For this week’s Speedy Tuesday article, we talk to a guy who has been featured here before in 2015. He calls himself TLIGuy on the Australian based OmegaForums and is occupied with creating an overview of historic moments in manned spaceflight between 1965 and 2015, using Speedmaster case backs. He started in 2013 with this […]

Visit Speedmaster Signature Case Back Collection (50 Years In Space) to read the full article.

 

Well done @TLIGuy I hope to see your collection one day, and it would be even better if you accompanied it.

 

Just got this in my FratelloWatch email.

Great to see the progress this task has made since 2013 and to read about the little details. I was impressed with the idea of the mini laser engraving to "authenticate" the collection so that no robber could steal them and screw one onto a Speedie and sell it on Gumtree for..............

<waiting for "One Million Dollars!>

Cheers

Jim

 

Thank you Ash. If it was not for your early help sharing the collection would not have been possible.

Thank you. This was the exact reason the issue needed to be resolved. While the chances of it ever happing were slim it was a chance he didn't want to take.

Just so you can see what was done here is the piece signed by Charlie Duke where you can see the engraving. This one is a bit larger than some of the others and the light catches it just perfect to where you can see the engraving. While it's obvious here you can not see it when looking at the piece at arms length.

​

 

Hey @TLIGuy , better grab one of these, there won't be many available!



https://www.macquariemint.com/50th-...ku22nQUUmLkI5kY2-7WJpccr9ZdvX_Z6j6S3gcjExYgyY

 

Congratulations @TLIGuy - can't wait to see it in the new museum

 

A Magnificent Obsession! Well Done!

 

Congrats @TLIGuy - and very cool mint-condition-hidden-treasure-Transitional story. Wrist shot please ?

 

Congrats @TLIGuy -- this is a tremendous accomplishment! Love the authentic "control panel" look of the collection.

 

Amazing! Congrats! Nice!

 

Congratulations @TLIGuy ! Great job!

 

John,

Wow! What an awesome journey this must have been. I can only imagine the highs (and lows) you must have experienced doing something you really enjoy.

 

Thanks everyone for the kind words. I hope those here that read the article found it interesting.

Here is the Transitional Walt -68...

 

amazing collection ! And I love the display !!! Do you have any pictures of how it was done ? Is it in steel ?

 

Wonderful article and fantastic collection. It’s an amazing collection, above and beyond what most are willing (able?) to do and yes the article was very interesting. Speedy Tuesday always is.

 

Since I've shared how the collection has evolved here is a bit about the newly created full collection image.

The full collection Apollo instrument panel image is not an actual fabricated piece but is a create image. It originally started with my full scale design based on the idea that a print or poster could be produced when it was done and the case backs would be a 1:1 scale. The final printable layout is 16" x 9" and was also done in that size to be the same as the 16:9 aspect ratio on a computer screen so the final image would fill the full HD screen.

Here is my original drawing.



I then photographed each of the 26 pieces in a light box so they all had consistent lighting on a black background.



With these two things completed I forwarded it on to Neil Smith the fantastic graphic artist and animator to create the high resolution image. He also created the 3 animated videos for my collection and is most widely know for this great animated Apollo Missions Video. One of the great things about the resolution of the image is the detail in the panel surface itself. You can see the small scratches and texture in the Duke piece above.

A few small revisions were then made. The first was the addition of small Velcro tabs, at my request, as you would see them on an actual spacecraft instrument panel. While I thought they would add some visual interest I decided it was just a bit too much and a cleaner panel was better. I did however think something was missing so I added the blue LUNAR CONTACT light to mark the beginning of the landing missions.

EDIT - FYI...Here is the actual LUNAR CONTACT light. I think Neil did a great job matching the color and look of it in the final image.



Here was the discarded proof with the Velcro.



That said, now that the image is complete I will now move onto the production on an actual fabricated panel to display the pieces. The panel will be created by the same company that did the instrument panels for the movie First Man. Each piece will be recessed into the panel as a real instrument gauge would be and then covered with an individual round piece of museum quality anti-glare glass to protect the pieces and prevent the signatures from fading from UV light exposure.

 

Such a cool project with such dedication! Thank you for sharing!

 

that's incredible. Thank you so much for sharing the photos. I'd love to see a watch dial in that blue color of the lunar contact light

 

Congrats @TLIGuy. That shows some dedication