Philosophy
Wanna buy a spaceship? No, you can't have the real thing. But you can buy a model at a reasonable price. That's been the driving force behind a strongly entrenched space modeling industry for decades.
How many thousands of scale-model American space shuttles have been sold for every real one that was produced? What about the Apollo lunar module?
China also produces models of its own space hardware. The nation has a well-established modeling industry that pumps out plastic kits of tanks, ships and planes, in addition to replicas of their own rockets and Shenzhou spacecraft.
China also sells more impressive (and more expensive) models of its spacecraft in shiny metal. There are variants to show the different designs of different missions, such as Shenzhous 5, 6, and 7. All are depicted in fairly good technical detail.
You can also get models of the Chang'e 1 lunar orbiter, also made in metal. They make nice desktop ornaments. Then there's the cheap plastic Long March 2F launch vehicle that's actually a pen. Pull off the payload fairing, and start writing!
Now to Tiangong, China's new space laboratory. It would be nice to add a model of this spacecraft to my collection. So far, the Chinese aren't selling them. I wonder why.
Tiangong was announced years ago. The basic design has been on the record for a long time. China is committed to launching this spacecraft. It's about time we could get an official replica.
It could be the case that China is waiting for a successful launch before it sells models of Tiangong. If so, we hopefully won't have too long to wait. But what if they don't appear?
There could be another explanation. Perhaps people just aren't buying enough space models to justify the production costs. China produces very nice models of its space hardware for exhibitions.
These models are individually crafted, and probably quite expensive to produce. But you can justify the cost by producing small numbers, and re-using them for different exhibitions in different places.
Mass-production of cheaper models would require large sales. Does China expect a rush in demand for Tiangong models or toys?
If sales of earlier model spacecraft were not large, it could have deterred China from producing more models. There's no easy way to get reliable data on this, or know what is really going on. But it's plausible.
There will almost certainly be commemorative coins, stamps and buttons to celebrate the launch of Tiangong. Dedicated collectors will snap up this paraphernalia. But will Tiangong resonate with the general public? There will be plenty of people who would love a model of Tiangong, both inside and outside of China. I hope we can get them soon.
Vintage model kits...space oriented
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Philosophy
Chinese scale models...Tiangong
"Toys for Tiangong"
by
Morris Jones
August 9th, 2011
Space Daily
by
Morris Jones
August 9th, 2011
Space Daily
Wanna buy a spaceship? No, you can't have the real thing. But you can buy a model at a reasonable price. That's been the driving force behind a strongly entrenched space modeling industry for decades.
How many thousands of scale-model American space shuttles have been sold for every real one that was produced? What about the Apollo lunar module?
China also produces models of its own space hardware. The nation has a well-established modeling industry that pumps out plastic kits of tanks, ships and planes, in addition to replicas of their own rockets and Shenzhou spacecraft.
China also sells more impressive (and more expensive) models of its spacecraft in shiny metal. There are variants to show the different designs of different missions, such as Shenzhous 5, 6, and 7. All are depicted in fairly good technical detail.
You can also get models of the Chang'e 1 lunar orbiter, also made in metal. They make nice desktop ornaments. Then there's the cheap plastic Long March 2F launch vehicle that's actually a pen. Pull off the payload fairing, and start writing!
Now to Tiangong, China's new space laboratory. It would be nice to add a model of this spacecraft to my collection. So far, the Chinese aren't selling them. I wonder why.
Tiangong was announced years ago. The basic design has been on the record for a long time. China is committed to launching this spacecraft. It's about time we could get an official replica.
It could be the case that China is waiting for a successful launch before it sells models of Tiangong. If so, we hopefully won't have too long to wait. But what if they don't appear?
There could be another explanation. Perhaps people just aren't buying enough space models to justify the production costs. China produces very nice models of its space hardware for exhibitions.
These models are individually crafted, and probably quite expensive to produce. But you can justify the cost by producing small numbers, and re-using them for different exhibitions in different places.
Mass-production of cheaper models would require large sales. Does China expect a rush in demand for Tiangong models or toys?
If sales of earlier model spacecraft were not large, it could have deterred China from producing more models. There's no easy way to get reliable data on this, or know what is really going on. But it's plausible.
There will almost certainly be commemorative coins, stamps and buttons to celebrate the launch of Tiangong. Dedicated collectors will snap up this paraphernalia. But will Tiangong resonate with the general public? There will be plenty of people who would love a model of Tiangong, both inside and outside of China. I hope we can get them soon.
Vintage model kits...space oriented
- Is Theater Like Science?
A few weeks back, Gwydion wrote a post on his blog asking if theater is like science? I replied arguing that theatrical writing is not only exactly like science, but could be seen as a form of applied sociology. What scientists produce are models,...
- Deceased--yutu
"Farewell to Yutu" by Morris Jones February 12th, 2014 SPACE DAILY By now, it seems almost certain that China's Yutu Moon rover has died a premature death in the cold lunar night. The rover has been exposed to sunlight for a few days, and...
- Chinese Women In Space...married, Of Course
What a strange statement... "We believe married women would be more physically and psychologically mature," Zhang said. "China to Send First (Married) Female Astronauts to Space in 2012" by Sara Yin October 31st, 2011 PCmag China may be launching its...
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Strombeck-Becker may not be remembered as well as model makers Monogram or Ravell but they were a quality scale model manufacturer. In the early days they were devoted to basic wood models of planes, trains, boats, automobiles and in the 1950s moved...
- Morris Jones And Chinese Space Efforts
This is the wave of the future...not run by NASA but world-wide players. "My Decade with Shenzhou" by Morris Jones August 3rd, 2009 SpaceDaily 2009 will mostly be remembered by space enthusiasts as the 40th anniversary of the first Moonwalk. For me,...