Before Project SWORD disappeared into the closet of history and following the release of the single SWORD annual, two rare books were produced, to accompany the toyline.
The Sword Make a Model books were an attempt to introduce card models into the line, with each book containing two press out models to make. Unfortunately for Sword collectors, the line was on its last legs at this point and any hope of new toys had disappeared.
The annual features several vehicles which may have eventually found their way into actual toy productions, but due to the collapse of the line, any plans were shelved.
Of these, the closest we came to a toy was the Hover Tank, which was actually produced in prototype form and had a design registration placed.
The two model books feature three unproduced designs and the Scramble Bug, one of the best SWORD toys in the line.
The other models were the aforementioned Hover Tank, the Sand Flea and the Snow Train. All these vehicles originally appeared in a TV21 article, in illustrations by Eric Eden. The Snow Train looks as it does in the SWORD annual, albeit being renamed 'The Beetle'.
The Sand Flea also appears in the annual (as the Survey Vehicle) with some minor cosmetic changes along with the Hover Tank which received a substantial cosmetic overhaul.
Professional model maker Kevin Davies brought us as close as we will ever be to seeing the Hover Tank in reality, with his custom model, above, based on the illustration in the annual.
The Sand Flea/Survey Vehicle and the Beetle have no real world counterparts, but the spanish toy company Clim made a small range of space toys, which include this strange contraption with a large central drive wheel.
Personally, I have neither the dexterity or patience to complete any of the four models in the books, although some brave souls have attempted the Snow Train and the Scramble Bug.
As can be see from the images at the start of the post, the models are not all bad considering the limitations of the medium.
So far, we have not seen the Sand Flea or the Hover Tank have yet to be completed, so if you fancy having a go, I have included the scans and instructions for all four models below.
The images should be high enough resolution for print, but if you need higher quality scans, let me know and I can provide them.
Good luck and please send us photographs of the final models!
Joint Instructions for all models and both covers are available at the start of the post. Both books also contain an illustrated text story, which has been omitted here.
Wow! I remember getting both these books on special at Boot's the Chemist, back in the late 60's!
ReplyDeleteI definitely recall making all of them -except for the Hover Tank - I wonder what happened there?
Thanks for the memories, Wote!
Card models are much trickier than they look. The simplicity of the material hides the complexity of assembling the model with clean lines and no visible tabs showing. I made a bunch of card models (airplanes and cars) in my youth, and was daunted by the difficulty in getting a finished model which did not look like - card! SFZ
ReplyDeleteI never had these as a kid I don't think. I'm terrible at following instructions so I probably wouldn't have made them if I had, which is my loss. I've got both books now, true classics of Project Sword and along with the Annual make the SWORD trio of books. Great stuff Wote.
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