Cetacean - The Man From Atlantis submarine - Completed

Good idea, JMChladek - will look into that. Started the openings for the headlights. Where's my reamer - I just know it'll pop up when I don't need it.

Guys, I'm thinking about the 38-inch prop if I should go for the unevenly opened windows - seemed like someone was in a hurry with the rasp, maybe it was past his shoot-off time. If I made perfect openings, then I wouldn't be happy knowing it wasn't screen-accurate. But then if someone were to look at my model, then they would say I was sloppy. I'm thinking that sometimes, though, it's the sloppiness that gives a model character and that "human touch". What to do...?

Well, that is always going to be a judgement call whether to build it better than the original, or do it just like the original. My own personal judgement when doing models is to try and make them a little better. No matter what we build, there is always going to be a little variation from the studio model anyway as we might not have access to exactly the same materials used for the original (or better ones are available) or there might be a lack of references to say one way or the other on how to detail something. Granted I have tried to strive for getting it as close as possible, but if I can correct something that seems a little sloppy to me, I tend to do it.

But of course, it is your model and you can always do it however you want. I'm sure it will look great in any event.

Your own "human touch" will be leaving its own mark anyway. Do your best.

you could always build two, one version as the studio model and one nice and pretty.

Just got my Christmas Balls from K-Mart so I can start mine...

The tube cutter's itching to do his job.



But first, the front ball. Opened up the headlights and windows.

Nice start.

This brings back memories - I loved that show.

Thanks, Hemrie.

I'll soon get back to the bigger one, but the smaller model draws my attention at the moment. Tried to get the passageway sizes right.

Hmmm, I wonder how close in scale your ping pong ball Cetacean might be to one of the Seaview or seaQuest kits out there. I know the sub wasn't too big since the center ball interiors were the set pieces. I like this little creation as it makes a nice mini project.

I'm also wondering (and this is not a knock on the model) if the thing will float and dive if you fill a channel with baking soda and stick it in a fishbowl.

Thanks, JMChladek. You just gave me an idea. The little one would be nice in an aquarium



Scribed the windows and rubbed with a felt-tipped marker to show the lines clearly before I sawed them out as pencil lines easily smudge.

Love that ship...Like a submerged Discovery.

Thanks, Captain Finney. Working on getthing the right passageway dimensions.



It's gonna be a long ship:




I want to get the conning tower placement right.

I'm new to the boards and saw this thread and had to pop in and say "Cool!"

Also, at the risk of breaking protocol, I thought I should make sure any interested parties knew that the entire MAN FROM ATLANTIS series (including the original TV movies) is available on DVD from the Warner Bros. Archive.

Looking forward to see how these builds progress. (and love the aquarium idea)

Hi ArcLight, thanks and welcome to the board! I'm glad you like the thread - hope to make some progress with this build soon.

Got the urge to carry on with the ping-pong Cetacean build after so many months : (. Made some foil-covered paper cones.




Wasn't too happy as only the middle part of the cone lights up. The full opening needs to flash
that beam. I figured something transluscent would be good to show the cone when not lit and for
the light to fill up the whole opening when lit up.




So I carved up a piece of dowel to a cone.




Made an impression on a bit of 2-part putty.




Heated up some plastic on the stove and pressed some cones.




Trimmed to size.




Sanded to remove transparency. A little more trimming should do the trick.



Will make some fake bulbs for the middle of the cones and the whole opening should light up
nicely with the LED behind it.

I almost forgot about these jewels. Glad to see you are back at it!

Thanks, Jay : )




Walked up to the stove again to form some fake tiny bulbs.




Trimmed to size.












I need to find a way to line the inner walls with foil to prevent light bleed-through. The only access,
though, is the small passageway hole in the back.

What about just coating the inside of the spheres with silver paint? You could slosh it in and the paint tends to do the light blocking job just fine in my experience. You can also overcoat the spheres in silver before putting the basecoat on for it to do about the same thing.

Only way I can think of to get foil in there is to wrap some around a small balloon, thread it through the hole and inflate the balloon (then deflate the balloon and pull it out leaving just the foil). But you will still need to find a way to anchor the foil to the insides. I think the paint method will still work potentially just as well.

Thanks again, Jay. I'll check to see if I have a good bottle of silver paint.


My olfa cutter couldn't cut rings this small so I used a needle.












Prepared the edges for bevelling with some Apoxie Sculpt.








I really like the stuff because it's so easy to soften and smooth out with water.





Front sphere windows and headlamps bevelled.



I'll do the same for the round windows.

What a neat little build! And you're doing a great job of it! I love the fact that it's lighted, too!
I really like the idea of tiny models: I've been thinking of tackling some when I finish my Space:1999 Eagle.
Small models are great, especially if one is limited for display space!

Thanks LMFAOSchwarz Your Eagle build is astounding.