MOONBASE CENTRAL

Tuesday, 24 May 2022

AGAINST THE GRAIN

Check out this wooden SR71 Blackbird. It would look great on your desk whilst you write your memoirs!

Like it?

I saw it over at https://www.premiumwooddesigns.com/default.asp

Monday, 23 May 2022

A CLUTTERED MIND

The de-cluttering goes on at Moonbase as we prepare for builders to arrive in June to deal with our subsidence cracks.

Everything is getting boxed away and what can be taken into the attic is being taken up. The attic is the only room that's not being plastered and painted.

All my vintage toys and scratch models that were around have been packed away, apart from a few Hot Wheels kindly donated by Wotan that I still want to restore when we have a half-term break with Moonbase Junior.

Lots of unwanted furniture and toys that Junior has outgrown have been flogged on FB; a globe, a wooden garage, a magic set, a desk, a bookcase, some old board games and so on.

Overall though I find de-cluttering a hard process and cannot part with any of my really vintage possessions.

We do have too much furniture though. Three large obsolete pieces have been put out onto the roadside for collection by the Council. Its £30 for a maximum of three large things to be carted away in a big wagon. We've spent the last two hours taking apart and carrying out a double bed, a double mattress and a sofa.

The whole lot is piled up near the road for the truck in the morning. It all had to be covered in a huge plastic sheet and taped down as the Council staff will not take anything away that's got wet and overly heavy as a result.

When the Missus and I were a young couple setting up our first flat in 1981 on the Continent we used to check through the unwanted furniture that was handily piled up outside people's homes in the summer before being hauled away.

Our greatest finds were a tinplate remote controlled James Bond Aston Martin DB5 from Japan - see below - and a Police Patrol Car also from Japan. Just thrown out on the street!

Have you ever left any large unwanted items for the Council to collect? Have you ever found anything interesting on the street or in a skip?

MICE 'N EASY: RAY'S TOY MOUSE

I just adore the box art on this Ray's Mouse toy.

Like a fine Christmas card from the Sixties it's got everything I like. Cute cartoony graphics and simple text.

Ray's is a new toy form on me. You?

Ray even stamped the key with his name!

Sunday, 22 May 2022

BLAKES 7 RECREATION

Here are some pictures from something I did last year with the Hyde Fundraisers.

A photoshoot at a chemical plant in the North West that was a dead ringer for the sort of location used in many Blake's 7 episodes.

I didn't make the trooper uniforms, but I made one of the helmets, both guns and Orac.

Seek Locate Destroy,

Kevin

WILL'S BROKEN DOME

Hi. Looks like Parker has rolled the Rolls again !

Will O.

What would you do readers?

THE SUPERIOR AMOEBA: A MODEL CITIZEN

Hi

This may not be the most exciting model kit ever, but it is one of the weirdest. Seriously, did anyone at Superior Plastics think this would sell?

The Superior Amoeba:

A strong contender for the title of least exciting kit subject in the entire history of the Universe - the Amoeba Model Kit. Over the years, this model has been sold by Superior Plastics, Educational Products, and Lindberg. It may be educational, but unless you want to recreate a scene from The Blob, with the giant Amoeba engulfing cars and people, it is just not very thrilling.

'Life in a Drop of Water...Enlarged More Than a Thousand Times Life Size !', 'Three basic science models of single cell animals - the Protozoa, fascinating visible dimensional model of Amoeba - plus placque models of the Euglena and Paramecium. Display Stand included'. Complete Unit 14" x 7" x 3 ".

This was one of the later kits by Superior Plastics Inc., and has the copyright date 1963 on the box lid, as well as 'Pat. Pending'. The address is still Chicago, Illinois. But below this the company is described as 'Custom Molders and Extruders' - which sounds very industrial. Suggesting a company that was not really focused on consumer products, such as hobby kits. 'Another Superlon Science Series Project !' Superlon being the type of plastic used in these kits. The triple-diamond logo appears in the lower left hand corner of the box. Kit number 3800-200.

The kit itself was moulded entirely in clear plastic, which is unusual. The central Amoeba is a multi-part model, while the other two are simple, flat, one-piece mouldings, with moulded-in detail. All can be painted to brighten things up a little. Even the stand is clear.

The Superior anatomy kits next went to Educational Products Inc., another Chicago company. The boxes are just about identical, except for the change in company name, and the removal of all references to Superlon plastic. There does not seem to be a copyright date on the boxes anymore - at least, not that I can see. Kit #3800.

Finally, the Superior/Educational anatomy series went to Lindberg, yet another Chicago company. According to Scalemates, they re-released the Amoeba in 1973. The box was mainly white, without the Lindberg name on the top, just Natural Science Series. Lindberg only appears on the sides of the box. Kit number 1316. The model is described as an Anatomically Accurate Plastic Construction Kit. It was still moulded entirely in clear plastic. This kit was still listed in the 1981 Lindberg catalogue, but had disappeared from the 1982 edition (Box Art Den).

There are not many listings to be found for these kits, and not many photos, suggesting that they were not big sellers back in their day, despite having been available for nearly 20 years.

The Scalemates entry

Amoeba, Superior Plastics Inc. 3800:200 (1963) (scalemates.com)

Superior kit

1960's Amoeba Model Kit Superior Plastics Open Box | #1899839539 (worthpoint.com)

Vintage Rare Amoeba Model Kit Superor Plastics 1963 Unused 3800:200 Superlon | #3763827604 (worthpoint.com)

Vintage 1963 Superior Plastics Amoeba Model Kit 3800:200 | #1867042323 (worthpoint.com)

Educational Products

Educational Products. AMOEBA 3 Models of single celled animals Educational DB-VJ | #1883575335 (worthpoint.com)

Amoeba ~ Life In a Drop of Water Science Biology Model | #150131861 (worthpoint.com)

Painted examples

AMOEBA MODEL FIGURE KIT EDUCATIONAL PRODUCTS INC. MONSTER LOOKING | #3764380619 (worthpoint.com)

H29 Amoeba model kit new in box science | #3783535792 (worthpoint.com)

Lindberg

Catalogue listings, Box Art Den

lindberg 74 04-960 (boxartden.com)

Lindberg 1977 (boxartden.com)

THE AMOEBA EUGLENA PARAMECIUM LINDBERG #1316 Anatomically Accurate Plastic Kit | #3843248810 (worthpoint.com)

Four photographs in total, in two batches, all from Worthpoint.