The images below represent only a small sample of the exhaustive reference material produced and
accumulated during my father's career. Everything he did was meticulously researched and - aware as he was
that his young readers would quickly spot any continuity errors - cross referencing was strictly adhered to in the
studio. Even so, there were occasional failures (exactly how many windows were there in the spaceship
Anastasia?).
Reference Material
The photographs above show my grandfather posing in a treen mask and a slightly unravelled studio model of a treen
A studio model of an elektrobot.
The same thoroughness demonstrated in Dan Dare is also visible in the work he carried out before embarking on
'The Road of Courage'. He travelled to the Holy Land to research landscapes, background, fabrics, styles of dress
etc and then produced reference boards such as the one illustrated below before starting to draw the finished
strip.
These loosely bound volumes of Eagle were kept as studio reference tools, and, despite the signed order
pasted into one of them, often suffered from the studio scissors if a particular frame was needed for reference.
Studio reference board for Space Fleet ranks and insignia.
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