Space in Miniature releases new “U.S. Space Missiles” ref book for modelers

Space in Miniature, led by Michael Mackowski, has released a new digital reference book for space model builders. Mike Mackowski describes the US Space Missiles SIM report:

The sixth installment in the Space In Miniature (SIM) digital-only “Tech Reports” series of reference booklets for spacecraft modelers is now available. This publication is a detailed review of the Atlantis re-issue of the old Monogram “U.S. Space Missiles” kit.

The initial version of this 1/128th scale kit came out in 1958 as the “United States Missile Arsenal” and Monogram updated it with a different mix of 36 missile subjects in 1969. The 1969 release, the 1983 version, and the recent Atlantis edition all use the same molds, with slightly different instructions. With the Atlantis Models release in 2022 making it readily available again, it seemed like a SIM Tech Report treatment would be popular.

The SIM Tech Report is based on a two-part kit review originally published in 1984 in Plastic Novelty Items, a publication of the Chicago Sprue Stretchers IPMS chapter. They included descriptions of most of the 36 missiles and was heavily illustrated with detailed drawings. The review covered the 1983 “Heritage Edition,” with text by Joe Suszynski and drawings by Jim Griffiths. After Joe passed away some years ago, I contacted Jim and made arrangements to use their work at some future time. That time has come. The SIM version adds photos of all the missiles and up-to-date drawings by model rocketry guru Peter Alway. Brian Nicklas, of the National Air and Space Museum and author of his own book on US missiles, also made contributions to this book.

SIM TR-6 US Space Missiles is available in digital (pdf) format only for $10 at spaceinminiature.com. There are 57 pages and 122 illustrations, many in color, resulting in a 178MB file.