Alien Nostromo Flashlights
- Thread starter Birdie
- Start date
moviebuff5
Sr Member
One thing I learned about dive lights from a dive shop, they rely on the surrounding water to cool them and can burn out if used on the surface. Also, the grip angle looks like it is for hanging at a person's side when walking, not to be held while diving. It may be a water-proof mobile searchlight.
It looks like a 110V halogen bulb, so it may be a halogen bulb retrofitted into the flashlight housing so the light would be bright enough for on-screen use.
It looks like a 110V halogen bulb, so it may be a halogen bulb retrofitted into the flashlight housing so the light would be bright enough for on-screen use.
Last edited:
Did some researching today. In the air-shaft scene where Dallas is taken, the front of the flashlight has a lot of gaff tape on it. So much that it covers the entire front square frame. That may be to hold diffusion in place, or it may be that the face was very roughly cobbled together.
The scene where Kane falls in with the eggs is the best look you get at the flashlight, and it's very hard to see. The face is very square, and the body slopes off with a thin (rubber? plastic?) handle.
That top handle / strap is odd.
It has me suspicious that at least some of the parts could actually be from from a 70's portable TV (Quasar 5" style). I'll keep hunting for better reference photos of the prop. I've found virtually nothing so far.
This site has been a great flashlight model reference:
http://www.flashlightmuseum.com/flashlights_list.cfm?method=search
The scene where Kane falls in with the eggs is the best look you get at the flashlight, and it's very hard to see. The face is very square, and the body slopes off with a thin (rubber? plastic?) handle.
That top handle / strap is odd.
It has me suspicious that at least some of the parts could actually be from from a 70's portable TV (Quasar 5" style). I'll keep hunting for better reference photos of the prop. I've found virtually nothing so far.
This site has been a great flashlight model reference:
http://www.flashlightmuseum.com/flashlights_list.cfm?method=search
Last edited:
The flashlight Kane has in the egg-chamber is different to the ones we were discussing 'all those years ago' :lol
As you point out, Kane's lamp has a square front profile. The 'dive-light' lamps are seen mounted behind the seats on the Nostromo between the emergency helmets, and in the duct scene you mention, and have round profiles:
I don't know if it's accurate (the likeness certainly isn't), the Polar Lights Kane kit has his flashlight depicted as being similar to the old First Alert Readylight that was used for the Lasseteter weapon in Firefly:
As you point out, Kane's lamp has a square front profile. The 'dive-light' lamps are seen mounted behind the seats on the Nostromo between the emergency helmets, and in the duct scene you mention, and have round profiles:
I don't know if it's accurate (the likeness certainly isn't), the Polar Lights Kane kit has his flashlight depicted as being similar to the old First Alert Readylight that was used for the Lasseteter weapon in Firefly:
I will say that I spent a lot of time trying to locate a similar flashlight to no avail. Nothing even close.
I feel confident that it's a found part, or a compilation of a couple of found parts. Maybe not originally red, but nonetheless, not fabricated from scratch.
These are the best reference pictures I was able to find. Any ideas? This is one I've ALWAYS wanted. I thought about fabricating it. It's not THAT difficult a build. It'd be better 3d printed tho...
- - - Updated - - -
Now that I look closer, I think that the front part is actually the rear part of a car headlight mounting system. The part behind the grille. The tabs visible on that front part look to me like the adjustable part of a headlight system.
I feel confident that it's a found part, or a compilation of a couple of found parts. Maybe not originally red, but nonetheless, not fabricated from scratch.
These are the best reference pictures I was able to find. Any ideas? This is one I've ALWAYS wanted. I thought about fabricating it. It's not THAT difficult a build. It'd be better 3d printed tho...
- - - Updated - - -
Now that I look closer, I think that the front part is actually the rear part of a car headlight mounting system. The part behind the grille. The tabs visible on that front part look to me like the adjustable part of a headlight system.
I took these at the Florida Disney MGM Studios about twenty plus years ago and they show that one of them survived.
However it’s not the same as the ones in the cockpit or the one Lambert and Parker use in the garage when they’re gathering coolant bottles. The head’s the same but the body is different being flatter and longer.
The other thing is that they’re not battery powered due to the size of the halogen bulb used and the fact that they’re clearly plugged in - this is quite obvious in the garage scene.
There are some reasonable shots of the torch (at a distance unfortunately) on the Movie Screencaps site, http://movie-screencaps.com/alien-1979/58/
I think the lamp in the Polar Lights kit is just something they made up as I've never seen anything like it before.
However it’s not the same as the ones in the cockpit or the one Lambert and Parker use in the garage when they’re gathering coolant bottles. The head’s the same but the body is different being flatter and longer.
The other thing is that they’re not battery powered due to the size of the halogen bulb used and the fact that they’re clearly plugged in - this is quite obvious in the garage scene.
There are some reasonable shots of the torch (at a distance unfortunately) on the Movie Screencaps site, http://movie-screencaps.com/alien-1979/58/
I think the lamp in the Polar Lights kit is just something they made up as I've never seen anything like it before.
Looked into this a few years ago when I was putting together my alien casio f-100 double head watch.
Only thing that looked remotely similar was Streamlight's Vulcan, maybe being an older model.
I didn't get any good info talking to Streamlight reps at a trade show about old products...
The auto head light bezel makes sense.
Or could be a speaker mount bezel, rim can't be wider than a 6in diameter. Too small for a car head light.
Searching coffee pots (bottom being the lens) and fans (back vented area) again after seeing this pop up.
I'm still looking for the arm on the colonial marine shoulder lamp....
Only thing that looked remotely similar was Streamlight's Vulcan, maybe being an older model.
I didn't get any good info talking to Streamlight reps at a trade show about old products...
The auto head light bezel makes sense.
Or could be a speaker mount bezel, rim can't be wider than a 6in diameter. Too small for a car head light.
Searching coffee pots (bottom being the lens) and fans (back vented area) again after seeing this pop up.
I'm still looking for the arm on the colonial marine shoulder lamp....
Last edited:
joberg
Legendary Member
I think everyone is on target concerning how those lamps were cobbled together for production: Seems like the plastic housing from a vehicle's head/rear lights.
Handles are from something else and as in Adam's pics the housing on the Nostromo main deck is different than the one posted by Pro Mod.
The mystery is still on
Handles are from something else and as in Adam's pics the housing on the Nostromo main deck is different than the one posted by Pro Mod.
The mystery is still on
I see a two-part spotlight; a head and a base. The head fits both bases (looks like fastenings around the front edge).
One base is a ceiling mount: https://alienseries.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/normal_productionstill99_005.jpg?w=600&h=893.
The other a more portable version: https://embed.gyazo.com/6ab96f4d93e74e06c25e362ef113c071.png.
Awesome spotting the handles built into the set! Nice work. It certainly looks easy enough to scratchbuild. I'd tackle it in a hearbeat if there was better reference material. A cursory search of vintage leafblowers shows that the finger ridges visible in the red handle were not used in leafblower handle design as far as I could determine.
If the volvo dash was found for HIC, we ought to be able to locate that headlight frame...
If the volvo dash was found for HIC, we ought to be able to locate that headlight frame...
