space ship model for a current video

As theres been a lot of interest in model or miniature lessons im starting this thread. I have a very quick model build happening and ill be documenting it over the week. This is for a rap video by a leo award winning director for joey stylez a local vancouver rapper. Ill start posting this afternoon. keep in mind this is my way of work plus this is a quicky model for super low cost. stay tuned. Twisted Evil

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[Blue] SI 2k "Godzilla" SI 2k mini "Mothra" [green] Canon Mk II 5d "Mechazilla" Canon 550d "Gamera"
www.blastandboom.com low cost high end HD cameras.

Sounds cool,
I just watched the making o the original trilogy on youtube the other night. and man there really is nothing cooler than making a real miniature.Those guys were genius back then.

I have actually been toying with an idea about a mechanical motio control rig that will allow you to do multiple passes without having a costly computer system attached to it. ( im still conceptualizing it though and am just taking to a guy about it right now)

Basically it would be a digital still camera attached to a track. The track would have some sort of thing that registered its positions ( im thinking something that will trigger the shutter) so that for every move (say an inch) along the track it triggers the shutter.

You would have to manually move it along the track by hand or a crank. But it would allow you multiple passes on a model. later I wouldn't mind a way of rotating the camera on a heading angle as well.

Its all still in the planning stages though.

-D

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It is better to ask forgiveness than permission..

Oh man, this is gonna be cool. Bring on the modeling madness!

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Filmmaker Redux
twitter: "bozfx"

very basic frame cant get too crazy as this shoots in a few days.. yes days.
So we will only be building top, right side, front and back, no bottom or left side, never seen, no time to do it. This model will be about 1/35 scale same as your army soldiers and tank models. During this you will see one used as scale.
Please keep in mind this is not the best way to build, there are far better methods but this model will be about speed and cost more then anything.
day one costs in supplies...zero, its all stuff lying around so far. Bare in mind i have foam and glue etc but even then its not a lot. I can't recommend Welbond white glue and zap style glue enough.
welbond is cheap and can be found at Rona or home depot for the yanks. Any zap style glue is fine, there lots of brands.

http://www.weldbondusa.com

http://www.zapglue.com/

Basic layout...

body base cut, this is the bottom upside down, and yes thats the sculpting the galazy book, if you like models buy this book!!! Lorne peterson is amazing!

http://www.amazon.com/Sculpting-Galaxy-Inside-Star-Model/dp/1933784032/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212741664&sr=1-1

bulking up the shape using what ever i find in the house. stole girlfriends tissue box cause it fit...

the plain cardboard box to the side is one of the Red one camera parts boxes...now its going to a better place...

Working out engine detail as you can see it changed once it was built.

notice slightly different engine layout.

working out possible detail. To save time and money went into the model tickle trunk for old ship bits.

END OF DAY ONE Surprised

_________________
[Blue] SI 2k "Godzilla" SI 2k mini "Mothra" [green] Canon Mk II 5d "Mechazilla" Canon 550d "Gamera"
www.blastandboom.com low cost high end HD cameras.

Look how sad the floss containers look after being rejected from the engine configuration. How sad.

Very cool. I cant wait to see how this comes along. Very Happy

by the way time was 5 hours to this point on day one.
and the floss is not rejected it will get used some where. find it on the model when its done.

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[Blue] SI 2k "Godzilla" SI 2k mini "Mothra" [green] Canon Mk II 5d "Mechazilla" Canon 550d "Gamera"
www.blastandboom.com low cost high end HD cameras.

Just curious about two things - what's your reasoning on using a foamcore / styrofoam base? Weight for the size? Cost and/or immediate availability? I would just be nervous about the weight of the solid details (bowls, etc) bowing or cracking your body flats once completed...

Phenomenal work so far - looking forward to following the rest of your progress! Very Happy

(I'm also diggin' that Tuskein Raider-style helmet you have lying around... nice....)

That's pretty badassical. I can't wait to see how it ends up looking.

yeeahhhh....is it going to be pink like that when you're done? cuuuuuuz, I don't know if that's the best choice. Maybe tone down the saturation 10%?

sorry, couldn't resist throwing out typical client feedback like we get when we show them W.I.P. stuff.
I love this thread by the way. I don't think there's any way you can show us too little of your progress. I've been browsing replica prop forums and model making forums just trying to learn some basics. This is immensely educational!

MoonDog wrote:

Just curious about two things - what's your reasoning on using a foamcore / styrofoam base? Weight for the size? Cost and/or immediate availability? I would just be nervous about the weight of the solid details (bowls, etc) bowing or cracking your body flats once completed...

Phenomenal work so far - looking forward to following the rest of your progress! Very Happy

(I'm also diggin' that Tuskein Raider-style helmet you have lying around... nice....)

Well I like it mostly because it’s quick and cheap. To this better you need to use a stronger material build up a ribbed structure then skin it. Don’t have time. This is more like battle beyond the stars then Star Wars. But hey James Cameron started on that one so it couldn’t be all bad?

i have options still. I can clad the foam areas in G. tape then add very thin fibreglass of the fine weave once hard you could knock out every thing and have a hollow ship. Might still do that! By the end of today I will decide as the hull should be fleshed out.
WARNING! Do not let the fibreglass contact the foam directly it will melt!! I use the G tape to protect it before covering it. All foam core and cardboard will warp if you fibreglass straight on to them.

