In General, it's Pants! Looey's Puppet Film Progress

Hello Moonbasers!

Trying to be a one man Gerry Anderson is a hard slog. Sure Gerry had the big ideas and the money, but he also had a lot of "little people" fulfilling his dreams.

Apart from my ex-film pal, who is building a 1/3 scale Spitfire cockpit, acting as my tech bro, 3D mesh fixer, script and research consultant, it's just me, trying to do it all, on my onesies!

Recently I found I also have a Producer living inside my head, who threw all my existing plans onto the back burner! I had filming models almost ready to go and they are all now in storage, while the peripheral "Bunker Scene" gets full attention.

Before any rivet counters get their knickers in a twist, I've done my research and chosen to ignore it!

This is a test layout for part of the Bunker set. It still needs more weathering and furniture added.

Certain details and motifs have been removed. This isn't a love letter to fascism and I'm not giving those bastards any free advertising, apart from the satirical Joan of Arc style painting and the carpet pattern, which is a visual reference to the carpet in The Shining... 1/12th notable civilian figure for scale.

The logic is unarguable. My central character isn't featured, but this scene has established historical characters that an unfamiliar audience can instantly relate to. I've just about completed the filming model set and I'm FINALLY getting on with the actors!

All my hard work with designing puppet bodies is finally getting an acid test. I need at least three Wehrmacht Generals, their Boss and his opposite number...

My 3D printed puppet bodies are threaded together with window blind cord.

So I'm sewing up pants, or more specifically, jodhpurs! Sometime soon, I'll have to add the wide red line down each leg! The sewing machine my mother bought for me as a gift, 26 years ago was really spitting the dummy until I did some maintenance. Thank the Lord for WD40!

The test patterns, sewn from old flannelette bedsheets worked out fine. I've had a lot of trouble sewing the thin Poplin fabric I'd chosen for the costumes. 

The black especially has been very thin and difficult to seam.

After five full sets of 1/3 scale 2001 spacesuits, I thought this was going to be a doddle...

The full black pants will have to be totally redone, but the dark grey trews are passable, so I'm feeling a bit more encouraged.

Hmm, don't remind me I still need to sculpt five character faces onto that underskull!

This puppet film is my dream,

but the film story structure is itself a dream. - and this bunker scene is a another dream within that dream...

Oooooh! My head hurts!

Looey,

Oz Base

P.S. in Australia in the early 70's there was a clothing outlet called General Pants. This has absolutely nothing to do with them!

Will's Johnny Lightning

Hi Woodsy.

I rarely buy anything on eBay, but I spotted this and had to have it .

It fits in nicely with my love of Topper Toys and 60’s redline style diecast cars. 

It’s big , as you can see! 

I reckon at £60 it was a good buy. What do you reckon?

 I can’t remember seeing an original Johnny Lighting track set for sale for years. 

Well pleased!

 Will O

Jyesa's Ovni

 I love this box art.

It's the Espacial Ovni toy pistol by Jyesaof Spain.

The box art has a Bonestell feel to it and I'd have made a B-line for it in a shop.

The toy pistol is a stunning metallic example of a classic design seen many times on MC including a stunt as a Dr.Who toy.

Did you have anything like this? 

Chips with Everything

Currently enjoying my favourite type of chip whenever I order them, pommes aka the French fry, that deliciously thin and crispy potato chip perfected by McDonalds, I've been pondering it's many cut potato rivals.

Chipshop or chippy chips. I grew up with these, a portion on my lap at least once a week. Once wrapped in newspaper, now served in huge sheets of off-white paper or polystyrene trays, they're not my favourite anymore. Often soggy and overly thick.  Even nostalgia doesn't make them better.

Steak chips. I would order these last of all and only if I had to. Way too thick and just short of a wedge, which I really can't stand. Just as bad are chips with the skin left on. Yuk. No, steak needs fries. 

Oven chips. A freezer convenience food for at home. The frozen fry is okay but nowhere near as good as it's fast food cousin. Often burnt or dried to fossil hardness, the oven chips progress must be watched if it's to come out tolerable. Thicker frozen oven chips like steak or thick cut are the pits.

Curly fries. A school invention I imagine. Often powdered like an armpit with paprika. Enough said.

Cheesy chips. Similar school innovation. Difficult to say what the chips are like given all the melted cheddar.

Crinkle cut chips. Now we're talking. A leftover from those glorious baby boomer teas we enjoyed in the Sixties, crinkle cut chips done well are second only to French fries in my book. Alas, a rarity these days, possibly endangered, I would go crinkle a lot more if I could.

Croquettes. I love them but they're not chips.

Whate are fave and least fave chips readers?

🍟

Grimmsville Sights

 After a hearty continental frühstuck

We hit the half-timbered splendour of Marburg's town centre.

This Creepshow digest interested, as I thought the films were inspired by EC comics and not comics called Creepshow. Having said that the films contain a fictitious comic called Creepshow.aybe this is a retail copy of it. Have you got this or any EC comics?

As for the monster book Den, I don't know that but I recognize the style of Richard Corben. Do you like his work? 

It was fun to see two old pals among the ancient streets, Spidey and Bats! 

Turns out the Brothers Grimm studied here too. Marburg adores their tales. Do you?

Known the world over, brand new Erzgebirge wooden figures were on offer too. We've a few old ones. Have you? 

We don't have any of these though, skeletons carved from horn (not ivory). They remind me of Ray Harryhausen's finest moment, the battling skeletons in Jason and the Argonauts, my favourite of all his creations. What's yours?

More Grimm. The whole trail map seen at the Frog Prince stop.

I'm a sticker fan but I don't know who Arniko is. You?

I had to chuckle at this. Seems as if when Waverley's boys and girls retired from thrush busting they became The Optician from UNKEL! 

And back at St.Elizabeth's imposing twin spires.

Siesta now.

😴

St.Elizabeth's, Marburg

Off the toy trail and maybe of interest to Moonbasers, for ancient and modern pilgrims alike, the 12th Century Saint Elizabeth Church in Marburg, Hessen, is a wonder.

Breathtakingly old and vast, the site is where Elizabeth secretly fed a thousand poor and is revered for many miracles including that of the basket of roses.

Saint Elizabeth's remains were in the reliquary, but we're removed in the 16th Century before being completely plundered. The gold vessel reminded me of the similar Magi's in Cologne. 

Nearby is Michael's Chapel on the pilgrimage trail. Some were buried here, their journey done.

For now, we ourselves journey on.

Climb Every Mountain?

I love this illustration I saw online of Olympus Mons. The reds and browns really convey an alien mountain, the highest in our system. With that flat top, there's a bit of Devil's Tower in there too a la Close Encounters. 

I wonder if any human will ever actually climb it?

Unidentified Space Object

I came across this nifty diecast spaceship on ebay the other day, with 30 mins to go, no bids and an opener of £1. I didn’t recognise it, but it was clearly reminiscent of the cool Popy models of the late 80’s and very similar to the UFO Power line.

Needless to say, I bought it and found it was missing something off the back end, a bit scuffed and the cockpit was loose. So I quickly unscrewed the body, popped out the chrome parts and the cockpit, took off the peeling stickers and resprayed the body in a nice Spacex lime green, I had to hand.

The chrome parts were touched up and I knocked up a pair of engine bells from the parts box.

It’s a lovely thing, probably five inches long, but does anyone recognise it? Google Lens said Britains Stargard or Thunderbird 4!