More Skytrex Spaceships

 

I recently received a rather unexpected but very welcome note from journalist Paul Taylor. Having spotted my previous post and plea for for information about the old Skytrex spacecraft, Paul dug out these models from his own collection and very kindly photographed them. I'd like to thank Paul for getting in touch, and for allowing me to share his lovely pictures on this blog. 

This photo (left) features a mix of the Skytrex spaceships together with some of the first Minifigs spacecraft. It is interesting to see that the original cast metal bases have survived in both cases. The Skytrex ships are all cast in resin, and feature a hole underneath plugged with a little section of flexible plastic tubing that connects the ship to the stand. This tubing was fish tank airline as far as I remember. It was a clever way of ensuring a decent fit. 

In the background we have the classic Galactic Warfare rules, by Dave Rotor. Paul tells me he met Dave Rotor back in the day. He was - as many may know - a founding member of the South London Warlords along with Jim Shiels and Bill Brewer. You can find more about the origens of the Warlords and Dave Rotors role in it at https://southlondonwarlords.co.uk/club-history

Younger gamers look away now! A feature of the the Galactic Warfare rules is that fighting ships gradually expend energy, which must be replenished by means of docking to a depot ship. It was almost certainly with this in mind that both the Skytrex and Minifigs ranges are designed to 'connect' together. Yes, they really were made for each other! 

It's nice to see the full set of the first two Skytrex releases - third and fourth row - as well as the Earth Federation and Cehan ships from Minifigs. 

I'm not 100% sure which of the models corresponds to the ranges sold by Skytrex - for listing see my previous post (click the 'spaceships' label at the bottom of this page). I believe we have, from left to right, Darian, Vegan, Rigelian (all Skytrex) and Earth Federation and Cehan (Minifigs). The Minifigs models are still available, but under different names for reasons that escape me. 

All models from the collection of Paul Taylor.  Galactic Warfare rules by Dave Rotor. 

I'd like to thank Paul once again for sharing with us, and wish him all the best with his new wargaming endeavours in Doha. 

If anyone else has the remaining Skytrex models in their collection - or indeed more of these - I'd love to hear from them. 

Minifigs Spaceships

Last year I put up a few pics of my old Skytrex spaceships - or rather what was left of these old cosmic warriors. You can check those out by following the 'spaceships' label if you wish. At the time I was messing about with a set of spaceship rules, which led me to dig out my rather eclectic fleets of models made by a variety of manufacturers over the years. That game is actually in production at the moment and will be released by the end of 2024 if all goes to plan, and to help out I've been photographing some of the newer models, as well as a few old classics. Whilst I was at it I thought I'd take a few pics of this very early Minifigs range. Many of my generation will remember these, and believe it or not they are still available from Miniature Figurines at Caliver Books, although for some reason the names of all the ships differ from the originals. As such, these are hardly rare, but they are 'of their time' and I remember them fondly. 

Sp.1 Earth Federation Depot/Battleship

This chunky fella is the Earth Federation Depot/Battleship, the largest and most expensive model in the range at all of 15p - about twice the price of a standard foot figure at the time. 

For scale referrence - the base I've used for these photos is 40mm diameter.

Sp. 2 Earth Federation Cruiser

The Cruiser version of the Earth Federation fleet was a more modest 10p. All the Earth Federation ships follow the same aesthetic with broad wing-like rear decks. 

As with all the other models in this post, I've angled these over to show the broad shape. They are all quite two dimensional and cast as a single piece. 

Sp. 3 Earth Federation Destroyer

The smallest of the Earth Federation Vessels is the Destroyer at a modest 8p.

This is a home made stand, which I've used to pose the ships. They all sit quite well on the tabeltop without a stand, but Minifigs sold a separate 'flight stand' for another 8p. The Minifigs flight stand appears to be made out of a mould stud! If I ever had any (which I'm sure I did) they got melted down and contributed to my early experiments in home casting. 

Sp. 6 Terresti Depot/Battleship

I collected the Terresti fleet - and also the Terresti 25mm SF figures. My friend and gaming nemesis Richard Halliwell collected the Earth Federation ranges and a third friend the Cehan. Between us we managed to amass three fairly substantial fleets. Writing our own rules, coming up with a campaign system, and inventing backstories for our games was all part of the appeal. All good experience for what would later turn into a job! 

Sp. 5 Terresti Cruiser

The Terresti ships all have a 'golden age' SF vibe - like something off the cover of Amazing Stories of the 40s and 50s. Of course spaceships need wings! 

The Miniature Figurines Catalogue for 1975 has this model and the previous one at 10p each despite the size difference.

Sp. 7 Terresti Destroyer

The Terresti Destroyer is but a wee version of the Cruiser and a mere 5p into the bargain. 

Sp. 8 Cehan Depot/Battleship

Cehan Depot/Battleship - I think! It's a bit hard to tell which of the two Cehan capital ships is which. Both are more or less the same size and both go for 10p

The Cehan models manage to fill quite a bit of space with not much metal - which must have come as a relief to the accountant at Minifigs after the extremely weighty Earth Federation range.

You have to admire the way Minifigs managed to cover three entire factions with but three ships apiece, with the depot and battleships conflated into a single model. In those days, if you wanted variety you had to get the hacksaw and araldite out. 

