RETRO ROCKETS #74 5/13/2009
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Reposting a vintage Retro Rockets…
It’s about time to hit the road for Wonderfest, but I thought I would put together another edition of the Retro Rockets Newsletter. I’m trying to wrap up all the news that’s been floating around the last few weeks. Hope I don’t miss anything!
STAR TREK
I saw the new movie and loved it. I was all prepared to hate it for every reason under the sun. The action is great, the story is fun, the performances are wonderful. I can deal with the revisionism, as it’s presented in a very plausible Star Trek way. Nimoy really made the movie. The rest of the cast performed admirably, especially considering the big shoes they had to fill. I highly recommend it. I haven’t enjoyed a movie this much in years.
WONDERFEST 2009.
Yes, Wondefest is this weekend in Louisville Kentucky. I’m sure most of you already have your plans, so if you are going, be sure to come by the table in the dealer’s room and say hi. I’m sponsoring the appearance of Veronica Cartwright at the show this year. I’m still working on name badges and hope to post some art online so you can download and print your own CultTVman badge. I should have some at the show as well.
Sci-fi University is a go for Friday morning. If you are attending, the classes start at 9am. We have four sessions scheduled including The Tool Box with Chris and John Ross, Air Brushing with Bob Hickl, Scratchbuilding with Rob Vancel and Lighting and Electronics with Kirk Schermerhorn. This is a rotating series of demos where you get to learn various techniques that should help you be a better science fiction model builder. We still have room for a few folks, so email me if you are interested in attending. There is a small registration fee if you wish to sign up.
Other highlights for the show include Friday night in the Lizard Lounge. This is a great meet and greet to kick off the weekend, sponsored by our good friends at Federation Models. Saturday and Sunday are the days for the dealer’s room, plus lots of demos, panels and so on. Saturday night is an off site showing of the movie Alien. Friday and Saturday has late night “Shock Theater” shows which are always fun. The Amazing Model Contest is brought to you by our friends at Amazing Figure Modeler. Hundreds of kits will be on display. And Sunday night, you don’t want to miss the banquet, which is always a great time to unwind from the weekend.
We’ll have the CultTVman suite open on Saturday night, and probably Friday night too. Saturday night we’ll have a Veronica Cartwright video show, seeing as I’m sponsoring her appearance. We’ll dig out her appearances on Twilight Zone, X-Files and maybe some others. We’ll have munchies and drink. Check with me at the show for the room number.
For Wonderfest, CultTVman will be debuting several new kits and add on products. First off, we’ll have the new Graveyard Scenes bases for The Wolfman and The Girl. These are designed for 1/12 scale figures and fit together with the other bases in the Graveyard Scenes collection. To go with these bases we have two figures that are new this year. First is a reproduction of the Monsters of the Movies Wolfman kit. (You need a Wolfman for your Wolfman Graveyard Scenes base, right?) The second kit is a new 1/12 scale female figure that we call simply “The Girl.” She’s the perfect addition to your collection of 1/12 scale monsters and fits right in with the old Aurora kits from the 70’s like the Monsters of the Movies. We’re introducing one more new product this year called Castle Panels. These are individual 8 x 4 inch wall sections and 4 x 4 floor sections that can be put together in various combinations to create dioramas for your 1/12 scale monsters. The wall sections come in three styles: regular wall, wall with a window, and wall with a door. We’ll have a starter set that comes with 1 each of the three wall sections along with two floor panels. These new kits are being produced by Night Owl.
CultTVman will have a new Orion kit from the movie 2001. This is a small six inch kit mastered by Marc King. It didn’t quite make it to Wonderfest last year, but we have it this year. We’ll have new replacement Iron Man bases from Night Owl, a new Stark replacement head from Cult of Personality, and Iron Man lighting from VoodooFX. VoodooFX also has a new, small light kit for the mini Flying Sub that we will debut at the show. We’ll also have the latest from Voodoo, including the Martian War Machine lighting, Viper and Cylon Raider lighting. From Paragrafix, we’ll bring the all new Refit Enterprise 1:350 photo etch detail set that you have to see to believe. We’ll also have their other photo etch for the Seaview, Pod, 18″ Enterprises, etc, plus their fantastic Seaview decal set! From Aztek Dummy, we’ll have the new masks for the Flying Sub kit. We’ll have plenty of kits from Meobius, Round 2, Monarch, Revell, and Pegasus, along with the latest Sci-Fi and Fantasy Modeller, Modeling the 21st Century, and Bowerhouse magazines. I’ll also be bringing the Saucer Handbook for those of you that need this! Remember, CultTVman takes credit cards at the show!
