Space In Miniature - Reference Books for Space Model Builders

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What's New:

SIM #3 Space Shuttle Reprinted

I found a reasonably priced printer and ran 50 copies of SIM #3 - Space Shuttle. It's printed magazine-style on glossy paper of better quality than the original run. The only (minor) downside is that the photos now have a screen pattern because I simply scanned in my master paste-ups. But good Shuttle photos are available all over the Web.

The price was not as low as I had hoped, so the per-copy cost is now $10 plus shipping. The order form has been updated with this information and they are now available. As time goes on, I hope to re-generate the older books in pure digital form but that will take some time.

Meanwhile, the two Apollo books are still in stock as bound, soft-cover, glossy paper booklets. See the info page or the main order form for details. The other books are available as double-sided photo copies.

What's He Up To?

You might wonder what I've been up to. Like am I working on any new books? Well, a little. I have started to pull together some of my Skylab material. When I worked at McDonnell Douglas in St. Louis I was able to gather up a lot of photos and technical data, so I have spent a little time sorting that out. The problem is that it's too small for a full-up SIM book. So we'll see what happens.

Meanwhile I've been trying to thin my collections and do a little modeling. You can see some of those results at the Model Gallery link. The most recent space model I did was the Chinese Shenzhou 7 with EVA. I also finished the Mach 2 X-24A and X-24B combo.

You can keep up with me on Facebook and I'm running the Facebook page for the IPMS National Convention coming up.

IPMS/USA National Conventions

I'll was in Columbus, Ohio for the IPMS/USA Nats last August (2009). See my trip log at this link. In 2010 the IPMS National Convention will be in my home city of Phoenix, AZ. I will be coordinating the seminars, so come and visit!

Space Modelers Go to Space

Some of you may know that my brother-in-law is astronaut John Phillips. John was a member of a recent Shuttle flight,
STS-119, launched March 15, 2009. He operated the robot arm that installed the final solar array section.

John is allowed take small items on his mission for family members. I gave him a Space Modelers pin (like the one at the left side of this page), which he took with him on Discovery. I recently got it back with a certificate of authenticity from NASA, and you can see it here. Note that this is the logo used for the Yahoo discussion group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/space-modeler

So now the group has truly made it to orbit. You can order a pin from this website using the main order form and there are more details at this link.

SIM 7: Apollo Lunar Module

The newest book in the SIM series is SIM #7 - Apollo Lunar Module. I think you are really going to like this book. It has color patterns for all the flown LMs, a comprehensive kit review section, plus a write-up on my build of the 1/48 scale Monogram kit. This is a model that I started over 25 years ago but quit when I got to the point of needing to replace all of the detailed parts (antennas, ALSEP, MESA, etc.). I finished that effort in January of 2007 and you can see the results here.

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.

As with SIM #6 - Apollo CSM, I am posting some supplemental information on this website. The Apollo reference section provides some complementary data in support of the two Apollo books. This includes a reference table of (CSM and LM) Apollo hardware configurations and links to color versions of all the photos used in both the CSM and LM books. There is a photo page here with color versions of all the photos used in the book.

Model Gallery

Photos of my recent builds can be found in the Model Gallery section of this site. You will also find the photo blog of my 1/144 Mir build. That has been on hold while I built the ISS and then finished the 1/48 Apollo LM for the SIM #7 book. Go to this link for the Mir build. I also built the Trumpeter Shenzhou in the configuration of the recent Chinese EVA mission. My next space project will either be to finish the Mir or possibly a Soyuz landing diorama.

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.

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.

Email to Mike Mackowski
This page revised April 19, 2010