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Starguard was a proposed TV series I first started working on in 1976! At that time it was called Future Force. It was to be about the adventures of a group of men & women who where a kind of intergalactic S.A.S. and rescue force combined.
In common with so many other TV shows it had the proverbial "secret base" and super-duper advanced technology. The show evolved over a period of nearly ten years, with various people approaching me over that period with their own ideas of how the show should be.
In particular 2 guys (you know who you are) who tried to take over the idea to the point of taking most of my designs, changing the name to Starwatch, eliciting promises from various"contacts" (including the late Jon Pertwee) and actually making their own short pilot film,at the time without my knowledge!
In the end however, I made my own short 15 minute pilot and ended up reverting to pretty well most of my original ideas. Sadly, despite many promises of backing, and TV companies expressing interest, the show was never taken up and ultimately never made. However, all is not lost, because with the aid of the internet I can at least share some of the ideas I had, and well, if there is anybody out there who fancies backing a Kidult TV show, well you know where to find me!
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I.G.L.O.O. Base (the International Glacial Laboratory for Orbital Observation) Starguard's main base is situated in what, to the outside world, appears to be a tracking station somewhere in the Arctic, part of Earth's early-warning system.
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In reality it is a completely self contained unit which has the ability to submerge beneath the ice in an emergency and re-locate to another site. The base has a gigantic radar dish which folds down to become the top of the base when it submerges. Most inportantly the base contains the Transpod; a huge doughnut-shaped craft which houses all the Starguard craft within it. This can be beamed to any part of the known universe using the power from a massive crystalline meteorite discovered in the opening episode! These photos show me working on the larger of 2 models built for the pilot episode. The model is made of Perspex (Plexiglass) and clad with Plastikard, brass etch and ABS panels. When finished it had a motorised fully deploying radar dish, interior and exterior lighting and defence gun turrets.
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A refined drawing of Igloo base done just prior to construction.
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Igloo Base at sea ! The Base is capable of of moving under its own power both on and under water.
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The Manta Sub in action. This high speed mini-sub is seen here with all lights blazing in a scene from the pilot episode. The craft can also be carried in the Transpod to any action scene anywhere in the universe!
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My very first "doodle" of Igloo base circa 1976!
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The smaller 14 inch diameter model used for distant shots, sits on the snowfield.
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A side (upside down!) view of the Manta just after construction. Built to 1/18th scale the model is 23 inches long. It was originally carved in Jelutong wood, with a Perspex canopy and aluminium jet housings. The model has full exterior lighting, and folding manipulator arms entend from the front underside.
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Pre-production art by Keith Scaife of Igloo Base fully submerged. By this time the base had been somewhat streamlined.
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The same model with the Aurora Borealis behind it!
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This Questar submarine model was built more recently for another attempt at getting interest in Starguard. It is built of EMA plastics, wood and fibreglasss and is just over 4 feet long.
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The large Igloo Base model seen from under the ice. When the Dome sits on the surface, underwater craft can dock with it at the 4 docking terminals seen around the bottom of the central column.
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The Manta, one of the main Starguard craft, leaves Igloo Base. The craft can leave Igloo Base under its own power for short-range missions,
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Me in the water tank at my Bracknell Studios circa 1980 setting up a shot involving the deep-sea research sub.
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Left, Another Submarine from STARGUARD
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The Skimjet under construction. The model is made mainly of Perspex, and has sprung retracting legs. The jets are made to appear to fire by putting airbrush propellant cannisters in the model in the same way as they were used to create the jets in the "Eagles" in the first show I ever worked on "Space 1999".
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Various views of the Skimjet. The craft was not strictly a Starguard craft. Rather it was a "workhorse" for the Arctic station when fulfilling its "normal" role as a radar station. The model ended up appearing in a story I wrote for the 1991-92 Thunderbirds Comics called "Operation Icefloe" where it came to grief and had to be rescued by TB4!
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My original concept drawing for the rather cheeky craft flown by Gemini in the pilot episode. It had the designation Starbuster 38!
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Starbuster 38 in the cosmos. The model is built almost entirely of EMA plastic sections and pressed perspex, and also featured a motorised rotating underside "power unit" and working jets
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Photos Above. The Dragonfly: possibly my favorite Starguard craft. Indeed this craft appeared in my earliest Future Force concept. The photos show it with its wings retracted and deployed. In addition to this a set of huge caterpillar tracks dropped out of the underside and it became a tank! All these features were fully functional working features of the model. It was originally carved in wood but was made as a fibreglass shell in order to fit all the working parts inside. At 1/18th scale the model was 30 inches long and was loosly based on the "Anastasia" from the original Dan Dare comic strip. (A huge source of inspiration to me as a child). If the shape looks vaguely familiar to fans of Space 1999 this maybe because I used the same mould for the "Phoenix" for the episode "Deaths other Dominion"
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The "Ice Patrol" tractor. Again not actually a Starguard craft but built to feature in the parts of the show set in the Arctic.
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This photo appears in my section of "The Guide To Fantasy Art Techniques" by Martyn Dean, published by Paper Tiger.
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Concept art by Keith Scaife of The Falcon, a Starguard craft speeding off on an adventure over the icefloe.
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The model depicts a Jetskimmer 3 man flying jetski designed by Bill Pearson. Built to 1/18th scale. Intended for getting about quickly over any rough terrain.
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This car was described in my original series outline as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang with rockets! It was a car driven by the head of Starguard who had a habit of raiding the "spares" department for the Starguard craft to build his own inventions!
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The deep sea sub (seen also on the Questar panel above) in an underwater set actually filmed dry. The model is mainly kit-bashed!
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The Nightfighter. Another craft featured in Starguard, was carved in wood with Perspex additions. It is approx 1/48th scale and incorporates a clear plastic fridge egg container as a gun turret! The model can also be seen in detail in my model making videoVolume 1.
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A key member of the Starguard team was Telstar (later changed to Scud) a robot able to fly because it carried in its lower section a piece of the power crystal that is the main power source behind Starguard. This flying robot pre-dates a certain Disney film robot (which also flew) by several years! -again I sometimes just wonder.........
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Concept art by Keith Scaife of the Firefly, another potential Starguard craft.
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An idea for a spacecraft that took off along a monorail, much like Fireball XL5. An idea I also used for the Meteor in my "Fantasy Females & Deadly Weapons"Vol 2 video.
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The Armadillo tank designed by my friend Dennis Hardingham (Hence the DH1 designation) The model is 20 inches long and carved in wood. The wheels were turned on the lathe from the plastic bases of wedding cake stands!
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The Mantav Tank from my earliest Future Force concept and incorporated into Starguard. The model was built on the "Tiger Joe" Louis Marks toy tank used for the basis for so many models in Thunderbirds, and the Shado Mobiles in UFO.
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A concept painting I did to try to sell Starguard.
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The aircraft refueling. Just one of many "quickie" set-ups done for Starguard.
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The Skimjet (seen in photos above) as it appears in the very first opening shot of the Starguard pilot.
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The Sandflea all terrain vehicle. The foreground model is 1/12th scale and is over 20 inches high. The model seen in the background is my first concept model for the design (next panel down). The model is mainly Perspex and wood with rubber tyres cast and converted from a childs ride-able toy
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The one man/woman flying "Panther" jetcycle used by Starguard personel. The idea came from the "Jetmobiles" featured in Fireball XL5 This model was built to 1/12th scale and is wood, perspex and plastic.
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