Welcome back to Eagle comic's amazing cut-away diagrams that delighted schoolboys as much as Dan Dare

Yet equally popular as the cartoons of the square-jawed hero were the wonderfully detailed diagrams that filled the centre pages of the comic.

Scroll down for more...

Ranging from designs of aircraft and locomotives through to missiles, battleships and atomic power stations, these cross-section drawings revealed the inner workings of ground-breaking technological developments in a way that was explosive, educational and exciting. And the details reflected an age when youngsters had a thirst for knowledge. For a generation of schoolboys enthralled by these visions of engineering marvels, these pictures proved an inspiration.

Here was proof not only that the future had arrived, but that Britain was playing a leading role ushering it in. The Eagle had a number of artists who worked on these cutaways, but chief among them was L. Ashwell Wood, who drew for the comic throughout its reign.

A new exhibition at the Science Museum, Dan Dare & The Birth Of Hi-Tech Britain, pays tribute to these awe-inspiring illustrations, and to a time when Britain was an innovative, manufacturing powerhouse.

Scroll down to see more pictures...