Nostromo research

[jtparker]

Re: Update! First Nostromo parts out of the Mold!

jtparker i can't say it enough that looks GREAT!!!:thumbsup

Great work my friend!!:thumbsup

Thank You Daytona~!

Here is the first cast of the new thruster mod I made for the ship that was not included with the original AEF kit. I used a high-quality silicon for this, and I made the original from PVC and plasticene clay. I was not sure what to expect when I just poured the first on a few minutes ago, but wow! It came out very clean. all the plumbing and stuff came out 3D, not to shabby! This I believe is a very important part of this kit... It has 3 small thrusters that glue at a slight angle on the rear of this pod.

There are about 4 other parts I am going to touch up the originals and remold, and this baby will be awesome!

 

[79 DAYTONA]

Re: Update! First Nostromo parts out of the Mold!

Cool!!!:thumbsup

 

[jtparker]

Engine Nacelle Remold

In this Picture I have in the center the original old A.E.F. engine nacelle, to the back the modified and detailed engine nacelle I am using on my Nostromo, and the the right, closest is the new engine blank awaiting detail. I am using correct diameter aluminum tubing and adding additional detail, as well as making the engine nacelle geometry more correct. This mold should be finished and ready by tomorrow so that I can retire the old original mold. Even though only a dozen were cast, the originals are an older material that will degrade if I do not retool the parts.

 

[79 DAYTONA]

Re: Update! First Nostromo parts out of the Mold!

That looks great!! You can really see the inprovement over the old one.

Outstanding work!!!:thumbsup

 

[jtparker]

Re: Update! First Nostromo parts out of the Mold!

I have had several e-mails requesting to see a picture of a built Nostromo, so I have kicked into high-gear in getting mine finished. I now have fully re-molded engine nacelles, engine corrugation, and am working next on re-molding the docking pod.

Here I have started the bottom of the hull, this is a little more detail intensive, and the forward center of the hull, and then all of the rear bottom, and inside section of the engine nacelles are covered with literally hundreds and hundreds of built up vinyl strips just like the movie, this is adding a considerable amount of authenticity to the model.

I have a professional modeler building one in Denmark, and another one is being sent to the Island of Crete, in Greece of all places!

Here are a couple pictures of just the start of this process...

 

[79 DAYTONA]

Re: Update! First Nostromo parts out of the Mold!

That looks outstanding!!!:thumbsup

 

[Lord Boron]

Re: Update! First Nostromo parts out of the Mold!

Wow...all the little detail bits really look great! Bring out that "Nostromo" look.

 

[jtparker]

Re: Update! First Nostromo parts out of the Mold!

Thanks Guys!

In these next pics, the detail on the nostromo gets more intense. It seems the bottom of the hull is made up of huge interlocking pre-fab structures that support the massive weight of this ship during atmospheric operations and even simply the stress of the engines hauling that refinery. I used some old Bower pics to approximate a pattern and starting going back along the hull, and down towards the 'wing".

The Shuttle Narcissus is tucked under the Starboard side wing, approximately 75% towards the rear center of the starboard "wing". I will next create the built-up area running parallel of the rear edge, that is not detailed on this ship,, and I will create a tiny narcissus in a garage with a cover retracted... I am glad I have a set of tweezers. The biggest challenge is disciplining myself to only apply the super glue to 1/2 inch sections or less...It dries fast and aligning the little tiny panels takes a steady hand. The detail on the large studio scene for the nostromo wing far eclipses the detail on even the largest Nostromo model used in the film. So I suppose one could drive ones-self crazy going into finer and finer detail, So I will keep it about like this along the bottom... It will be very acceptable for a cool ship of its size! I guess this can be good practice If I ever decide to do a large scale "Original style" battlestar Galactica, Now that was the real deal there...

 

[Scaramanga]

Re: Update! First Nostromo parts out of the Mold!

Looking better and better.....

Man I love this ship :love

 

[jtparker]

Re: Update! First Nostromo parts out of the Mold!

Thanks fellow Nostromo fanatics!

I am doing the shuttle bay right now, after building up the trailing edge of the hull with detail. I should have a pic ready by tomorrow evening I hope. I think I will actually cast a mold of the shuttle hangar with the cover as shown in the pic above. This will make the whole kit worth the extra work.

 

[jtparker]

Re: Update! First Nostromo parts out of the Mold!

Thanks fellow Nostromo fanatics!

I am doing the shuttle bay right now, after building up the trailing edge of the hull with detail. I should have a pic ready by tomorrow evening I hope. I think I will actually cast a mold of the shuttle hangar with the cover as shown in the pic above. This will make the whole kit worth the extra work.

Well Actually I had to finish the Starboard hull before I can even start on the shuttle garage. Here is the model and I am test fitting the landing engines and getting ready to glue on the port engine nacelle. I wish I had more time to work on this...:-(

 

[jtparker]

Re: Update! First Nostromo parts out of the Mold!

Bump...

Now The rear is being assembled. I use 2 part fast-set epoxy, super glue for initial set, and light coats of gray primer as I assemble the large parts into a proper "Nostromo" to ensure surface panels and parts are correct.

All in all, this kit can be seriously detailed to the point some would call obsessive, but the final result I think will put the old Halcyon kit to shame as far as size and detail... Now I am enjoying putting this monster together after the bottom hull work....

