SCALE MODEL NEWS

IN 1990, SPACE MODELLER MIKE MACKOWSKI from Phoenix, Arizona, produced  A Scale Spacecraft Primer . This was the first title in a modelling series called Space in Miniature, and now here’s an excellent 2015 update,  The New Scale Spacecraft Primer . Mat Irvine:  The original  A Scale Spacecraft Primer  was intended not only as a starting point for those new to the hobby, but also presenting enough information to please experienced spacecraft modellers. Author Mike Mackowski ( below right ) in my workshop, during a UK visit. A Scale Spacecraft Primer  featured articles such as building a Mars Viking Lander, Skylab, Landsat, Solar Max, and a conversion of the Aurora Ragnorak Orbital Interceptor into a design proposal for the X-30 National Aerospace Plane. There was more too, with articles on what judges look out for at model shows, and how to go about research. In 1990, of course, the Internet was in its infancy, so reference sourcing meant hunting down photo...

Mat Irvine reports Mike Mackowski is a long-time space modeller and one of the main members of the online Yahoo ‘Space Modelers’ group. Over some years now, Mike has compiled seven hardcopy books especially for modellers on spacecraft topics, including titles for Gemini, Mercury and two volumes on Apollo, one for the Command Service Module and one for the Lunar Module. Now he has produced his first ‘Tech Report’, a series intended to be shorter and to be available only as a download, thus having the advantage that they can be in colour. Skylab details Tech Report #1.0 (TR1) is on Skylab, prompted by Mike’s particular interest in America’s first space station. Mike worked for a time at McDonnell Douglas in St Louis, where Skylab’s airlock module was built. Previously he had spent time as a student at NASA’s Marshall Spaceflight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, where the Skylab trainer was housed. He was also at Marshall when Skylab was actually launched in 1973. What’s in the TR1 pdf TR1 ...