A quick and dirty B-Grade Sci-Fi model

[CB2001]

Okay, before I show the pictures, let me go ahead and explain the whole thing. Last weekend, on Sunday, I and several of my classmates were shooting stuff with 16mm hand-held cameras. It was a completely voluntary thing and we could shoot whatever we wanted to. So, two of my classmates came up with a story about a robot that was abandoned on the moon and fixes a record player to listen to. For the storyboards, the last shot had a pan up that involved a space ship that was to rocket by. Unfortunately, my classmates didn't have a model rocket constructed, though they did get the robot suit completed. So, as a result, I decided to take the initiative and construct a spaceship model. In under 1 hour, I conceptualized and constructed a 1950s style B-Grade Sci-Fi space ship. Though I got it completely constructed, we ran out of time to shoot the necessary shot of the spaceship. So, here are a couple of pictures of the space ship I constructed. I dubbed the ship "Discovery II", being a reference to "2001: A Space Odyssey."

Materials Used:
Card stock to design the "fins" and create the template for them.
Scrap cardboard
Hot Glue gun and glue sticks
Duplicolor white sandable primer
Sharpie markers
Xacto knife
A 20 ounce Coca-Cola Bottle

Pictures taken on the set:

 

[CessnaDriver]

HA! You can't fool us.

That is CGI!

 

[JPolacchi]

Haha!That's awsome!Would be even better if it were a beer bottle:lol

 

[robn1]

...That is CGI!

Coke Generated Imagery. I like it :thumbsup

 

[porteador]

Haha!That's awsome!Would be even better if it were a beer bottle:lol

I second that. A beer bottle would give more structural resistance :confused :cheers

Just kidding
Well done :thumbsup

 

[CB2001]

Thanks guys. I'm glad you guys like it.

Though a glass bottle's shape would be more interesting in its shape. There's just two problems with it: 1. The ability to make a structurely sound model. A glass bottle would have been heavy, thus would have applied weight to the cardboard pieces used for the fins if I had set it down. 2. Time: Understand, though the shoot went from 5pm to 12 am, my fellow classmates and I believed we'd been done in under two hours. So, time was a factor thus the reason why I went with a plastic Coke bottle (as it was already available and I had a second one if I messed up on the first one). When it comes to film, every second counts. And like I said, though we really went from 5pm to midnight, we believed we were going to be done much sooner.

 

[SUPERprops]

Coke Generated Imagery. I like it :thumbsup

HA HA HA!!!:lol

 

[CB2001]

BTW, after doing some research online, I was wondering if anyone else had thought of it. Surprising enough, I discovered this tutorial with not just space ships, but sci-fi weapons. So, I guess great minds think alike: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zei-_h63ZKU

 

[Szyntax]

I LOVE it! :lol :thumbsup

 

[CB2001]

I LOVE it! :lol :thumbsup

I'm glad you did.

 

[REL]

In 30 years a new breed or RPF'ers will be trying to identify what parts you used to make it.

 

[CB2001]

In 30 years a new breed or RPF'ers will be trying to identify what parts you used to make it.

LOL. I doubt it. It's the best I could pull off with what I had available and the limited amount of time (again, it's a shame that we weren't able to shoot it due to time running out. But you never know, we may decide to do some additional shots which may include it), much like many filmmakers of the past have been able to do. A simple Coca-Cola bottle turned into a space ship.