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Background. The author, Michael Mackowski, is an engineer in the aerospace industry, whose hobby interests center on building scale models of real spacecraft. This quickly gets into the history of space, as there are few space kits out there and much research was required to come up with the plans and data needed to scratchbuild accurate spacecraft models. This activity led him to publish the results of some of his research in the form of 40-page monographs on how to build accurate models of real spacecraft. This modestly priced series is called "Space in Miniature" (SIM). He also has an occasional column on space modeling in the Journal of the International Plastic Modelers Society (IPMS).

Five books are now available in the Space In Miniature series. The first title, "A Scale Spacecraft Primer", (SIM #1) has features on such topics as Skylab, Ariane, Landsat, and the Viking Mars Lander, and is available as a photocopy only.

"Gemini" (SIM #2) contains a detailed accounting of how to build an accurate model of the Gemini spacecraft using the old Revell kit. It includes 72 illustrations plus many unique photos.

"Space Shuttle" (SIM #3) focuses on NASA's reusable spaceplane, and includes scale drawings showing the various thermal protection patterns used on all six Orbiters, and how they have varied over the first ten years of Shuttle operations. The 38-page book also includes a section on how to detail the Shuttle stack, drawings of payload bay details, scale drawings of common Shuttle payloads like Spacelab and the Manned Maneuvering Unit, and kit reviews.

The long-awaited fourth volume in the Space In Miniature series took over five years and was released in June, 1997. At 41 pages, "Soviet Spacecraft" is the biggest in the SIM series and focuses on manned Russian (former Soviet Union) spacecraft. It includes scale drawings of Vostok and Voskhod and thirteen unique versions of the Soyuz vehicle. Scale drawings of both versions of Progress are also included. Salyuts 6 and 7 are thoroughly covered via the line drawings of Dietrich Haeseler, plus new isometrics showing the color patterns of each. The configuration of Mir as of the first Shuttle docking mission in 1995 is documented by scale drawings based on NASA data. There is also information on available model kits of Russian spacecraft as well as articles on scratchbuilding, accurate colors, and converting the old Revell ASTP kit.

"Mercury" (SIM #5) is a dozen pages longer than the previous book in the series (Soviet Space). This new book is printed on high quality glossy paper and includes everything a modeler would ever want to know about all of the Mercury capsules, from the boilerplates to the unflown Freedom 7. With over 70 photos and line drawings, the differences among the capsules are explained in detail. A very thorough section summarizes the hardware differences on a mission by mission basis. Scale drawings of all capsule marking variations are included. There are nine pages of kit reviews plus modeling articles by David Weeks and Ken Harman.

The author also says, "I am always looking for people interested in this topic as I like to exchange data and help folks out in their own research. No sense duplicating each others efforts. And I have collected a lot of stuff over the years, and am happy to share it where practical. I don't ask for payment to answer requests for data, except perhaps for copying and postage costs for large packages. I'm also very interested in finding anyone who has done computer line drawings of these or any other space vehicles. I'd like to use such drawings in future IPMS Journal articles and SIM publications."

If you wish to correspond with the author, please send email to webmaster-at-ultimax-dot-com, with the subject "SIM corespondence" and we will forward it to him.

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These pages last updated May 23, 2003