SHADO CON 2: ORIGINAL PROPS

Continuing my review of Shado Con 2, here are a few photos of some of the original props on display, courtesy of mega collectors, James Winch and Paolo Malaguti.

A highlight for me was the chance to see the smaller 13” Shado Interceptor prop in it's silo (built by Steve Howarth), which now belongs to James. I remember seeing this model many years ago at one of the early Fanderson Conventions, along with its larger 25” brother, which was going through some restoration if I remember rightly.  

Owner James considers it a bit ugly. It's not as pretty as it's larger surviving brother but from certain angles it still looks pretty good.

It does help that James went to the trouble of having a great looking silo built for it, which shows the interceptor at its best.

This is one of only two surviving UFO spinning saucer props known to exist. This one also belongs to James, and is believed to be an earlier design used for long shots.

The top is clear vac-formed Perspex attached to the lower body in which a small motor would have spun the silver reflective paddles. The strings suspending it would have carried a charge to power the motor.

Coming all the way from Italy, Paolo managed to bring a few items I’ve not seen in the flesh.

Everybody had to see Ed Straker’s wig as worn by the late Ed Bishop, it was a bit like attending a holy shrine.

There was also a purple Moon Trackers wig worn by the late Dolores Mantez.

Also on display was Wanda Ventham’s purple shirt as worn in the episode, ‘Timelash’.

Alec Freeman’s suit, as worn by George Sewell.

Paolo also brought this Certina wrist watch with him. This is on loan from the Bishop family and was worn by Ed Bishop during the UFO series. At the end of filming Gerry & Sylvia Anderson and Reg Hill presented the watch to Ed as a thank you.

The Markers Universal Transporter, now sporting a brand new scratch-built trailer. Another prop owned by James.

The Transporter was designed by Mike Trim, and first appeared in the episode, ‘The Square Triangle’.

Another model designed by Mike Trim, the SID 2 shuttle as seen in the episode, ‘The Man Who Came Back’.

A Fire Truck built for the feature film, Doppelgänger, but ultimately not seen in the finished film.

Only one side is detailed, and the driver, shown here removed, looks like  the torso of a motor cyclist action figure.

The SHADO Ambulance, first seen in the series opener, ‘Identified’, and another Mike Trim design.

Behind it can be seen a Hover Van, first used in Joe 90, and seen briefly in the UFO episode, 'Court Martial', and a van, first used in The Secret Service, and later in UFO, parked outside Harlington Straker. 

The underside showing the suspension and steering mechanisms. A lot of the inside is just timber and 1/4" plywood.

Finally, one of the star attractions, the SHADO Jeep. There was a minor crisis when James drove it off his trailer to park it outside the venue, and the gear lever snapped off. Thankfully, this has now been fixed.

DINKY SPC YELLOW RESTORATION

Saw this on You Tube and thought it may interest readers, a die-cast Dinky SPC restoration in yellow by Andrew Laird,

Yellow is an unusual colour to choose. Does it relate to the series?

We've seen other colours on toy SPC's - in the collection of Terry H. Rather than die-cast they are three plastic toy vehicles.

Were there any more yellow SPC's available in toy shops?

THERE'S A MARTIAN ON THE TRACKS

Hello Woodsy 

Funny thing, I always thought of this Martian War machine as a Tripod when in fact it has four legs plus two that are clockwork powered to make it walk. So, in fact it has six legs and is a hexapod not a tripod! 

The Martians have invaded 'Northern Heights' my OO layout circa 1950's. The army gets ready while the Martians contemplate a dockside crane. 

I counted buses on 'Northern Heights' and there are 35 double deckers, two are Morestone (London Made) copies of the Dinky (Liverpool Made) and one is a Budgie Routemaster. There are 10 single deckers and two sometimes three operating trams. Not bad for a model train layout with four operating trains at any one time.. 

Terranova47

NYC

USA

LAWNMOWER GANG 1970

Its very hot here in the UK. Maybe it is where you are? We've had two weeks pf non-stop high temperatures with no let-up or rain in sight.

Most lawns and verges are turning brown and some crops like wheat are wilting. Huge fires have broken out on parched moorlands and we are one rung away from a National Emergency or so it said on the News.

It all really does put me in mind of 50's disaster movies about an overheating world. Seeing all the lawns turn brown also recalls the Death of The Grass, perhaps one of most startling and unrelentingly grim sci-fi novels I've ever read.

Yet the hot days also recall long lost summers in the patchouli-scented decades of the Sixties and Seventies. I remember some real scorchers when I was a kid and I regularly got sun-burn on our annual holiday to Abersoch, Ilfracombe or Minehead.

