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Bondo Fett



Joined: 06 Apr 2010
Posts: 5
Location: Portland, Oregon, USA

PostPosted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 9:03 pm    Post subject: USCSS Macondo Reply with quote

Greetings, all!
This is my first posting here, I have only been lurking 'till now. This post is a copy of a thread I started on the Replica Prop Forum and Skin Job 66 has generously invited me to add it here on Propsummit. I must admit, I'm embarrassed I didn't think of it myself! I will start by copying the updates I have already put up at RPF minus comments, and will manage the two thread separately from here on. Without further ado:

This build is inspired by the story of the Nostromo's design/build process as told in the "Alien Makers" documentary. Basically the conceptual artists never really arrived at a strict, finalized design for the ship and the schedule reached a point where the model shop guys had to grab the most recently dated drawing (a sketched three-quarter-view by Ron Cobb) and built the Nostromo model from that. With so little to go on most of the details- and some significant design elements- were created by the model builders themselves. This model project mimics that process, but instead I am building from this earlier, close-but-not-quite-there, Cobb illustration:

http://propsummit.com/upload/812/cobb_concept.jpg[/img]

I'm calling it the "Macondo", the name of the BP oil rig that blew up and sank in the Gulf of Mexico. I think it sounds nicely cynical, and it keeps with the mini-tradition of ships-names-end-with-O in the "Alien" universe. Lets say it is an older, earlier model of the Weylan/Yutani Bison class tug.

Having only the single view to work from is exciting because I get to design all of the real details, but its slow going for the very same reason. And because Cobb's drawing is really only a rough concept, some of the lines and proportions are impossible to resolve for real. So I'm designing on paper as I go- draw a little, build it, draw some more, build it. I'm not using any particular scale, I'm just working with a size that I find comfortable.

I started with the engine pods. This is the pattern for the mold, made from MDF, acrylic tube, styrene sheet, and carved foam finished with bondo. I'll laminate four of these and get two top and two bottom halves of the engines. I deliberately left the pattern light on detail. I'll add more to the cast parts later on so the engines have more of a distinct left/right look.









Last edited by Bondo Fett on Tue Aug 30, 2011 11:27 pm; edited 2 times in total
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Bondo Fett



Joined: 06 Apr 2010
Posts: 5
Location: Portland, Oregon, USA

PostPosted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 9:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here are some detail parts cast from resin out of silicone molds, thrusters and such. See if you can name the greeblies. Also a quick mock-up the rear end to see how the details look together. The cast resin thrust vectoring baffles (or whatever) are still on their sprues. Cobb's illustration shows only a front/side angle so I'm cheating a little bit on the stern and making the details look much more Nostromo-ish back there.




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Bondo Fett



Joined: 06 Apr 2010
Posts: 5
Location: Portland, Oregon, USA

PostPosted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 9:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here are some more pictures: the pattern for the main thrusters is ready for molding. And here is the frame of the main body starting to come together. It is basically a series of boxes attached together. I know its hard to see whats going on here- I tried to photograph the same angle shown in Ron Cobb's drawing.

As mentioned before the materials used are MDF, acrylic tube, sheet styrene, bondo, and various kit geegaws (tanks, ships, old Star Wars kits). The black strips on the thruster are made of Dymo lable tape. Its faster than gluing styrene because the pieces only have to stay on the pattern long enough to mold and I don't need them to be durable. Quick and easy.



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andy
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Joined: 01 Nov 2006
Posts: 6237
Location: Rochester, NY

PostPosted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 12:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Welcome to propsummit Bondo fett,

I added the IMG tags to your images so we could all see them without clicking on them. I love old school model making and kit bashing, and recognize a few parts from X-wing and snow speeders for sure. Can't wait to see more. Very Happy

Andy
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Bondo Fett



Joined: 06 Apr 2010
Posts: 5
Location: Portland, Oregon, USA

PostPosted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 9:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the welcome Andy, and thanks for the assist, I'll figure out my uploads better for subsequent posts. And good spotting on the kit parts! I'll have more images soon.
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joberg
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Joined: 06 Oct 2008
Posts: 9447

PostPosted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 9:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Welcome Bondo Fett: yes, love the WIP, the crisp details (as Andy said, lot's of Snowspeeder engine and X-Wing ones also into the greeblies Wink ) never molded with resin or anything close to that, but I appreciate the Dyno tape trick (I'll make sure I'll use it in the future).
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wasili
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Joined: 02 Apr 2009
Posts: 58

PostPosted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 1:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

very crisp details indeed.

Keep us updated.

Cheers,

Wasili
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Bondo Fett



Joined: 06 Apr 2010
Posts: 5
Location: Portland, Oregon, USA

PostPosted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 11:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks all, for the encouragement,I will keep the pix coming.
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SKIN JOB 66
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Joined: 16 Jan 2008
Posts: 2724
Location: FRANCE

PostPosted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 5:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks a lot Bondo for sharing this project with us on propsummit !!!



I'm really really happy to have you here... Your work is awesome and I can't wait to see your next update !!!

This is really going to be a very cool Nostrom... hu, sorry, Macondo model !!!



Fred
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Space Jockey
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Joined: 13 Apr 2009
Posts: 559
Location: East Tennessee

PostPosted: Sat Sep 03, 2011 3:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

SKIN JOB 66 wrote:
This is really going to be a very cool Nostrom... hu, sorry, Macondo model !!!



Fred


I think this is going to be as good as Nostromo.

Welcome, Bondo Fett!
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FenGiddel
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Joined: 11 Jul 2009
Posts: 368

PostPosted: Sat Nov 05, 2011 7:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Very interesting...I'll be watching, too. The pic you mentioned earlier in the thread is missing and the link is dead. Admin, can you help?
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FenGiddel
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Joined: 11 Jul 2009
Posts: 368

PostPosted: Fri Apr 11, 2014 2:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bumping this old thread...for two reasons:

1. I'm interested in knowing if the project was ever finished, and
2. I'm reading Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "One Hundred Years of Solitude", set in Macondo, South America.

So, given the literary reference, I am also curious to know if the ship's captain might be Jose Arcadio Buendia?

LOL!
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