A space odyssey right in Dawson Creek: model maker bringing the right stuff
- Mick Sterling
- 1 hour ago
- 3 min read
Houston, we have a model. You don't need the northern lights to find artistic 'space ...the final frontier' in Mile Zero, Dawson Creek.
Open the pod bay doors HAL, because a love for the discovery and wonder of the space program has led Dawson Creek's Nick Proach to become a full-time business owner and expert in space satellite re-creation; at a smaller scale. You can find many on display in Proach's Space Model Museum in downtown Dawson Creek.
With a vision beyond the stars if you will, Proach has been creating custom models for corporate and private collectors since 1994. He brings a Kubrickian level of detail and accuracy to the re-creation of the art and detail behind space model making. He opened his model museum in Mile Zero in 2022.
"Proach is all about the art and detail behind space model making. While firmly entrenched in models from the real world – Proach is still all about real world space, sea, and air exploration," said the Dawson Creek Mirror in 2022.
Proach’s models range in size from a four inch tall model of the first Goddard liquid-fueled rocket – to a 16 foot tall Saturn V moon rocket – to a 28 foot wide communication satellite – it is safe to say Proach’s work is in the literal, and figurative stars."
Proach has made Mile Zero his basecamp - establishing the SpaceModel Museum featuring Proach's own model collection, which covers the history of space flight from beginning to present day.
The museum is open to the public and admission is free. Donations to the museum are voluntary and are always welcome, he says last week at the Dawson Creek Farmer's Market.
His models range from a four inch tall model of the first Goddard liquid-fueled rocket – to a 16 foot tall Saturn V moon rocket – to a 28 foot wide communication satellite.
Some have said Proach’s work is in the literal, and figurative stars. A pair of his models have also reached orbit; a scale space station truss segment aboard the 2002 space shuttle Atlantis, and a model of a Russian Soyuz spacecraft on board a real Soyuz craft in space in 2008.
His fascination with space models is almost as old as the actual space program itself. He built his first model at the age of 11 while - and was making space models at the time of the Apollo 11 lunar landing in 1969. His fascination with the space program has grown to become a full-time business undertaken with passion by a man still in love with space flight.
He has since fulfilled commission to work for NASA, media outlets such as CNN, CTV, and others who look to Proach for models to use in coverage of space-related stories.
In 1971 he built a small model of the Lunar Rover prior to the flight of Apollo 15 to the moon in late July of that year. He told the Canadian CTV network about it and before he realized it was building the entire Apollo 15 landing site for the network's use during their coverage of the moon mission.
In 1985 he created a 1:5 scale working model of Canada's Anik C communications satellite for Telesat Canada. With the help of Longin Reich, Proach created two large models purchased by the Canadian Government to use in the Canada Pavilion at Expo 86, the world's fair held that year in Vancouver. One model was the early US Space Station "Freedom", and measured over 15 feet long. Another was a 1/4 scale model of Canada's proposed MSAT (mobile satellite), which measured over 28 feet in length.
Remember the space pen mentioned in Seinfeld? Proach has you covered! In 2023 Proach Models became a dealer for Fisher Space Pens Canada, offering the line of pens that have been used by astronauts in space since Apollo 7 in 1968. Catch some aerospace collectibles, flight patches and pins, medallions, and NASA hats at the SpaceModel Museum in Dawson Creek
School and group tours are always welcome, Proach adds.
Email Proach at proachmodels@gmail.com or beam up more information yourself at www.spacemodel.com