SCALE MODEL NEWS

WE SAW SMALLSPACE 9 reaching out to sci-fi model fans recently. Last weekend, it was the turn of the sci-fi enthusiasts of Corby, a town in the UK’s East Midlands. David Jefferis: Whereas Smallspace concentrates on being a scale model show, Corby’s event took a much wider look at the worlds of science-fiction and fantasy. Among the differences were fans that included Cosplay (costume play) as part of their lives. As you will see from the pictures ( below ) a sleek green skin-tight suited Power Ranger cut an impressive presence. And outside, realistically attired Imperial Stormtroopers and a Doctor Who were on patrol to usher visitors to the show.  Model fans were catered for by the IPMS Spaceflight SIG (Special Interest Group), members of which displayed many spacecraft. Of particular interest to me were scale models of several SpaceX craft, especially a beautifully-made miniature of the full-stack SpaceX Starship, ready for liftoff. The BBC’s Doctor Who made a strong impression t...

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...

STAND BY FOR MORE DOCTOR WHO with the latest in the long-running BBC TV sci-fi drama. SMN report: Doctor Who is set to premiere in Autumn 2018, in a ten-episode series. This will be the 11th series to air following the concept’s revival in 2005, and the 37th season since 1963, when Doctor Who first hit the small screen. This latest series will feature Jodie Whittaker as the 13th Doctor, an alien Time Lord who travels through time and space in her TARDIS. The series is set to include a Christmas 2018 special. Jodie Whittaker has form in the science fiction scene, having appeared in the cult sci-fi movie Attack the Block and the Black Mirror episode The Entire History of You . Jodie takes over from actor Peter Capaldi. In the 2017 Christmas special, Capaldi's 12th Doctor regenerated to become the first female Doctor. We await her performance with interest!  In the world of scale models, a current attraction is the Doctor Who Figurines Collection, on current release from partwork pu...

COMING THIS SUNDAY - the sixth and best mega show from the Hamex team. Click here for full details of the unmissable event.

HEADSUP TIME for your diary. Stardate: Sunday July 16 is the countdown date for the sixth Smallspace Show. SMN update: This is a special year for 'the dog' aka Doctor Who's robotic canine, K9, who celebrates 40 years since he was first seen on the long-running BBC TV sci-fi series. It's looking like a good show, with more info here and updates coming soon. Meantime, enjoy the video ( top ) of the 2012 show.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! HERE'S A ROUNDUP of scale goodness to enjoy before 2017 really gets rolling. SMN report: Scale modellers can perhaps look to their bank accounts in the New Year. Maybe its time to invest in some collectible kits to lay down for that retirement package. The 5 Space Ships of the Future ( header pic ) is certainly a rarity. Whatever you pay for this Lindberg Line multi-kit is likely to be a decent investment, as they are not making them any more. The content is an interesting mixture, as the box contains three future-factual designs, a satellite rocket, and an entirely fictional flying saucer, complete with alien pilot. Love that wheel-type space station, at the time thought to be the look of the near future. Meantime, Russian designers have come up with all sorts of Ekranoplan ground effect (GEV) designs ( below right ) which allow high speed cruising over flat land or open water, such as the Caspian Sea. Crazy enough to look more like science fiction than reality, a...

A PECULIAR EFFECT ON THE BBC WAS WRITTEN BY the late Bernard Wilkie, a founder of the BBC Visual Effects (VFX) Department in 1954. The department started by making scale models for schools TV broadcasts. Mat Irvine: Bernard died in 2002, and although he wrote a standard manual The Techniques of Special Effects in Television (Focal Press) many years ago, A Peculiar Effect on the BBC is a memoir that has remained unpublished until now. Publication has come about due to the efforts of Bernard’s older son, Martin, and Matthew West of Miwk Publishing, who took Bernard’s copious notes, and compiled them to form  A Peculiar Effect on the BBC. I was fortunate enough to work with Bernard when I joined the BBC, and was honoured to be asked to write the foreword for  A Peculiar Effect on the BBC.   My old friend and colleague (and co-author of BBC VFX ) Mike Tucker, provided the afterword. A Peculiar Effect on the BBC  is the sort of book you can dip in and out of at will. ...