How do you know what model parts for replicas?
- Thread starter qfrost
- Start date
Some of the guys on here have built so many models they can just look at a part and ID it. For me and most i suppose, i go to the web and find sites that have kit scans of models. When i find a part i want to ID i start at the top and go throuh every sprue of every model i can find. Sometimes i'm lucky, sometimes not. I love the hunt though. Like i tell my friends, it's like taking 50 pictures, chopping them into zigsaw puzzles using the same pattern and then trying to copy a the picture someone else made using the same pieces but not making one of the original 50 pictures. If there is a particular model you want to build search for it first to see what has been discovered and revealed already. Then find whats missing or secret. Also asking here helps too.
Sometimes it just falls into place - I had a military kit laying around for years because about 6 of it's parts were used on the Klingon Communicator from Star Trek 3 ( a future project I wanted to do). One day, I'm watching Return of the Jedi where Luke is fighting the Rancor and throws the skull at the door control panel to short out the door and crush the Rancors head - seen that scene dozens of times, then something 'clicked' in my brain, I froze the movie on a close-up of the Control Panel, and sure enough it used a major part from the model I already had for my Klingon prop! Way cool. I now have kits of that door control panel, but have yet to make my communicator - the joys of props! Welcome to the RPF!
Allot of guys just have an eye for it and like he said above...many have built so many S.S replicas that they just know the parts.Also, many of the studio miniatures built at ILM and by Douglas Trumbull used many specific kits in kit bashing,and many of the same scale.You just have to figure out if they did anything different to it (like choped it or combined it with another kit part) and where the part is and how it is oriented.For me it is very difficult and I have a difficult time i.ding parts with all the primer,paint and weathring on it.It is definately an acquired skill to master.
Wow. I thought, there's NO WAY anyone could sit down to build, oh, say a AT-AT or a Star Destroyer and not have some reference guide to what parts to use. Ha. That makes these replica builds seem that much more daunting.
Does figuring out what part to use then take most of the build time?
And thanks for the answers and welcome. I absolutely love studio models.
Does figuring out what part to use then take most of the build time?
And thanks for the answers and welcome. I absolutely love studio models.
IDing parts can take an age yes, but now and then, you can really get a roll on.
Knowing what part x actually is in the real world can help, just helps you nail it to an engine, a transmission or Naval part etc etc, but that also now and then can be tricky.
Patience, a keen eye for detail, and more patience is key.
Sites like Studioscale.com can help a lot, but having actual donor kits is also vital in most cases, its all however, great geeky fun!
Lee
Knowing what part x actually is in the real world can help, just helps you nail it to an engine, a transmission or Naval part etc etc, but that also now and then can be tricky.
Patience, a keen eye for detail, and more patience is key.
Sites like Studioscale.com can help a lot, but having actual donor kits is also vital in most cases, its all however, great geeky fun!
Lee
Colin Droidmilk
Sr Member
I'm curious as to how the veterans here, the pioneers, went about this, say ten years ago, when presumably very little had been identified at all. I mean, surely they must either have been vastly prolific modellers of existing WWII kits etc. and had acquired an encyclopaedic knowledge of thousands of kits against which they could cross-reference, or they must have had to go out and buy every kit that could have conceivably been lying around the ILM shop - an extremely costly enterprise - and then sat for god knows how long poring through them. A combination of both, I suppose. However they did it, it clearly was an insane undertaking, and they have my eternal gratitude and respect for taking it on.
Well, I don't know if I count as a pioneer - but I am an old timer... There was a TON of trial and error I can tell you that. Hours looking through old kits, advertisements/ instruction guides for kits, looking at ILM photos and NOT lookng at the models as much as the kit boxes laying around in the backgrounds. Then buying all of those kits that "might be" candidates and pouring through them looking for stuff that matched. I don't even want to guess at the thousands of dollars spent on what had become "rare" kits by the time things were figured out... Lots I can tell you that. I'm not even in the "game" when it comes to the real masters and real obsessive modlers amongst us ID'ing the parts for all the models we love. It truly was/is a labor of love by a LOT of people. This truly time consuming and EXPENSIVE process is why I do not hold it against those who have ID'd someithing and do not want to share... At least until they've secured a few of the kits they need for themselves. Once an important kit is ID'd its funny how the price jumps x10... or more... I've spent hundreds of dollars on semi-rare kits and I'm a wanna be when it comes to IDing stuff 
Jedi Dade
Jedi Dade
On a side tangent.. does anyone think a stuck thread of "What model piece looks like this" would work for the forum?
Using drawings, or pictures I guess. We seem to have untapped amounts of talent on the board, and it might come in handy...
Particularly since I have a piece I want to find somewhere and need to ask :lol
Chris
Using drawings, or pictures I guess. We seem to have untapped amounts of talent on the board, and it might come in handy...
Particularly since I have a piece I want to find somewhere and need to ask :lol
Chris
Well this is all very informative - it sounds like when I'm ready to jump into a studio scale build I'll be coming here for ID help.
I've be reading the builds for the Galatica, the 8' Star Destroyer and various others that require a mountain of parts on parts. Truly puts the task into greater perspective.
I've be reading the builds for the Galatica, the 8' Star Destroyer and various others that require a mountain of parts on parts. Truly puts the task into greater perspective.
PHArchivist
Master Member
Would love to know what kit that was!
Most everyone who builds has mountains of reference material.Mainly the Star Wars Chronicles and maybe the Sculpting the Galaxy books.Also,there are allot of addictional photo references from others who went to see the miniatures on display.SSM has allot of photos references as well.
MonsieurTox
Master Member
The ROTJ control panel was made from 3 223 hulls (actually it looks like the 223 despatch pod cut in half, the hulls are assembled the same way).
So in this example, what are you referring to: '223' hulls? Is 223 the model kit number, a reference to a ship or vehicle name, or something completely different? Just trying to decipher the lingo.
MonsieurTox
Master Member
The full name of the vehicle is SdKfz 223 Leichter.
But instead of typing that we usually say "223","222", "232" (or 8rad for this last one) etc to save time.
Any chance someone knows of a model part that can fit this idea?
I want to build a cyborg style eye (sorta like a terminator eye but not exactly the same design). I need something to act as the back of the eye. It needs to be bowl shaped, but still somewhat mechanical in design.
The best I can come up with is some sort of shuttle booster, but I can't find one in the size I need (25mm).
Any helps appreciated!
Chris
I want to build a cyborg style eye (sorta like a terminator eye but not exactly the same design). I need something to act as the back of the eye. It needs to be bowl shaped, but still somewhat mechanical in design.
The best I can come up with is some sort of shuttle booster, but I can't find one in the size I need (25mm).
Any helps appreciated!
Chris
Mike J.
Master Member
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