Culttvman Update

October 9, 2005

From CultTVman's Hobbyshop: http://www.CultTVman.net

And so comes time for another edition of Retro Rockets. It's been a fairly quiet modeling summer, outside of Wonderfest and the IPMS Nationals.

The IPMS Nats were held in Atlanta GA in July. It was, according to everything I read, the largest IPMS model show ever. The dealers room was jam packed with 400 tables of model dealers from all over the country and beyond. Science Fiction was well represented by myself, Federation Models, Amazing Figure Modeler and a few others. One dealer had a number of large kits including a 4 foot Jupiter 2. I was also able to hook up and meet a few other dealers including the folks from Masterpiece Models [who produced the cool Time Machine kit] and Arvey Models [who make Star Destroyer detail parts]. This dealers room was a real wallet draining experience!

The model show was very impressive with a great turn out for Sci Fi hardware and figures. There are plenty of photos posted around the web, including the CultTVman site. Given there were thousands of models on display, I dare say this show featured the best genre turn out of any show other than Wonderfest.

Of course it was always great to meet up with a people I've met over the years through the internet. The IPMS Nats drew a lot of science fiction modelers, but a lot of them were not the people that go to Wonderfest. I got to meet a lot of people for the first time at this show. A lot of people build armor, aircraft, cars -- much more than just sci-fi. All the more reason to make an IPMS show part of your plans for next year!

RETRO NEWS!

IHOBBY EXPO
The 21st Annual International Hobby Exposition is to be held in Los Angeles California, USA, October, 20-23 2005. The show features over 600 booths with almost 300 exhibitors. Expect some sort of modeling news or announcements to come from this show. If anyone can get there, please send me some news and photos! www.ihobbyexpo.com.

STAR WARS EPISODE 3 KITS FROM AMT
The new Star Wars kits from AMT have been pushed back to November. These were originally supposed to come out back in May. AMT/Ertl has release some new photos of the upcoming Star Wars Episode 3 kits. The two styrene kits are the Jedi Starfighter and the Corporate Alliance Droid Tank. The two diecast kits are the Jedi Starfighter and Droid Tri-Fighter. New photos from RC2 seems to indicate the diecast Jedi Starfighter will be available first as Anakin's ship and then reissued as Obiwan's Starfighter. I'm awaiting more information on this. You can see some photos on the CultTVman news page
http://p220.ezboard.com/fculttvmanfrm20.showMessage?topicID=24.topic

WILCO MODELS BRINGS US HAL9000
Wilco Models newest release is a 1:1 scale prop replica of the HAL 9000 Interface as seen in 2001: A Space Odyssey. The kit consists of three parts; a cast-resin body, a pre-cut clear dome lens and an etched metal plate. Cost is $30.00. A lighting kit is also in the works. Soon to be available at CultTVman.
Wilco Models, 2826 Russell Ave, Abilene, TX 79605-1953
Photos at
http://p220.ezboard.com/fculttvmanfrm20.showPrevMessage?topicID=27.topic

AZTEK DUMMY KLINGON PAINT TEMPLATES
From the folks at Aztek Dummy comes a set of paint templates for the Klingon D7 from Polar Lights. This allows you to add a panel design similar to what was seen in Trials and Tribblations. The set will sell for $12. This will also be available from CultTVman.
Photos at
http://p220.ezboard.com/fculttvmanfrm20.showNextMessage?topicID=28.topic

VOODOOFX LIGHTING KITS
Randy at VoodooFX has been churning out plenty of new lighting kits this summer! You can see all of them at their website. The Robot Lighting kit fits the Polar Lights Lost in Space Robot Model Kit and features Plug & Play Kit design, red and blue LEDs. It lights up the body area and clear parts. It includes: Pro Twin Circuit Board, 9 Volt Battery Hook Up, Pre Built LEDs,1 On/Off Switch, Full Instructions.

Visit the VoodooFX site at www.voodoofx.com.
Many of these are also available in the CultTVman Hobbyshop.

AMT REISSUED STAR TREK KITS
Racing Champions/AMT/Ertl has not announced any new Polar Lights kits yet, but they are going to reissue several of the old AMT kits. I've been telling people for some time that eventually, someone from RC2 would look around, see the molds and figure they could make some money on these kits. RC has been very happy with the sales of the Star Wars reissues and the Polar Lights Star Trek kits. They have recently worked out licensing to continue, at least for a limited time, the Trek license.

Look for the following: The Enterprise 3 Ship set with the 1:2500 scale Enterprise B, C and E; the Enterprise 3 Ship set with the 1:2500 classic Enterprise, refit Enterprise and Enterprise D; the Klingon Bird of Prey (pick your scale 1:350, 1:650, 1:1000 LOL!); and the 3 ship Adversary set with a Romulan Warbird, Klingon BOP and Ferengi Marauder (mixed scales). These were originally announced to come out in August, but now are slated for October and November. As always, the release dates may change.

NEW DECALS FROM JTGRAPHICS
JTGraphics has a number of new decal sheets available for the Polar Lights Trek kits.

JTG-PL07-A 350 Scale NX Additional Names -- For your 350 scale NX modeler’s out there, now you can name your NX Class something other than Enterprise! Choose from Atlantis, Avenger, Challenger, Columbia, Discovery or Endeavour. (Yup, I chose the names of our Space Shuttles). One sheet will allow you to do all 5 additional names. Customization available for and additional fee. Cost: $10.00

SPINDRIFT COCKPITS FROM TRYLON
These are back! From Trylon productions comes the Spindrift Cockpit. Originally available in limited numbers a couple years ago, this product has been completely retooled. The new kit comes with 8 new wall panels, a new instrument panel, two pilot seats, steering controls, speakers, and even a telephone. There is a sheet of graphic panels and fully illustrated instructions. Available exclusively from CultTVman's Hobbyshop

Of course, there is more SF Modeling News that can be found on the CultTVman news page at http://p220.ezboard.com/fculttvmanfrm20

(*) Many thanks to, Stephen Iverson for the news and info!