I was going through an old Fantastic Films magazine the other day (August 1978) and remembered that THAT was where my sci-fi scratchbuilding interests took off. I was a huge armor modeler prior to that.
They had a fantastic (no pun intended) 3 page article by Clyde Jones (now a member of Starship Modeler) and Verne Anderson on the back of their centerfold poster on how Hollywood makes sci-fi models, and it was incredibly inspiring and informative!
It talked about how to use common household items, styrene strip and sheet, vending machine juice cup bottoms for engine nozzles, L’eggs pantyhose eggs and on and on.
I never looked at hardware stores the same again.
So how did other scratchers get their inspiration initially?
I remember being on vacation back in 1980/81(?). The place we were staying at could only get three t.v. stations. ABC, CBS and PBS. Anyway, I think Barney Miller was on and not being a big fan of that show (I was 10 or 11 then), I changed the channel. Nothing on this one. Nothing on that one. This one has the AT-AT walkers from The Empire Strikes Back!!!
Then this giant guy’s head pops up out of the snow. He moves the AT-AT a little and disappears down into the snow!!
I was an A/C model builder for almost 30 years. When Polar Lights came out with their TOS Enterprise it seemed like everybody was bashing and converting all kinds of cool starships from this gem of a kit! Being a huge TOS Trek fan I found the urge irresistible and jumped ship. All my projects now are 100% scratchbuilds but the PL kit was what got me into Sci-Fi model building.
Can’t believe I didn’t mention Star Wars. It was also a major influence for me.
I watched everything that came on about Star Wars, especially models, special effects, sound effects, etc. Star wars got me into art, design and illustration as well. So I guess it was a little MORE influential than that article above.
From a young age I was into Special Effects and Models for movies, had quiet a good book collection too.
Than one day I went with a friend to the local Hobby Show and there were all those Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, Perry Rhodan, etc Kits.
That got me into SF modelling, scratchbuilding started when kits were missing pieces(frequent in those days) or I had damaged some.
Not that much into starships, but prefer robots, smaller vehicles and generall Sci-fi scenery.
FYI, I don’t consider Star Wars as Sci-Fi, great movie but a looong way from true Sci-Fi.
Same as many other movies “wrongly” classed in that category.
I’ve heard that argument before (Harlan Ellison comes to mind in an article I read in the 70s. Now THERE’S an angry man).
Personally, classifying it as one genre or another is really not important to me-it’s cultural significance (and how much inspiration it gives me personally) is all that really matters.
I enjoy those type of fantasy or space opera movies as much as the next person, said that I am still a firm believer of the following definition:
For me good Sci-Fi does not need to included aliens, blasters, space ships or even a futuristic setting.
But I know that I am in the minority with my view and definition of the term. [;)]
For me, it was a lack of variety in Star Trek kits. I wanted to see some of the “Franz” Joseph Designs ships from the “Star Fleet Techincal Manual”, as well as TMP versions of some of those same ships. To me, it was a natural progression to use existing TOS & TMP Enterprise kits to kitbash what I wanted.
But my favorite thing from that time was the Klingon Blueprints (I recently redrew them in Adobe Illustrator because they were a bit sloppy and my 20+ year old set had worn thin). The Klingon D7 was my favorite ship from the whole Trek universe.
John
What got me scratchbuilding was the fact that the models I wanted were not being made by the big companies or put in the retail stores! [:(!]
So - taking a page from John Dykstra! - I kitbashed and kitbashed and kitbashed starting in high school. I think this was the '70’s. My influences were STAR TREK: the Motion Picture, the TV cartoon Starblazers and Battlestar Galactica (this is where Dykstra came in [:o)])
Star Wars was fun but it didn’t inspire me.
What really pushed me over the edge was Walking with Prehistoric Beasts! I started sculpting ! Haven’t stopped since.
I started off building ST, SW and 1999 models in the 70’s. I was into armor too, converting some. I got into wargame miniatures, 1/285th scale armor as well as SFB. SFB led to my first scratchbuild, Lyran cruiser, for a short movie project. I’ve been mostly scratchbuilding lately as its more challenging. I tend to lean more toward subjects that aren’t otherwise available.
For us Old-timers that grew up on Gerry Anderson Models, Blake 7, Orion, etc I guess it is different we will always prefer a proper model over 3D Graphics.
As for Dykstra he simply modernised a technique that was used in 1920’s for shooting programs like Buck Rogers,etc. [8D]
I’ve been an armor/aircraft modeler for the last 25 years and built my first kitbashed fighter back in 1982. I used a 1/72 scale F100 and F4 and didn’t scratchbuild until I became a member of this forum and started with the ST Group Builds ( thanks to Woody!).
Hey-
Hey, that’s cool. I’m art director at a TV station now, and just won my 3rd Emmy using 3D software (LightWave). We also use extensively After Effects and PhotoShop.
I don’t do a whole lot of sci-fi and I’ve never done a full scratchbuild of anything, but I’ve done plenty of kitbashing and dressing up of otherwise mundane kits.
Here’s a couple of extra shots of the Warhammer Eldar Falcon from my signature. For those who know the kit, you can see where I’ve dressed it up a bit (faucet aerator screens in the exhausts amoung other things)
I don’t play the RPG so there was no issue of overhandling causing breakage, so I decided I could dress it up without fear.
Also I dropped 60 dollars Canadian on it and was somewhat disapointed with the rather spartan detail straight from the box and thought it should look like it was worth the 60 bucks (if not more)
So I went to the plumbing shop, automotive supply and electronics shop.
I also carved out a few vents here and there for extra surface texture.
I went to an airshow, once, but the wind kicked up, pulled the ground up into the sky
and grounded all aircraft. While I walked around, I discovered a hanger filled with,
models (Literally thousands on display). 3 yr old in a huge candy store, just to compare… [:D]
I loved the sci-fi models but it got me thinking of how I would make my own…
This was my introduction to design and scratch-building…
I grew up with the Gerry Anderson ‘Supermarionation’ series and and as my interest in modelmaking grew from the basic Airfix kits, I found that there were few, if any kits of the gorgeous craft. There was nothing for it but to build my own. The clincher was when I obtained a copy of ‘It’s Thunderbirds Century Modeling Manual’, in nthe centre of which was a set of plans for the Zero-X from Thunderbirds are go, one of my favourite cinematic spacecraft. The result?
