Millenniumf
Sr Member
I kinda thought the little discs reminded me of the Colonial Mineral Ship from Battlestar Galactica.
Studio Scale Tyrell Pyramid
- Thread starter Pyramidrep
- Start date
Pyramidrep
Sr Member
I forgot about that one. Yes, remarkably similar. Sean Sides ( tsides) built an incredible replica of that. I wonder does he know who was the modeller on that one?.
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Pyramidrep
Sr Member
Joberg, tried those methods. Forcing the edges downward caused some of the styrene detail to lift in places. Wasn’t going to be perfectly flat. Tried laying the piece on a hot cloth with book weight on top for a few hours, changing the cloth every so often - no difference.
That second corner piece I made warped within a few weeks, worse than the first one.
I think the culprit here is the Revell contacta glue (which I was using at the start ) . I am using Humbrol liquid poly now.
I made a few small test pieces again with the acrylic and styrene and with the Revell glue, Superglue and Humrol as adhesive and am bringing them with me on a trip to Spain next week ( to dispel the heat theory).
I also glued a series of Plastruct angles in series to a piece of 1mm white styrene base a few weeks ago and that has warped/ cupped very badly, hence my suspicion on the glue.
Would a heavier base (4mm +) solve the issue?. I may make a few more thicker test pieces.
Ok, I did not realize it was a master pattern.
For layered styrene or ABS, Its best to use super glue to hold flat sheets together. What I do is to use a small amount of solvent, Res-n-bond, to hold the parts in place. Once dry, I then carefully place a small amount of super glue to permanently position. Its what I have been doing for over thirty years as a model/pattern maker. Even on the smallest details, because it has to survive being put under pressure for molding.
It's almost impossible to make flat, a piece warped by solvent. My 2¢
Its really nice work!
For layered styrene or ABS, Its best to use super glue to hold flat sheets together. What I do is to use a small amount of solvent, Res-n-bond, to hold the parts in place. Once dry, I then carefully place a small amount of super glue to permanently position. Its what I have been doing for over thirty years as a model/pattern maker. Even on the smallest details, because it has to survive being put under pressure for molding.
It's almost impossible to make flat, a piece warped by solvent. My 2¢
Its really nice work!
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Pyramidrep
Sr Member
Thank you so much for the advice. All patterns warped/ cupped upwards at the corners so that there is a curve both longitudinally and laterally. Impossible to flatten - force it too much and you crack the 2mm acrylic base.
I ‘ll have a test of your method to confirm.
If you look at my post , you can see an image of the original pattern and appears to be built on a base of opal acrylic. The corner pattern is also built this way ( image below). I‘ve no way of knowing what adhesive was used, so testing is the only way to see what works.
If there here is any other member here on the forum that has some knowledge on the bonding of styrene and acrylic sheet, any advice or solution would be helpful. Many thanks.
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Pyramidrep
Sr Member
Worked on version 3 of the corner pattern yesterday. Just to show anyone sceptical as to why I pay so much importance to my particular laborious method of working, you can see that I build directly off the drawing, sometimes printing out certain complex areas several times. You can either place/ fix styrene sheet on top or below and cut closely along the line work. Where difficult circular shapes need to be cut, you can do this with a divider compass with the centre points accurately marked on the drawing beforehand. Where the is a lot of detail ( and there an incredible amount of tiny detail on these patterns) , the line drawing(s) are placed on a light box and then with the styrene sheet(s) on top, the position of the detail is marked in pencil. Once the detailing with model parts, styrene, etch is finished, you can clean off any pencil marks with isopropol alcohol. That’s my method, however unorthodox and slow it may seem.
And since we touched briefly on the subject of the Main Facade Roof the other day, I‘ll show you this drawing. Like the other patterns, this is a complex and clever design and I ‘ve done a dry run to work out how to build up the surface layers because there is no way to to replicate it successfully in one go. I have also made some amendment to the original pattern because some of the doesn’t quite sit thru to tie/ match one end to the other end. The plan outline for the landing station comes from the work I’ve done on the Close- Up Section model and so the Scale relationship of both models is 1:6.
And since we touched briefly on the subject of the Main Facade Roof the other day, I‘ll show you this drawing. Like the other patterns, this is a complex and clever design and I ‘ve done a dry run to work out how to build up the surface layers because there is no way to to replicate it successfully in one go. I have also made some amendment to the original pattern because some of the doesn’t quite sit thru to tie/ match one end to the other end. The plan outline for the landing station comes from the work I’ve done on the Close- Up Section model and so the Scale relationship of both models is 1:6.
