Blade Runner WIP - 6" Ennis House Block

wolff

New Member
There are a few sizes of the Ennis House textile blocks I've come across, from the full 16" down to an 8" plaque, and a 4" version (one side of a votive holder) for sale; but none scaled down closer to 6" - which is what I wanted - for the bottom and back of a display case for a BR Blaster.

DOING IT THE HARD WAY: With no full size casting or the design's dimensions, I found a good photo of a block and scaled it down to about 6" - so I could set four blocks in a 12"x12" square. After (countless hours of ) studying that photo of the full size block and putting the ruler to the Xeroxed copy (and figuring that the original pattern-makers would've used standard wood sizes to build the model) 1/2" worked out for the wide lines, 1/4" or 1/8" for others. I refused to drive myself too crazy and not go to 1/16th inch breakdowns.

The heights of the pieces worked out to 1/4", 1/2", 1/8" - also; and by measuring the shadows I was able to figure the vertical increments and corresponding height changes... It sounds really dumb, now that I'm writing it out; :confused but it all worked out...

Assembly was moderately stroke-inducing. It was then sealed with a few coats of fresh NC lacquer that I made up.

When I discovered that my urethane mold rubber was no good :cry I decided to check there were no undercuts - so I poured a quickie using some algin; then made a cast with plaster of paris and a touch of Durham's. Result? Aside from all the air bubbles in the mold, and the boogers in the cast, there were no undercuts - the model looks like it'll work!

There are many blocks at the Ennis House (don't remember if any were in BR) with the center and two inner diagonals cut out - which I think'll look cool back-lit - so I'll prolly make one with the cut-outs too.

NEXT STEPS: Originally, I figured to do a metal-look with aluminum powder in the resin, and maybe see how a copper, or even bronze verison would look (or perhaps a tasteful combo of copper/aluminum???). The mold rubber and resin order from Reynold's is on the way, and with the down-time I took the plaster casting and roughed it up but good to give it that aged, "Mayan" vibe. It looks...darn acceptable, which gives me yet another choice for finishes.

If there is interest, I'll post photos of the "Mayan" plaster casting, and pics plus text for the upcoming casting session(s)!
Questions and comments are welcome - for the record, this is the first wooden, (and now plaster!), model/pattern I've made for casting. I've done maybe a half dozen rubber molds/resin castings - total - in my life.

regards,

brad wolff
 
Thanks, Y.J.!

Just got home, and it seems UPS has left a heavy box on the porch 8-O

Might be time to mix up some mold rubber!

brad
 
Update on the scaled-down Ennis "Textile Blocks" - as Wright called them. IIRC, he did 4 homes in L.A. at the time when he was doing the Ennis House. One (cannot recall which just now) had a "Mayan" sense to it, which is where I wound up going with that mold; not smooth/modern.

I made them with the openings to uplight through them - Recall that these are to be used as base and backdrop for my BR Blaster. enjoy!

These were made from "Cellu-Clay, a material I'd never used before (nor likely to again - takes forever to dry) but it is lightweight and has a 'rough' look to it.
And yes, there's way too much gloss to the painted one - I dull-coted it after I looked at the pics :confused
 
well the blocks look good to me.
I'ts been a long time since I watched the move. Where in the movie is this house?
 
That is some amazing work.

About the house:

The 1975 film The Day of the Locust made extensive use of the house as a private residence, but it was in 1982's Blade Runner that the house gained a popularity of its own among moviegoers, even though only the main character's arrival at the motor court was actually shot at the Ennis House.

More at Ennis House - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

After looking at darth's pictures, I wonder if one might just walk up and take an impression. :)
 
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