Its a long way from Star Wars, but published in 1963, this neat little book shows the growing interest in space modelling, as the space race began to accelerate. I first found it in the local library while I was at school back in the seventies and during that immensely long hot summer holiday, tried making a few models from it. Its interesting to note that the cover has plastic kits of the Stilletto and Revell Moonship, but the content doesn't relate to kits at all.
On the face of it, its pretty simple boy scout type crafting, balsa wood, craft knife and a lot of sanding, but some of the results are quite respectable
Its interesting to see some of the early representations of the newly proposed Saturn Rocket are still way off the mark and even the massive Nova launch vehicle gets a mention.
The bulk of the models are purely hypothetical, with nods towards Ehricke, Braun and Ley, and some are entirely fictional with play in mind.
I recall buying a pack of balsa wood from the local hobby shop and rather than following these particular plans, whittling out my own designs for various gliders and spaceships, which were (mostly) successfully launched out of the bedroom window!
This particular copy appeared on ebay recently and i was really pleased to be able to read it again and enjoy the memories of those heady summer holidays.
Interesting - I never knew this book existed. Some years ago I picked up a copy of the Eagle Book of Spacecraft Models, also by Ray Malmstrom. These were flying models, either gliders or powered. There were other books in the Eagle series by the same author, on Model Aircraft, Model Boats, and Model Cars. It seems he was a very busy modeller.
ReplyDeleteArco was a US publisher, based in New York, while Eagle was British.
An interesting book and lovely models indeed, just the kind I would love to have as vintage kits in my collection. Mr Malmström seems to have been a central figure in aeromodelling circles and a prolific author in that field.
ReplyDeleteHe also includes plans for a couple of gas jet engine powered control line planes and various gliders.
ReplyDeleteFab book that Bill, its almost a SpaceX manual! Where do you get these treasures from?
ReplyDeleteTheres even a Dyna Soar!
ReplyDeleteOh Wow! I had a Ray Malstrom book of flying spacecraft models that I think were under the Eagle banner, although there were no Dan Dare models. Lots of jetex motors and balsa construction! I also had a boat book by Ray in the same range.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't seen this book before and the Dyna Soar caught my eye instantly!
Would you consider scanning the whole thing for Moonbase's archives?
I can indeed Looey - do you want the whole book, or just the plans and instructions? There's a lot of 'history of' and 'what if' content besides the building sections. Ill see if I cant get it online for saturday. Bill
Deletei think some of the images have been for sale on Ebay over the years. They really do ring a bell.
ReplyDeleteand I knew Id seen them on the blog before! Here we go, erstwhile reader Griff's stuff from 2010! https://projectswordtoys.blogspot.com/2010/11/to-pilots-of-future-by-grif.html
ReplyDeleteIts this I was thinking of on Ebay. Nothing to do with it! https://www.ebay.com/itm/394595912383?hash=item5bdfbfcabf:g:8z0AAOSwCDtkTMNC&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA0LDLacLr0qJsGjDrcqRhM2nZqOpq%2F%2FEV%2BoN5jIbfphO63xBsLVgaqez2Fzd9200F9xhrFdoyvj1ZokXScoFkUcugiHI%2BEFcMWIH7wZKHEJKtEj32KSmhvgOZ0A6RNAulhVMJEfwO2VCOKI8RIP2C%2BcmPZHjxFL86EWYIAyaDYvkGW95ksbRPaeapiVLGTm8T4qbjFekAe44%2BeUAxcZ90NE3rz05nsYr%2BW%2BbLZwbVioZMWQEITdRmzgxpcrMSpnUPvF2gtzrO2K3xHcdn3uVPOJs%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR67Iw9b9YQ
ReplyDeleteMy favorite entry
ReplyDelete