SCALE MODEL NEWS

MATTHEW TEEVAN IS AN illustrator who shows his work on Art Station, an online centre for the visual creatives community. SMN report:  In Matthew Teevan's words: "I like to build models in my spare time, and grew up on plastic model kits, Airfix, Revell, Matchbox and Aurora kits. Some wishful thinking here in the form of fantasy what-if box-top artwork. Also some wishful thinking on movies that could have – and should have – been made!" We say, well done Matthew – there's plenty here we'd like to spend our Autumn nights constructing. THUNDERBIRD 2 ( header, below ) We can all dream of a top of the line, large-scale Airfix Thunderbird 2. As the scale size was imagined as being more than 76 m (250 ft) long, even a 1:144 scale kit would be a biggish build, some 530 mm (20.8 in) in length when assembled. RTL 2 ( below ) This was a supersonic transporter that appeared in the Thunderbirds episode,  The Cham-Cham . At 1:144 scale it would be some 457 mm (18 in) long. MAC’...

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...

HERE'S A NICE  LITTLE FLASHBACK movie. We particularly like the large-scale Spitfire, made for the air battle sequences in a World War II movie. SMN report: The video includes a look at models made for Gerry Anderson, creator of famed TV series such as Thunderbirds, Joe 90, and many others. Amazon.co.uk Widgets And talking of Anderson productions, we are lovers of Japanese retro-art from that era, especially the luscious painterly style used in particular by the likes of Aoshima and Imai. So here's a mini-gallery of that art. Yum. Thunderbird 1 ( below ) is the swing-wing machine that's marked out as the T-Birds flagship. Thunderbird 2 ( below ) shown in action while disgorging the T-Bird 4 mini-sub. Also on view are T1 ( far left ), T5 ( top right ) and the Mole ( bottom right ). The somewhat portly form of Thunderbird 4 ( below ) with Gordon Tracy shown under the clear canopy. Out in space, Brains is in charge of the Thunderbird 5 ( below ) space station. This is a cur...

SYLVIA ANDERSON, CO-CREATOR OF THE famed Thunderbirds puppet series, has died aged 88. She was best known for being the voice of Lady Penelope, one of the show’s star names. Sylvia Anderson was a producer and writer, and created the Supermarionation puppet series with her husband, Gerry, who died in 2012, aged 83. As well as speaking the lines of Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward in Thunderbirds from 1965-68, Sylvia Anderson also worked on other puppet series, such as Stingray, Captain Scarlett, and Joe 90. Lady Penelope’s car of choice was the futuristic six-wheeled Rolls-Royce FAB-1, driven by Parker, her chauffeur. Click here for more information on Sylvia Anderson. Click here for Thunderbirds at SMN.

SCI-FI AND FANTASY MODELLER magazine has been going for ten years, with Volume 40 now in print. However, a first for the mag is  Modelling the Eagle , a one-off special that celebrates the Eagle spacecraft from Gerry Anderson’s best-known live-action TV series, Space: 1999. Mat Irvine:   Modelling the Eagle  is linked primarily to the fact that Round 2 Models - owners of the MPC kit name - decided to release a brand-new Eagle spacecraft model kit. Mike Reccia, founder of SF&F, and Editor in Chief at Happy Medium Press, decided to dedicate a whole publication to the Eagle, resulting in a perfect-bound ‘bookazine’ with nine comprehensive articles, spread over 82 pages of text.  The main cover image ( header, below ) was provided by the specialist model maker David Sisson. The lower centre photo of a younger Brian Johnson is one I shot myself many years ago, probably in the late 1970s, when I first met him at Bray Studios. Modelling the Eagle  includes a range ...

2016 LOOKS LIKE it's going to be a good year for scale model fans. Big companies and small, they all seem to have mouthwatering new kits waiting in the wings. SMN report: And talking of kits, the spacecraft ( header ) is an Airfix kit of a Gerry Anderson sci-fi series. We'd like to see the kit reborn, as Gerry Anderson's Starcruiser is returning with a series of bite-size sci-fi books in 2016. The first one Terror on Titan has just been released, and a new title will be added each month to form a 12-volume story arc. The first Starcruiser title Terror on Titan is already available as an ebook for Kindle and all e-readers, Amazon link below. There'll be plenty of other stuff, such as the mission patch ( below ) that will appeal both to hard sci-fi buffs and Anderson nostalgia fans alike. Look out for new titles and new stuff.

GERRY ANDERSON ENTERTAINMENT ruled children's TV in the 1960s and 1970s, with series after series, all achieving great popularity. Above, the Mole, from the all-time classic, Thunderbirds. Forward sweep wing was an unusual feature of Thunderbird 2. It's been tried a few times with real aircraft, but materials technology has not yet been advanced enough to make it a production possibility. The model ( below ) to about 1:200 scale, shows a neat diorama launch pad. Good as it looks, I can't help feeling it's time we saw some of these T-Birds presented in different markings. For example, it would be good to see a United Nations-sponsored version, painted white with blue UN flags. Nifty little Fireball XL-5 ( below ) on its launch rail, propelled by two rockets, with not-so-convincing smoke trails. Incidentally, a recent infographic we saw marked the XL-5 with a top speed of 24C - 24 times light speed. Does anyone know if this figure actually fits into the Fireball XL-5 fict...