What's This Ship?

misterfusion

Sr Member
Hey cats,

So this ship came across my desk, and at first glance, it looks like Zarkov's ship from the "Flash Gordon" serials, but upon closer examination, it doesn't match.

securedownload-6.jpeg


I'm leaning towards a garage kit or limited edition, but I've run it by a few people, including Bob Burns, and nobody's sure where it came from.

Here's a link to a Photobucket folder with more pics of the inside and out as well as reference shots from the original serial.

Flash Gordon pictures by misterfusion - Photobucket

Anybody got anything???

Thanks!

Steve
 
Great pics, Clutch, and I see that the Thomas Models site has these listed as Buck Rogers, but the screen caps I have are from the Flash Gordon serials.

Conquer6.jpg


The consignor said it was from "Flash," so I started looking there, but I check some "Buck" as well and didn't see anything like this.

The ship I have, which is metal, has the same four rocket tubes , but they do not extend over the top of the hatch as they do in the screen captures, so I know it's not that exact one, and besides, Bob Burns told me that the ones used in the serial were made of wood, not metal...
 
The Rocket was built for, and first used in the movie "Just Imagine" (1930). The model and full size Rocket were modified for the Flash Gordon serials. The rocket engines in the photo were windows in "Just Imagine".

I believe that they also used the interior set for the Rocket, but it has been a lot of years since I have seen either "Just Imagine", or the Flash Gordon serials.

David.
 
Close, David :)

In the Photobucket album I have listed above, I have a couple of frame grabs from "Just Imagine." It's certainly based on that original design that was later recycled for "Flash Gordon," but again, those window ports, that taper towards the bow extend over the hatch on the original and do not in the model we have.

And as luck would have it, "Just Imagine" is on YouTube :) I've set it to start playing when you see the full size mock-up, it switches to rear screen projection for the ship's takeoff and then the model landing on Mars. :)

Just Imagine (full movie) (1930) - YouTube
 
I'm sorry that I wasn't clear, I was talking about the basic Rocketship design from 20th Century Fox. I don't believe that your Rocketship is the Rocketship from "Just Imagine", but rather a copy made by Universal for the later Flash Gordon Serials. In the first Flash Gordon serial, they used the rocket tubes behind the nose, as they were also using stock footage from "Just Imagine".

Interestingly, the heavy rivets shown on the Rocketship in your photos are not seen on the Rockets in the screen captures.

David.
 
It's stamped both Fox Films and Universal, I assume because Fox did "Just Imagine" and Uni did the "Flash Gordon" serials.

I'm really leaning towards fan made or limited edition. I've spoke to everybody from Bob Burns to the guy in charge of the Universal archive to Doug Drexler as well as a handful of high end toy collectors, not to mention the RPF brain trust, and NOBODY has a clue :|
 
Could be Captain Proton's ship from the Star Trek's The Adventures of Captain Proton, Kim Paris's character on the Voyager Holodeck.
 
This thread is more than 11 years old.

Your message may be considered spam for the following reasons:

  1. This thread hasn't been active in some time. A new post in this thread might not contribute constructively to this discussion after so long.
If you wish to reply despite these issues, check the box below before replying.
Be aware that malicious compliance may result in more severe penalties.
Back
Top