SDCC08 - Dr WHO Replicas!

[mfxreplicas]

Thaks again for everyones kind words. This has become a bit of a labour of love and I'm thrilled with the appreciation for what we're doing.

Thanks also to Chris Martin. As you can see from his post we got one of the best to do the duplicates of the hero prop to send as a reference and, as is obvious from the photos, there's no questioning the quality of his reproductions of the original. They're flawless and beautifuly crafted and honour the work of the original prop makers work in every single detail.

We'll keep pushing for a November release and i hope no one will be dissapointed.

Best
Neill

 

[Star Wars Helmets]

Thanks for the info Neill.

For those interested I did a review of MFX's UK Cold Cast Cyberman helmet some time back on the Star Wars Helmet "sister" site....

Night

Day

The helmet is freaking awesome and IMO THE most accurate "replica" helmet ever produced.

Here's the page http://www.aqpa87.dsl.pipex.com/scifihelmets/cyberman.htm

And also a 1:1 comparison against one of the "screen-used" Cyberman helmets (original on right - with only the weathering/oxidising due to time of the cold cast aluminium giving that away)

Here's the page http://www.aqpa87.dsl.pipex.com/scifihelmets/cyberman_comparisons.htm

Neill was also gracious enough to give a few of us a tour around his workshop/factory. Here's some of the original props.

There are a few other pages including a tutorial for adapting the UK Cyberman Replica so it can be worn, along with some shots of a complete Cyberman costume from the show, etc. etc.

Here's the home page http://www.aqpa87.dsl.pipex.com/scifihelmets/index.htm

Certainly worth taking a look if you're a Who fan

Cheers

Jez

 

[silverskyes402]

If they ever released the inside of the clockwork man head I would go crazy!!!

 

[karstva]

I absolutely love the new cybermen, and your reviews were great. The full suit needs to be done along with the helmet, or I should say, I wish it was offerered by MFX and I could afford to buy a full suit :lol. Simply awesome.

Karsten

 

[Star Wars Helmets]

I absolutely love the new cybermen, and your reviews were great. The full suit needs to be done along with the helmet, or I should say, I wish it was offerered by MFX and I could afford to buy a full suit :lol. Simply awesome.

Karsten

Thanks - I'd love a full Cyberman suit from MFX. I had an idea that if I kept bugging Neill every few months he'd finally give in. Maybe one day!

Cheers

Jez

 

[gobler]

A full Cyber suit... :eek Heck yeah thumbsupthumbsup That would be a dream. I have always wanted a full Cyberman and Dalek.. Even though I am American I grew up watching DW (the last few Jon Pertwee episodes). Of course Tom Baker was what I grew up with but I have loved DW for all these years. I think the new series is kick ass and enjoy MFX work emensly. If it is within your power to have a full suit for sale please do so...

Cheers,
Jeff

 

[Risu]

I just remembered something. Throughout season 3, the doctor started selecting different settings by twisting the black end cap. I'm not sure if it really twisted on the prop or if Tennant just pretended to turn it, but is there a chance this version will have a turning cap?

 

[Primrodo]

Both the MLD and the SS are handmade working props so it's always a balancing act between tidying things up for a display piece or deliberately machining some features badly to match the original. Where quirks of the original are arguably features, for example where things aren't exactly at ninety degrees to each other and would look wrong when 'corrected', the quirks have remained.

One question concerning this Chris and Neill. You mention that there are quirks to the orginal sonic, like being off degress to everything, which you captured excellently in your copies.

However the SDCC sonic is all lined up completely:

Was this a choice made by the production run, the BBC or otherwise? Will it be back to the way you showed for the full run?

 

[RKW]

What is it you see in the production copy that you can't see in the prototype?

 

[Chris Martin]

Let me give you an example. On the original the slot machined in the top that the slide switch travels along is slightly more than 90 degrees from the blue slot machined in the side. The castellated aluminium ring around the clear rod at the front of the main body that engages with the other castellated fitting at the head end is not orientated at 90 degrees to either of the previously mentioned slots. Should that be fixed or left alone? In my experience once you start trying to 'improve' something, you start making it look less like the original.

