Black Hole USS Cygnus (photos and such)

Ah that is how that was one.

It's basically the only way to get that kit to look good, in the 'lit up' version.

The best MPC I ever saw in the flesh was one someone had done as the 'unlit' version from the start of the movie. Just different shades of grey with a lot of weathering. Looked surprisingly great.

There's someone on another forum recasting an MPC in clear resin. I wish him luck but for the work involved in making it look really good lit I think starting from scratch might be a better approach!

Hey, this thread has ended being pretty broad - since there haven't been any off-topic complaints so far, here's two or three more of my CG tests. I have nearly finished the stern section now, thank God! Want to move on.

Cheers,
Martyn
 
Looking fantastic, Martyn! :)

Sorry for being away, I've had my hands full with other stuff. My site is shut down right now so there's no place to host larger photos yet. We're also dealing with a minor plumbing emergency, so I'll be back when I can. . .
 
Hey, thanks Charles! There are flaws and a bit of speculation here and there. There's still going to be a lot of tweaks needed, but I'm going to call the stern done for now; at least, I hope to have it done in the next hour or two. I want to render a complete stern including tower and all plumbing - will be a nice little milestone.

If you need some storage space I can host some pics for you. Got a bit of room still on my server.

Good luck with your plumbing!

Cheers,
Martyn
 
Of all the props, and all the costumes, and all the pieces I could ever have, the USS Cygnus would probably take the cake.

What a superb model, and they just simply will NEVER make another one like this one.

What a shame too. It was so beautiful!

Anyway, I need to dig up the photos I have from the set. I think I have three photos that weren't printed in magazines. I believe I gave them to Charles in 2007. Now, which computer are the on!!!???

haha
 
Anyway, I need to dig up the photos I have from the set. I think I have three photos that weren't printed in magazines. I believe I gave them to Charles in 2007. Now, which computer are the on!!!???
haha

AHHH! AHHHH!!! NOOO!!! DON'T DO THIS TO ME!!!! :lol

Would LOVE to see new reference. It's been such a long wait between drinks that it's almost impossible for me to believe anything would show up now that's truly totally new. I think the last thing was the Reader's Digest pic of the bow, in, God, when? Nineteen-eighty-then?

There have to be some privately held behind the scenes pics, and better-quality originals of some published pics. Apart from that, anything else would have shown up by now. You'd think SOMEONE would have taken good photos at the NYC museum display, but the gap from then to the birth of the Internet was obviously too long - most people who did that may not ever have gone near a computer.

Logic says the Disney model shop people MUST have taken pics for their personal collections, but I doubt we'll ever see any of those. By gum, I hope I'm wrong there, though.

Totally agree with your sentiments. The ship and that gorgeous nebula backdrop are just so memorable. They deserved to be in a better film!

Cheers,
Martyn
 
I forced my boyfriend into watching this a month or so ago, lol. He didnt appreciate it as much as I do... Probably because i was 5-6 or so when I first saw it, so its all about the nostalgia. I had a movie poster in my bedroom for a while when I was little...

It is a pretty sweet ship though!
 
Someone claimed not too long ago that the second model not destroyed in the film had actually survived and is currently in the possession of the Smithsonian. I have no idea what this is based on and I haven't been able to get more info. :confused

I'm still not set up to host any pics, and have my hands full with other stuff. Just trying to keep my head above water at the moment. . .
 
Someone claimed not too long ago that the second model not destroyed in the film had actually survived and is currently in the possession of the Smithsonian. I have no idea what this is based on and I haven't been able to get more info. :confused

I'm still not set up to host any pics, and have my hands full with other stuff. Just trying to keep my head above water at the moment. . .

Charles, sounds like garbled info. The 'bottom-detailed' model was on display at the, um, where - NY Museum of Modern Art? Can't recall. But the only version of the story I have ever heard is that it went back to Disney, then got left in its crate in outdoor storage, then rammed by the infamous forklift. So this is probably confusion with that.

But by gee, it'd be nice to think that what got rammed by the forklift was a box actually containing the remains of the top-detailed model. :)

PS there's gotta be a curator at the Smithsonian specializing in pop-culture and media artifacts, right? Can we track that person down?
 
Okay, so, there's been a couple of recent threads on the Cygnus, and I've been getting back into updating my CG model of the ship using new reference (Disney's modelshop blueprints, handy to have). Posted some pics in the other threads but I think they're not really quite right for the studio scale forum as the OPs aren't aiming in that direction per se. So, I decided to resurrect this thread in order to continue posting my stuff.

Something I want to get out of the way. I know a CG model doesn't belong here either, but, it's a means to an end, not an end in itself. Both Charles Adams and I are planning physical models, and hopefully Charles will post progress here too in the future. This thread seems like the best fit; hopefully I'm not going too far out on a limb there.

Charles's model will be in studio scale, mine's undecided - I keep scaling it up, had settled on 1/3 SS, currently leaning towards 1/2 SS, but may go all the way up to full SS. I've started looking into 3D printer technology and have a friend who's started building one; looks like it should be possible to print some of the otherwise nigh-impossible sections.

