Catacombs Model GalleryStorage Cases
Catacombs Model Gallery
A case made from expanded polystyrene, with standard Letraset labels. It may be a swimming pool float (to help learner swimmers). It is 14" x 11.5" x 2.75" (35cm x 30cm x 7cm); an original prop was sold for $415 in 2009.
The prop in A B Chrysalis (it's also there in Seed Of Destruction). This is possibly redecorated from Koenig's case in Guardian Of Piri (which had a different number, 58).
Another Moonbase case. This is actually a tape case (for 2" quad videotape, probably Scotch). When the large 2 is removed, the original Year 1 lettering is visible. This is seen, without decoration, in Guardian Of Piri, carried by a girl in the corridor.
There are three different versions of the case in this shot from Dorzak, one undecorated on the left, and two, each with horizontal lines, on the right.
1970s Scotch "Shock-Shield" rigid shipping case for 2 inch quad videotape.
In Matter Of Life and Death Helena has a medical case with a red cross, which appears throughout the series. It is another type of tape case, this time an Ampex.
Another of these Ampex quad tape cases also appears in Matter Of Life and Death and later episodes, without the red cross. There are at least 2 versions of this case, with stripes along the bottom.
In both series the red-cross case had a small red label on the bottom right of one side, and a white label in the same position on the opposite side (the side with the case lock). Additional Letraset labels were added for the Space City exhibition; all are original labels but they did not appear on the prop in the show.
This prop was owned by David Hirsch, then by Hollywood model maker Greg Jein; it was sold at auction in October 2023 for $8,125. It is 14" x 16" x 2.75" (36cm x 41cm x 7cm). In the series it was never opened, but the auction photos reveal it contained various cotton swabs and bandages.
An original 1970s Ampex rigid shipping case
Copyright Martin Willey