Saturday Film Club: How Star Trek's Original Phaser Prop Was Built

Film and TV props, especially older ones, fascinate me. Once, when looking at some from Red Dwarf, I commented that they were more basic than I'd expected. The builders agreed, but pointed out that they were on screen for a fraction of a second, and people were more interested in the story than the details of the gizmo being waved around by the actor. Well, until the advent of DVDs, and sci-fi fans who will step through a scene a frame at a time, to fully take it all in. 

One of the best-known sci-fi props, has to be the phaser guns from Star Trek. Here, we take a good look at one of the screen-used props.  

Smallspace haul

 

If I'm honest, Smallspace was a lot about resisting temptation this year.Even I have worked out I really don't need any more plastic kit right now. Not Space: 1999 Eagle & Hawk War Games Edition 1:72 Scale Model. Not V.I.N.cent from the Black Hole. Nor the Visible V8 kit I've wanted to build since seeing it in Model Maker magazine back in the 1980s. Although that one has been superseded by the VW Engine I built a few years ago, 

Of course, I managed to add to the stash a little. Some very cheap paints from ranges I'm not that familiar with. I like trying different materials, and when they are 50p to £1 a pot, it would be daft not to experiment. 

For the model boats in the future, a few 1:12 scale figures are handy. They look like characters from the TV series Dr Who, you say? Just a coincidence. 

And I've not really built a vinyl figure kit, but I remember reading about them in Model Mart magazine. For a fiver, I quite fancy having a go at a 1/6th scale Dr Jones senior. 

 

Smallspace 2026

Check me out! I am full qualified to dock a Soyuz spacecraft to the ISS!

OK, a few caveats. I docked it on a simulator provided by the British Interplanetary Society. I bounced off the first time, and the controls, and the level I was working at, only allowed me to line up on the target using up/down left/right forward and back thrusters. No yaw control, that's for more advanced pilots. Mind you, I did this after 2 minutes of tuition, and only bounced off once. And that wasn't catastrophic. Not bad then, and fascinating. 

Smallspace was it's usual friendly mix of modelmaking, original props and replicas, along with slightly more trade than normal. All this in a village hall. 

Obviously, the car park was home to some Daleks. 

There were some Dr Who lookalikes, although this is stretching the term a lot. The Second Doctor's wig was spectacularly unconvincing. Oddly, no Tom Baker, but we did get a Sylvester McCoy, a Doctor I thought badly served by the TV show. 

"There's no railways here.", said a chap from Milton Keynes model club, but we enjoyed a good chat with one of the exhibitors over the best sci-fi spacecraft (Eagle transporters obvs) and how the genre holds a mirror up to current affairs.  

Anyway, enough of this. Go and look at my photos over on Flickr.  

Saturday Film Club: An Interview With Brian Johnson (1939-2026)

Saturday Film Club: Doctor Who: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Daleks

I love The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy*, and I love Dr Who, so this fan-produced mashup is right up my street. 

Talking of which, it was seriously considered that the Daleks could have appeared in Blake's 7. Same writer of both... 

*Not the film. That was terrible. But the Radio, books and 1980s TV series.  

Smallspace 2025

It's time for the annual sci-fi fest in Buckinghamshire. There were Daleks, full-size and model, replica Anderson puppets, and all sorts of good modelling. 

I've tried to capture the best bits over on Flickr 

Oh, and a little exclusive video: 

Saturday Film Club: The Making of Captain Scarlet: Gerry and Sylvia Anderson Remember

Stand by for action!

OK, I know that was Stingray, but this is an interesting documentary about making Captain Scarlet, which doesn't reflect well on 1960s America... 

Saturday Film Club: 500 Dr Who miles

This is just 3 minutes 41 second of feelgood fun. 

Also, doesn't it take a lot of people to make TV?

Saturday Film Club: Hand drawn CGI: Animating the Terrahawks Title Sequence

Some traditonal pre-computer animation, or how you make computer graphics by hand. Fascinating, and amazingly crude, but effective.

Saturday Film Club: The Story Of The Real FAB 1!

The story of the real, iconic, pink Rolls-Royce, used to promote the Thunderbirds films. This film covers bit the original, proper one, and the more modern version. Some nice behind-the-scenes photos and films too.

A BIG Eagle transporter

Some projects, I just have to doff my cap to. The Eagle transporter from the TV show Space 1999, is the bext sci-fi spaceship ever. There have been many models made, but none as massive as this 25-foot long version. It looks amazing.

Smallspace 2024

The thing about the Smallspace show, is that some very interesting people take stands there to show off their models. 