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joberg
Legendary Member
Your method is very sound; especially with all of those different layers 
They really had a field day in terms of layering that model.
I think an entire book could be written on the layering in that movie (from models, sets, sets decoration, costumes, etc)
Eager to see your next update!
They really had a field day in terms of layering that model.I think an entire book could be written on the layering in that movie (from models, sets, sets decoration, costumes, etc)
Eager to see your next update!
stevielewis
Sr Member
That is just incredible!
Kelvin saucers good for that maybe…
Pyramidrep
Sr Member
Happy Christmas to all here on the RPF.
I have been looking back this morning at the work I ‘ve done on this project over this past year and trying to make an estimate on what more detail needs to be resolved, how much more information I need to obtain before I can comfortably proceed with the build. I am always consiously aware of it as I plough my way through the different areas on this model (s) project
So one of the members here mentioned about the how much detail is unknown because of the poor reference on the 8 foot. And that is very, very true. Indeed for what was the 40th @anniversary year of Blade Runner release ( I was hopeful ) there has been disappointing little new information or images made public.
I still have questions in relation to the buttresses, tiny area on the mid terrace slope, and some small areas on the main facade although I could possible get something very close to the original.
There is also a piece on the internal core ( about 7 or 8 “ in depth) at the top to which I don’t have too much clear information on but you can see an image the piece if you look back through the thread. It’s quite possible to just ignore it but being a completist, I am still looking for clarity on this.
In trying to push on and model build, I get forced back to research whether it’s another search for the few missing model parts or drawings to clarify the construction. Endless it seems.
But I keep faith and am looking forward to 2023 and what a new year will bring. Possibly another trip to New York, more organised and arranged this time.
I have more ongoing work on the Close - Up, particularly the top part and also the Interrogation Room set and Tyrell’s office set. Blimp etch work also well underway for the roof detail.
Spinner blueprints (bit by bit) also being done in CAD. You might ask what does the spinner have to do with the Pyramid but it goes back to that image of those tiny 1” models used on the rooftop of the Close- Up. That’s the key to the scale of both models. If the actual length of the Spinner is 15 ’ 5” , then the 1” model is scale 1/185. The close up is 6 x of the 8 foot model, which works out at a scale of 1/1110, close to what author Paul Sammon stated (1/1000) in Cinefantastique article in 1982.( Although the 600 floors theory is ridiculous ).
I leave you with some more images and look forward more progress in the New Year.
I have been looking back this morning at the work I ‘ve done on this project over this past year and trying to make an estimate on what more detail needs to be resolved, how much more information I need to obtain before I can comfortably proceed with the build. I am always consiously aware of it as I plough my way through the different areas on this model (s) project
So one of the members here mentioned about the how much detail is unknown because of the poor reference on the 8 foot. And that is very, very true. Indeed for what was the 40th @anniversary year of Blade Runner release ( I was hopeful ) there has been disappointing little new information or images made public.
I still have questions in relation to the buttresses, tiny area on the mid terrace slope, and some small areas on the main facade although I could possible get something very close to the original.
There is also a piece on the internal core ( about 7 or 8 “ in depth) at the top to which I don’t have too much clear information on but you can see an image the piece if you look back through the thread. It’s quite possible to just ignore it but being a completist, I am still looking for clarity on this.
In trying to push on and model build, I get forced back to research whether it’s another search for the few missing model parts or drawings to clarify the construction. Endless it seems.
But I keep faith and am looking forward to 2023 and what a new year will bring. Possibly another trip to New York, more organised and arranged this time.
I have more ongoing work on the Close - Up, particularly the top part and also the Interrogation Room set and Tyrell’s office set. Blimp etch work also well underway for the roof detail.
Spinner blueprints (bit by bit) also being done in CAD. You might ask what does the spinner have to do with the Pyramid but it goes back to that image of those tiny 1” models used on the rooftop of the Close- Up. That’s the key to the scale of both models. If the actual length of the Spinner is 15 ’ 5” , then the 1” model is scale 1/185. The close up is 6 x of the 8 foot model, which works out at a scale of 1/1110, close to what author Paul Sammon stated (1/1000) in Cinefantastique article in 1982.( Although the 600 floors theory is ridiculous ).
I leave you with some more images and look forward more progress in the New Year.
