New BR mystery??

[GKvfx]

OK, see those things on the back of the front wheel covers? The triangular-ish shaped things that kinda square off the back of the wheel cover? Those are part of the laser cannons that were mounted on the front wheels. The rail thing just behind the driver's side door was a mount for another one. And there was yet another one on the roof. All of that got changed when the laser cannon concept got dropped. The 44" was built without them altogether, but the 15" was left with those things on the front wheels.

The police lights on the 15" were just bulbs that were controlled by the MOCO unit (I think they only blinked). The 44" had this bar rig that they attached for a special light pass that actually focused the light beams. The 44" had police lights, headlights and running lights (those curved strips on the wheel covers and the rear wing flap thingees). The 15" had police lights, headlights, and interior lights.

The 44" had two figures that could move their heads. The 15" had only one figure (the driver). The 15" did have interior lights - but they were backlight films. You can see the rear center console in the photo Sith Sheriff Brody posted.

The 44" had motorised wheel covers and wing flaps. The 15" was static in that respect. The blueprint for the full size Spinner indicates that the whole rear bumper section articulates, though I don't know if that was incorporated into the miniature.

From what I've been able to figure out, it looks like the 15" was started first, perhaps after some study models. Because it didn't have to have all the bells and whistles, it was further along when the changes started. The 44" had a really complicated chassis, and when the change to the police lights came along, it was a pain because there was no room for the articulation gear for the police lights.

Completely overbuilt and under utilized. But man, what a design. Thank you Syd Mead..............

 

[GKvfx]

Could the 4-inchers have been used on other rooftops? The Tyrell building, or the 'sushi stand', or the aborted rooftop shot?

I've seen some photos from the aborted rooftop shot. It's a pretty simple setup. The background is a section of the planet Hades tabletop miniature. There is a foreground rooftop model that looked like it was cobbled together from one of the large scale buildings they initially built. The radar dish from Bill George's Millennium Falcon is in there (and it pops up on another building too). There is a car there, but it isn't a spinner. Just looks like a model kit that was thrown together.

The shots of the Tyrell Pyramid I've seen show some really tiny Spinners, so I think those are the 1" models.

I don't know about the Sushi stand - but I was told that they were never used. Wound up as souveniers for the crew.

Gene

 

[drusselmeyer]

I've seen some photos from the aborted rooftop shot. It's a pretty simple setup. The background is a section of the planet Hades tabletop miniature. There is a foreground rooftop model that looked like it was cobbled together from one of the large scale buildings they initially built. The radar dish from Bill George's Millennium Falcon is in there (and it pops up on another building too). There is a car there, but it isn't a spinner. Just looks like a model kit that was thrown together.

The shots of the Tyrell Pyramid I've seen show some really tiny Spinners, so I think those are the 1" models.

I don't know about the Sushi stand - but I was told that they were never used. Wound up as souveniers for the crew.

Gene

So this is a roof Spinner??

 

[GKvfx]

So this is a roof Spinner??

Sure looks like one. One of the tells are the wheel covers in the ground position (the 4" spinner had them in the flying position).

Gene

 

[drusselmeyer]

Sure looks like one. One of the tells are the wheel covers in the ground position (the 4" spinner had them in the flying position).

Gene

Flying position??? Like Gaff's landed Spinner in the Batty death sequence??

lol:lol


If Gaff can do it, I would guess that 'flying' position is also 'rooftop' position.

On a more serious note: So, no one has sighted 1/1 Rachael's Spinner either?


It seems the Police Spinner is 31.5' on the blueprints. It would be nice to know how accurate is this to the actual Spinner.

 

[spinner 44]

I have a original Warner Bros slide of the finished 15" spinner showing a 3/4 from the rear. The model is painted in a darker blue than the 44" spinner but the markings are very similar, no spinner 44, police, or 44 signs though.

The triangular details on the wheel covers are gone, but it has 2 "laser guns" as in the original Syd Mead design: one mounted over the cabin, next to the light on the top, another mounted in a rail, in the left hand side of the model. No police lights.

I'm 100% positive the model was filmed with this configuration, but there are some other scenes which either the model is seen too far away or not clear enough so you cannot tell if the laser cannons are there or not.

The light configuration for this one was: yellow lights in the wheel covers, four white bulbs in the search light, red lights in the side exhausts, a yellow light on the top, yellow stripes for the back flaps. Very bright spot light next to the light mount looking front. Very bright white spot light in the back (over the engine cover). Two white blinking lights on the top of the front wheel covers, one red blinking light on the belly and one dim white light spot next to it.

