The Blue Box Pop Monsters Incident

Arto recently sent me these pics of an unusual toy he has in his collection.

Pop Monsters by Blue Box.

It contains the intriguing line 'Why did Dr. Baji Bah come to Mogsoon?'

Can anyone shed any more light on this set?

Tank Commander by Paul Vreede

 

It isn't every day you get to ride around a filed in a first world war tank, but this weekend, the intrepid Paul Vreede (on left of photograph)  and his brother had the chance to do just that, but not in the manner which you might expect!

I'll let Paul himself take up the story:

"I can't recall whether the chap told me why they built it (I think as a new memorial), but it was decided early on that the thing should be motorised. Which the builders persevered with out of sheer stubbornness after that decision being declared mad and undoable by their former associates. 

It took 17 years apparently, and was quite an adventure; fascinating to hear. They did pioneering 3D modelling work (back in the 80s if I got that right), built the thing out of steel in the correct thickness (albeit soft steel instead of armour plate) using 3000 rivets as per original spec. Finding a company willing to make 200 track links took some doing (a laughable quantity compared to usual MOQs running into the thousands). Most of the engine was donated by JCB (via the Tank Museum network of ex-officers) in loose components and no manual, but a specialist company in Holland was found with the expertise to turn those into a going concern. "

"Remote control was added because it was almost undoable to drive the tank onto a trailer while sitting inside; that now comes in handy to run it in a corona-safe way with the driver walking behind the tank (you can see the control box sitting in the grass at right in image D). Because of the all-metal tracks the tank can't be run on public roads (it would destroy the tarmac) but they did drive it to Poelcapelle village centre to commemorate the advance of the real Damon II. Volunteers placed rubber mats on the road and one of the crew walked backwards for 5 miles to direct the driver inside." 

The Damon II with remote control unit set on the grass to the right of picture.

"Pond Farm has a small museum of WW1 artifacts, a small German concrete bunker behind it, a genuine wartime lorry of US manufacture (in running order) and a cage with freshly dug-up ordnance waiting for removal. The farm was rebuilt in the early 1920s and still features the German-made roof tiles it received as part of war repayment."

"Chap we spoke to was a civil engineer teaching at a local technical institute, where they also bult a replica Morane Saulnier Parasol monoplane behind a genuine 1917 Gnome-Rhone radial engine. We saw that plane at a newly opened museum devoted to French ace Georges Guynemer who was reportedly shot down over Poelcapelle, The ground floor of the premises is devoted to handmade chocolates; the proprietors sold us tickets inbetween making a batch of truffles. :)"

"Forgot to mention that the inside of that replica tank is essentially an empty box filled with a huge diesel engine end some seats in red vinyl. The guns are just metal tubes on the outside. I asked whether it wouldn't be an idea to put (dummy) guns inside but was told that was a sensitive issue to some people so they didn't. "

https://tankpoelcapelle.be/

https://depondfarm.be/ (images seem to be lacking in english version)

http://guynemerpaviljoen.be/en/

So thanks to Paul and his bruv for making us all very jealous!

GERRY ANNUAL

Today we,re visiting Barter Books. It’s one of the biggest second hand bookshops in the UK. I may have blogged it before as we,ve been a few times over the years.

I found my first second hand copy of the 1967 Project SWORD annual in a similar but smaller shop called Cuvvins in Whitby 30 years ago. I still have it. My original childhood copy is long gone.

I,ve picked up a lot of Gerry Anderson annuals like this over time. 

Have you any Annuals, GA or otherwise? Where did you get them? Email me some pictures for the blog.

DO YOU REMEMBER BAZOOKA JOE?

 Check this out for a sticky face of nostalgia! Did you Bazooka Joe?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tO7KKQCcldw

Castle Wizard

Yesterday me and the missus visited Alnwick castle in the ancient county of Northumberland in Northern England.

The castle is still completely intact and home to the current Earl. His family have lived there for hundreds of years. The grandeur of its interior is eye watering. Bristling with hung Canalletos and Titians and 14000  antique tomes, it is a fitting home for aristocracy. I did however, as I always do in such country piles, feel for the tens of thousands of ordinary subjects throughout history on who‘s shoulders this grand mound stands.