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Pyramidrep
Sr Member
I am , Joberg. I can be contacted through the Blade Runner Art, Fashion, Photography Facebook Group and a link to my page.
I was very reticent about being on Social media but my son convinced me / guided me to join and the Group is really great. Overall, the experience has been very positive. Getting to converse with David Synder, Tom Southwell, etc. about my particular area of interest (/set design, graphic design, architecture, etc) ……… truly incredible. Never did I think after 40 years that could have been possible.
I got a nice message this morning from Greg Pickrell , the Set Designer of the Tyrell Office about that drawing and that’s means a huge amount to me..
I have messaged a number of key people but didn’t get any response ( that was expected). Promised some help a number of times but meet with silence after a period. I keep asking. Occasionally I manage to get tiny snippets of information through a third-party, that are a huge help.
Pyramidrep,
I have a thing for skillfully prepared detailed drawings, so do appreciate you sharing them.
The Tyrell Pyramid is really a work of art more than than a model. No doubt you will again be visiting the original to uncover more secrets. Your self imposed quality and building standards are scary.
Interesting that one craftsman can reproduce what it took teams of extremely talented modelers to create. And, do this by pulling years worth of rare & scattered pieces of scattered information. True or not, I read some place that even Cleopatra could not tell the Romans how her ancestors really constructed the pyramids.
Keep up the good work.
I have a thing for skillfully prepared detailed drawings, so do appreciate you sharing them.
The Tyrell Pyramid is really a work of art more than than a model. No doubt you will again be visiting the original to uncover more secrets. Your self imposed quality and building standards are scary.
Interesting that one craftsman can reproduce what it took teams of extremely talented modelers to create. And, do this by pulling years worth of rare & scattered pieces of scattered information. True or not, I read some place that even Cleopatra could not tell the Romans how her ancestors really constructed the pyramids.
Keep up the good work.
Pyramidrep
Sr Member
Searun,
I have the time and don’t have the constraints/ duress that Mark Stetson and his crew would have worked with back in 1981.
This project is turning out more of an Architectural Thesis for me. The blueprints are part of “the threads of evidence” and will form a little body of work with the modelwork I didn’t really think about until a friend pointed it out and told me not to file them away in a drawer.
I am not going to follow exactly Leslie Ekker‘s Tyrell Office model or Bill George’s interrogation set model and that’s why I went back to researching the sets themselves.
A lot of work still to do..…..
Have a look at this funny little discovery yesterday…….center top on the Close- Up……
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Pyramidrep
Sr Member
Following on from the discovery of the maintenance dude on the roof , I had a look at that wonderful BTS image of the landing port and spinners and yes, he is visible ( and not a later addition).
Pyramidrep
Sr Member
I thought the one of eagled eyed members here would mention the Peacock on the image of the Blimp Etch in post#271. I mean …. It’s a really oddball detail among the antennae and other structural detail.
That was another little discovery during the year - as to where it appears or was used in the movie.
So , look at the area either side of the dooway entrance of the SUSHI bar model. Another quirky and fun little detail.
Happy New Year to all !
That was another little discovery during the year - as to where it appears or was used in the movie.
So , look at the area either side of the dooway entrance of the SUSHI bar model. Another quirky and fun little detail.
Happy New Year to all !
Pyramidrep
Sr Member
As with all Studio work workspaces there is a time where you need “ to clear the decks” and get rid of detritus that accumulates. I have 4 drawers in a plan chest dedicated this project - images, draft sketches, drawings, various models etc. and I pruned ruthlessly this morning back to about half In order to re- organise for the year ahead.
So I am looking at an image that Bill George posted back in March 2015, the one that sowed the ( probably slightly crazy) thought that it might be possible to build a little replica. It’s still probably the single most important image of the model because of the wealth of information it contains. So depending on other work commitments, I‘ll post on this proper in the coming months.
But if ever you want a sense of standing beside a section of the full-sized Pyramid and don’t want to go through the difficulty of a Studio -Scale build, use that image (no dimensions given).
So I am looking at an image that Bill George posted back in March 2015, the one that sowed the ( probably slightly crazy) thought that it might be possible to build a little replica. It’s still probably the single most important image of the model because of the wealth of information it contains. So depending on other work commitments, I‘ll post on this proper in the coming months.
But if ever you want a sense of standing beside a section of the full-sized Pyramid and don’t want to go through the difficulty of a Studio -Scale build, use that image (no dimensions given).
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