RETRO ROCKETS #75 2/15/2010
Visit the Retro Rockets Archive
Reposting a vintage Retro Rockets…
Lots of news and info to pass along. The CultTVman operation has been swamped this past year, dealing with Hobbyshop orders, rebuilding the Hobbyshop last summer, rebuilding the main site at the moment. I have not actually posted a full Retro Rockets since last May, other than a few news bulletins.
CHANGE AND CULTTVMAN
The internet is a changing place. When CultTVman launched back in 1996, it was a couple web pages, a mail list with 25 subscribers and a weekly chat. Over the years the site grew, the mail list grew, and communication changed a lot. News groups were hot, like rec.scale.models. Message boards and forums became a larger part of interactivity, and for a long time CultTVman maintained a large forum. Eventually, numerous forums fractured out various groups within the hobby. No one is capable of keeping up with all of them. For a while, everyone was throwing up their own personal pages to show off their work. Free webhosting was everywhere: AOL, GeoCities, etc. Strange thing is that a lot of those sites were promptly abandoned, and many were shut down when the service providers pulled the plug on web hosting. For a few years, blogging was hot, and everyone had a blog. A lot of people still do blog. But now a lot of people have migrated to newer social media. My Space was hot a year ago, but has now been surpassed by Facebook. And then there is Twitter.
The CultTVman site has always tried to find the best ways to communicate with the people in the hobby. As the years have gone by, the content of the CultTVman site has grown and grown. For years I managed the site using Net Objects Fusion. As the site grew, I needed a content management system, and opted to use DotNetNuke for it’s versatility, flexibility, and large support base. While the site never really lived up to the potential offered by DNN, it was far easier to manage and update than the old html based system. More recently, DNN has become difficult to deal with due to extensive updates and the rather bloated software that ran it. The site was again at a crossroads.
Last fall, I began looking around at other tools that were available. I
started looking at a hosted blog for handling news updates. I found that “blogging” software had come a long way in the last few years. The CultTVman Ramblings page at Blogspot quickly opened the door to some new possibilities. In looking at a lot of large websites out there, I found that many of them were powered by WordPress. Most people think of WordPress as blog software, but I’ve found that it has become a very versatile tool for managing web content. Which leads us to the current site migration…
Since the beginning of January, I’ve been migrating old content to the WordPress platform. The move has been going very smoothly, and I have been able to migrate a lot of material quickly. The WordPress site is easy to update, easy to manage, easy to search. You’ll find the new version of the site is laid out in the same manner it always has, with sections for the major subjects in the hobby: Star Trek, Star Wars, Sci-Fi TV, etc. You’ll also find that the new version of the site is integrated with Facebook and Twitter, so if you participate in any of those “social” networks, you can get notification of updates.
So this migration will continue… I’ll be moving all the material from the DNN site at CultTVman2.com first, then I will progress to the older archived material. I will squeeze in new posts as time permits and include any news updates as they happen. You’ll want to swing by the main site on a regular basis or follow the updates on Facebook and Twitter. I’ll continue with the Retro Rockets newsletter when news warrants.
WONDERFEST 2010
Yes, it is time to plan your trip to Wonderfest! It is May 15-16 in Louisville KY. As always this is the biggest and best model event in the country for people that build monsters and science fiction models. CultTVman will be there again. I’ll be coordinating Sci-Fi University on Friday May 14. SFU is the day long workshop for science fiction builders. More details will be posted later.
Be sure to visit the Wonderfest website for more info. http://wonderfest.com
KIT PREVIEWS
I’ve posted several previews of upcoming product.
First Look: Viper Mk II from Moebius Models
http://culttvman.com/main/?p=3958
First Look: Seaview Display Model from Moebius Models
http://culttvman.com/main/?p=3645
First Look: Polar Lights Refit Enterprise 1:1000 scale
http://culttvman.com/main/?p=3630
UPCOMING PRODUCT RELEASES
Late February
* Refit Enterprise 1:1000 from Polar Lights/Round 2
* Creature from the Black Lagoon Aurora reissue from Revell
March:
* Battlestar Galactica Viper from Moebius
* Seaview 1:350 finished model from Moebius
* Aurora Voyager – 2nd edition box from Moebius
* Seaview 1:128 scale – 2nd edition box from Moebius
* Munsters cars collectors tin from AMT/Round 2
* Aurora Batmobile from Polar Lights/Round 2
* Aurora Batboat from Polar Lights/Round 2
* Sinbad from Monarch Models
April
* Aurora Red Knight reissue from Revell
* Moonbus from Moebius
* Superboy from Moebius
* Wonder Woman from Moebius
* Confederate Raider from Moebius
* Three Stooges reissue from Polar Lights/Round 2
May
* Cadet series Enterprise Set 1:2500 (TOS, A, B) from AMT/Round 2
* Cadet series Enterprise C 1:2500 from AMT/Round 2
* K-7 Space Station from AMT/Round 2
* Munsters Living Room Glow kit from Polar Lights/Round 2
Please remember that all these dates are tentative and subject to change. April could slip to May. May could slip to July. Many more releases are scheduled throughout the year and not included here.
