricatured puppets, although there were one or two replicas’ to represent those earlier series’.

All the puppets have been skilfully restored to pristine condition by their owners, who then take the trouble to display them at these kinds of events.

As the collectors involved in the displays provided a wealth of info on what was on display, I’ll do a more detailed look at them in a later post. 

There was also a good selection of models, some original, along with some excellent replicas.

Here’s a small selection:

This is Eagle 2, the second of the three 44” Eagle miniatures made, which was first seen in the Space 1999 episode, The Last Sunset.

Here’s another great looking prop for its age, the large Sky 1 miniature, as seen in the series’, UFO.  

A Moonbase Alpha Laser tank: This model was seen in the Space 1999 episode, The Infernal Machine, and was built by Martin Bower.

Another Martin Bower creation, The Starcruiser.

Space 1999 was well represented at the event, and again, I really need to do more dedicated post on what was on offer later on, but for now here’s  a selection of original costumes including one of the six spacesuits made for the series.

Here’s a great looking replica Ultra Probe Command Module built by Chris Potter.

David Sisson had a fine display. Here’s the Overlander from Terrahawks .

A selection of underwater craft from Studio 2 Models.

Underwater problems for Captain Scarlet, and something a little different from R James Ashton Models.

A ginomous Thunderbird 1 from Ben ten Westenend.

Well, that's a taster of what was on display. There were lots of other things too, merchandise stalls, artists' signings and the folk who did the Thunderbirds 1965 films, plus I've go quitet a few more photos to post later so for now just watch this space...