OODLES

 A handful of doodles I've cobbled together this year using Paint.

Do you doodle?

COMBAT SOLDIERS: HEADS UP

 When I saw this lovely old rack packet online I thought, Combat Soldiers, that rings a bell. The basic and attractive header art too.

Its this vintage header for Combat Soldier I was thinking of. I really like this kind of simple header art. To me they are works of art!

Have you any header art like this readers?

ANOTHER LOOK AT THE SIXTEEN 12 'INFERNAL MACHINE' EPISODE SET

 Another look at the Sixteen 12 episode set, ‘The Infernal Machine’.

This set comprises of a standard Eagle Transporter and grey loading platform display; Alpha Moon buggy; Eagle Beak Alpha Tank and Flatbed Alpha Tank.  

Some have mentioned they would have liked to have seen a model of ’Gwent’,  the Infernal Machine itself in the set but maybe that proved impractical for reasons I don’t know. Anyway, the tanks have always been popular with fans judging by the number of excellent unlicensed models that have appeared over time.

Three laser tanks were built for the episode by Martin Bower, using 1/25 scale Tamiya Chieftain tank kits for the lower hull.

It’s assumed in Space: 1999 mythos that the laser tanks are adapted lunar construction vehicles, and converted at some point post-breakaway to provide additional ground defences.

I’ve included a couple of photos I’ve taken of the actual filming props, with my thanks to each of their owners who were happy to display them at ‘Smallspace’, and ’Fab Worlds’.

Several Eagles appear in the episode. Two armed Eagles attack Gwent, which end up suffering superficial damage, and Eagle 4 which is used to carry supplies to the Gwent ship. Later in the episode Gwent quells an attack from Moonbase Alpha which carries out a full scale assault using Eagles and Laser tanks.

In the episode a mechanical megalomaniac called Gwent, whose outer appearance is an outlandish space craft lands near Moonbase Alpha.  Aboard is a single dying occupant, named Companion who tells the Alphans he is Gwent’s creator. However, over time Gwent has evolved to be dominated by the negative aspects of its personality.  When Companion finally dies, Gwent, afraid of an empty and isolated existence needs a new companion and wants one of the Alphans to fill the vacancy!

The episode, written by Anthony Terpiloff and Elizabeth Barrows takes its name from the 1934 play; The Infernal Machine by Jean Cocteau, which itself was based on Sophocles’ tragedy Oedipus Rex. 

I should mention that the third ‘Dome’ Laser Tank model comes with the Sixteen 12 Breakaway part 2 episode set. The original P.E. driverless ‘Dome ‘ Tank which came with the Product Enterprise Deluxe Eagle Gift set credits  Ian Crichton and Bill Oram as model makers on that particular set. The two laser tanks in the Infernal Machine set were created by Sixteen 12 using 3D Cad drawings scanned from a larger 1:24 scale model.

                                                                      Original Props

NOVELTY TORCHES: SHINE A CHRISTMAS LIGHT!

Blimey, I saw this on an old auction and saved the pic. I SO recall novelty torches like this, probably got at Christmas. 

I may have even have had a clown face!

I certainly remember some monsters faces that clipped on the front of the torch back in the Sixties. The torch wasn't very big I don't think.

Ring any bells readers?

A FISH OF NOSTALGIA

In the Sixties and early Seventies these Murano glass fish were more common than haddock!

They were everywhere. On mantlepieces, window sills and shelves. 

I have to admit I quite liked them.

Nowadays I sometimes see them floating round charity shops, a casualty of kitsch nets.

Were there glass fish in your home readers?

Maybe you gave one as a Christmas present!

MR. DAGENHAM'S HELICOPTER

Hi,

After a year of searching, I tracked down the tinplate toy of the helicopter they must have used for Camberwick Green. I needed to scratchbuild the cab and spray it all red.

Must fly,

Kevin D

WINEX AND BLUE BOX TOYS

 

We may have had this Winex saucer on MC before but it's such a great looking toy that it's back!

The vehicles featured on the box header will be mostly known to all of us as Blue Box space vehicles.

I've never seen this Winex issued saucer as a Blue Box boxed or carded toy. Have you readers?

SIXTEEN 12 'EARTHBOUND' EPISODE SET

 Another look at the Sixteen 12 ‘Earthbound’ Episode set which appeared in August, 2020.

This set features the Kaldorian spacecraft, and a Rescue Eagle. It also comes with a docking tube, and an Alpha Buggy.

As the Kaldorian ship is intended to be in-scale with the 12” Eagle, it’s a good size, and has plenty of detailing.

‘Earthbound’ is a popular first season Space: 1999 episode, and one of my favourites.  The egg-like Kaldorian ship is certainly an inspired otherworldly design, reminiscent of a child’s spinning top toy.

The original filming props were built by Space Models in two sizes, the largest being two foot in diameter.

While the Kaldorian ship marks the first time the Alphans encounter an alien vehicle, the ‘Earthbound’ episode is where we first see the red-striped Rescue Pod.

It turns out that the original Product Enterprise Rescue had red stripes that were too thin; the new Sixteen 12 version corrects that error.

The docking tube attaches to the pod door and the flat surfaces on the Kaldorian ship’s main body magnetically, but as the Eagle pod doesn’t have extending legs, connection is only possible by placing on its display plinth.

Here’s a selection of photos I took showing both the prototype and released Sixteen 12 models.

Here's a few photos I took at one of the Smallspace events of the large Kaldorian ship studio prop.