My Space 1999 Moonbase Alpha model was the first large model I ever made. I made this model in about 1977 when I was 13. I had watched the Space 1999 TV series since the show aired in the early 1970's, and I had always loved the look of the moonbase. So when I got hold of detailed plans for the model from my newly acquired Moonbase Alpha Technical Notebook, I decided to try to build this model.
The first thing I did was to enlarge the original technical plans I had so that I would end up making a model that was about three and a half feet wide, including its underlying moon surface. Next, I decided that I would make the model primarily out of picture frame matte board, glue, and paint. The moon's surface was made out of a sheet of plywood covered in a kind of gray masonry cement. The mountains were made of chicken wire covered with papier-mâché and then covered with the masonry cement. The mountains were made to be detachable from the model itself so they could be stacked to make a wider view for the camera.
The windows were made simply by using a heavy weight straight pin and then poking holes through the matte board wherever I wanted a window to appear in a building. The model was lit by just placing Christmas tree lights up into the builds from below the model. As I remember, this model took me about 6 months to build. Unfortunately, all that remains of this model are one color picture and one black and white picture, both of which are shown below.
