MOONBASE CENTRAL

Saturday, 6 July 2019

LISTENING TO .....THUNDERBUCK RAM 1970

Its summer. Its relaxed. The air is sweet. The nights are light.

What better time to listen to Mott the Hoople's great rock riff fest Thunderbuck Ram made famous by its inclusion on the seminal Bumpers compilation double-LP 1970.

Enjoy!

It Figures

TIMPO GERMAN SEARCHLIGHT

Ive shown these before on the blog, but to jog Woody's memory (again) here are the Mortar Team and other similar sets.

TIMPO AMERICAN BAZOOKA TEAM

TIMPO VICKERS HEAVY MACHINE GUN

TIMPO GERMAN MORTAR

TIMPO FIELD HOSPITAL

BRITAINS ? SWOPPETS ? MORTAR TEAM

BRITAINS ASSAULT CRAFT

TIMPO DINGHY TEAM

BRITAINS RIGID ASSAULT CRAFT

DEETAIL MORTAR TEAM

DETAIL RECOILLESS RIFLE TEAM

TIMPO FOUR MAN DINGHY

TIMPO FIELD GUN

LONE STAR SOLDIERS

ASSORTED SOLDIERS

BRITAINS INDIANS

TIMPO MEXICANS

TIMPO COWBOYS AND INDIANS

BRITAINS COWBOYS

BRITAINS NATIVE AMERICAN CAMP
(TOTEM POLE RELOCATED TO ANOTHER BLOG!)

SPACEX ROCKET TRANSPORTER FROM SCRATCH

My next scratch build model project will be of a toy that's never been seen in the flesh!

The mysterious Tri-ang SpaceX Rocket Transporter.

My main inspiration for the model will be this Tri-ang backing card art.

Progress updates to follow this week.

Wish me luck!

In the early 1970's Britains tried branching out with a different scale of figure, at 1:42 complete with a base and scenery. Each mini set included enough figures and accessories to make a small diorama, or to split up and combine with similar themed sets to make a larger one.

My first Mini Set was the Frogmen and Octopus set, which arrived in a neat little box with a scenic illustration to sit behind the set. Considering its age and the amount of play its had, its lasted well! One of the frogmen has lost his speargun and both have lost the orange aqualung gear, which was made of the same soft polythene that Britains made some of the tree models from. The Octopus, the star of the show for me is made of the same flexible material and can curl a tentacle around the hapless frogmans leg.

I've managed to keep the rest of the set together, but I had to replace the tanks on the figures backs.

A second wave addition was the Divers and Shark, a similar theme of deep sea jeopardy. This set hasn't fared as well, and I have lost a section of weed, the airline, the lid from the chest and the two circular faces for the divers. The hard plastic shark is not nearly as good as the Octopus, but makes for a nice tableau.

I replaced the orange air hose from the set with a piece of wire and plugged the circular faceplates with clear filler. As one of the weeds is missing, I took a plant front from Playmobil and added that for effect. The lid of the chest comes from a tank model kit.

As posted earlier, the German Antitank Gun is complete and even has its original shells! The gun is a recent edition, but the other two I have had from new.

THE FUTURE WAS GREAT

I was talking to a futurologist the other day who was staying with us.

She advises large companies on how to look far far ahead into the future.

I showed her my collection of dead technologies and we discussed the futures we expected. A Sixties kid and an Eighties kid.

Being much older and a baby boomer I explained that my expected future had been of steel and glass needle-pointed cities piercing a domed sky bristling with gleaming rockets and jet cars.

Clearly this dream future never came and I realised whilst describing it that I felt a strong sense of disappointment. Maybe even betrayal.

I wonder if any of you feel like this readers, that the future we thought would emerge from Thunderbirds, Star Trek, TV21, the moonshot and a million B-movies has simply not materialised.

Smart phones just don't cut it.

What do you think? Am I misguided?

Friday, 5 July 2019

Apollo's Muse

Still from Destination Moon

Once more Terranova proves that the Big Apple is the place to be, he visited The Metropolitan Museum of Art to cover the 'Apollo's Muse - The Moon in the Age of Photography', which opened this weekend. Check out the website here: https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2019/apollos-muse-moon-photography

Video footage of Live Moon Landing broadcast

Here are some of the shots captured by Terra of the expo, which i'm sure you will agree is first rate.

Chesley Bonestell Moonscape

First Woman on the Moon Artwork

Charles Le Morvan Lunar Photography

Souvenirs

MANTA FORCE AND THE MOON BUGGY

I've been enjoying reading this French blog about old toys, Toys Against the Machine, especially the Manta Force section:

https://toysagainstthemachine.wordpress.com/jouets-oublies/manta-force/m-a-n-t-a-force/

I'm much too old to have enjoyed the range first time round but I've had the pleasure of picking up a few bits over the years. I still have two large boxed vehicles in the attic!

I'm impressed with the Starblaster rocket on the blog. It has a look of Fireball XL5 would you say? Well designed too.

There's also a small blue land crawler that reminds me of the SpaceX Moon Buggy, the Turbo Drill. What do you think? Could it be remodelled into a form of Buggy?

SHIFT CHANGE

Mars Base has now handed back the comm to Moonbase.

I would like to thank Wotan and Scoop a great deal for holding the fort whilst I've been on shore leave.

And what a fantastic job they've done I'm sure you'd agree!

I'm not sure I can follow all that great stuff!

More to follow.