Anyway, today I finished the main engine mounting trusses. Lord, I hope there was good medical for the guys who had to build these; each has something like 70 parts, many of them minute, and that isn't counting the gangway (complete with tiny safety rails) which runs through them.
 
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We need to start writing actual letters to the Smithsonian. Honestly. If we all get on it, maybe we'll get an answer.


:)


Someone claimed not too long ago that the second model not destroyed in the film had actually survived and is currently in the possession of the Smithsonian. I have no idea what this is based on and I haven't been able to get more info. :confused

I'm still not set up to host any pics, and have my hands full with other stuff. Just trying to keep my head above water at the moment. . .
 
Chuck, I've been thinking about that. It's not completely implausible. The model which was destroyed in filming wasn't TOTALLED. I went through those scenes frame-by frame, and the damage was as follows:
  • One rear-pointing engine detached from bow section
  • Upper observatory detached from bow section
  • Bow section detached from main hull
  • Power centres (originally spaceports) detached from main hull
  • Command tower detached from stern
  • One main engine detached from stern
  • Stern engine decks bent upwards
  • Upper stern platform (tower base) bent/folded
  • Many antennas bent/damaged
  • Transit tubes and many details and framing bent/damaged

But most of the model was left basically intact enough that it could conceivably be what was hit in the famous crate/forklift story. Even the stern decking wasn't necessarily bent that much - it was separated along its wild joints. Oh that would be a nice find, to turn up the MOMA model...

I've made some more progress on my CG - got the catwalks in on the main engines, putting in more trusses and bracing around the edges of the decks. Stern not too far off done now.
 
Filling in some gaps.

I've talked to Harrison Ellenshaw about this film a lot (probably more than he would even like to admit......) and gone through his boxes of stuff. Surprisingly, I could find a single photo of the Cygnus (or any of the models for that matter) under construction. In fact he doesn't recall taking any. He was busy with the mattes, his father was busy with everything, and everyone was busy re-writing the script. (Yes, Peter and Harrison had a hand in that, too. The zombie crewmen - Harrison's idea.)

He does recall getting a phone call one day and having to hustle down to the miniature stage to pose for photos with the Cygnus and his father. Those are the B&W photos you see in CFQ. He didn't have the negatives for those.

The surviving Cygnus model (remember that there were two) was damaged en-route to MOMA, and Disney had to send out a couple of model makers to patch it up. During the course of the exhibit, parts fell off and could be seen lying around the plinth the model was on. After it returned to the studio, Harrison recalls seeing it (decaying). He can't remember when he last saw it, but he thinks (I think he said) he saw it during TRON.

The Smithsonian rumor has been floating around for a while. Last year (2010) in fact, we heard it might be in Disney Imagineering controlled storage (separate from the general Disney Archives storage). We placed a few calls and minions were dispatched to look for an appropriately sized crate but nothing turned up. Tracing the rumor back, we had to discount it due to the non-reliability of the source (long story - lots of politics). Likely the thing is in a landfill. Disney cleared out a LOT of props and "junk" when they reconfigured the backlot and got rid of the effects stage. The Archive only has isolated parts of the Sentry Robots because all the rest got thrown in a wood chipper back then. Maybe parts of the Cygnus will show up at a future date. I'd like to think a tower had survived.

I've been through several archives on the hunt for info for Charles' obsession (Harrison thinks he's nuts. Talented, but nuts.....) and have come across only one photo - actually a piece of film from a test - that shows the Cygnus only partially constructed -

attachment.php


Without getting into all of the details, this image is from a test that was done in the early summer of 1977. The frame of film is from a rotoscope test (the stands supporting the model have been hastily painted out. I'm not sure if they were rephotographing a print or what. There are grease pencil marks on the left that suggest some sort of overlay. I haven't run this by Harrison yet, but I'll bet you he won't remember as he was the matte painting supervisor.

I'll try to dig up a better scan, but it's from a 35+ year old film test and it's only from this one angle.

Gene
 
Gene, that pic answers several questions which had been plagueing me. THANK YOU. I never expected to see even this much in the way of new material.

It's tragic how little is left, and I'm not at all surprised to hear the Smithsonian story is likely bogus, but it's still disappointing. Nowadays you'd hope the value of the model as art would be obvious, not that it'd do any good since nobody builds them any more.
 
Interesting thread. I saw the remaining Cygnus model on display at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC during their Disney retrospective. Saying it was 12 feet long isn't enough to explain how massive it was. The detailing was unbelievably intricate. Thousands of small diameter brass tube sections were welded in layers creating a maze-like depth around the exterior. I can easily believe it took one year to produce it.
A full scale project is a massive undertaking, but what an amazing build it would be. I tip my hat to anyone even attempting it. Good luck and keep posting pics.
 
I have no words to describe my envy. I'd actually rather have seen Cygnus than Executor, my other holy grail ship. Wow.

Charles, aka Star-Art, is planning a full studio scale build. I have zero doubt he has the skills and patience to make it happen.

PrimitiveDave and I are in the early stages of scaled builds in 1/700 and 1/350. We're using 3d print pieces; Dave already has some hardware, mine is pending. Details here:

ttp://www.therpf.com/f11/1-700-1-350-scale-bh-cygnus-145563/
 
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