Sp. 9 Cehan Cruiser

The other Cehan ship - which I'm assuming is the Cruiser. If anyone knows better please shout out! 

The Cehan design are a little bit more outre and must have been a challenge to cast. I rather like this one even if it is rather hard to tell which direction it's facing in. 

Sp. 10 Cehan Destroyer

This is my favourite model in the whole range - the Cehan Destoyer. Not a great paint job on this one, but I'm sure you get the idea. Quite a small model and it could have been yours for all of 5p (and can still can be had even if the price has risen to £1.55 at the time of posting). 

Sp. 4 Vertos Cruiser

Minifigs only made one model for the Vertos line: the Vertos Cruiser. It's a distinctive shape and looks like someone raided their meccano box for the body of the thing. 

It's a pity we never had the battleship or destroyer versions of this design as I'm sure they would have proven popular. Alas, it was not to be, and soon other manufacturers were churning out rivals that would capture our imaginations. 

Still - I don't think we ever had quite so much fun as we did with these simple fleets, swooping over the dining room carpet, laser beams flashing and missiles zipping across space to wreak destruction upon our foes. 

From the 75 Catalogue . 

This is the illustated page form the 75 catalogue which shows some of the spaceships as well as the S.F range of figures. 

Looks like I was right about the Cehan Depot/Battleship - they have it down as number 8.

I've scanned and uploaded various early Minfigs catalogues and updates in the Pages section (to the right in web view) under 'Catalogues'. 

From the 75 Catalogue

This is the catalogue page listing the range and prices, along with the contemporary Science Fiction and Mythical Earth figure ranges. 

Skytrex Spaceships

Over the Christmas break I've been messing around with a very simple card-based spaceship game. This sent me rummaging around for spaceship models to use. I turned up some interesting pieces including the original Minifigs range, various models by QT, some Citadel, the odd Leviathan and even some of the models I designed for the original Rogue Trader game that were never released. The oldest models I have though are none of these - they are from the Skytrex range. 

These models are pretty rare and I couldn't find anything about them at all on the internet - although I imagine someone out there will put me right on that one. I managed to find an advert for these in the September 1974 Military Modelling. There may have been an earlier release because I have a vague recollection of there only being two 'types' and there are four in this advert. Also, they are mentioned in Dave Rotors Galactic Warfare rules first published in 1973, so I am guessing the range may go back as far as that. 

If I remember correctly - and it's been a while so I'll happily stand correction - this was the first range of spaceships available in the UK. The models were cast in a clear, brittle resin which broke easily and which had a fairly rough finish. I remember the distinctive smell too! I also recall that the pieces were often rather tacky - as if the resin wasn't properly cured. 

Richard Halliwell and I invested in a fleet each together with the Galactic Warfare rules by Dave Rotor that you see advertised here. I think the models must have been designed either specifically for the game or with the game in mind, because the rules made a thing of the smaller ships resupplying at depot ships and the models were designed such that they 'docked'. Or as one of our friends put it, 'they were made for each other'. 

When the models arrived I think they were the Rigelian and Vegan fleets. I took one and Richard the other. We painted up our respective fleets and had a go at the Galactic Warfare rules, but ultimately decided they were too simple for us - we were teenagers after all and craved complexity! That kicked us off writing our own rules for spaceships and then for other things, and ultimately to publish our own rules and hence a lifetime working in the games industry.  These Skytrex spaceships therefore have a lot to answer for.

Depot Ship - possibly Vegan

These are remnants of my fleet. It was once quite a good size but, alas, now reduced to a handful of which these are the most intact examples. 

I can't honestly remember whether my ships were the Vegan or Rigelian type. I have an inkling they are the Vegan range. As I say, happy to be corrected. 

I don't have a completely intact depot ship as the only example I have has lost its top 'fin'. You can see I've blu-tacked this piece in place. I think this is the right part. It certainly looks as I remember it. 

  

All the models came in two or more parts, which you had to glue together using whatever lay at hand in those pre-superglue days. 

Fighter

The fighter is the smallest of the models and it's about 2cm long. 

You can see what I mean by the models docking together if you look at the prong on the front of this model - which fits into the back of the depot ship. Sort of. 

Battlecruiser

The battlecruiser has a very 50s pulp sci-fi vibe going for it! I think that's what appealed to me about this particular set. 

Sadly I have none of the models that comprised Richard Halliwell's fleet - I suspect the Rigelians. As I recall the two smaller ships were torpedo shaped with a skirt arrangement to the front and sides. The Depot ship was horseshoe shaped and the skirts of the smaller ships fitted into the back. 

I do have an example of each of the other two ranges - the Darian and Electron. We never got any further with these that ordering samples and I couldn't tell you which was which. One range is pretty much flying saucers and the other is... flying dumbbells. Well you decide! 

These are quite large models compared to the Vegans I have. I guess these must be the depot ships for their respective types. 

Our Skytrex ships were replaced with metal Minifigs when they came out and would soon be eclipsed by far more detailed and sophisticated designs from other manufacturers. Battered and time-worn as they are they retain an aura of past battles fought over the floor and across the dining room table and I treasure them for that. 

 As far as I know this is not a range that is widely known even amongst old sci-fi buffs. If anyone has more information about this range I'd love to hear of it.