Gerry Anderson, creator of a host of children's TV series, including classics such as Stingray, Thunderbirds, and Space 1999, has just died, at 83 years old. More on the Anderson legacy at our sister site Starcruzer.
WE ARE VERY sad to learn of the death of professional model maker Bill Pearson. Mat Irvine: A special-effects model maker extraordinaire, Bill Pearson is probably best known for being a model-shop supervisor for such movie classics as Alien (1979), Flash Gordon (1980), and Outland (1981). Bill was a member of the BBC Visual Effects Department for two years or so in the early 1980s, which is when I got to know him. While he was at BBC VFX he worked on a variety of programmes, including The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Doctor Who, and Blake’s 7. Later, Bill worked on Gerry Anderson’s Space Precinct (1994), The James Bond movie Die Another Day (2002), Gravity (2013), Duncan Jones’ Moon (2009), and the Red Dwarf series. The photos (below) are shown courtesy of, and copyright The Prop Gallery and Mat Irvine . Bill Pearson ( below ) seen in the early 1980s, while working for the BBC Visual Effects Department. Here, he is working on Supereme Commandeer Servalan’s spac...
A TREAT AWAITS MODEL FIGHTER FANS in the entrance lobby of RAF Museum, Cosford, UK. SMN report: RAF Cosford is one of two free to enter sites offering a guide the the Royal Air Force and its history. RAF Cosford tells the story of "...the people who moulded the world of aviation from the daredevil early aviators to wartime heroes and the thousands of ordinary Service men and women who have served in the RAF and whose contribution has shaped the world that we live in today." Etched-glass aircraft outlines ( below ) decorate the large windows of the high tech museum entrance area. Centrepiece of the lobby is a hand-crafted 1:5 scale P-51D Mustang, made by David Glen MSc. The model was a labour of love for David, that took ten years to finish. Before he created the Mustang, David had made a 1:5 scale Spitfire, which he donated to the other RAF Museum site, based at Hendon, North London. Using a common display tip, the Mustang is mounted on a mirror base, which enables you to se...
IF YOU'VE FLOWN MORE THAN A FEW TIMES the chances are that at least one trip was aboard a Boeing 737. And here's how Boeing makes this most successful machine. SMN report: We're suckers for time-lapse movies, and the one ( below ) is no exception. There's no real comparison to be made with even the most complex plastic kit of course, but even so, both the real thing and a 1:144 scale model share the same basic requirement - an assembly operation. Incidentally, the flight deck ( header pic ) shows a 737 flown by Siberia Airlines. In the model world, there is no shortage of Boeing 737 kits, though injection plastic miniatures are mostly to standard 1:144 scale, with diecast considerably smaller, all the way down through 1:200 and 1:500 models from respected manufacturers such as Herpa Wings and Gemini Jets. Sad to say, there's nothing to 1:72 scale or larger. Neither is there much in the way of interior detail. You'd have thought that at least one enterprising ma...
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