Studio Scale Tyrell Pyramid

So I probably should have shown ye all this time last month, but while it another mock up , it is an important milestone for me because just about all the elements are measured, CADed, cut and ready to be assembled. I have to address the resin casting in the next few weeks. But it’s one step at a time.
Now your probably asking why so many mockups and the answer to minimise the guess work because I‘m at a stage where errors will cost hundreds if not thousands of euro if I have reorder brass-etch as a result of stupid mistake.
I also have to reorganise my studio so I can store the stuff safely- the brass screens are very delicate( I am hoping to get tutored in soldering from a craft metalworkwok/ jewellery school in the next few weeks).
Thats the half-scale buttress from my first post on this thread so you can see the difference in scale.
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Just a note to say that I am still searching for that elusive model part mentioned previously. My thanks to Studiokitbash for his advise on doing a more systematic and organised search through old catalogues. Some of you will know that 40 year old model catalogues can be expensive and sometimes difficult to obtain, but I found a great website called Boxartden.com which is a treasure trove . It doesnt have everything, but a great place to start if your looking for kit images. Then go to scalemates.com if you find a particular kit you want to look at. It will give you a history of the kit and a pdf of the instruction sheet( most of the time)....... and eventually you might find the part you’re looking for.
 
Thank you Folks for the kind comments. Doing a lot of studies/ drafts for artwork is part and parcel with most of the work I do. That studio scale mock up ,even though it’s built with layers of card, turned out pretty heavy. There are internal supports built into it as well. I already had the buttress ”box” cut with 3mm clear acrylic and it weighed a ton. Too heavy. So I recut it with a lighter 2mm and have internal supports cut to support the outer faces. Not canon to what was originally done. But the weight issue is important to how the buttress is supported and there is a lot of stress to the lower front end where it is fixed. The original builders fixed a chamfered baton to the table and the lower front of the buttress to anchor the model. I am looking for a neater and hidden solution, one that involves less weight in the buttress Itself.
Here’s a image of the brass etch for buttress no. 2 which I cut today. All to be cleaned, soldered, fixed..........
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If you’re looking for somewhere to host this incredible model in the future a new national film and sci-fi museum is opening in Milton Keynes this year;


I for one would travel to see it in the flesh.
 
If you’re looking for somewhere to host this incredible model in the future a new national film and sci-fi museum is opening in Milton Keynes this year;


I for one would travel to see it in the flesh.

Usered1402,
Thanks for that. I seen some mention of this earlier this year. Not wanting to get too far ahead of myself,
I‘d love to exhibit the finished model there . Will have to wait and see.
Then of course we have the disaster of Covid and Brexit that’s wreaked havoc on both our Countries (and I have family & relations living in the UK.) that complicate things.

Since we’re on the subject of public exhibition, does anyone know the legal position on exhibiting material related to the building of these props?. If I exhibit it in a non- profit public art gallery, I may need appropriate permission so I don’t infringe on any copyright laws. Don’t want to get “cease and desist” letters or end up in the Law courts.
What would “fair use “ policy mean here?. There will be no money involved in the exhibition of the prop.

I protect my own artwork copyright and have to respect the copyright of others, whoever owns it.
 
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I worked for many years as a corporate designer and publicity bod and, in all honesty, never came across "fair use" in copyright matters. It must have arrived in this century rather than the last when I was active but I looked it up and here's a decent article which gives the outline as it applies in the UK.

 
usered1402,
Thank you once again.
I had to deal with copyright of my own work a few years ago and am always conscious of it, particularly for work being shown in the “public realm”.
Since I don’t just want to show the model in isolation but to show some context of how it was originally built ( and that means using some of the behind the scenes images), I think when the time comes, I‘ll have to seek permission from Warner Bros. / Alcon Entertainment .
But thats some time ahead. Best that I keep focus on the task at hand.

regards.
 
Thank you Ben. I didn’t realise you were a member here of the forum. Good to have your comments.

So you can see that the work is still going on. It’s the research that taking up 70 % of the time. Not kidding but my bedtime reading these days involves searching through catalogues, pdfs and kit sprues to find the last of the parts I need.
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This week I have to speak to another company about CNCing acrylic after a bit of a mess up and going to meet a tutor in a craft school to discuss soldering of the brass etch ( who , having emailed & explained the project, described it as in the top 10 of unusual work he’s comes across.)
The buttresses are probably the biggest difficulty and they are what give the Tyrell building that bit of grandeur.

The resin casting is a whole issue in itself. I have a vacuum pot & pump ordered and am looking at pressure pots and compressors. The size of most of the master patterns means they won’t be pressure cast unless I can get access to a larger pressure chamber ( maybe an university). But if you look closely at some of the behind the scenes images, you can see tiny areas are a bit “crunchy” , where the casting went a bit astray.

So on I go...........
 
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joberg,
Thats the Airfix 17th edition, 1980. I see some reference that’s it’s 1979 but the introduction inside refers to their new kits for 1980. That one actually came from Vancouver.
These old catalogues are really wonderfully nostalgic. You read through them and start thinking “ oh yeah, I built that model kit ..... and that kit...... and I had those model soldiers...... and that battle of Waterlooo set .........
And my kids had some of them as well, still up in the attic.
 

Have a look at this You tube video on this link. It was made in 1986 by a Japanese Company for laserdisc. The first 10 minutes related to Blade Runner. I wonder does Mark Stetson still have the buttress screens? Although he sold the design patterns about 10 years ago and they went to a Japanese buyer.
I also had this image for a few years. Also in Japan, one of the screens is in private hands. The etch looks very “crunchy “up close.
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Thanks for the video clip. Incredible detail work and fidelity to the original building. This thread seems to show your appreciation, certainly passion, that in my mind exceeds that the original artist had for his design. No doubt the mood & story itself is significantly enhanced by the scenes of this particular structure. Love your replicant.
 
Thanks Pyramidrep...Yes, I have an Airfix book also (Heller also, from the same era). Great vid and still waiting for an answer concerning Mark Stetson;) (y) (y)
 

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