This miniature can seen in the opening scene: first is the lobster spinner and then the 15" miniature. Then it can be seen approaching the Tyrell Cop. building. Later you can see it just after the Bryant/Deckard meeting, passing by the big Coca Cola advert. Later in the early morning traffic scene it can be spotted in: 1 car interior point of view looking front, is the car to the left (the other is the ferrari spinner in think), 2. frontal shot of the spinner: third car to the right (first one is the lobster spinner, then the 44" hero, and the fourth is the alfa romeo spinner). Then when they are approaching the Tyrell tower, you see the 15" coming towards you and leaving to the left side of the screen. After that there is a shot of a small spinner going left to right down the screen, that is the 15" again. Then when Priss is arriving to the Bradbury, the 15" can be seen flying over, same thing happens when Deckard arrives to the Bradbury.



Sadly I don't have a scanner at home. Same thing happens with my Blade Runner dvd, the one I have here is the old one (crappy image) but if you have patience and time please do check this scenes and let me know what you think.


Have a better one!

 

[drusselmeyer]

http://bladezone.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=21070#21070

" Where is the missing Spinner??

In the convention reel, you can clearly see TWO police Spinners driving on the set. Since the flying Spinner was incapable of this -an engine (for example) would have made it too heavy for the wires.

There is a Spinner missing!

The 'missing' list grows:

-1/1 Rachael Spinner
-1/1 Police Spinner
-1/1 Police Spinner interior
-1/12 Police Spinner miniature"



How did this happen??

 

[CessnaDriver]

Flying position??? Like Gaff's landed Spinner in the Batty death sequence??

lol:lol


If Gaff can do it, I would guess that 'flying' position is also 'rooftop' position.

On a more serious note: So, no one has sighted 1/1 Rachael's Spinner either?


It seems the Police Spinner is 31.5' on the blueprints. It would be nice to know how accurate is this to the actual Spinner.

Seems we have a flying mode which also works for spot landing mode.
Makes sense, if you have to make an emergency landing you can just put 'er down anywhere.

Can I buy a real one? Quite ready thank you.

 

[spinner 44]

http://bladezone.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=21070#21070

" Where is the missing Spinner??

In the convention reel, you can clearly see TWO police Spinners driving on the set. Since the flying Spinner was incapable of this -an engine (for example) would have made it too heavy for the wires.

There is a Spinner missing!

The 'missing' list grows:

-1/1 Rachael Spinner
-1/1 Police Spinner
-1/1 Police Spinner interior
-1/12 Police Spinner miniature"



How did this happen??

drusselmeyer,

The vehicles were destroyed as requested by Ridley Scott. Gene Windfield (who made the 1/1 vehicles) recalls they saved a couple of spinners (one was the land version, was stored in Orlando and later destroyed the other is the flying spinner thatbis in the Sci_Fi Museum in Seattle), a couple of Deackard's sedan (I have never seen one of these) and one Police Sedan (this one is in Police museum.. can't remember where).

The interior was only the front section and I'm positive they dismantled it after filming. FYI this interior was refurbished in two ways: as the flying spinner interior and as the Deckcard Sedan Interior (they just changed the seats and some details).

I'm sorry but I can't recall Rachel driving any spinner in the movie, what is that you call the Rachael's spinner?

Best regards

 

[CessnaDriver]

drusselmeyer,

The vehicles were destroyed as requested by Ridley Scott. Gene Windfield (who made the 1/1 vehicles) recalls they saved a couple of spinners (one was the land version, was stored in Orlando and later destroyed the other is the flying spinner thatbis in the Sci_Fi Museum in Seattle), a couple of Deackard's sedan (I have never seen one of these) and one Police Sedan (this one is in Police museum.. can't remember where).

The interior was only the front section and I'm positive they dismantled it after filming. FYI this interior was refurbished in two ways: as the flying spinner interior and as the Deckcard Sedan Interior (they just changed the seats and some details).

I'm sorry but I can't recall Rachel driving any spinner in the movie, what is that you call the Rachael's spinner?

Best regards

There was a full size floating around San Diego/El Cajon area for a while back then. Showed up at car dealerships a few times.

No detailed interior.

Then never saw or heard of it again.

 

[Bantha Crossing]

The 2nd "missing" spinner that your referring to that was motorized, was taken over to Japan(mid 90's I think) and was sold to a private collector there and has not seen the light of day.

 

[GKvfx]

There was a full size floating around San Diego/El Cajon area for a while back then. Showed up at car dealerships a few times.

No detailed interior.

Then never saw or heard of it again.

