MICHAEL JAYSTON R.I.P.

 Just heard that Michael Jayston  best known to classic  Doctor Who fans as the Valeyard, and UFO fans as Russell Stone in the episode, The Sound of Silence has passed away.

The prolific actor also played James Bond 007 on radio, and featured in one of the segments in the portmanteau  horror film, Tales that Witness Madness.

Our sincere condolences to his family and friends.

Here's some photos I took of Michael at SHADO Con, when he shared the stage with Susan Jameson who played his sister, Anne in UFO.

Jumping for Joy

Italy's Quercetti is well known for rockets and parachutes.

Their JR21 marketed Fireball XL5 has featured here many times, as has the Mach-1 and TOR.

These toys incorporated a small blow moulded parachutist and chute.

Eolo's much bigger set had a similar jumping astronaut cum pilot.

This bended knee jumper became a staple. Here's a more recent bag of three. 

I think you can still get this toy in some form.

It's become a party favour!

ED'S TIN: The Japan Straco USAF Sikorsky UH-19B 'Chickasaw'

Woodsy and gang,

Here's the latest offering from my tin-litho fleet of air warriors. This is another rather small one and unfortunately doesn't work but displays well. Unfortunately, it worked for like, 10 seconds and gave up the ghost! It measures 7" (17.78cm) L x 2 5/8" (6.66cm) W at the wheels / 1 1/4" (3.17cm) W at the widest part of the fuselage x 7"(17.78cm) rotor span x 3 1/8" (7.93cm) H.

From Vegas Air Field

Ed

US

THE AIRFIX STARCRUISER KIT BY PAUL ADAMS

Covered before on MC, Starcruiser was one of several Gerry Anderson television projects from the 1970s that did not make it in to production. However, it did lead to a comic strip in the weekly Look-In magazine (1977-79), and two plastic kits from Airfix.

I recently came across a pair of unusual, and short-lived, American issues of these kits, which I thought deserved an article. Along with a quick look at the various boxes.

The Starcruiser 1 kit appeared in 1978, and was last listed in the 1984 Catalogue. It was followed by the Starcruiser Interceptor around 1980/81.

The Starcruiser 1 was a large ship, which broke down in to four separate units - Command Module (nose section); Main Unit (central fuselage with wings); Command Base (like the Eagle pods, a simple box-shape); and Interceptor Unit(atop the fuselage). It was a Series 7 kit, number 07170-9.

This was a clip-together kit, although Airfix barely mentioned the fact. There were 44 parts, in white and clear plastic, with a colourful decal sheet.

The first box (copyright date 1978) had a comic strip along the bottom. 

The second box (copyright date 1979 on the side) deleted this, and made the main image larger.

Airfix kits had been sold in America under the MPC name for a number of years, but in the late 1970s this changed to USAirfix, which was a single word. The USAirfix version of Starcruiser 1 had a new box, with a photograph of the built-up model.

Kit number 7100 was shown in both the 1979 and 1980 USAirfix catalogues, and even made the cover of the 1979 edition. Both can be found under Airfix, on the Box Art Den site.

The kit was still moulded in white and clear plastic, but came with a new decal sheet. This time the model was clearly referred to as a Snap-Fix kit.

USAirfix was short-lived, and Airfix kits were soon back in MPC boxes. Including the Starcruiser 1 and Starcruiser Interceptor.

Shown only in the 1982 MPC catalogue (which can be found on the Internet Archive site), these two kits got a major re-vamp, with new colour schemes, and decals. The box top said 'It's A Snap Model Kit'.

MPC kit number 1-1802 Starcruiser (the number 1 had been dropped), was now moulded in black plastic, matching the new colour scheme, with NASA decals in orange. Given the Interceptor Unit, it seems NASA now has a combat role.

According to the catalogue, the various units making up the model had been re-named. They were now the Control Ship; Power Module; Transporter Pod; and Interceptor.

The catalogue says copyright Gerry Anderson Marketing Ltd., 1982. Given that the kits only appeared in one catalogue, and the fact that there are very few sales listings for them, they do not appear to have been big sellers.

The moulding of these kits in black plastic reminded me of the Revell Alien Invader, which was a normal Space Shuttle kit in black plastic, with clear red parts and red decals. An attempt to get more sales from an existing kit, with a minimum of effort or expense.

Do you own any of these models?

Next up, the Starcruiser Interceptor.

Paul Adams from New Zealand

THOMAS SALTER TOYS: STARCRUISER AND BEYOND

Thomas Salter were a great toy company. In the late Sixties I loved their Adventurer set with its compass and water bottle.

In the late 70's they released a toy I would have enjoyed in the Sixties, the 1979 Starcruiser Mission Kit. The photo box art they used worked really well I think, a strategy they deployed on their 1979 catalogue.

Here's their Puzzle Pack.

and the interesting-looking Fun Optics.

...... the Chemistry set [everybody seemed to have one back then!]

and the fabtastic looking Space Explorer Kit!

