QUIZ QUESTION: NAME THE ALBUM

 OK, its Penance holding up the Needle Probe but what's the LP cover in the background readers?

Spacex Station Zodiac

Some quick photos of another scratchbuild I made a while ago, which for various reasons ended up on the shelf again.

Composed of a central globe from a Capsela building set and surrounded by Make It Yourself Xmas Bauble globes, each one fitted out with scrap items!

Still in need of a little finishing off and maybe some decals, but until then, here is the lonely outpost of Zodiac Station, sitting at the la grange point en route to Mars.

 

NICE ENOUGH TO EAT

Off sick at the mo so chillin' with some old toons from my yoof. here's the class Nice Enough to Eat rock sampler from 1969. I wuz 9 at the time so first heard it a few years later when I started playing my old brothers' LP's! 

I think my fave track is King Crimson's 21st Century Schizoid Man, an early example of heavy metal I would say!

Having said that I adore Jethro Tull and used to cover them in a band I was in back in the early 80's. Their track here, Things We used to Know, always brings a tear to my eye especially 'pretty soon we'll cease to sound'. Some really great lyrics from Tull.

As for Free, what can I say. The best band in the world at the time!

You can listen too if you want!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLJmO8myjKs&list=PLf3LODqwJVH0zjp7u9vhdKWyjA4bZTv0W

Everything Is Go!

Its satisfying when a project comes together and even better when the parts appear unexpectedly. Having recently won the Apollo Moon Exploring Radar Console on ebay, I was a step closer to completing my miniature Cape Canaveral Rocket Base, most of which was copied from its larger cousin by Blue Box toys. Then after Woodsy spotted the missing piece in an antique shop nearby, I saw a chance to finish the set. Following a mercy dash by Woodsy before the lockdown was enforced and a good rummage round in various boxes in the shop, he miraculously managed to find all three rockets and the tiny silver radar from the Rocket Transporter Truck.  Along with the truck he also bought the red helicopter - copied from           Tri-ang Hornby and again made by Blue Box, which added to the set.

So, after many years searching, I finally have a full (expanded) set of models from Blue Box, which copied the Topper Cape Canaveral set. 

The lorry had been really haphazardly painted, so it needed a little touching up with silver on the deck and the spare wheel had come off. One of the rockets had lost its chequered collar, so I replaced those with simple printouts.

The copter also appears in Triang Battlespace Train series and was often copied by Blue Box for its Army series, I have a grey and a green version, but the red one with the USAF insignia fits right in with the base.

Toppers Cape Canaveral set is a big polythene based toy, with launching rockets and missiles and came with waterslide transfers to decorate your rockets, all named after mythological beings such as Nike, Jupiter, Thor and Atlas.

The strange rocket with the ball like attachment on the top has been copied by Multiple Toymakers for a rack toy space set and is larger in scale than the Blue Box Atlas rocket.

Some time ago I got some spare parts for the Topper set and made a simple version of the Apex Radar Console with plant pot holders! 

Both the Topper and the Blue Box toys are great designs and well worth tracking down. Just don't launch the Topper rocket anywhere near the tree at xmas..

 

MJ'S SPINMASTER BATMOBILE: KA-POW!

Hi Woodsy!

A couple of quick pictures of the Batman and his Batmobile, a customer of mine got these for me recently and a slow day gave me the opportunity to customize them.

This range of toys is in the 3,3/4 inch scale and I think you'll agree Spinmaster has knocked it out of the park with the detail on these. 

Hopefully more of these to follow!

Regards 

MJ 

Southcoast Base

Booster Building

I had bit of fun recently, scratchbuilding one of the best vehicles in the Project Sword/Spacex fleet - the Booster Rocket. As usual it was a rush job, brought about by a chance find of a random piece of scrap which gave me the idea. I love Kinder Eggs and have loads of the plastic capsules from inside them hanging about, so I thought one day I might make something with them. Then when moving out an old gas fire, I spotted a decorative finial with more than a passing resemblance to the exhaust from the Booster Rocket, so the idea quickly came together after that.

The finial was plastic with a gold finish, so I added a few pipes and other bits, found a tube for the body and a cone for the front. The shuttle was a Kinder Egg Rocket with some Airfix kit wings.

Once I added the egg fuel tanks, I was struck by how much it resembled the Atomic Rocket design for the Mars landing in the 60's! A lucky co-incidence. 

With the main parts assembled - the tanks were only just holding on with epoxy resin, as they are flexible polythene - I tried to emulate the metallic red colour of the Spacex version. As I couldn't find an appropriate paint, I used nail varnish over the gold finish which worked quite well. However it was less successful on the shuttle, clogging up the detail.

An initial coat of white on the tanks started to bring it together, but when I decided to spray them silver, the cheap silver paint spattered and the finish on the model wasn't great. Add to that the paint peeing off randomly and the buttons I had superglued to the tanks coming away and I got a bit fed up. As a result its been relegated to the back shelf for a few months, but I decided to fetch it out today for an airing.

Maybe version two will be on the cards soon..

COAL CAPERS

I'm pretty sure I used to grow a sort of white fur on coal as a kid. Could that be right? It was a sort of crystalline layer that emerged. Not sure how I did it now! I may have added colour.

Does this ring any bells?

Andersonic Fanzine Issue 26 Out Now: Ideal for Christmas!

Hi Moonbase

I hope this email finds you all well. As you've previously bought Andersonic, I'm writing to let you know that Issue 26 is now available. The issue comprises the usual 44 pages and features: 

The Child with the Man in his Eyes - a look at Joe 90 from a modern perspective. 

Shane Rimmer Interview - the late, great Shane discusses writing for Captain Scarlet 

The history of Airfix's Angel Interceptor kit 

When the Machines Rock - a look at the robots and AI of the Anderson series. 

Episode reviews - UFO/ ESP, Stingray/ Stand by for Action and Space:1999/ The Full Circle 

The final part of our UFO comic strip 'Trojan Horse' 

The A-Z of Captain Scarlet 

Things You Do... 

Reviews, News & TV, the return of 'Big Fan' - and more 

Purchasing the new issue and back issues is a little different this time. We have dispensed with the website and now operate from our blog - here - which has more details about the new issue and all available back issues. 

This is how to purchase all issues from now on: 

Issue 26: 

Purchasing within the UK: 

£3.15 via Paypal to crater101@btinternet.com

Also available on eBay (UK only) - search under 'Thunderbirds Collectables' 

Purchasing within the EU: 

£6.15 via Paypal to crater101@btinternet.com 

Purchasing from outside UK and EU: 

£7.50 via Paypal to crater101@btinternet.com

Back Issues: 

Available back issues are detailed on the blog along with postage costs depending on destination. 

Please ensure you specify which back issue(s) you require plus your current address. 

Please be aware that lockdown conditions may well delay magazines in the post. Please allow longer for delivery, particularly outside the UK. All issues are posted in pristine condition. 

As ever, thanks for your support of the fanzine. Keep well. 

Regards 

Richard F.

https://andersonicfanzine.blogspot.com/