Welcome to Space In Miniature

More Travel Plans

I have a long trip planned for the four weeks beginning March 18, 2026 (returning home April 15). During that period I will not be able to fill any orders for hard copy books. PDF orders should work as usual, although my emails with download links may take a little longer. If you think you want to order a hard copy of any of these books, please get your order in by Sunday March 8. Thanks for your patience.

SIM 2.1 - Gemini is Now Available

Thirty-six years after its original release, the second book in the Space In Miniature (SIM) series has been completely updated and revised. It's more like a new book than a simple tweak here and there.

SIM 2.1 - Gemini has 24 new pages of reference material for spacecraft modelers and historians. The original release focused on the Gemini 7 spacecraft, largely because of the extensive photographic coverage from the Gemini VI-A and VII rendezvous mission. Since then, however, the Internet came along, and now a lot more information has become available. That has enabled us to create a detailed description of the changes and unique features of each capsule, mission by mission. This book still covers the Revell kit, but the focus is on the changes in the configuration and equipment details of each capsule. For a deep dive into modeling Gemini, we offer SIM 9 - Building Gemini (which has just been reprinted).

This 58-page soft-cover booklet describes the Gemini spacecraft focusing on the hardware details most important to the scale model builder. With 137 drawings and photos (nearly all of flight or test hardware), the smallest features that were changed or added on each of the ten crewed missions. Included is the result of recent research that has uncovered source documentation on the adapter stripes and shingle bead dimensions.

This book is printed with a color cover with black and white interior pages, using coated paper, and is now available to order both as a hard copy book as well as a full-color pdf file. This guidebook will be an indispensable resource for the serious space modeler. A hard copy of SIM 2.1 - Gemini sells for $12 plus shipping, while a pdf download costs $10. A combination package of both the hard copy and digital version is available for only $15 plus shipping. The other titles in the SIM series are still available in various formats. To order, go the the order form at this link.

I will start shipping orders around February 4 as the books are still at the printer as of January 30.

Gemini Research Page has New Content

I visited the National Archives recently (December 2025) and was able to review and make some copies of several original McDonnell Aircraft Co. drawings of the Gemini spacecraft. These drawings revealed a lot of details on things like the shape of the shingle beads and the stripes on the adapter. See this page for details.

SIM 6 - Apollo CSM and SIM 9 - Building Gemini have been restocked

The original release of this volume sold out in 2018 and 100 more copies were printed in July 2021 and these have now sold out as of April 2025. I have no plans to print more. As I get few orders for photocopies and because of the cost of such copies, those will no longer be available either. A downloadable pdf version can be purchased and customers are free to print their own paper copies, which is likely to be cheaper than paying me to do it, not to mention the rising cost of postage.

Hermes Spaceplane Model

I have always wanted a model of the French Hermes mini-shuttle, a concept from the late 1980s that never saw fruition. Recently I saw a kit announcement from AMK (Astronautic Model Kits, run by Aurelio Maffia from Italy) that a 1/72 Hermes model was available. After some consideration, I went and ordered one in late 2024 and finally built it in late 2025. Check my YouTube channel for a video series on how I built it.

Salyut 7 Model

I have always been fascinated with the Soviet space program, particularly during the 1980s when the Salyut space stations were developed. At this time, the Soviets were very active with these long duration missions while NASA was begging Congress to fund an American space station. It took me nearly forty years but I have finally built a (1/144 scale) model of Salyut 7. I used parts of the Revell Mir kit, some elements from RealSpace Models, and a lot of scratch building. Here are a couple photos - check out my YouTube channel for the entire build process.

My YouTube Channel

This is a reminder that I regularly post short videos of my space modeling projects on YouTube. These are mostly work in progress videos so you can see how I build my models. Most are only about five minutes long so they won't eat up your entire day. These started with the Buran series in early 2020, and there are also my old Facebook videos on the Gemini series, as well as building the Dragon 1/72 scale Apollo "Lunar Approach" kit, and building a series of Space Shuttle kits, including those featured in the new update of SIM 3.1. In late 2024, I built another detailed 1/48 Gemini model as a commission job, and the process was covered in a series of short videos. The Salyut 7 build is also documented in a series of videos.

You can find all of these videos at: https://www.youtube.com/user/spacecitymike

Resin Kits Presentation from 2024 IPMS National Convention

I was able to attend the IPMS Convention in Madison, Wisconsin in July and I spent a couple of days at the EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh. I gave a talk on building resin aircraft models at the IPMS Nats. You can view that presentation at this link.

Gemini Presentation from 2023 IPMS National Convention

I was able to attend the IPMS National Convention in San Marcos, Texas last summer. I gave a talk on more of my recent builds of proposed Gemini applications. You can download a copy of that presentation at this link .