 

[79 DAYTONA]

Re: Update! First Nostromo parts out of the Mold!

WOW!! Thats looking so cool your hard work is really paying off.

Great work!!:thumbsup

 

[Space Jockey]

Re: Update! First Nostromo parts out of the Mold!

WOW!! Thats looking so cool your hard work is really paying off.

Great work!!:thumbsup

Agreed...this is looking great. I don't know much about the old AEF kit the molds were based on... how detailed was the nose/bridge section? Did it have the satellite dish on the front, with the projecting docking tube? I don't know if the kit was based on the original studio model before Bill Pearson and Martin Bower added more detail...Here's a pic, from Martin Bower's site of the area I'm talking about.

I'm on the verge of completing some exterior blueprints of the nostromo... seeing as you guys are fellow Nostromo enthusiasts, should 'The Company' be referred to on the prints as 'Weyland-Yutani' or 'Weylan-Yutani'?

 

[jtparker]

Re: Update! First Nostromo parts out of the Mold!

Agreed...this is looking great. I don't know much about the old AEF kit the molds were based on... how detailed was the nose/bridge section? Did it have the satellite dish on the front, with the projecting docking tube? I don't know if the kit was based on the original studio model before Bill Pearson and Martin Bower added more detail...Here's a pic, from Martin Bower's site of the area I'm talking about.

I'm on the verge of completing some exterior blueprints of the nostromo... seeing as you guys are fellow Nostromo enthusiasts, should 'The Company' be referred to on the prints as 'Weyland-Yutani' or 'Weylan-Yutani'?

Thanks for your feedback.
Actually the model is in various degrees of Detail, I guess the project was shut down by lawyers back in the 80's after only 12 were cast. For example, be bridge is extremely detailed, but the hull in general, the detail is standard. There was a curious flat undetailed spot on the bottom of the hull, and no forward thruster-attitude unit like your picture existed in the kit, so I formed and cast a decent looking one that fits nicely. there is no satellite dish, but the landing gear is complete. As you can see, some parts are extremely detailed, like someone was copying it up to 90%, or so, but then lost access to it. I would be very interested in your Nostromo Diagrams. I plan to build a version 3 times this size (6 feet) and I am in the process of measuring dimensions in Milimeters for reference for a jumbo size model. about the Weyland-Yutani thing, I would say Weyland-Yutani, only because it is better known than the original spelling. Im not a big fan of the sequels though, never even seen all of ALIENS. The original alien was a perfect movie in and of itself, and left a lot of mystery and wonder that probably was ruined by the sequels.
My 14 year old cant believe that all of the sets are actual real environments, and not computer generated stuff.


Let us know more about the blueprints! We are dying to see these.
Very cool!!!

 

[Harry Harris]

Re: Update! First Nostromo parts out of the Mold!

Actually the model is in various degrees of Detail, I guess the project was shut down by lawyers back in the 80's after only 12 were cast.

I seem to remember hearing from someone that A.E.F.'s 'Aliens' license expired at the time the Nostromo kits were being produced but wasn't renewed, which might explain the low numbers of them that were made.

Harry

 

[Space Jockey]

Re: Update! First Nostromo parts out of the Mold!

That's interesting. If I was at AEF at the time and in the middle of creating the model for the molds then suddenly having the plugged pulled half way through it would have been really disappointing.

A 6ft model would be fantastic. If I made one I could store it in the kitchen though my wife would go nuts. Actually the reason I made blueprints initially is that the Nostromo looks great though it is mysterious - there aren't too many clear shots of it. I wanted at some point to scratchbuild a model of it myself. But then I see your ace kit... maybe one day that won't be necessary.

The blueprints I've been cadding up over the last couple of years, though it's only the last month or so I've been working more on them. I did preview them briefly on Eagle's board though they've moved on somewhat since then. They have technical stuff on there too. I have my daughters op to pay for so I have decided to do a limited run of them. If they are of use to you and your 6ft model...great. But that's for another thread elsewhere sometime in the next month to month and a half:cool. I'm looking forward to seeing the undercarriage / landing gear on your model.

 

[jtparker]

Re: Update! First Nostromo parts out of the Mold!

Woah! That is sweet! I am going to buy a better camera, and post some very clear pics of the belly and Shuttle hangar, I was finally able to get a correct placement and size of the "garage" under the starboard wing. I would love a set of prints when my 90 days is up...could you imagine a six-foot nostromo kit of gigantic panels and huge blueprints.....a good trade might be in order

 

[jtparker]

Nostromo Secondary Engine Nacelles

Actually had some time to assemble and install the secondary Engines this weekend, now I may be actually able to do the little shuttle hangar since I have all the other stuff out of the way. I added the same panel detail on the nacelles so it would blend into the bottom hull like in the movie. Tiny brass rod is used heavily for reactor piping off of the rear hull. Brass and copper tube is a very easy way to add some cool details to the ship, and countless hours of viewing paused scenes from my ALIEN dvd's help in making some fun details. a lot of work still to go, but its taking shape!

 

[79 DAYTONA]

Re: Update! First Nostromo parts out of the Mold!

Well i said it once and i'll say it again outstanding work!!:thumbsup jtparker