Cetacean - The Man From Atlantis submarine - Completed

Re: Cetacean - The Man From Atlantis submarine - Help

Gotta be careful in cutting the tubes - no room for second attempts as I've just got enough : )

001Tubes.jpg


Got the motor - the ship's propeller spins rather slowly in the series. I hope I got the correct rpm motor.

003Motor.jpg


It should look good with search lights on - if I don't screw up, that is.
002Headlight.jpg
 
Last edited:
Re: Cetacean - The Man From Atlantis submarine - Help

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)
 
Re: Cetacean - The Man From Atlantis submarine - Help

Hi ArcLight, thanks and welcome to the board! I'm glad you like the thread - hope to make some progress with this build soon.
 
Re: Cetacean - The Man From Atlantis submarine - Help

001Papercone.jpg

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



002Paperconewithfoil.jpg

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.



003Makingacone.jpg

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



004Impressionon2-partputty.jpg

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



005Heatedplastic.jpg

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



006Cones.jpg

Trimmed to size.



008Testfit.jpg

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


007Testfit.jpg

Will make some fake bulbs for the middle of the cones and the whole opening should light up
nicely with the LED behind it.
 
Re: Cetacean - The Man From Atlantis submarine - Help

Thanks, Jay : )



009Madefaketinybulbs.jpg

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



010Trimmedtosize.jpg

Trimmed to size.



011Bulbsunlit.jpg




012Bulbsunlit2.jpg




013Lit.jpg

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.
 
Re: Cetacean - The Man From Atlantis submarine - Help

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.
 
Re: Cetacean - The Man From Atlantis submarine - Help

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

001Makingthelips.jpg

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



002Filedtheedges.jpg




003Gluingtherings.jpg




004Preparededgesforbevelling.jpg

Prepared the edges for bevelling with some Apoxie Sculpt.



005ApoxieSculpt.jpg




006Bevellededges.jpg

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




007Bevellededges.jpg

Front sphere windows and headlamps bevelled.


008Gluingringsfortheotherspheres.jpg

I'll do the same for the round windows.
 
Re: Cetacean - The Man From Atlantis submarine - Help

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!
 
Re: Cetacean - The Man From Atlantis submarine - Help

Thanks, crackerjazz...that's nice of you to say!:)
Unfortunately, the "astounding" part will be in finishing it!

I had completely forgotten about the Cetacean until I saw your thread!

Oh, and I enjoyed the exciting story of the battle with the gold bulb!
 
Re: Cetacean - The Man From Atlantis submarine - Help

001Builtconningtowerframe.jpg

Built the conning tower frame.



002Conningtowerframe2.jpg




003PackedwithApoxieSculpt.jpg

Packed with Apoxie Sculpt. There's always that terror I feel everytime I'm not quite sure what will
happen with something shaped like a ball of mud. Not fun at all.



004Sloughedoffthesides.jpg

Sloughed off the sides and saw it taking shape. I let out a big sigh of relief.



005Lettingdryforsanding.jpg

Letting dry for sanding.
 
Re: Cetacean - The Man From Atlantis submarine - Help

Nice tapered teardrop shape, there!
I know that feeling, building something starting out with such an undefined form...probably why I always stunk at sculpting!:wacko
 
Re: Cetacean - The Man From Atlantis submarine - Help

Thanks, LMFAOSchwarz! :) Me neither - almost always whenever I sculpt something my success is based on luck. There's always too much or too little in places and retouching always brings regret.




006Sandedabitandtestfitted.jpg

Sanded a bit and test-fitted.
 
Re: Cetacean - The Man From Atlantis submarine - Help

Set5-001Shapedsomestyrene.jpg

That stove is becoming really useful. Heated up some styrene and press-formed it into the
hardened 2-minute putty mold.




Set5-002Cutoutthehatch.jpg

I just need a tiny bit for that hatch-like shallow dome on top of the second rear ball.




Set5-004Hatchdone.jpg

Sanded the bottom a bit so it lays flush onto the deck. I don't know what that is for as it
seems too big for a hatch, but it looks cool on the sparsely-detailed deck of the ship.
 
Last edited:
Re: Cetacean - The Man From Atlantis submarine - Help

001Boiledsomestyreneintoshape.jpg

Started working on the propeller housing. I once read from one of Scratchy's posts that he boils
styrene into shape. Wrapped some styrene around a small bottle, tied it with wire, dunked it
into some boiling water, crossed my fingers, fished it out after a minute and cooled it off under
the tap. Man that made me smile. It works!



002Propellerbackingplate.jpg

Constructed that round metal plate behind the propeller.



002Sharpeningtheblades.jpg

Sharpening the propeller blades under the grinding stone.



003Backingplateon.jpg
 
Re: Cetacean - The Man From Atlantis submarine - Help

Hey, those rear-end propeller details are looking mighty good! Really "sells" it as a sub! Somehow, that area of detailing also seems to nicely offset the somewhat lack of detail on the rest of it!

It'll also be interesting how you parallel these techniques on the larger version!:)
 
This thread is more than 9 years old.

Your message may be considered spam for the following reasons:

  1. This thread hasn't been active in some time. A new post in this thread might not contribute constructively to this discussion after so long.
If you wish to reply despite these issues, check the box below before replying.
Be aware that malicious compliance may result in more severe penalties.
Back
Top