ID4 independence day Alien Mothership build.

[JediMichael]

It's a shame that even though they had prepared such a large and detailed prop, no detail was visible in the movie.

That as well. I wonder if there are any other behind the scenes photos that are locked away somewhere and just never got published.
That type stuff is always really fun to see if found from movies.
Even today, I still end up seeing some Star Wars picture I had never seen before.

 

[Jediguy]

That as well. I wonder if there are any other behind the scenes photos that are locked away somewhere and just never got published.
That type stuff is always really fun to see if found from movies.
Even today, I still end up seeing some Star Wars picture I had never seen before.

There's a whole stash of documents for sale on ebay. seller doesn't seem to be interested in splitting them up. It's a real shame.

 

[Astyanax]

Maybe a few of us could pitch in, for the purpose of making digital copies available to all? What's the damage on eBay?

 

[asaka0704]

For now, I guess it's in the shape of a mothership. We will continue to add more detailed adjustments and molds.

 

[JediMichael]

Looking really good. Can't wait to see how you paint it all.
The big circle, that looks kinda like an eye on the side. Did you add one on each side?
I know you can't really tell on the studio model if they did, and since you never see that side, they probably didn't add it, but I would think both sides would have it, for balance.
But I also don't know much about this whole ship, as there seems to be little detail on it anyways.

 

[asaka0704]

Looking really good. Can't wait to see how you paint it all.
The big circle, that looks kinda like an eye on the side. Did you add one on each side?
I know you can't really tell on the studio model if they did, and since you never see that side, they probably didn't add it, but I would think both sides would have it, for balance.
But I also don't know much about this whole ship, as there seems to be little detail on it anyways.

thank you.
As you say, there is really little information about this ship. Of course, we also added a large circle on the other side. There is not much reference information for painting. Paint using the several prop images as reference.

 

[JediMichael]

thank you.
As you say, there is really little information about this ship. Of course, we also added a large circle on the other side. There is not much reference information for painting. Paint using the several prop images as reference.

For painting, I would just base it best you can with how the city destroyers and attacker ships are painted....but trying to keep that massive scale.
Tricky for sure. But I think you will do perfect.

 

[asaka0704]

For painting, I would just base it best you can with how the city destroyers and attacker ships are painted....but trying to keep that massive scale.
Tricky for sure. But I think you will do perfect.

Thank you.
The City Destroyer also looks completely different when it's in space and when it's twilight on Earth. The Mothership is in space, so I think it will have the same color as the City Destroyer I made five years ago. The important thing is to create a sense of hugeness.

 

[JediMichael]

Been working on this giant Jurassic Park gate for an upcoming Con in May.
Been letting a bunch of movies run, but after all this Independence Day talk, totally now wanted to watch this.
Can see on the right monitor in the background.
Still such a fun film with a great soundtrack.
One day hope to at least add one of the attackers to my collection.

 

[asaka0704]

Been working on this giant Jurassic Park gate for an upcoming Con in May.
Been letting a bunch of movies run, but after all this Independence Day talk, totally now wanted to watch this.
Can see on the right monitor in the background.
Still such a fun film with a great soundtrack.
One day hope to at least add one of the attackers to my collection.
View attachment 1907879

this is Highly accurate reproduction!
Has a great presence in the room.
I get excited when I see this gate.
I'm looking forward to its completion.

 

[JediMichael]

this is Highly accurate reproduction!
Has a great presence in the room.
I get excited when I see this gate.
I'm looking forward to its completion.

Thanks.

 

[publiusr]

The important thing is to create a sense of hugeness.

Watercolors?

The underside needs contrast…but the top…maybe this is one model that actually shouldn’t be painted.

Folks usually want models out of the sun…yet I wonder if dust, weathering/photodegredation may be of use.

Leaving a mask on for a year?

With a spacecraft of that size—typical weathering might be too aggressive.

The Death Stars had townships…trench..superfine detail.

The top of the ID4 ships are almost featureless.

 

[asaka0704]

Watercolors?

The underside needs contrast…but the top…maybe this is one model that actually shouldn’t be painted.

Folks usually want models out of the sun…yet I wonder if dust, weathering/photodegredation may be of use.

Leaving a mask on for a year?

With a spacecraft of that size—typical weathering might be too aggressive.

The Death Stars had townships…trench..superfine detail.

The top of the ID4 ships are almost featureless.

The Death Star is a mechanical artifact, but I guess most of the Mothership uses asteroids. It's so huge that you can't see it from a distance, but if you get close, you can see the various textures.

 

[JediMichael]

Yep, like these shots.
Was wondering, for this one, they must have created this section as a model, but I haven't ever seen anything behind the scenes of it.

And this one....maybe a painting, or just a carving out of foam or something, probably done real quick.

I look how it all has a very organic look to it.

 

[asaka0704]

Yep, like these shots.
Was wondering, for this one, they must have created this section as a model, but I haven't ever seen anything behind the scenes of it.
View attachment 1908398
And this one....maybe a painting, or just a carving out of foam or something, probably done real quick.
View attachment 1908399
I look how it all has a very organic look to it.

Thanks for the screenshot. The mothership prop was about 3 meters long, so I think it was used for various scenes. The entrance where the attacker entered was at the bottom.

 

[asaka0704]

I repeatedly applied putty to the surface and sanded it down to make it even.

To check the condition of the surface, I tried painting it black and white. Of course, this is not the finished painting.

 

[JediMichael]

Looking good.

A friend from Facebook is driving into Dallas, TX today, and sent a video.
So I just took a pic from it and said that maybe they should stay away from the city. lol
(And funny, did a google search to find the best looking picture, and yours actually came up.....so its now attacking Dallas)

 

[asaka0704]

A mold was added to the bottom edge to make it look like the one in the movie when viewed from the side.

Of the City Destroyers, 14 can be detached with magnets, and 3 of them can be posed in their launch mode using acrylic rods.
Of course, you can also select the full storage mode.

In order to create a 55cm x 55cm acrylic base with a mirrored bottom and back, we first check the balance using a cardboard box.

Putty is applied to the previously smoothed surface to recreate the unevenness of the surface. This mold is adjusted slightly so as not to compromise the size of the mothership.

All that's left is to paint it.

 

[JediMichael]

Seeing the "tiny 15 mile long ships" like that, surely makes you realize just how insanely huge that mother ship is.

 

[publiusr]

Lovely…if you had to find a common enemy for Star Trek BSG and Star Wars to fight—here it is.