Tag Archives: Science Fiction

Alexei Panshin: The “Rite Of Passage” Stories

The Ships were launched just over two hundred years ago to carry survival colonies away from an overpopulated and depleted Earth on the hysterical edge of self-destruction. Seven Ships founded some one hundred colonies. And now, all these many years later, the only movement between the stars is the seven Great Ships on eternal motherly … Continue reading Alexei Panshin: The “Rite Of Passage” Stories

Two Science Fiction Histories

What does seem clear is that there was something in the early lives of nearly all the published writers in the group that isolated them from their contemporaries. Blish, Pohl, Michel, Merril, and I were only children. Pohl, Blish, Wilson, Lowndes, Merril and Michel lost one parent each in childhood, by death or divorce. Wilson … Continue reading Two Science Fiction Histories

Moebius 1/144 Discovery Spacecraft: Part 7

Last time, I finished wiring and lighting the interior of the command sphere, and had it assembled and preshaded. The final part of the build was to put together all the various cargo pods along the spine of the spacecraft, as well as the dish antennae that featured as a plot device in the film. … Continue reading Moebius 1/144 Discovery Spacecraft: Part 7

Moebius 1/144 Discovery Spacecraft: Part 6

Last time, I completed the wiring of individual sections of my Green Strawberry pod bay, and the neat little Falconware pods. This time, I’m assembling the bay and the extended pod platform, adding ceiling lights, and cramming everything into the Moebius command sphere. First, though, I needed to do a little surgery on one of … Continue reading Moebius 1/144 Discovery Spacecraft: Part 6

Moebius 1/144 Discovery Spacecraft: Part 5

By the end of my previous post in this build log, I’d finished lighting the Paragrafix cockpit for my Moebius Discovery spacecraft. Now it was time for the pod bay. When I first bought the Discovery kit, I acquired the Paragrafix photoetch pod bay to go with it, but was a little disappointed with its … Continue reading Moebius 1/144 Discovery Spacecraft: Part 5

Moebius 1/144 Discovery Spacecraft: Part 4

Last time, I reached the point at which I needed to start lighting my Paragrafix cockpit. I wanted to provide a source of illumination at the front of the cockpit, which will probably be invisible from outside but will provide a little front-lighting for the couches and pilot, as if coming from the large panel … Continue reading Moebius 1/144 Discovery Spacecraft: Part 4

Dave Hutchinson: Cold Water

What can readers expect?If they’re already familiar with the other Fractured Europe books, it’s more of the same kind of stuff. Pocket universes, insanely-complicated intelligence ops, hotel breakfasts, huge conspiracies, Texel sheep, trains. That sort of thing. Dave Hutchinson, talking about Cold Water (2022) I’ve reviewed Dave Hutchinson’s previous novels from the Fractured Europe Sequence … Continue reading Dave Hutchinson: Cold Water

Moebius 1/144 Discovery Spacecraft: Part 3

Last time, I finished lighting and preliminary painting on the engine compartment of my Discovery spacecraft from the film 2001: A Space Odyssey. This time, I’m working on the cockpit. I’m using the Paragrafix photoetch set for this, combined with the HDA Modelworx decal set. There are two areas to light—a rear corridor and the … Continue reading Moebius 1/144 Discovery Spacecraft: Part 3

Moebius 1/144 Discovery Spacecraft: Part 2

Last time, I got all my wiring runs in place to illuminate this model. Now it’s time to add some lights, starting with the engine bells. There’s room for a couple of large LEDs inside the flare of the engine bells, which means I can get a light behind both engine nozzles on each of … Continue reading Moebius 1/144 Discovery Spacecraft: Part 2