$10.00 2001 Monolith

[darth_myeek]

Let's all jump on the Monolith bandwagon shall we?

I have to admit I was inspired by Sycor's run, and Karl's math. The Monolith is made from custom cut clear acrylic from Tap Plastic, painted with auto primer and satin black. The base was from Tap's scrap bin. It's the same plastic used for cutting boards. No glue sticks to that plastic, so I used two stainless steel screws. Black edging and stripes are made from acid free black tape.

My HAL inspired pic, with Christmas tree for scale.

 

[Wes R]

Very cool. How heavy is it?

 

[darth_myeek]

Very cool. How heavy is it?

Thanks Wes!
The base is just over a pound. The total would be roughly under 2 pounds.

 

[tgreco]

love the base

is it lighted?

 

[darth_myeek]

love the base

is it lighted?

Thanks TG. It's static. The base plastic does a great job of grabbing available light. Lighting it would kick butt though.

 

[nick daring]

Cool.

Nick

 

[phase pistol]

Pretty spiffy!

 

[micdavis]

Now that's a Monolith.

Beautiful job.

 

[Weequay]

Thats awsome!

Whats the scale? Im a little confused. can you give the diemnsions??

Weequay

 

[Calufrax]

Great monolith!

 

[darth_myeek]

Thats awsome!

Whats the scale? Im a little confused. can you give the diemnsions??

Weequay

Thanks Weequay.
Sure. I used Phase Pistol's scale from Sycor's JY thread for the width and height. [4:10] I didn't want a large replica so I went with inches. 4" wide, 10" tall. I think he said the thickness was approximately .6, but I made it .75 or 3/4". For some reason, I missed his thickness calculation and interpreted from his graphed pics that it was probably 9" thick. I am in no way refuting .6. It is just what I went with.

Can't wait to see your Monolith!

 

[Holluba]

What a beautiful model! The finish to this is very well done, very clean and precise. I do have one question though.

If your model is 4" wide, shouldn't it be 9" tall by 1" thick?

I'm no expert on this film and yes, I'm a newbie here with less than a handful of posts, so you don't have to listen to me, but as I understood the book, the Monolith's proportions were 1:4:9 (the square of 1, 2 and 3).

Maybe the prop was built differently, but knowing Clarke's approach to the making of the movie with Kubrick, somehow I can't see this happening.

Whatever is the case, I think your model is just lovely as it is.

 

[darth_myeek]

If your model is 4" wide, shouldn't it be 9" tall by 1" thick?

I'm no expert on this film and yes, I'm a newbie here with less than a handful of posts, so you don't have to listen to me, but as I understood the book, the Monolith's proportions were 1:4:9 (the square of 1, 2 and 3).

Thanks Holluba, and welcome.

Please see Phase Pistol's post #12.. He's our resident master of time&space, etc. :love

 

[Holluba]

Ah, thanks for that - what an interesting read!

Like I said, I'm no expert. Just goes to show that sometimes what you take for granted, isn't always the case. Bummer, for more than 25 years I've had these numbers in my head as the size of the Monolith, now I see that the prop was different to the text.

Who'd have thunk it.

 

[darth_myeek]

The best thing about this place is the quest for accuracy. Just a bunch of passionate folks. Hilarious nit-picking a rectangle huh? :lol

I think why I like Kubrick's ratio better is because 9 would have been "easier" on the eye. The 9 of the 1:4:9 is where one's eye would expect the ratio to stop. The 10 value goes beyond and adds an imposing stretch which is somewhat alien.

 

[asemblyrequired]

That takes me back. great work Darth

 

[Holluba]

The best thing about this place is the quest for accuracy. Just a bunch of passionate folks. Hilarious nit-picking a rectangle huh? :lol

I know what you mean, I have the same sentiments when it comes to my area of interest; if it's even a mm out, I'm not happy and I have to go back and re-do it. This is particularly disturbing if I notice the flaw after I think I've finished the piece!

 

[Larry Young]

Hilarious nit-picking a rectangle huh? :lol

The RPF in a nutshell! :lol

 

[terryr]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monolith_(Space_Odyssey)

All the monoliths are black, extremely flat, non-reflective cuboids whose dimensions are in the precise ratio 1:4:9 (the squares of the first three integers). These dimensions are the main source of debate regarding the monoliths' simple external design. It is suggested in the novel that this number series does not stop at three dimensions.

 

[Thermistor]

I love it. You have chosen the perfect subject to model.

I may have to visit the alliterative Petersons Plastics on Pulaski and make my own now.