I think that was the Flying Spinner that is now in the Sci-Fi Museum. I saw it in the early 80's at a car show in Seattle. It had been repainted by George Barris in a metallic blue paint and featured the full "Blade Runner" logo in red on the rear of the car. The interior was bare - just basic seats and all the indicator panels were painted in day-glo orange and green. After the promo circuit, it wound up at a movie car museum in Hollywood. This was the mid-80's. By that time, it had been repainted again - just plain blue with a sorry attempt at the markings from the movie. Also, the windshield/canopy was cracked. That museum was gone by the late 80's, when I got here (God....20 years ago next month). Don't know where it was was during the 90's.

I still want to know how the 44" Spinner got to Paris.

Gene

 

[drusselmeyer]

drusselmeyer,

The vehicles were destroyed as requested by Ridley Scott. Gene Windfield (who made the 1/1 vehicles) recalls they saved a couple of spinners (one was the land version, was stored in Orlando and later destroyed the other is the flying spinner that is in the Sci_Fi Museum in Seattle), a couple of Deckard's sedan (I have never seen one of these) and one Police Sedan (this one is in Police museum.. can't remember where).

The interior was only the front section and I'm positive they dismantled it after filming. FYI this interior was refurbished in two ways: as the flying spinner interior and as the Deckcard Sedan Interior (they just changed the seats and some details).

I'm sorry but I can't recall Rachel driving any spinner in the movie, what is that you call the Rachael's spinner?

Best regards

OK, now I am really confused.

There were two used in BTTF 2: One black and one Yellow. This confused me for some time, since there were two paint schemes for one car and not for any others. Now it seems that there were actually two cars. Those were repainted blue and one made the rounds representing Barris at various places for some reason and the other wound up in Orlando. Or, one that Barris had went to Orlando and the other simply disappeared.

I am still trying to get confirmation of the destruction of the BR cars at MGM-D. The story I got was: TWDC ordered the destruction of the Police Spinner in 1998 before the ownership of BR was clearly defined for the public. TWDC has a record of claiming things that are not their property BTW. There is ample evidence that both a Police cruiser and a Spinner were in the MGM-D lot at the time.

You never actually see her driving it. The miniature is the red car that flies past Deckard and Gaff on the way to Tyrell Corp.

 

[spinner 44]

drusselmeyer,


Yes that miniature of the flying red spinner (named Rachel's spinner in the 1/64 diecast set) is gone away from public eye. I guess is in some private collector's house, same thing as the 16" miniature spinner. I don't have evidence of this, but I honestly prefer to believe this than to think they are lost or destroyed.


I guess you have read already these articles,they may bringht a bit of light to your research

http://media.bladezone.com/contents...found/spinner_and_sedan/spinner_and_sedan.php

http://media.bladezone.com/contents/film/production/props/lostandfound/spinner2/two_spinners.php

http://media.bladezone.com/contents/film/production/props/spinner_today/spinner_today.php

This one by Bryan is amazingly well researched and will answer most of your questions regarding the Spinner.



So to cut a long story short:

-Flying spinner. Sold in 1990 to the Miami Police Museum after being in storage. Badly damaged in transit to the museum. Purchased by Jay Ohrberg and then restored. Exhibited for years, the sold to a private collector. Auctioned in 2005 and restored by Gene Windfield, now exhibited at the SF Museum in Seattle.

-Main ground spinner. Fully detailed. Saved for promotion of the film and sent over Germany. Bought by Jay Ohrberg. Toured Europe. Finally bought by Disney MGM Studios in Orlando. Seems it was destroyed.

-Back up ground spinner. This was used to promote the film in the USA. Thern sold to George Barris (repainted and restored) then to Bob Butts. This is the spinner that appears in BTTF 2 (repainted in many ways) and Solar Crisis. Sold to George Barris, in 1993 was sent to promote a re-release of Blade Runner in Japan, then it was auctioned and bought by a japanese collector. Never to be seen again.

-Car interior. No confirmation of it being dismatled or destroyed.

-Deckard's bronze sedan. In the Miami Police Museum (repainted red and new lettering added)

 

[GKvfx]

Couple of photos pertaining to my last post. The indoor shot is from a car show in Seattle circa 1982. The outdoor shot is actually from 1986 from a Car Museum that was set up on Hollywood Blvd at an unused car dealership. By the late 80's (88 or 89), that place was gone. Least I don't remember seeing it when I got to LA. The red "stripe" on the later photo looks like gaffer's tape covering up a crack in the canopy. Note that someone repainted the lower portion of the canopy and the annunciator lights on the wheels.

Gene

 

[drusselmeyer]

Thanks G. Those are beauties!