The Forbidden Planet International Blog Log

I’m delighted to say we have another first for our What The Author Says feature today, with Michael Reccia. Michael is a large part of the driving force behind a very glossy, extremely high-quality publication, a quarterly journal, Sci-Fi & Fantasy Modeller, which he is treating more as a book than a periodical (and rightly so, it’s printed on such high quality material). It’s a title you may recall me mentioning a few weeks back because we liked it so much we decided to get right behind it – you can find volume 1 (with a snazzy Dalek cover) and volume 2 (a fab-looking Cyberman cover) on our webstore now.

My colleagues and I were extremely impressed with the quality and effort which has gone into this publication. It’s not just the fact that the writers clearly love what they are doing (which as a bunch of fanboys who get to sell what they love for a living we can empathise with), it’s the fact they have gone for good grade paper stock – exactly the sort of paper you use for good reproduction of images in art books (in fact you can argue this is a form of art book among other things).

The articles cover from professional model work from movies and TV to amateur work as well as tips and hints for budding hobbyists. The in-depth pieces on effects and model-making on the new Doctor Who or classic Gerry Anderson (the king of model making) series will appeal to general SF fans as well as those with a more serious interest in effects and model-making. Being a geek I am the sort of person who does sit through all the extras on my Lord of the Rings DVDs to see how Weta made their miniatures, or read through the books on special effects and this fills an important gap in that area: the fine art of creating physical models and not just CGI; just as CGI hasn’t killed traditional methods of animation (witness the success of Corpse Bride for example) neither has CGI completely replaced the need for exquisite models.

To say nothing of the simple pleasure of being able to build replicas yourself (looking at some of the pictures here I am so jealous that my big thumbs are too clumsy to make these). It reminds me of J M Straczynski in his Babylon 5 days, when he talked about how the (then) cutting edge CGI effects were amazing but he did miss not having a big physical model of the station built which he could borrow and sit on his desk. Judging by the numbers of you who, like me, drool over some of the excellent (I should say ‘fab’) Gerry Anderson models we have on our webstore I think a lot of our regulars will like this:

From the time I could first hold a tube of glue I loved models (no, not that kind. – I loved those too, but that’s a completely different story). I grew up watching and adoring Gerry Anderson’s puppet series on TV, and was always fascinated by the techniques used to give the model spaceships and vehicles (or miniatures as they’re called at the film studios) scale – the panels; the shading; the weathering… When not drawing I could be found at the kitchen table making replicas from bits and pieces – badly at first and, then, as the years went by, with increasing ability.

Career-wise I was drawn into advertising, copy-writing and public relations until, having had quite enough of glorifying plastic grommets for a living, thank you, I struck out on my own and happened to drop in on an old friend just as he was about to publish a new, slick fan magazine based on the works of Gerry Anderson. He was looking for an editor and I was looking for freelance work – thus Century 21 was born. Four years later the magazine folded and I was left at the loosest of ends, looking for a title to produce myself with my friend and business partner David Openshaw.

Sci-Fi & Fantasy Models magazine was the result, an obvious choice for a lifelong model maker and an absolute labour of love which allowed me to indulge in and report on the current state of my hobby at all levels and to get paid (albeit modestly!) for doing so. ‘SF&F’, as the title came to be affectionately known, ran for eight years and fifty three issues (also spawning three books and a couple of spin-off magazines on TV and cinema special effects) before punishing schedules – we had been gradually encouraged to produce twelve issues per year as opposed to our original bi-monthly format – and the outrageous percentage demands of sale-or-return newsstand distribution on a niche title finally forced us to close the lid on our hobby box in 2001.

Five years later we decided we would attempt something quite revolutionary in the history of publishing. We would create a new title – Sci.Fi & Fantasy Modeller - in a prestigious, quarterly book format… Matt laminate card covers. Full colour throughout. Top quality art paper and one hundred pages per volume. And this time we would not travel the punishing newsstand route but would handle sales to individuals and to shops ourselves. The title would offer anyone interested in science fiction and fantasy modelling a unique mix of subjects to dip into, from relatively simple ‘how-to’ builds of commercially available injection moulded kits through to dazzling replica ‘scratch builds’ (i.e.: models built from scratch) at studio scale of subjects such as the original Battlestar Galactica and the Armoured Personnel Carrier from Aliens. Alongside such stories we would also showcase the type of contemporary special effects work that still centred on traditional miniatures and creature prosthetics, which is why you will also find extensive and exclusive coverage of such subjects as the creation of the new series Cybermen and Daleks, written by the people who created them, between our covers.

Sci.fi & Fantasy Modeller is not the cheapest read on the market – it can’t be due to the way it is produced, at its core, by just two people and in relatively modest runs. We hope, however, that our love of the subject will shine through on every page – and that the quality of the printing will bring you a title you can proudly place on your bookshelf and refer to for years to come. Because Sci.fi & Fantasy Modeller is a book rather than a magazine, it has no sell-by date, and the stories contained in earlier volumes are just as relevant today as those in the current issue to new readers just discovering the title. By sticking to four Volumes per year we intent to keep standards high. Special editions might be on the horizon too, based on demand steadily growing at its current rate.

Our current issue – Volume Two – features that aforementioned Cybermen exclusive written by Neill Gorton of Millennium FX – perhaps the most comprehensive, lavishly illustrated account of their creation you will ever read. Gerry Anderson fans will find a massive Thunderbirds Zero-X miniature in the same issue, plus a scratchbuilt Captain Scarlet Angel Aircraft story and a review of Product Enterprise’s superb SPV diecast. Adding to the mix is an account of the creation of a studio-scale Y-wing replica from Star Wars (three years in the making), a feature showing you how to sculpt fantasy figures, a review of a resin Blake’s 7 Liberator kit, a review of a War Of The Worlds Martian Handling Machine kit and a whole lot more.

Sci-fi & Fantasy Modeller invites you to be creative, to step away from the computer screen once in a while and to make something that actually exists in three real dimensions with your own hands. Of course, you can also simply ogle at the skills of model makers from around the world as they showcase their talents if you wish. Either way, I do hope you’ll join us as a reader. There’s lot’s more to come, including, in Volume Three, a remote control 1/6 scale Armoured Personnel Carrier replica from Aliens that will have you drooling, plus a kit lighting how-to step-by-step article and a truly explosive special effects story involving large-scale miniatures from Mike Tucker and team.

Volume Three of Sci.Fi & Fantasy Modeller is published third week in September.

Michael Reccia