RETRO NEWS TIME!
As always, there is a lot happening in the hobby. Here is a bit of a rundown as to what is new and exciting. I hope I am not overlooking too much!
GRAVEYARD SCENES AND CASTLE PANELS
New from Night Owl and CultTVman are these two Graveyard Scenes bases. They will make their debut at Wonderfest. The bases are sold separately and come with a mini-comic illustrated by Jim Craig. The Girl is a new kit specifically created for the Graveyard Scenes line and produced by Night Owl and CultTVman. She will also be debuting at Wonderfest. The Wolfman is a resin reproduction of the Monsters of the Movies kit coming from Creature Arts. Figures and bases are sold separately.
Also new from CultTVman and Night Owl are Castle Panels. This is a series of resin panels that can be mixed and matched to create various different diorama scenes. Each wall section is 8 x 4 inches and the floor tiles are 4 x 4 inches. There are three different style wall panels: Wall, Wall with door, and Wall with Window. The Castle Panels Starter Set comes with 1 of each wall style and 2 floor panels.
Graveyard Scenes and Castle Panels will be debuting at Wonderfest, along with The Girl kit! Photos can be seen at
http://www.culttvman2.com/dnn/Features/News/tabid/384/Default.aspx
MOEBIUS MODELS UPDATE
Our friends at Moebius have told the CultTVman news team that they will be making their remaining product announcements for 2009 at Wonderfest this weekend. In addition to the previously announced Eye Gone Wild, 1:350 Seaview, and Jupiter 2, expect some major new product news. Moebius will have the new Seaview kit on display, along with the Mark II Iron Man kit. Look for them at the booth next to CultTVman in the Dealers Room! They will have a unique show special again this year and you don’t want to miss it. Ron Gross will also be around the Moebius table, signing some of his artwork.
We’ve got some new photos from Moebius Models posted in the news section of the main CultTVman site, including The Mummy box art, The 1:350 Seaview and box art, and Spiderman and Green Goblin test shots. Check them out at
http://www.culttvman2.com/dnn/Features/News/tabid/384/Default.aspx
If you missed the big news last month, here is a brief recap: Moebius has announced a new Jupiter 2 kit and CultTVman has a few details to pass along. The box art is by fan favorite Ron Gross. Dave Metzner has posted that “the design is done, the mock-up and the tooling plans have been approved, and we’re ready to start cutting tooling.” He further says it will be around 18 inches in size with at two piece hull. It will have a detailed upper level only, and has been fully designed to accommodate lighting. It will also have landing gear. There is no word on when this kit will be available.
The new issue of Amazing Figure Modeler has images of the new car kit in the works, “Eye Gone Wild”, based on Von Franco “Flying Eyeball” hot rot art. Check out AFM #44 when you can get it.
And Moebius has announced a new 1:350 Seaview, based on the TV series sub that should be about 14 inches long. Expect this out later this summer. For fall, Moebius has a Glow Gigantic Frankenstein coming out. Just in time for Halloween!
The Mummy, Mark II Iron Man, mini-Flying Sub and mini-Robot should be shipping in June.
CultTVman will begin taking preorders on the Jupiter 2, Eye Gone Wild and others just after Wonderfest.
And be sure to visit the Moebius website at http://moebiusmodels.com
ROUND 2 UPDATES.
Look for the guys from Round 2 at Wonderfest, where they will be showing off their upcoming kits including the Refit Enterprise, Batmobile, and Robby.
