THE NOSTROMO - 1:18 Scaled Interiors - 12/23 - UPDATED BUILDS AND MORE! p.6

Re: THE NOSTROMO - 1:18 Scaled Interiors

Andyrowlands62 said:

Thank you very much Mr Slithfire, that's very kind of you to say so. C Deck is my favourite part of the Nostromo in the movie; being a railway engineer, corridors filled with machinery is right up my street How did you make your passageway sections, some kind of vacuum-forming?

Click to expand...

I'm building my corridors using mainly sheet styrene and sculptural pieces, along with many similar parts you have used. I am also laser cutting parts that require a more precise line. Once a corridor section is built, I make a mold of the section and cast it in resin to give me a clean copy to paint and detail. Right now I'm simply building the sections one piece at a time - eventually I will have modular sections created and can begin painting and detailing.

- - - Updated - - -

Created a mold for the first phase in building the Engineer Hypersleep Chamber! Came out great! Very clean and limited damage to the master sculpt. Tonight I will cast a couple copies to continue on to the second phase - the chamber's canopy.

Re: THE NOSTROMO - 1:18 Scaled Interiors

sithfire30 said:

I'm building my corridors using mainly sheet styrene and sculptural pieces, along with many similar parts you have used. I am also laser cutting parts that require a more precise line. Once a corridor section is built, I make a mold of the section and cast it in resin to give me a clean copy to paint and detail. Right now I'm simply building the sections one piece at a time - eventually I will have modular sections created and can begin painting and detailing.

- - - Updated - - -

Created a mold for the first phase in building the Engineer Hypersleep Chamber! Came out great! Very clean and limited damage to the master sculpt. Tonight I will cast a couple copies to continue on to the second phase - the chamber's canopy.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/grail30/Prometheus/SLEEPCHAMBER19_zps3703e746.jpg

Click to expand...

Much more hi-tech than the way I did it!! I cut individual pieces of the sides and ceilings of the corridors out of thick cardboard, and just glued them onto the upright sections on pre-marked lines. Where there were gaps, I hid them with extra piping inside or extra bits of cardboard stuck on the outsides. Once painted, any glue-marks were hidden, and low lighting helped hide any mis-alignments.

Re: THE NOSTROMO - 1:18 Scaled Interiors - 12/2 Prometheus Work page 3

This just gets more and more stunning.

Re: THE NOSTROMO - 1:18 Scaled Interiors - 12/2 Prometheus Work page 3

An update to my Prometheus work - I do plan to return to the Nostromo soon.

I was able to successfully cast two Hypersleep Chambers from the mold I made last week. I plan to make several more but for now all I needed was a clean cast for a master to be archived and a scrap to sculpt the canopy on.



I started sculpting the canopy to late last week through the weekend. All in all with everything else going on it really didn't take me that much time compared to the bed of the chamber. Here's a shot of the canopy with half of the detail added.



Mind you I have to exaggerate the detail in order for the vacuum forming process to pick it up - plus I plan to add texture to the cast sample of this sculpt by sanding it down a bit so I need a buffer there as well.

...and here is the completed sculpt! Overhead view...



I have placed the piece in the freezer for awhile - I am hoping that it will pop loose from the plastic bed so I can prep it to have a mold made. If it wants to be stubborn, I will have to cut the bed away from the sculpted piece with a dermel tool. What I should have done was to place a piece of wax paper in between the bed and the monster clay but nope, I wasn't thinking about that at the time....sigh .

Had some fun with Photoshop and created a few additional overhead images of the chamber with the canopy sculpt - hope you enjoy.







More to come soon - including what will be made with this vector piece I had cut this week!!!

Re: THE NOSTROMO - 1:18 Scaled Interiors - 12/2 Prometheus Work page 3

Shiitake mushrooms:eek this rocks big time! Amazing work, eager to see that vacu-form canopy.

Re: THE NOSTROMO - 1:18 Scaled Interiors - 12/9 Prometheus Work page 3

incredible work, thanks for sharing

Re: THE NOSTROMO - 1:18 Scaled Interiors - 12/23 Prometheus Work page 3

Hey everyone! Happy Holidays!

A quick update on the progress - first with the Engineer Sleep Chamber - 1:18 Scale - Prometheus.

I spoke last time about placing the Sleep Chamber in the freezer hoping that the sculpted canopy will loosen from the plastic casting to make the vacuum forming process easier - happy to say it was a success!



Now that I have the sculpted piece free from the bed, I can make a mold and cast a copy to use for vacuum forming the clear canopies.

Here is an image of the casts from the sculpted canopy.



The next step will be to vacuum form the canopy - I haven't done anything larger than a 2" x 2" form so this will require a larger former and the kitchen oven. I'm using PETG .020 mm - don't need anything thicker than that. Thanks to my Dad for helping me out with the process - it can be done alone but always more enjoyable when someone else is there to participate...especially when they come out like this!!!







