Martin Bower's World of Models Paperback – December 27, 2019

Anyone with a fascination with scale models used in movie and TV shows from decades ago- before CGI took over- will LOVE this 300+ page, heavily illustrated tribute to master model maker Martin Bower.

This is an awesome book if you ever wanted to know the story behind how so many classic starships came into being. A very inspiring read that makes you want to clear everything out of your garage, (right now!) and start creating.Martin Bowers writes in a very down to earth style, that is refreshing and enjoyable with a great insight into the way things were done for classic television and movies. Highly recommended. Be aware that I am rating the kindle version with enlargable photos, (which is excellent). Some have complained about the quality of the printed paper for the localised European edition, while the US edition seems to have a better quality print run. Solution: buy from Amazon US?

Martin Bower is large in my childhood memories even if I didn't know his name at the time. His creations inspired my own artwork and creativity. Model building is a true art form and back in the day you didn't have the resources at hand you do now so this makes his work all that more amazing and a true innovator .This book takes you deep into both his career and his thinking. See how he took everyday things from hardware store finds, cake toppers, bits of Model kit parts and various junk from a hundred things he gathered up and made them into fantastic things.A wonderful amount of back stage info waits for you in this book. It's all packed with glorious photos from so many programs and movies I loved to examine and enjoy. Get this book you will enjoy it.

I'm a big fan of Martin Bower since watching Space: 1999 back in the 70's. Having read articles about him in scifi mags like Starlog got me interested in both entertainment and model building. So was very excited to find out about this book.Content wise, the book is amazing. A lot of great photos of both the models and behind the scenes. And includes some detailed notes on not just the shows but what went into the model work itself. Much of this stuff would only be of interest to modelers and appreciate the details.Even if you are familiar with Bower's work, there's much content he has worked on that I was not aware of. And we get to see his pre-Space:1999 work and much later work. Even models he rebuilt after the loss of originals. Plus some props for several shows.Unfortunately the book isn't so great production wise. It looks like it was printed on a laser printer. Normally art books are printed on high quality glossy paper. This one is not. This mostly affects reading the text as its white on black and the lower print resolution makes it harder to read. For the cost of the book, I was expecting a higher quality printing.So I give this book a 5 for content and 3 for printing. Settling in on 4 stars. Even with the lackluster printing the book is definitely worth it for the content and pictures. The pics still look great even with the lesser print quality. Even if you know Martin's work, I can guarantee there's material you've never seen.

If you were from my generation and you grew up in the 60s and 70s, sci-fi in those days was built on pure imagination. No one brought fantasy into three dimensional reality like Mr. Martin Bower. This book is the quintessential history of some of the greatest motion picture and television miniatures ever made. I have waited on this book for a long time and it was so worth the wait. Every page is a feast for the eyes, and the articles tell the tales of a magical time in entertainment that is long since gone. These magnificent machines will live in our minds and in our hearts forever. Thank you Mr. Bower! Highly recommended!

A real labour of love here - wealth of detail in both visuals and anecdotes from Mr Bower as to his early days as a modelmaker, getting into the industry and then prospering in tv and movie productions that highlighted his undoubted talents. Finished off by some step by step builds, this is a book - or e-book - that should be owned by any fans of Fireball XL5, Thunderbirds, Space 1999, Alien, Outland or the like movies that featured good old physical miniatures.

An amazing amount of work done by this man now you get to meet the man behind the tv and movie's magic

Despite my 3 star rating, this is an overall wonderful book showcasing Martin Bower's model and miniature work in numerous movies and TV shows. Nice mix of close up and overall photos, along with the right amount of text relating to the work being showcased. Great photo reference for model builders. Excellent reproduction and printing.... which leads to my only gripe and why I gave it 3 instead of 5 stars. For some unfathomable reason, someone made the horrendous decision to make the text white on a black background. It is a testament to the printers that this came out as well as it did, but it is a horrible reading experience. Reverse type can be used to great effect for headings and callouts, but should be used sparingly and definitely not for the body text of an entire book. If there is ever another printing or update to this book it should be printed black text on white. I will happily repurchase if that happens.

This is an amazing showcase of Martin Bower's career in model making for movies and TV. It is illustrated with a comprehensive volume of color photos detailing his beautiful work and taking you back to some of your fave shows and even to many projects that are a complete surprise. Paper quality is a bit unworthy of the subject but is acceptable and keeps the book economically priced. If you enjoy SF models this should not be missed.

Fantastic book containing great photos and lots of fascinating behind the scenes details. I know some people have complained about the print quality of the book, but I didn't mind it as it's the material that scores big with me. Wonderful insights into the process of how the models were built, and the photography reflects that. This is not a book that could have been made any other way. Martin is a hero in the model making community, one of the old gods if you like, but not especially well known outside of the industry. I'm thrilled there is a book at all let alone one crafted with such love for the subject matter. Hopefully this will spur on others to take an interest in Martin's life and work and we'll get those expensive coffee table books that those other buyers wanted. :D

『スペース1999』途中からミニチュアモデラーとしてデビューのMartin Bowerさんの作品写真集。プロップモデルの接写やメイキング等を中心にほぼA4判で300ページ超フルカラー。もの凄いボリュームだし、見ているだけで楽しい。約1/3が『スペース1999』で、『フラッシュゴードン』『アウトランド』などメインモデラーとして参加した作品の他、『エイリアン』『レッドドワーフ』など多数の協力作品、90年代のアンダーソン系雑誌の表紙特写用モデル(イラストレーターの稿料よりも安くて喜ばれたと書いてあった)など。図版が大きくて嬉しいけど、低解像度の写真を無理矢理拡大してるのものもあってやりすぎ感も。ムーンベースアルファの防衛レーザー砲塔はフライングサブそのままです、とネタばらししてるのが良かった。あと、この本が面白いのはkindle版がメインで紙の本が従属だということ。紙の本は各国でオンデマンド的に印刷しているようです。海外のレビューの中に「ポーランド版は紙質がトイレットペーパー並のヒドさなので星１つ」というのがありました。通常の洋書は送料見込んでも海外から購入するほうが安いことが多いのですが、そんなわけで米国や英国のAmazonでも日本版とそんなに変わらず。そしてkindle版はその1/5です。個人的に強い思い入れのある収録作品が多くないので星一つ減らしましたが、充実した資料です。『スペース1999』第２シーズンファンの方には星５つ。

This is an awesome retrospect of Martin Bower's models for Space:1999, Alien, Outland, and much more. The book is profusely illustrated with tons of photos from all of Martin's projects. There is also lots of text detailing how he got into this business, and how he got his foot in the door for each project he worked on. Highly recommended.

This is a great book for followers of Martin Bower's work or just interested in film & TV effects before the advent of CGI. Has loads of great images and covers movies such as Medusa Touch Outland and of course Alien and TV on in Space 1999 Blake's 7 and Tripods. There are also many images of Martins own work based on his imagination. It nice just to dip in and read one section or just flip through all the wonderful images of his models. The fact that this is a self published book makes it a reward for such great effort - Well done Shaun McClure for getting this out there.