Also once the red camera is not a cost I’m buying a laser etcher then we can really get down to model building!

And yes when you get to a almost built place all the weird colours are very distracting so i us a grey primer to make sense of it. that when it starts to look very cool. Remember dont get spraypaint on any exposed foam area. IF you need to have foam as a surface use a spray gun and spray some scenic black paint on first. This is a good idea to do even before you go to the grey primer as you can into all the cracks etc so later when painting if you miss a spot it just looks black not pink or blue.

As for the helmet in background its from this thread....
http://rebelsguide.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1372

i build that using teqniques i learnt from the http://www.jedielfqueen.com/

That helmet cost i think 8 bucks total. Its just fun foam from the dollar store over a soft foam and styrene core with some fibre glass to keep shape inside. A prize to the person who spots the crappy restaurant butter container built into the helmet.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2195/2179680505_27f567e999.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2387/2184427761_195f52265e_m.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2328/2185214830_4c4c26b0be.jpg

I’ll do a helmet making of in a few weeks.

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[Blue] SI 2k "Godzilla" SI 2k mini "Mothra" [green] Canon Mk II 5d "Mechazilla" Canon 550d "Gamera"
www.blastandboom.com low cost high end HD cameras.

day two starts after my day job.

_________________
[Blue] SI 2k "Godzilla" SI 2k mini "Mothra" [green] Canon Mk II 5d "Mechazilla" Canon 550d "Gamera"
www.blastandboom.com low cost high end HD cameras.

"I have actually been toying with an idea about a mechanical motio control rig that will allow you to do multiple passes without having a costly computer system attached to it. ( im still conceptualizing it though and am just taking to a guy about it right now)

Basically it would be a digital still camera attached to a track. The track would have some sort of thing that registered its positions ( im thinking something that will trigger the shutter) so that for every move (say an inch) along the track it triggers the shutter."

What about a motorized tracking? Each pass should be about the same speed as any other? You could use motors from toys to build a mini-dolly to put a motion-camera on. You might be able to use model train tracks to create the traack. Maybe put a piece of green paper at the front of it so that it lays over the actual tracks (if they are in the shot). Fun with model trains might be the way to go. They are already built systems designed to do pretty much what you need. Put a camera on a model train, run the track through some 3d hills and valleys and you might really have something (that is repeatable).

mail4joeg wrote:

"I have actually been toying with an idea about a mechanical motio control rig that will allow you to do multiple passes without having a costly computer system attached to it. ( im still conceptualizing it though and am just taking to a guy about it right now)

Basically it would be a digital still camera attached to a track. The track would have some sort of thing that registered its positions ( im thinking something that will trigger the shutter) so that for every move (say an inch) along the track it triggers the shutter."

What about a motorized tracking? Each pass should be about the same speed as any other? You could use motors from toys to build a mini-dolly to put a motion-camera on. You might be able to use model train tracks to create the traack. Maybe put a piece of green paper at the front of it so that it lays over the actual tracks (if they are in the shot). Fun with model trains might be the way to go. They are already built systems designed to do pretty much what you need. Put a camera on a model train, run the track through some 3d hills and valleys and you might really have something (that is repeatable).

Rather than reinventing the wheel it seems to me that you could build a pretty complete and versatile motion control unit for fairly cheap making use of a cnc controller and software.

mail4joeg wrote:

"I have actually been toying with an idea about a mechanical motio control rig that will allow you to do multiple passes without having a costly computer system attached to it. ( im still conceptualizing it though and am just taking to a guy about it right now)

Basically it would be a digital still camera attached to a track. The track would have some sort of thing that registered its positions ( im thinking something that will trigger the shutter) so that for every move (say an inch) along the track it triggers the shutter."

What about a motorized tracking? Each pass should be about the same speed as any other? You could use motors from toys to build a mini-dolly to put a motion-camera on. You might be able to use model train tracks to create the traack. Maybe put a piece of green paper at the front of it so that it lays over the actual tracks (if they are in the shot). Fun with model trains might be the way to go. They are already built systems designed to do pretty much what you need. Put a camera on a model train, run the track through some 3d hills and valleys and you might really have something (that is repeatable).

Not to rain on your parade but motion control is one area there are few DIY options. Its far too hard to carry the camera, and have perfect registration.
Please try, but it would be better to find another solution.
We may do this shoot in camera like alien, or shot with a still camera and shot three shots at every step, shot one beauty lighting, shot two ships running lights and engines, shot three back light front light or green screen alpha pass. later in AE smooth out the shot by retiming or frame blending.

_________________
[Blue] SI 2k "Godzilla" SI 2k mini "Mothra" [green] Canon Mk II 5d "Mechazilla" Canon 550d "Gamera"
www.blastandboom.com low cost high end HD cameras.

A pretty interesting build so far, Monkey. Do you start with a detailed design, or do you just make it all up as you go? Also, I've heard working with fiberglass sucks ass in a big way, so I'll be very interested to see that stage of the modeling process.

BTW, I'm curious, what's your "day job"?

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Filmmaker Redux
twitter: "bozfx"