Temp of the oven is set at 375 degrees for 30-50 seconds. Made several - some for paint tests and such.





Thrilled about the outcome! The formed canopy will simply sit on top of the bed, secured by the lip at the front of the chamber. This will keep the canopy from falling off easily.

Below are shots of the finished canopy places on the bed of the sleep chamber along with a work in progress sculpt of a sleeping Engineer inside!







Next step will be sculpting the tubes that connect to the back of the chamber. Also I will need to create a damaged variant (chestburster)of the canopy to represent the unfortunate Engineer's that never awoke from their slumber.

Back to the Nostromo and the addition to the work in progress, Main Airlock. I have created the vector line art of the Inner Lock Hatch Door and had the artwork laser cut last week. Here are a couple shots of the assembled pieces....





This will connect to the Main Air Lock - here are some images of the interior so far.







A shot from the outside looking in LOL!



The Inner Hatch Door needed some greeblie work so I used Aves FIXIT to sculpt tubes and hardware.



Once complete, I prepared the parts for mold making. Unfortunately I only had enough mold material to create the front panels of the door - the interior will have to wait till I can afford purchasing some more. Isn't that always the way it goes?...



...and here is a successful casting of the front panel and door pieces of the Inner Lock Hatch Door.



Some of these images were taken with my iPhone so forgive me if some of the photos look to be grainy - they are LOL!

So that is where I am so far...more to come so stay tunes and thanks for all the suggestions and comments!

Created a short video of the Air Lock section of the diorama so far - nothing glamorous but a good test of things to come...

Re: THE NOSTROMO - 1:18 Scaled Interiors - 12/23 INNER LOCK HATCH page 3

EXCELLENT!!!!!

Re: THE NOSTROMO - 1:18 Scaled Interiors - 12/23 INNER LOCK HATCH page 3

Dude, seeing the pictures in this update, you'd definitely make Ridley Scott proud.

Re: THE NOSTROMO - 1:18 Scaled Interiors - 12/23 INNER LOCK HATCH page 3

Amazing - Mad skills -almost psychotic - what extra DNA code do you have that provides this talent? and how can I get one implanted?

Re: THE NOSTROMO - 1:18 Scaled Interiors - 12/23 INNER LOCK HATCH page 3

That is just freaking awesome. The Prometheus stuff is awesome but the nostromo walls... just fraking awesome.

Re: THE NOSTROMO - 1:18 Scaled Interiors - 12/23 INNER LOCK HATCH page 3

Absolutely amazed at the level of detail put into these sets. I am so glad that I found this because I too will be recreating one of the sets in college as part of a miniature set assignment. This thread has really inspired and helped me out in a great many ways! The set I will be making will be (not an exact replica) but similar to this:

Re: THE NOSTROMO - 1:18 Scaled Interiors - 12/23 INNER LOCK HATCH page 3

Excellent mad skills displayed here! And tricks for filming miniatures: clear piece of glass in front of your lens will give the proper effect (but maybe you knew that already):cool

Re: THE NOSTROMO - 1:18 Scaled Interiors - 12/23 INNER LOCK HATCH page 3

TheCopperhead said:

Absolutely amazed at the level of detail put into these sets. I am so glad that I found this because I too will be recreating one of the sets in college as part of a miniature set assignment. This thread has really inspired and helped me out in a great many ways! The set I will be making will be (not an exact replica) but similar to this:
View attachment 272665

Click to expand...

I created parts of B & C Decks some years ago, including my version of the shot you posted, but for some reason the part of this page you use to upload pictures is not working today, so I cannot do it. However, if you care to look at the separate thread I posted entitled 'Nostromo interior sets models', you should see all my photos.

Re: THE NOSTROMO - 1:18 Scaled Interiors - 12/23 INNER LOCK HATCH page 3

Gahd dang, this project is a mind-boggler! Laser cut and then cast? Incredible work. Can you tell us what material you are using for the molds/casts? Silicone and urethane I assume, but whose? I'm a big fan of the process documentation, anything showing the steps to help out your fellow craftsmen.

Re: THE NOSTROMO - 1:18 Scaled Interiors - 12/23 INNER LOCK HATCH page 3

Sithfire, before the van with the men in the white coats turns up, I would just have to say that this work is out of this world. How cool would it be to have a diorama of the Alien shooting set of the Nostromo...very jealous. Working through the 500 plus photos, I am staggered at 1. Your comittment for all things Alien, 2 The detail of your work and 3 the level of talent ( and obviously patience ) you have.

Really looking forward to seeing the Nostromo finished ( will you be selling these sets? ). Don't let the Prometheus stuff get in the way of the proper work :lol

Keep up the staggering work...