They must have been scorchers because I can clearly recollect running and screaming through fountains of cold water in the garden. The fountains were provided by a neat contraption, which attached to the hose-pipe. It was a plastic ring full of small pin-holes, which sent water shooting upwards and then down like a sort of wet crown. It may have been a lawn waterer but for us kids it was Butlins at home! Talk about fun!

We also rolled out a large sheet of plastic like a tarp and lay the hose on it to create a sort of log flume for humans. The idea was to belly-slide all the way down the watered tarp like a seal! Braver souls attempted to 'skate' standing up but this usually resulted in a sore wet bottom!

Outside of this advanced aqua-planing we also played with grass. When either my Dad or Brother-in-Law Terry cut the lawn the grass clippings were piled up in a heap. Enter the children. My mates and I would grab this pile and begin a session of what can only be described as a grass factory. 

This factory entailed various long wooden ramps and chutes which we had installed around the top of the garden along a small incline. They were either resting on a bush, resting on the ground or jammed between branches of a tree. The ramps and chutes overhung each other.

The grass clippings were then shoved and pulled along from one chute to another, either by hand or using the hose pipe as hydraulic power, eventually creating a sort of continuous conveyor belt. the grass piled up at the bottom in a wheel barrow. It felt like farming and was great great fun!

For some reason the grass always made me itch after a bit, especially if I lead shirtless on the lawn. Still, a tray full of glasses filled with ice and Robinson's Barleywater and Tree Tops cordial served by my old Mum would usually help us get over any summer hardships.

And before you knew it was 5 '0' clock and it was time for tea!

What did you play in summer readers?

SEARS TIN SPACE VEHICLES PATENTS

Searching Google Patents i came across these patents for the Sears tinplate space series. Here's the link for you to look at the various entries yourself. These toys were originally Bandai i think.

https://patents.google.com/?inventor=Product+Engineering&scholar&page=1

A Bathtub on the Moon

Originally posted back in September 2010, I thought it would be good to look at these two soviet era toys from my collection again.

You had to hand it to the Soviet Space programme, they did manage some fantastic feats of engineering in their time. Besides placing the first artificial satellite in orbit, the first man in space and the first spacewalk, they also managed to photograph the dark side of the moon and launch probes to most of the inner planets and send back photographs. All vehicles were singularly distinctive and designed in a way that looked noticably different from their american counterparts.

A particularly unusual and remarkable project was the Lunokhod or 'moonwalker'. The first mission placed a remotely operated rover on the moon in 1970 and again in 1973 Lunokhod 2 surprised the world as it spent four months travelling across the lunar surface sending back pictures of its travels before mysteriously halting.

Many toy and model companies have produced versions of Vostok, Soyuz and the Mir and Salyut stations, but appearances by the strange Lunokhod are few and far between.

Just recently I was extremely lucky to win a rare russian toy version of the toy, It was a restoration job as it had been painted and the motor was shot, but the basics were there and best of all, it looked wonderful! I added a couple of red star decals from an old airfix kit and it now stands proud on display.

After spotting the toy for sale, I had a quick trawl round on the web for info on the rare toy and found an excellent article by Mat Irvine on Scale Model News. This told me that it was made by a russian company called 'Ogonjek'. Originally, the tinplate body had lithoed markings and a name and the vehicle was attached by a cabled remote which had been removed. Even with these apparent defects, it is still an amazing toy and sits at about a foot long and is remarkably heavy having two strong electric motors, rusting inside.

Prior to seeing this tinplate version of the moonwalker, I had run into the little bathtub some years ago after I found a spanish toy by Congost. Lunajod 200 is a big boxed game, with the box itself an integral part of the toy. A large moon disc is printed on the reverse and the toy element consists of a fabulous little Spacex scaled model of Luna 21 and Lunokhod 2 riding on its back. The moon surface has holes punched in it to accept plastic buffers and Luna 21 is lowered onto the box with a small chain. As the lander touches down, ramps pop down and Lunokhod dutifully rolls off. If you aim correctly, Lunokhod rolls into the buffer and a small catch is released, the 'bathtub' lid pops open and a magnetic arm flips out. Behind the buffer are small metal disks or 'moon samples' and the arm picks one up automatically. Its a fantastically inventive toy, and beautifully made too.

Congost Lunajod 200 box base

 LUNA 21 and Lunokhod 2 waiting for lunar touchdown.

Lunar Samples and buffers in special box

SOVIET SPACE MODELLING

This book " Space in the palms" is in Russian and has some amazing model illustrations. It was published in 1984 in the Soviet Union in Moscow. I saw it online on Ebay and saved these images. What do you think of the models readers?

Having a Dump on the Moon

Park Plastics Lunar Dump and other vehicles from the same series, only one of which I have ever seen twice, the packaged version. Very art deco, streamlined designs, dating from the early sixties. The toys are light plastic with aluminium accents. I remembered these beauties recently and am homping to be able to repair the broken lift arm on the green dozer.