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A NEW SIM BOOK:  SIM 8: Space Suits

It's been over four years since I've put out a new book.  With Karl Dodenhoff's help, the newest book in the SIM series is SIM #8 - Space Suits.  Researched and written by Karl (an original member of the "gang of seven" that founded what became the Yahoo Space Modelers group over ten years ago), SIM #8 describes all of the space suits developed and used by NASA from Mercury to the Space Station.  This 60-page book has over one hundred line drawings and photographs that provide the model builder a comprehensive technical reference on this subject.  Covering everything from early manned space gear, the Apollo lunar surface exploration suits, to the free-flying backpacks used by Gemini and Space Shuttle astronauts, this guidebook is a unique resource for the serious space modeler.

In addition to a pictorial review of space suit development, a thorough listing of scale figure kits is provided, along with five pages of kit reviews.  Additionally, there is a feature article on building an accurate version of the old Aurora “American Astronaut” kit.  In fact, Karl found so much material that over fifty additional photos and diagrams were placed in a Photo Appendix, available to customers as a downloaded pdf file.

The book sells for $12 plus shipping, and will start shipping March 1, 2012.

To order, just go to the order form and fill out your mailing info after making your selections.  If you are using Paypal, just use the form to calculate postage and the total due, then click the Paypal icon on the form.  If your are a dealer or retailer interested in quantity buys please send me an e-mail for a quote.

SIM #3 Space Shuttle Reprint Sold Out

The run of 50 professionally printed, bound copies of SIM #3 are gone.  For now I will be selling photocopies at a reduced price.

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Space Books for Sale

I am in the process of thinning my collection of space-related books. I am getting rid of anything that is not directly modeling related. I have a lot of stuff on space history, and I once thought I'd write something on a space enthusiast's view of all of the exploration programs that never got off the drawing board. But that'll never happen. And I need room on my shelves. See this page for details.

About SIM

I am an engineer in the aerospace industry, and my hobby interests are centered around building scale models of real spacecraft. This quickly gets into the history of space, as there are few space kits out there and much research is required to come up with the plans and data needed to scratchbuild accurate spacecraft models. This activity led me to publish the results of some of my research in the form of 40-page monographs (magazines or booklets, I guess) on how to build accurate models of real spacecraft. I also have this internet site to augment those paper publications.

The book series is called Space in Miniature (SIM). Click here for more info or use the links at left.

This web site was established in the summer of 1999 to solicit inputs on the Mercury volume.  I used this web site to post preliminary findings and to get feedback from other researchers. This has worked out great, and I appreciate hearing from so many of you. To order books, check out the order form.

You can also keep up with me on Facebook.

Thanks for your interest,

Mike Mackowski

Credit Cards Accepted via PayPal

You can purchase books using your credit card via my PayPal account. While I prefer checks (PayPal gets 92 cents for every copy of SIM #6 I sell using their service) this should make ordering simpler for you, particularly international customers.