Modern barons have to make a living and Alnwick has been hired out. Blackadder has been shot there but it’s most famous turn is as Hogwarts in the first two Harry Potter films. Judging by the number of excited youngsters thronging on the grounds it was easy to see the attraction. There was even a broomstick flying lesson going on, as well as an impressive falconry display. Kids everywhere had either swords, wands or even plastic Potter broomsticks. Dumbledore wandered through at one point.

But it has to be said that Alnwick castle hasn’t flaunted its famous link. It’s quite subtle and the main dragon Expo is a separate ticketed feature.

Even the town doesn‘t get too excited like say Whitby does with Dracula. I did see a stack of hardback Harry Potter books at £10 each in a Charity shop. It really could be Hogwarts Central if it wanted and I‘m sure the throngs of adoring HP fans would come running.

Have you been to a castle readers? Do you like Harry Potter?

Black Ops in the High Desert

Its dark when we set off into the high desert, a sliver of moon riding high overhead. Even at this hour, the heat leeches out of the ground into the air and the thin line of light on the horizon shimmers in the haze. Two hours before dawn and we are at the perimeter.  At the base of the distant mountains we can see light. The patrols are frequent, but we know their pattern now, this isn't our first rodeo, but we are still cautious. Gila Flats holds its secrets jealously, the treasures hidden here are not intended to be seen, so most of the activity happens in the small hours, as the rest of the world sleeps. 

But not us, not this morning. Intel has reached us of a new development and we are keen to verify the source. Infrequent visits to the base have revealed a glimpse into what has been secured here and we have managed to procure covert imagery with our scopes of just what is being drawn out onto the runways as the sun begins to lighten the desert skies.

In the past we have gathered collateral on a variety of high performance aircraft, sleek and subtly finned, languishing like silver darts on the sun bleached tarmac, or sweating stealthy in coatings of radar reflective umber. But these have been more standard fare, most of what we have seen has now left the shadowy confines of the black hangars and can be seen regularly swooping over the base.

The mud-movers and the lifting bodies that have paved the way for the newest developments in aerodynamics, their service life limited by the efficacy and breadth of their developments and by the skills of the intrepid test pilots who fly them.

We have seen the bright glow of the afterburners and felt the rock shudder with the throb of subsonics, listened to the empty air cloven by the mach-splitting scream of rent physics overhead.

For this is the place where angels are born, where wings are spread and put to the task and heavens' own limits are penetrated.

The suns disc is not yet visible, but the sky warms to a ruddy pink beyond the surrounding mountains. We huddle close to the sand and adjust our ghillie suits accordingly, checking the tarps on the equipment as we rest our lenses on squat tripods before us. Across the desert floor, a sound crawls, deft and patient, felt more than heard and we see a flicker of movement near the low adobe huts on the valley floor. 

Shortly we will know if our patience will pay off, if our intel is good. The dawn breasts the lowest point of the horizon and a subtle glow reaches over the flats. A dark shape emerges from pools of shadow to slide towards the runway. We adjust our scopes accordingly, tension knotting our shoulders as we hear the quietened whirr of focussing software homing in on our target. 

The shape resolves slightly in the viewfinder and we see a black delta, thrice finned, edging into place on the tarmac. Collectively, we smile inwardly and wait patient as the decibels begin their slow climb into the infrasonic. The delta creeps forward with a quicksilver grace and our scopes pan smoothly to tack its race. Soon it will slip from our view as the pilot opens up the throttle, disappearing on its spiralling climb to the ether. The sound crests and the nose leaves the runway. with insolent ease, flowing into the air, effortless and etheric. With a final pulse of superheated air, it jets into the dawn haze. Satisfied, we settle back into the sand like lizards shunning the day, to prepare for our leaving, mission accomplished.

WOW! MARS! ITS CHOKABLOK!

There's much more space hardware on Mars than I thought. Its choka! Check out this list on Wiki! Do you think we'll actually colonise the red planet?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_artificial_objects_on_Mars

Palmer and Pyro Models

Hi
From Max's Models, another fine history lesson, on two of the smaller American firms, Palmer and Pyro. They made a strange mix of kits, some of which fit nicely on Moonbase. At 6:50 and again at 12:30 there is a set of small spacecraft toys that I am sure have appeared on Moonbase before, and a Tudor Rose X-400 Space Explorer. At 12:55 there is a set of movie monsters. They also did life-size anatomy kits, racing planes, figures, and firearms.

 

(3) Palmer and Pyro plastics: a brief history - YouTube

Paul Adams from New Zealand