"Aliens"-ish motion tracker

[Demetrios2177]

Hello, all!

I love the ALIENS hardware. This is why, when a friend told me about an SF film he is currently producing, I jumped at the opportunity to build a kind-of motion tracker I had been thinking of doing for months.

The base was a toy jig saw to which I kept adding a toy scope, bits of a cheap plastic flash light, an old bicycle LED lamp and, at the front, something I glued together from plastic curtain rings.

The viewer on the top is actually of the kind that was used on the original ALIENS tracker.

It has no real functions except for the LED lamp to still work, and the viewer will have a green lightbulb inside to give it some life.

I'm still on the paint job, but I would like to have your thoughts.

Cheers!

 

[Canobi]

Really cool device, I love it :thumbsup


My only resurve about the overall look is the trigger, not sure it would be needed on a tracking device. It also kind of points a bit to what it used to be, detracting from your overall creative idea. I only say this as I had a similar problem with a scratch built gun I made. I used a bottle with the kneck cut off and needed a few bits of detail and greeblies adding to hide its origins, but it worked.


Would it be hard to remove the trigger? It might be worth seeing what it looks like without it, it could make all the difference (the devil's in the detail as they say, and).

Still looks really good as a stand alone device though, so kudos to you for pulling it off so well :thumbsup

 

[Demetrios2177]

Thanks, Canobi, I appreciate the idea.

Not sure about the trigger thing, either. I felt that somehow it could be something for the actors to play with, but I still would have to give it another colour.

maybe I'll just cover it with some black grip material that you can wrap around bicycle handlebars.

 

[Fly4v]

Dude! Looks great.
Love to add this to the Nerf Pulse Rifle.
So, let me be the first to cry out for a parts list.

 

[Canobi]

Thanks, Canobi, I appreciate the idea.

Not sure about the trigger thing, either. I felt that somehow it could be something for the actors to play with, but I still would have to give it another colour.

maybe I'll just cover it with some black grip material that you can wrap around bicycle handlebars.

How about using some Bondo, or equivolent to fill in the sides and blend it with the handle grip to make it static?

You could carv the trigger/Bondo to be a bit more "grip" like (i.e grooves for the first two or three fingers), that way it could pass as part of the originaly intended grip design.

 

[Demetrios2177]

Parts list: "Aliens"-ish motion tracker

Thanks, Fly4v!


The parts I used were just there, except for the viewer.


1 – Theo Klein Bosch toy jigsaw

I got mine used from amazon Germany.

2 – slide viewer (HAMA or anything cheap on eBay)

3 – scope thingie
That one came with a cheap airsoft gun. You know, the stuff on amazon.

4 – flash light head made from a cheap plastic flash light. I put a bit of grid structured plastic where the lens would have been. The plastic I got from a pizza delivery salad bowl.

5 – the stacked-and-glued rings on the front part are plastic rings for curtains. I got them from my neighbourhood DIY shop. I suppose you can use anything that looks curled up.

6 – the side lamp
Is simply a light you clip on a handlebar. I sawed off the vice bit and screwed the rest on to the prop. The lamp itself can still be detached.

Below are two photos. I hope they make clear what I mean.

7 – black 2mm plasticard, some inches of VERY thick sprue and loads of glue (rhyme not intended)


If I had given it more consideration beforehand, I could have done something like connecting the jigsaw with the light inside the viewer. Well, it’s just a prop. Whatever will appear on the viewer screen will be done CGI.

I hope this helps.

Cheers!

 

[Demetrios2177]

Canobi,

as for the trigger, I don't know, really. Somehow, I have gotten to like the trigger, even if it admittedly does not make much sense. Still have to paint it a less offensive colour, though...

But thanks!

 

[Canobi]

Thanks for sharing your process/parts list, I may have to make one myself

 

[Demetrios2177]

Canobi,

Thanks and good luck with your build!

I must say, though, that the toy jigsaw is a little bit small, as it is designed for kids. But you can roughly estimate the size from the photos, I think. My hands are quite average-sized.

 

[Fly4v]

Thanks for the parts list.
Concur with keeping the trigger and painting it.

 

[Noeland]

Love it. Great build. I've always loved the way they put the motion tracker together for the film, and this one has that same aesthetic. Nicely done.

 

[Demetrios2177]

Thanks, Noeland! I really appreciate that!

 

[division 6]

The ones in the movie had a trigger so there would be no reason to remove it.
Might want to paint it black though so it doesn't stand out so much.

Nice streamlined looking piece.