The Five Foot POTA Icarus Miniature

SSRN Seaview

Well-Known Member
Any info on this model? I know that Bob Burns has a casting of the studio miniature in his basement that was built and finished very nicely.
 
Any info on this model? I know that Bob Burns has a casting of the studio miniature in his basement that was built and finished very nicely.


I remember a fairly large article in the old 'Sci-Fi & Fantasy Models' magazine which I have somewhere which had blueprints and studio miniature shots. Would you like me to dig it out for you if this helps, maybe take some scans?.
 
I remember a fairly large article in the old 'Sci-Fi & Fantasy Models' magazine which I have somewhere which had blueprints and studio miniature shots. Would you like me to dig it out for you if this helps, maybe take some scans?.

I know I would love to see some pictures & get scans of the blueprints.PLEASE.

Dave
 
I have a studio blueprint of the ship exterior. I can get you a copy. If you're interested, just pm me.
 
I didn't know they had a 5 foot miniature..I know there was 33 3/4" ish one though..that one was the 1/16 scale miniature. Is this the one being talked about? if so then we have a casting off the studio miniature hanging up in the Planet Hollywood here in Orlando...
Will
 
I am referring this model. If I am using someone's pic I will remove it. I don't know where it came from (other than it is Bob's collection).

Icarus.jpg
 
The Planet Hollywood ship is a casting of the actual filming miniature, as is Bob Burns'. If I recall correctly, the ship is 42 inches tall.

Scott
 
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This is the ship I want to build in scale!!!!!!!!! I never built in scale so where the heck would one start!

Thanks
 
I have been there a number of times and have taken numerous pics of almost everything in "Bobs Basement". I will share what I know...

-IIRC, It is bigger than 42" long. I am just-under 6 feet tall and when I stood next to it and it came to my chin, so it is probably taller than 5 feet. (unless I am the incredible shrinking man) :lol

-Not sure if it is an original filming prop...Bob says it is. where would it have appeared?

-It was restored a few years ago by someone (Greg Jein, I think?) so the paintjob is not exactly correct. It is obviously "clean" and we never see the ship "clean" in the films. The blue and red stripes are incorrect as well. The location of the United States lettering is a bit off.

I love Bob, don't get me wrong, but his prop background stories are sometimes a bit..."hazy" and as he will admit, he definitely has some replicas mixed into that collection.

I have the MIM version that I built a few years ago. It is a nice kit, but the proportions are way off. They used that panavision view of the top of the ship in the water as a reference, but didn't account for the severe widening-effect that occurred. The ship is "skinny" in a top view like the BB model. I think it actually looks cooler...wider.

Jim Key did some blueprints a few years back that appear to be bang-on. You could use those for reference. They appeared in a issue of Sci Fi Fantasy modeler. They also referenced the studio construction prints (I think).

There ya go. Hope that helped...
 
I love Bob, don't get me wrong, but his prop background stories are sometimes a bit..."hazy" and as he will admit, he definitely has some replicas mixed into that collection.

Yeah, according to Greg Jein Bob's POTA ship is a copy, the original having been restored and given to Arthur Jacobs' widow.

Once upon a time I took measurements of the thing, but I'm damned if I can recall exactly how long it was. My recollection is about four feet, but I'll see if I can dig up the exact figure.
 
Yeah, according to Greg Jein Bob's POTA ship is a copy, the original having been restored and given to Arthur Jacobs' widow.

Once upon a time I took measurements of the thing, but I'm damned if I can recall exactly how long it was. My recollection is about four feet, but I'll see if I can dig up the exact figure.

And once upon a time, I used to trip over the damn thing when it was in Greg Jein's bathroom at his shop....

Gene
 
Okay, I found my original measurements taken off Bob's replica when it was on display at the `99 WorldCon. The Apes spaceship miniature was 42" long.

No doubt it should have been larger given the "going, going, gone" sinking shot it was built for (scale-wise, those big bubbles are pretty unconvincing).
 
Okay, I found my original measurements taken off Bob's replica when it was on display at the `99 WorldCon. The Apes spaceship miniature was 42" long.

Yaaaaah. I'm gonna have to go ahead aaaand...sort of...disagree with you there.

I have a pic of Jason posing next to it, and it comes almost to the top of his head. And they are both sitting on the same floor. When I stood next to it, it was right around the same spot on me.

So, unless Jason is a munchkin... :lol

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I spoke with a friend in the effects industry who knows "Apes" Art Director Bill Creber. He said that Mr. Creber still owns the original filming model.

As stated before, Greg Jein made copies off of the original molds for Planet Hollywood several years back. Bob's copy is one of those.
 
I spoke with a friend in the effects industry who knows "Apes" Art Director Bill Creber. He said that Mr. Creber still owns the original filming model.

Lol, Creber's the one who told me it was given to Arthur Jacob's widow (or was it Franklin Schaffner's widow). Help me out here, Gene...

Coincidentally, I saw Creber last night at an Academy screening of The Abyss. I spoke to him briefly re: the enduring appeal of his Irwin Allen designs (i.e. the recent Moebius kits) but as always he was pretty dismissive of both Irwin Allen and the fan community in general (his exact words were "I don't get it"). As aging production designers go Creber definitely augers toward the crusty end of the spectrum (unlike Les Dilley, who will keep talking to you about his work until you walk away).
 
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