Rob C's Mystery Spaceship Design

Woodsy,

I sent you these pix some time ago, but I'm sending them again to see if Moonbasers can solve a mystery for me.

This is the Apollo 27, a retro Sci-Fi rocket model produced in 2009 by Pegasus Hobbies.

I swear I saw a post on Moonbase several years ago which featured an identical design, either from a comic strip or a toy from the 1950s or 1960s.

 I vaguely thought it was connected to the Dan Dare franchise, but that didn't pan out.

Does anybody recognize this design from an older toy or comic strip?

 I know it's a fairly generic design, but I swear I saw this particular design somewhere else before the 2009 model came out.

Rob C

USA

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Terranova47 has sent these in as likely candidates; a Jet Ace Logan comic strip illustration on a Fleet way book and his own RAF rendition of it.

Rob's Transportation 1957: Art Series 2

Woodsy,

Here are some more gouache sketches inspired by 1950s Japanese Transfer art.

Rob C

USA

Next up, I'm going to try some alien toy-scapes, courtesy of Ed Berg!

Rob's Amazing Model Moguras

Woodsy,

In response to your recent "Driller Thriller" post, here are pix of two Midori Moguras models I have built. 

The smaller, yellow one is Moguras Jr., and the larger, orange one is King Moguras, the cousin of the toy version you've shown. 

There is also a larger model, called "Big Moguras," which I have never run across.

Rob C

USA

BLOGGIVERSARY SPECIAL: ROB's MARUI ULTRA MACH NO.2 BIULD

Woodsy,

Happy Birthday!

Here is my latest vintage Japanese SF model, dating (I think) from the early 1970s. It’s the “Ultra Mach No #2” by MARUI, an obscure company that had a small line of weird SF kits back in the day, including the infamous “Ultramobile,” a blatant ripoff of the Captain Scarlet SPV.

Ultra Mach No #2 is your typical SF toy model of the time, a streamlined flying vehicle with a clockwork motor and giant wheels to make it zoom across the floor - the original kit had options for flying the vehicle on a zip line, but I left out those parts. As was usual for these kits, the finished model looks very little like the box art.

A small model, maybe 4” long when finished, but it evokes that old-school SF design style I always liked. I mixed my own metallic blue out of silver and blue paints, and I think it came out fairly well.

Most of the supplied decals didn’t fit on the model in any reasonable way, so I grabbed some misc ones from the leftovers box.

Scalemates has most of the MARUI Ultra Science models bunched together under one listing - understandable as the kits look remarkably similar upon first glance - but there were probably half a dozen different vehicles offered in this line. 

To make matters more confusing, MARUI liked to reissue the same kit every few years under a new name and with a different box art, so a definitive list of this line would be hard to compile. Most of these kits also came with a full-sized, missile-firing secret spy wristwatch, which I did not assemble.

Rob C

USA

Captain Scarlet Mystery Jet Solved!

Woodsy,

Regarding that silver "Captain Scarlet Mystery Jet" you found on Noppin in 2012 - if it isn't somehow related to this 1966 Midori Super Arrow, I'll turn in my Project SWORD badge!

Rob C

USA

Rob's Dinky Die-Cast Memories 2024

Seeing my friend's little car collection got me to reminiscing about my own childhood die-cast collection, and I have tried to recall what I had back then. 

I only came up with some - I am sure there were more - but maybe these will jog my memory. These were all the larger toys by Dinky, including a few Dinky Supertoys.

 I was super-lucky in having a rich Aunt (!) who would take me into New York City once a year and take me shopping at F.A.O. Schwarz, the legendary toy superstore in upper Manhattan; Auntie would let me get one die-cast per visit, and most of these are thanks to her generosity.

The Dinky Air France Caravelle, my Father brought home from the Idlewild Airport gift shop upon his return from one of his frequent business trips. 

I did also have some of the smaller Matchbox cars in those great little boxes, but I have no memory of specific vehicles - they must have been purchased and played with very early!

(images from ebay.com, dinkysite.com, qualitydiecasttoys.com)

#131 Cadillac Eldorado

#257 Nash Rambler Fire Chief's Car

#263 Superior Criterion Ambulance

#280 Observation Coach

#575 French Panhard Tracteur SNCF

Supertoys #60F Air France Caravelle

Supertoys #943 Leyland Octopus Esso Petroleum Tanker

Supertoys #953 Continental Touring Coach

Did you have any of these?

Rob C

USA

Rob's 1968 Imai Thunderbird 1

I Was going through some old print photographs, and found an actual snapshot of my IMAI Thunderbird 1 model taken in 1968!

Unpainted, in all its original out-of-box glory!

I had forgotten that in addition to the big wheels on the bottom (the side away from the camera), there were spring-loaded swing wings, and the red nosecone also launched with spring action! 

Second photo is of the AHM/IMAI box top, which I managed to save all these years.

Rob C

CT

USA

ROB'S CONVAIR SPACE SHUTTLECRAFT: ARTS AND KRAFFTS

Woodsy,

Here’s my attempt to build the Atlantis reissue of the 1959 Revell model, the Convair Space Shuttlecraft, a concept design by Krafft A. Ehricke. Not my best work, but a fun build of a cool design!

Hope you like it.

Rob C

USA