NASA’s space shuttle re-entered orbit this fall after a 15-month retirement, and this time it was bright blue.
The new space shuttle orbiters, which outlast actual winged spacecraft by more than a decade, are identical to the first ones launched in 1981, but this time they’re launching from Chicago.
The “‘Mold-A-Rama: Molded for the Future’ exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry (MSI) tells the story of beloved retro machines that make plastic figurines before your eyes. For more than 60 years, Mold, -A-Rama machines have pumped out hundreds of varieties of collectible plastic products while also providing guests with a glimpse into mass production,” read a release about the exhibit.
Entering its second year of display, the MSI gallery recently replaced a model of the Washington Capitol building with the space shuttle in September. But the exhibit is only the latest “mission” of the space shuttle mold, introduced the same year that the NASA spacecraft first took off.
Relating to: NASA’s space shuttles: Where are they now?
His father founded what is now Mold-A-Rama, Inc. in 1971. “Creating the space shuttle using a two-piece mold is a very difficult issue,” said Paul Jones, who founded the company known as CollectSPACE.com, in an interview with CollectSPACE.com. “There was a lot of discussion between Eldon Irwin and my father, Bill Jones, about how to split the shuttle.”
Irwin designed the “space shuttle on Earth” pattern, choosing to split the orbiter down the middle. As the story goes, he made the mold to place the machine at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center for the STS-1 launch, but ran out of time. Instead, the “space shuttle on Earth” was unveiled at the Florida visitor center on the state Turnpike.
The “space shuttle on Earth” pattern is so named because the winged orbiter is mounted at an angle atop a hemispherical base, complete with cloud and continent detailing. In addition to capturing the general shape of the spacecraft, the model also includes the shuttle’s front windows, payload bay door seam lines, and even “United States” markings on the sides.
Shuttle shuttles are made by the Mold-A-Rama machine just as any number of other molds are made, including animals, famous buildings, airplanes, trains, and trademark characters like Disney’s Mickey Mouse and Universal Studios’ Frankenstein monster. After you add the fee ($5 at MSI), the machine comes to life, using hydraulics to bring the two sides of the mold together before injecting the hot plastic. After holding the mold together under pressure long enough for the plastic to harden, the two sides separate and an arm extends to push the finished space shuttle toy into a slot for the user to collect.
The entire process takes about a minute to complete.
“The space shuttle on the Earth mold is a great design, and with a little imagination you can get a physical representation of the shuttle orbiting the planet,” said Michigan-based Mold-A-Rama collector Brad MacKinnon. Add to your collection of over 580 Mold-A-Rama toys. “This pattern is especially a fun way to get kids thinking about space travel.”
Irwin’s company, now run by his grandson under the Mold-A-Matic brand, operates machines in Florida, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Ohio (Jones’ Mold-A-Rama machines are in Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota and Texas). . Unfortunately, neither company has clear records of where Irwin’s space shuttle was available or in what colors and when it was offered.
“It is easier to move or replace a mold or machine than to change the color of the machine’s plastic,” Jones said. “The molds were not dated and would have been very difficult to date as they were run in many locations and in many colours.”
Jones estimates that about a dozen metal molds of Irwin’s design exist. His company purchased one set (now in use at MSI), Mold-A-Matic retains several sets, and some have been sold to private collectors. Shuttles produced from molds are known to be available in a wide range of colors, from black and white to various shades of red, orange, yellow, blue, green and violet, as well as silver, bronze and gold.
Before MSI, the space shuttle mold on Earth was cast in bright red plastic at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, from February to June 2022.
Irwin also designed a mold with a shuttle and solid rocket boosters attached to its external tank, and Jones designed a mold that broke the record for the largest mold ever. The latter is distinguished by the fact that plastic is injected from the base of the orbiter to contain the landing gear.
Other space-themed Mold-A-Rama models include Mercury and Gemini capsules, the Apollo lunar module, an astronaut and a Titan IIIC rocket. Although NASA retired its shuttle fleet in 2011, Mold-A-Rama continues to offer shuttles, although there is less demand than before.
“The space shuttle mold generally sells well. It’s never had a foothold in sales – at least for us,” Jones said. “Sales appear to have slowed down due to the shuttles no longer flying.”
Still, Jones sees a future for space-themed Mold-A-Rama molds.
“If we were to start a new space project, it would probably be SpaceX Dragon,” he said, noting that MSI added one of the spacecraft to its collection a year ago.
Click to collect SPACE To watch the Mold-A-Rama machine build a space shuttle on a plastic model of the Earth.
To follow collectSPACE.com Open Facebook and @ on TwittercollectSPACE. Copyright 2023 CollectSPACE.com. All rights reserved.