Look for more kit announcements at Toyfair in the next week or so. Moebius has some exciting plans. I will post news as it is announced.
METAL HULL JUPITER 2 FROM MOEBIUS MODELS
Just announced this weekend at Toyfair is a high end Jupiter 2 display model. This new Jupiter 2 is 1:35 scale like the kit, but features a metal hull and landing gear, finished interior with lighting system and a three speed lit fusion core. This is expected out in the 4th quarter of 2010 and will be priced around $1000.
Also, officially announced at Toyfair is the new Galactica kit in 1:4105 scale. That will be about the same size as the old Revell/Monogram kit.
ENTERPRISE D FROM AMT/ROUND 2
The Enterprise D 1:1400 scale kit was originally announced as an early 2010
reissue from Round 2. Round 2 wanted to make improvements to the kit to
reissue it, but their plans have changed. The kit will now be reissued in clear plastic later in 2010 with no changes expected to the tooling. More details to follow. Visit the Round 2 website at http://www.round2models.com/
STAR WARS KIT NEWS
Fine Molds has announced a 1:144 scale Millennium Falcon model for release later in 2010. The model should be about 8 inches long. You’ll find some photos and info on the Hobbylink Japan website.
http://www.hlj.com/wonfesw10.html
Revell Germany has announced several new kits based on the Clone Wars cartoon series. The following are scheduled for release in October: AT-TE, Ahsoka Tano’s Jedi Star Fighter, AAT (Armored Assault Tank), Grievous Starfighter, Republic Attack Shuttle. Expect that Revell in the US will have these out in spring 2011. Some photos from the Nurenburg Toy Shop were published on the IPMS Germany website
NEW FROM PARAGRAFIX
Paragrafix has some new details sets coming out in the next week or so. Look for detail kits for the Viper from Moebius and the Protector from Pegasus. These can be ordered from Paragrafix as well as the CultTVman Hobbyshop
Other recent products from Paragrafix includes Jupiter 2 decals for the Moebius kit, Jupiter 2 photoetch/decal set for the same kit, as well as paint masks for the Jupiter 2 (produced by Aztek Dummy). They have also released a photoetch/decal set for the 1:24 scale LIS Robot that comes with the Moebius Chariot
NEW FROM VOODOOFX
VoodooFX has two new light kits. The first is a Chaser kit with 24 LEDs on mounted on a disc. The second is a deluxe Spacecraft interior system with LEDs, circuit boards and other components. You’ll find these kits work well with the Moebius J2. You can find out more on the VoodooFX page
NEW FROM AZTEK DUMMY
Aztek Dummy has a new set of paint templates for the upcoming Viper kit from Moebius. Look for these in the CultTVman shop when they become available soon
NEW DECALS FROM ACREATION
Acreation Models has released new decals for the Enterprise B. The decals are available for the 1:1000 scale AMT kit, as well as the smaller 1:2500 scale kit that came in the AMT 3 Ship set.
Acreation has also put out a new photoetch set for the Enterprise E, and a photoetch/decal set for the Fine Molds Falcon. Visit the Acreation Models website or order at the CultTVman Hobbyshop
http://www.acreationmodels.com/
CLASSIC GALACTICA COBRA FROM JPG CASTING
JPG Casting has released a new kit of the Cobra from the classic Galactica series. This is a 1:48 scale kit with 5 resin parts including decals from Acreation.
1:144 SPACECRAFT FROM AIRFIX
For 2010, Airfix has announced several 1:144 scale spacecraft. Look for the Saturn 1B, the Saturn V Skylab and the Vostok 1. Visit the Airfix website for details.
NEW KITS AT FEDERATION MODELS
A new 1:1000 scale kit from Alliance of Reliant is now available. And from Starcraft comes a 1:1400 USS Kelvin and a 1:1400 Rhode Island from Voyager. Visit Federation Models to order.
http://www.federationmodels.com
FANTASTIC PLASTIC NEWS
Fantastic Plastic has announced two new kit releases:
Boeing X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle — this is a 1:72 kit based on a Boeing concept for the shuttle replacement. This kit features 8 resin parts and decals for three variations of the ship.
Project Orion Battleship — This is a 1:288 scale kit of a nuclear powered concept spacecraft. the 90 part kit is almost 12 inches when built up.
Visit Fantastic Plastic for more information.
http://www.fantastic-plastic.com/
FINE PRINT:
CultTVman’s Retro Rockets is a news and information newsletter which supports the CultTVman Fantastic Modeling website. All material is © 2010 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.