How I would have liked that on Christmas Morning!

You too?

February Finds

Slim Pickens at the February boot sale. Still, very enjoyable and with a cooked breakfast tasty too!

Here's what I got

Left to right: Walter De La Mare Ghost Stories Folio Hardback 1958, Corgi Batmobile on the ropes, Corgi DB5 and a Bandai 1990s Transformer. £3 total.

Any good?

MATT'S NEW ARMS

 Last week Wotan Bill very kindly sent me a bundle of old toys for me to tinker with now that I'm retired and idle!

One of the toys was a Matt Mason Moon Suit. In a sorry state, it was missing its arms and very very grimy from all that lunar toiling.

First up the suit got a thorough clean.

For the famous bendy arms I found this whistle tube in our junk drawer.

For the hands I rescued this chap from my Ebaying 'to list' box

So, the basic materials for the arms came together like this.

and finished up like this

and onto the paint shop.

All done!

A small bellow and pipe would complete it but I'm not sure its necessary for my display

A-One for Andromeda

 Boredom is a terrible thing. In the small hours of sleeplessness, I often find myself surfing the airwaves for something to watch on TV. More often than not, I will choose one of my favourite films or shows to watch, as I invariably end up dozing off eventually. This week, due to the dearth of exciting media to grip my attention, I went back to an old favourite, something I know that will entertain and inspire me, even if the old eyelids begin to droop.

Robert Wise's 1971 adaptation of the Michael Crichton novel 'The Andromeda Strain' is high on my list of favourites, for a number of reasons. Although its borderline science fiction - as the events portrayed in it could easily happen - I find it an intriguing watch, which never fails to impress. The direction is crisp and edgy, there is no wasted space or time spent on pointless character development or exposition - Wise directs the actors almost like chess pieces, smoothly moving them from set piece to set piece. Equally, the cinematography is excellent, using odd angles and cut scenes to show multiple points of view at one time.

The central cast consists of a group of scientists, faced with containing and extra-terrestrial organism, which has been collected in space by a probe. The probe crash lands in Arizona near a remote town and is taken to the local doctor, who promptly opens the casing - and the exposed bacterial organism promptly decimates most of the townsfolk.

Only two survive the exposure and when a specialised recovery team arrive, they find a baby and an old man who appear immune to the lethal effects of exposure. The survivors and the probe are promptly removed to a top secret installation in the deep desert, named Wildfire.

Wildfire is a dedicated containment and research facility, situated over five levels deep underground, with each successive level being progressively more sterile and secure than the one above. At the base of the facility is a nuclear device, which in the event of an accidental breach, is designed to sterilise the entire area. As Andromeda Strain was filmed in the pre-computer era, Douglas Trumbull created faux computer graphics, such as the 3D display of the facility, using specially lit models. Cinematographer Robert Kline also faced many challenges filming the sets, due to the many high gloss steel reflective surfaces in the laboratories. Real world scientific equipment, such as the clean room 'waldo' arms were used on set, and due to the astronomical cost of the equipment, had to be kept under secure 24 hour guard.

Wise and Klein adopted a novel approach to filming the scenes, using special lenses, called 'split field diopters' which allowed fore and background elements to be in sharp focus simultaneously, such as this scene, where armed guards arrive at Dr Mills residence, much to the dismay of his wife.

The shot shows both of the military personnel in punishingly close focus, but also the MP in the background at the end of the drive, shouldering a firearm. Equally, when the scientists are helicoptered in to the small town and begin searching for survivors, as they peer in through windows and doors, the screen splits into multiple viewpoints, showing the viewer what the scientists are seeing at the same time as we watch them searching.

Trumbull also designed models and effects that simulated the microscopic organism itself, now codenamed 'Andromeda', attached to a tiny fragment of meteoric rock. Once more, the effects, considering they are all mechanical and optical, are stunning and we see the alien organism begin to grow and mutate on screen.

The film piles on the tension with the dual threat of the nuclear detonation and the evolving organism, leading to a nail-biting climax as the two elements collide. Overall, the film is presented as 'real life' events, with and introductory sequence detailing how the facts have been released as a matter of national security and the processes involved in the detection and containment of Andromeda are all scientifically and technically correct. Crichton won several awards for the novel and the film itself was nominated highly. Michael Crichton is probably best known for his Jurassic Park series, but also wrote many other 'techno-thrillers' such as Coma, Twister, Sphere, Congo, Westworld and Prey. 

'The Andromeda Strain' was also filmed as a TV series in 2008, with Ridley Scott attached to the project, but differs wildly from the original book and script and is quite frankly appallingly bad, padding out all the characters with pointless backstory and schmaltzy pathos in order to fill in enough screen time for four cliche-ridden episodes, shoehorning in government conspiracies, mad military agents, rogue newspaper reporters and glamorous female assistants. 

The American Cinematographer has a very interesting account of the filming and production of The Andromeda Strain and the images used here are taken from this article:

https://theasc.com/articles/the-andromeda-strain-may-1971