There is also another rationale to be considered. Presumable in the context of the characters, these gadgets have been hand made by the Doctor and Master respectively and not just ordered through a NASA catalogue. Maybe a not quite perfect look is appropriate and part of the pieces character? There may be a reason the slots are not at 90 degrees to each other. A reason may never be stated but the prop is what it is.

My personal philosophy is that unless something looks truly dreadful (which is usually more about quality of construction rather than the design), leave it as it is. It's not a faithful replica if the design itself has been fiddled with.

 

[Chris Martin]

... Oh, and the black plastic cap on the original is a simple push fit like a pen cap to allow access to the internal batteries. It therefore needs to be a reasonably firm fit or it'll keep dropping off which wouldn't do much for a timelords image.

 

[MattMunson]

Just had to chime in and say that the beauties in this photo are just stunning. As someone who spent a lot of time studying this prop, and gearing up to machine one for myself, I can say in all honesty that I could not have done better, nor could I imagine a reproduction turning out better than these. it just looks phenomenal. Awesome work Chris and gang.

And big thanks in particular to Chris Martin for coming to the RPF, sharing his enthusiasm, knowledge, and most of all sneak peek pics of this prop that many of us have been waiting four solid years for!

 

[Primrodo]

I agree 100%! I love the slight rotations and how it looks...my question was more to the SDCC prototype as everything is at 90 Degrees...do you know if that was on purpose or otherwise?

 

[Chris Martin]

Personally, I've not seen the factory prototypes in the flesh so I can't say. All I can say is that great care went into the recording and duplication process of the original so the information is there for a detailed comparison against the factory version and any fine tuning will undoubtedly follow.

Similarly may I echo many thanks for everyone's kind words.

 

[Primrodo]

No problem, I am sure all nessesary changes will happen and it may just be the perspectives.

Your great care definatly showed for the two that you made there, excellent work all the way again. Curious though, did you get your prototypes to light up at all? or was it not nessesary?

 

[MattMunson]

By the way Chris, I just noticed your signature. BRILLIANT! I have been on what felt like a one man crusade to correct the use of the nonexistent words "Casted" and "recasted" for years now. I can safely say that it was all wasted time, as it's kind of like holding back the tide with a couple of sandbags!!!


I think my ONLY worry about the Sonic is the crackle paint. Don't get me wrong, I understand that the one in the pic was an early piece, and corrections will be made. I'm referring specifically to the techniques used in applying the paint. From what I understand, it's a very organic and difficult to reproduce process. The effect turns out different every time. Different density of crackle, that is. I'm just hoping that there's some way to "production line" the crackle effect and have it not only be consistent across the pieces, but also accurate to what we see on screen, or on those two beautiful samples seen earlier.

 

[Risu]

I can't say for certain what the original explanation was for the sonic since I haven't seen all the episodes, but in the new series Eccleston said it came from a factory, he didn't make it himself. That being said, I've never noticed any slight imperfections in the design of the prop before, so in my opinion its up to the people making the reproductions whether nor not they want to perfect it.

 

[Chris Martin]

There is an extra bright LED's in the nose of each one that lights up. The small button protruding out of the slide switch is pressed to make it come on.

The crackle finish is problematic. It took considerable experimentation to get that close (twelve attempts) because of the various combinations of coat thicknesses, drying times etc. Due to deadlines I confess to wimping out and passing the problem on to the factory otherwise I might still be outside spraying the damn things today!

 

[JBReplicas]

Thanks - I'd love a full Cyberman suit from MFX. I had an idea that if I kept bugging Neill every few months he'd finally give in. Maybe one day!

Cheers

Jez

Hey Jez, what a day that was, it'll stay with me forever wandering round the workshop seeing all those amazing creations!! If I join you in a two pronged attack then maybe between us we can convince Neill to produce full suit replicas :lol :thumbsup

 

[NakedMoleRat]

I need to stop looking at this thread! These sonics just SCREAM to be in my pocket! I'll no doubt be carrying this around everywhere with me for the first couple of months of having it. Not to mention I'll be watching the Christmas special, pointing it at Cybermen on the telly, without a bit of shame as a 39 year old man acts like a little kid! :lol

I am wishing though that we could get the slider version as that is what I see on the screen. But if the spring loaded pop up version is what we WILL see on the screen, then that's alright too. Wait, are there going to be TWO versions in the near future? Oh. my bleeding wallet! :lol