The folks at Round 2 have started a little blog site and that has become a favorite stop for CultTVman. They’ve posted some great photos of the Spock and Interplanetary UFO molds, so you can see how those kits have been altered. They are working to restore the toolings for production of kits later this year. The photos can be found at
http://www.collectormodel.com/amt/54-sci-fi-kit-supplemental-ufo-mystery-ship-an\
d-amt-mr-spock/
and the blog is http://www.collectormodel.com/
The big news from Round 2 is that they are reissuing the original Aurora Batmobile. Sources tell CultTVman that the kit will be issued in a number of configurations including a replica of the original box, as well as a collectible tin box, and special packaging for mass market. The kits will come out under the Polar Lights brand. The first new kit to come from Round 2 will be a 1:1000 scale Refit Enterprise around the end of the year. Also from Round 2, the Vulcan Shuttle will be reissued in December which originally came out at the time of Star Trek the Motion Picture. It was reissued in the early eighties and has not been out since. Finally, there will be a second edition of the 18″ Enterprise in the Collectible Tin. This version will be popped in light blue plastic and the cover art colors may be altered. Round 2 has confirmed to CultTVman that the Akira/Thunderchild kit that was planned for late 2009 has been postponed.
Robby the Robot, The Glow Witch, and the big 1:350 are starting to ship. CultTVman should begin shipping these kits when he returns from Wonderfest.
Visit the Round 2 website at http://www.round2models.com
MONARCH MODELS INFORMATION
Monarch will be at Wonderfest, just across from CultTVman in the dealer’s room. They’ll have build ups of Sinbad and Gorgo and maybe their reissues of the 70’s Aurora Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Dracula kits. They’ve announced further delays for the Ghost of Castle Mare, saying Sinbad and Gorgo will come out first. No specific release dates have been announced for anything at this time.
http://monarchmodels.net
VOODOOFX NEWS
As noted above, VoodooFX has released a new light kit for the Moebius Mini-Flying Sub. This is a small two LED kit that will be available at Wonderfest. VoodooFX has been churning out a lot of great kits this year, including lights for the Pegasus War of the Worlds Martian War Machine, and the Galactica Viper and Cylon Raider. Randy is hard at work on new light kits as well. Check them out at
PARAGRAFIX NEWS
Paragrafix has just released their new photo etch detail set for the 1:350 Refit Enterprise. Sheet measures 5.5 by 8.5 inches and includes detailed instructions. Parts featured include: Rec Deck and Botany window frames, Rec Deck interior detail, Grills for impulse engines and light boxes, Crew members, Shuttle bay girders, railings and doors, Deflector dish ring for lighting, Airlock for primary hull, Airlocks, hatches, and gangway doors, Warp nacelle end caps, and more!
Their Seaview, Flying Sub, and Pod sets are now officially licensed Irwin Allen products!
These can be ordered in the CultTVman Hobbyshop or through the Paragrafix site at
http://www.paragrafix.biz
AZTEK DUMMY
Our friends at Aztek Dummy have also been busy, releasing a set of paint masks for the new Moebius Flying Sub. This set includes masks for pin striping, hexagons for the interior, as well as turbine details, and fully illustrated instructions. These can be ordered through the CultTVman Hobbyshop
FANTASTIC PLASTIC UPDATE
Fantastic Plastic has a couple new kits. From Revenge of the Sith is the “Vector Wing” Jedi Fighter, that features six radiator wings which can take on different configurations. This is a new 1:72 model with 26 pieces, including a clear resin canopy, pilot and movable wings.
Also new is the Convair 49, a Vietnam era “flying tank” concept craft. This resin kit is 1:72 scale and has 54 parts including a cockpit and clear canopy, as well as decals with various style markings.
http://www.fantastic-plastic.com
QUANTUM MECHANIX STAR TREK LICENSE
Quantum Mechanix just announced that they have a license for “replicas” from the new Star Trek movie. They are working on new replica of the Enterprise that should be 34 inches long with lighting and “screen accurate paint job.”
Your can read more at www.qmxonline.com
REVELL REISSUES
The first wave of 2009 reissues from Revell has hit shops. These include the from Daniels’ Red Baron, the 1:144 scale Apollo Saturn V rocket, and Aurora’s Frankenstein and Dracula. Be warned, the head on Dracula is drastically altered. These models are now in shops, and available in the CultTVman Hobbyshop.
HALLMARK CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS
Hallmark continues their line of great ornaments. This year, look for a new Kingon Battle Cruiser, Phaser, Robby the Robot, and Ghostbusters Ecto 1.
FINE PRINT:
CultTVman’s Retro Rockets is a news and information newsletter which supports
the CultTVman SF Modeling website. All material is © 2009 Steve Iverson. All
rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. CultTVman, CultTVman’s
Retro Rockets and CultTVman’s SF Modeling Guild are trademarks owned by Stephen
J. Iverson.