Re: THE NOSTROMO - 1:18 Scaled Interiors - 12/23 INNER LOCK HATCH page 3

THANK YOU Samster! It's truly a labor of love at this point - at first is was simply a figure set of the original 1979 crew but just blew up into all things alien through alien3! As far as sets for sale...I'm doing the best I can to mold and cast plastic copies at this point to use for my completed piece while keeping the masters stored away for just an event. Once I have completed a good chunk of a corridor or section of the ship, I will begin offering limited kits - unpainted - which those that are interested can use as displays or whatever they would like.

Re: THE NOSTROMO - 1:18 Scaled Interiors - 12/23 INNER LOCK HATCH page 3

Bondo Fett said:

Can you tell us what material you are using for the molds/casts? Silicone and urethane I assume, but whose? I'm a big fan of the process documentation, anything showing the steps to help out your fellow craftsmen.

Click to expand...

Sure Bondo - I am using Smooth-On products. The molding is Mold Star 15 SLOW which is a Platinum silicone and the casting material I am using is Smooth-cast 320 which is a off-white urethane plastic that is great for prototyping. Can get expensive at times depending on the project but I do want to replicate and keep the masters in a safe place. The laser cutting isn't cheap and I'd hate to ruin a master if I went wonky on the paint job

- - - Updated - - -

TheCopperhead said:

Absolutely amazed at the level of detail put into these sets. I am so glad that I found this because I too will be recreating one of the sets in college as part of a miniature set assignment. This thread has really inspired and helped me out in a great many ways! The set I will be making will be (not an exact replica) but similar to this:
View attachment 272665

Click to expand...

AWESOME! You need to begin a thread here on the RPF when you start working on the project! Looking forward to it!

THE NOSTROMO - 1:18 Scaled Interiors - PRESSURE DOORS and ALIEN ISOLATION

Hey guys!

Sorry for the delay in updates but to keep the hobby interesting (avoid burn out) I switch from figure sculpting to scratch building in order so to keep things fresh. At this time both are ALIEN related and work hand in hand so I'm only switching from freehand to straight line work LOL!

Here's a sample of some of the most recent 1:18 scale sculpt work I am working on - first with the Dog Alien from ALIEN3.













...and the original 1979 "Beast"...











You can see more of my 1:18 scale work here - Flickr: sith_fire30's Photostream

ANYWAY - This is all about the NOSTROMO today and most of what I have to show you is at this very moment being cut or will be laser cut in the next week or so. So most of what I have at this point are line art shots and some paper builds I create to make sure the layers are accurate before investing the money into laser work.

This time around it's all about PRESSURE DOORS...and the Nostromo is full of them.

Similar to the Main Air Lock and it's exterior section, the first step is to set up the artwork as vector files. These will be the documents I send over to have laser cut. I do the same amount of research I do when it comes to sculpting and try to incorporate each section in it's own separate layer, listing the material that will be used for cutting (styrene, .125 Masonite etc). Here are the vector drawings I made for two pressure doors seen on board the Nostromo...



The standard pressure door that is seen throughout the ship (leaving the galley, through the corridors etc). The framework that will hold the door has already been made. The door will have two sides and a clear acrylic piece for the window. You can simply remove the door section when you want the portal to be open and place it back in when you want to show the door sealed. I was thinking about a way which I could pull up on the door section and lock it in place then push down to close it but felt that wasn't necessary.



Next is the pressure door that proceeds into the hypersleep chamber. Very simple design - I believe both sides are the same. I haven't seen any reference images to say otherwise. If any of you know of any please pass them along my way Same idea for this one.

Anyone see the artwork and gameplay for the new ALIEN: ISOLATION game? I've been going crazy looking at all the 70s sci-fi and Nostromo-like environments. It makes sense that during this time in the ALIEN universe more vessels and space stations would share the same motif. Saying all that I was inspired to begin work on the air lock seen in the gameplay trailer!!! 1:18 scale like the others so again - hand in hand. Here is the line are for both the exterior and interior of the Main Air Lock of the space station SEVASTOPOL.





Inspiration for this project came from the ending to the 5 minute gameplay video that was released last week- starting around 4:16.


Once the line art is complete I cut out some matte paper/foam core mock ups to make sure the layers are correct and work with one another. They aren't perfect or pretty but they help get an idea how the final piece will look.



Sculpting the galley walls by the way - first panel almost complete.







So now I wait for the laser cutting to be completed - the gentleman I have doing this for me is a teacher so it's based on his schedule which isn't a bad thing since he does such good work and charges me a fair price so no complaints here....but I do get excited !!!

Much more to come for updates - I have the galley panels to work on, the table is almost complete. I have some additional corridors in the works and will begin working on the hypersleep chamber next week. Much to keep me busy! Thanks for all the comments and suggestions! If you have any questions please let me know Thanks!

Re: THE NOSTROMO - 1:18 Scaled Interiors - 1/21 PRESSURE DOORS, ISOLATION p.4

Fantastic work on those Aliens (pro work for sure:cool), not to piggy-back on your thread, but I found one of the project for a Nostromo corridor...not the same quality as yours sadly