See this "Starbug" from the TV series "Red Dwarf". It's the real one. The one from the telly. And the man beside it is the man who built it. From plastic globes, and parts from EMA. And wood. And Letraline. 

And I had a long chat with him about it. He even showed me, and anyone else interested, the original plans. Fascinating. 

Aprt from that, the full-size replicas of Hewey, Louey and Duey from "Silent Running" impressed me a lot, but then so did a lot of the modelling. So, go and have a look at the photos over on Flickr.

Saturday Film Club: 1980: The SCI-FI Models of MAT IRVINE

While I've always been a fan of Mat Irvine's model making, this feature is something special. For a atart, the style is very much of its time. I'm not sure who Eric Thompson is/was, but he needs to be back on TV along with Richard Stilgo. 

Them we have models made for serious science TV programmes, not something we see much of nowadays.More please!

Saturday Film Club: Britains Space

I remember this toy, at least from mail order catalogues. Never particually interested, but this is a nice dose of nostaligia. 

Kudos for using a brown sofa as a background, and doing a good job with it.

Smallspace 2023

Yet again, Hanslope Village Hall hosted a superb sci-fi show. Loads to see, including the entertaining Avenue Who, a cross between the Muppets and Dr Who. I'd not planned to stay as long as I did, but had to wait for the 1pm performance, and it was well worth it. 

Inside, there was the usual (!) selection of high quality modelling and trade. Outside, Daleks, K9 and R2D2 trundling around. 

I took a lot of photos, and you can find them on Flickr.

Saturday Film Club - An Eagle obsessive

I've always said that the Eagle transporter from Space 1999 is my favourite space ship. It just looks right - a real space truck, just what you'd need living on the moon. 

Interesting then, to see this collection in a US sci-fi convention with the model in many, many different scales. The guy is a collector, rather than builder, but he seems to know his stuff and I envy him a shelf full of these things!

Saturday Film Club: The Special Weapons Dalek

Not your usual nerdy Dr Who stuff here. OK, maybe a little, but there is an awful lot covering the development and construction of a new type of Dalek, including the multiple rebuilds the prop endured after appearing on screen. I love that it owes a lot to a plastic bin and plant pot holders!

Saturday Film Club: The Girder Bridge and Thunderbirds

Sit back, and enjoy this exploration of the uses the humble Airfix Girder Bridge was put to in Thunderbirds. If that sounds nerdy, it is. And brilliant.

National Film and Sci-fi museum

 

While my modelling recently has been non-existant, I have taken a few trips out and about. Sometimes to places not involving trains!

First up - The National Film and Sci-fi museum in Milton Keynes. 

Handily, it's in the main shopping centre which includes some very reaonable parking. Admitedly, you do need to note down where you left the car, or spend 20 minutes wandering around trying to find it, but for 50p and hour, I can live with that. 

The museum is on the first floor of a unit and costs around £13 to go in. The actual pricing is a bit confusing, but that's what I paid as a walk-up. For that you can browse the collection as long as you like, but photos can only be taken at designated points. 

I'm not quite sure why there is this restriction, partly I suspect so people actually get through rather than spending all their time taking pictures. Also, because they need people in the door, and many would be happy not to see the props on display for real, if they can look at a photo for free. No, I don't get it either. 

Anyway, we kit off with the Indiana Jones series, after which we see Star Wars, Star Trek, Dr Who, Space 1999 and too many others to mentions. Props are grouped and reasonably well labeled. If Star Trek costumes are your thing, then the display of these is massive. 

It always fascinates me just how crude a lot of these things are, and as a modeller, I find the details fascinating. For example, both the Imperial gunners, and rebel troops have the same "radio" pod on the side of their helmets. Obviously a vac-formed lump that was used everywhere by the costume department. 

There's also a huge display of Star Wars memorabilia, including some pencil cases that I rememeber from my school days and brought back a blast of nostalgia. They also had some Droid Factories, the only item in the range that ever appealed to me, something else I remembered. 

I wandered for a couple of hours, helped by having the place largely to myself, and really enjoyed it. It helps if you remember late 70s and early 80s films and TV. This is a chance for some proper nostalgia, and if you recognise nothing but the Harry Potter stuff, it won't be nearly as fun. For those who know what a puppet from the Dark Crystal looks like though, it's a fun trip.

National Film and Sci-fi museum website. 

 

Saturday Film Club: A 25 foot long Eagle

I've mentioned in the past that my favourite space ship ever is the Eagle Transporter from Space 1999. One day, I'll get around to building the Airfix kit. Finding space for that in the cabinet will be touch, but how about a 25 foot long version? 

Amazing work.  And stong enough to walk on.