Catacombs Model GalleryDione's Escape Ship
Catacombs Model GalleryDione's Escape Ship was built by Martin Bower for the episode The Last Enemy. It is formed from a central half inch thick board, on which two egg-shaped pressings are added (the same moulds used to make the Hawk). It is about 20cm long. It makes extensive use of the seats from the Airfix 1:144 SRN4 hovercraft as latches. The landing legs from the Airfix 1:72 Lunar Module are obvious. The tiny decals are from the 1:24 Airfix Harrier.
It can also be seen in the spaceship graveyard in The Metamorph (here, by the Eagle front right pod, behind the Deltan command module).
Martin Bower's design sketches.
A more detailed design by Martin Bower.
The small photos below were taken alongside the Hawk, as reference material for toy manufacturers.
The model appeared in the Space City exhibition from 1977. The other craft appeared in the spaceship graveyard in The Metamorph (the one foreground right was built as a satellite probe in Into Infinity)
The model at the 1982 SpaceCon V convention. The large rocket nozzle is an eggcup, joined to the Airfix Saturn V stage 3 / lunar module adapter ring. The landing gear is from the Airfix B29 Superfortress (the rear ones are the nose gear), joined to B29 gun turrets on the feet, with SRN4 hovercraft parts on the main body. At some point the model was repaired and the two rear feet have different details to the on-screen version. The little dimpled rectangle on the side is from the Airfix Bismark kit.
The 12 latches around the circular hatch are double seats from the Airfix 1:144 SRN4 hovercraft. The long rectangular hatches on the top and bottom have triple seats from the same kit as latches.
The rarely seen right side, never filmed. The top rectangular panel does not have latches. The Bismark detail isn't present on the rear central strip.
The central pipe over the engine assembly, also on the bottom, is the escape rocket from the Airfix 1:144 Saturn V. They point to small half rocket nozzles, from the Airfix Saturn 1B. On the horizontal surface at the back of the main body are two bomb halves from the B29. The two silver balls are EMA, attached to mattress vents.
The round part on the underside is from the Harrier kit, which also supplies the decals. Around it are eight tiny tables from the SRN4 kit. The underside is a greenish colour, like the Satazius. The top side is a copper colour.
Copyright Martin Willey. Kit spotting thanks to eagletransporter.com