Miniature effects haven't completely gone the way of the dinosaur although digital technology has become far more viable, versatile and flexible for filmmakers. Low budget filmmakers like the fact that they are relatively in expensive and quick to construct. Student filmmakers also like the flexibilty that miniatures bring to their projects.
Here is a few quick steps to build your own movie quality film spaceship miniature. As an example we will be recreating the spaceship "The Nostromo" from the film "ALIEN"
First off, here's some the materials you will need to get started:
- Bottle of Zap and gap and excelerator spray. The spray reacts with the glue and fuses it together.
- Several balsa wood sheets
- 1/2" inch piece of styrene plastic.
-Several styrene or plastic sheets (Can be found in any hobby store)
- various misc wood of plastic blocks of different sizes and shapes
-X-acto knife or other sharp cutting instrument
-Misc bits of plastic from model kits and household items
-reference material of subject or design illustration
- Grey spray Paint. Black model paint.
1)Get started by starting with the base out of the 1/2 inch styrene sheet. This will be the base of the ship that the structure will be built on. Cut the base into a "figure eight" shape.
2)Use the the wood blocks and build four distinct towers in the center with about a two inch distant between them but symmetrically placed. They can be glued down with the zap
3)Use bits of small modular pieces from misc model kits and plastic bits from house hold items. Use the zap-a-gap glue to adhere them to the side of the blocks. This creates an outer "skin" making the ship look mechanical. Cut small squares from balsa wood and styrene to made modular sections on the surface. Use the glue and excelerator to adhere these to the surface.
4) Use small plastic pieces like bottle cap tops as the tower top crown. Glue these pieces with the gap glue and spray with excelerator. Detail the surface with small pieces as well. Anything will work, old buttons, plastic caps, pen tops, etc.
5) Take model kit trees and cut them into small pieces using the x-acto knife. Use these pieces along the edges and on the surface to add detail. Glue down with gap glue and excelerator.
6) spray paint model with grey spray paint. Allow for plenty of ventilation when using spray paint . Wait a few hours for paint to dry. Then take a wide brim brush and lightly dip in paint. Remove most paint until only a little remains on the brush surface. Slowly run brush over surface. This technique is called "dry brushing" and will detail the edges of the surface giving it extra depth.
remember to always have reference photos to use as a guide and remember its never going to look exactly like the original. The object here is to have fun and make it look interesting.
