Jane's Flying High!
Lest we forget, NASA didn't send the first African-American into space, Matt
Mason did. But while Matt's astronaut team broke the color-line, it was
still an all-boy's club, and an all-American one as well. I wanted my
astronaut corps to be even more diverse. As you've seen in other pictures,
I have a black astronaut on the team. What isn't as obvious is that I have
a Brazilian, a Russian, and will assign other nationalities to others as I
go along. Britain, Australia, Canada, and France are all on my short-list
of candidates. If I can lay my hands on figures with decent Asian
headsculpts, Japan and China would also be great. And of course, I wanted
to add women to the team.
Good, female, figures are very difficult to come by in 1/6th scale. Barbie
and most of her cousins have such bizarre proportions that they're more
suitable for aliens than anything born of this Earth. Most of these dolls
also have very limited possibility. Fortunately, Hasbro released a Vietnam
Nurse as part of their GI Joe line. While she's rather boyish looking,
especially in a bulky space-suit, I felt lucky to get access to a couple of
these "GI Janes," and while the Lanard space suit isn't perfect, it isn't a
bad fit. The blue "vest" is rather baggy, so I fastened it behind the
figure, out of the way, and added a wide, Velcro, belt to pull the waist in
a bit, and help emphasize that there's supposed to be a woman in there.
She'll also get gloves, and the black elastic bands at the joints,
eventually.
I'm especially pleased with this shot of "Jane" lifting off the space
station's upper platform, courtesy of the Lanard, Ultra-Corps, rocket pack,
and a little digital retouching to remove the doll-stand that's actually
holding her up. There's something about the look of calm, but intense,
concentration on her face that's strikingly realistic, and appropriate for a
space pilot.
One other note, this figure is wearing the original Lanard space suit,
without the "MMM" modifications. Note the white boots and lack of joint
bands, leg packs, or other details. The figure includes a pair of white
"mittens," but these look as though the figure has bags tied over its hands,
so I left them off. Eventually he'll get black gloves like the Major's. As
you'll see from some of the other pictures, it's possible to get quite a few
different "looks" out of the basic Lanard suit, depending on the figure you
put it on, and what accessories that you add.
By the way, the original MMM Cat-track came in two colors, white, and red.
I'm pretty sure Lanard also made the Quad in red. Anyone got a red one they
can spare? I could use a contrasting set.
Space Station Construction Continued
A final view of the construction scene, from above and behind. You can
clearly see here the Lanard GPS backpack on the figure below, and the Max
Steel "Secret Attack" backpack on the "high-iron" worker sitting at top.
Below him, you can better see the opening in the console panel where the
airlock door will go. This will be surrounded by a wooden frame supporting
a bulkhead in which the opening for the actual hatch will be cut. It will
open into the station, and will be positioned so that astronauts can step
directly around to the "storage" quadrant of the console without closing the
door. The console has four quadrants, one of which is taken up by the door.
Another (probably the one to the left, as seen in this picture) is similar
to the "storage" section of the original MMM console. It will have shelves
and possibly drawers or bins for stowing helmets, surface equipment, and the
like.
The next segment, on the far side from the airlock hatch, will be the
command/science section. This will have a large viewscreen, computer
terminal, and possibly a small science lab of some sort. The last quad will
resemble the old "kitchen" section of the MMM station, with a sink, a
mini-kitchen with microwave, coffeepot, and fridge, and first-aid/emergency
medical/life-support equipment. The simple, wooden, shelf you see now
defines the space in which I have to fit all this stuff. It will be
interesting to see how well I do, putting equipment on, above, and under it.
Ultimately, some of the panels will have functional LED and/or fiber optic
lighting.
Yes, the inner cylinder is made of plastic Yard Sale signs, and yet, it is
currently held together with paper clips. Actually, this is just a
temporary piece, to define the space occupied and give a sense of what the
final station will look like. It may well be replaced with something
completely different before it's all done.
Space Station Group Shot
A "group shot" of my astronaut team on top of the station, plus a few assorted interlopers. On the right, you can see a GI Joe, Robert Crippen Shuttle pilot. That's a 1/6th Star Wars battle droid peeking over the top, and a pit droid over on the left side of the roof. One of the astronauts in the foreground has a robot puppy in their lap.
Space Station Group Shot, Another Angle
Another angle on the group shot. You can get a much better look at "Callisto" here, and a "Space Trooper" kitbash and a Lanard Stealth Pilot can be seen on the left. Hey, here's a "Where's Waldo" challenge. Find the Star Wars Imperial Sandtrooper in this scene. Yes, he's 1/6th scale.
Space Station Adios for Now!
Well, that's all the time we have for today's This Old Space Station. As we
board our Space Crawler and pass the outer perimeter, a lone space-trooper
waves farewell.
This is a prototype suit that may replace the more conventional "type-2"
based Space Marine suit. Though more lightly armored, this suit is designed
for flexibility, agility, and stealth. Instead of a large (and vulnerable)
helmet visor, this suit provides "sensor enhanced vision" with intergrated
targeting, courtesy of a wide-vision, direct-retinal scanning, heads-up
display in the helmet. Head-to-toe "full coverage" liquid-crystal displays
on the suit and all support equipment allow the trooper to blend invisibly
into any background at will. Our test trooper does report one drawback
though. "Boy, do my hands get cold after a while."
Actually, this is a kit-bash thrown together from a bunch of cast-offs from
the MMM project, and I thought he ended up looking pretty good. The helmet
is from the Action Man "Desert Adventure." Boots and GPS backpack are from
a Lanard arctic trooper. The jumpsuit is from the GI Joe "Intruder Defense"
astronaut. Body harness is from a Max Steel figure. Purple missiles are
from another Lanard, Ultra-Corps, set. Now, if I could just find him some
gloves. And no, it was not my intention that he look like Boba Fett's
Euro-trash cousin. <G>
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