It's amazing how just a coat of paint can just make the model into what it's supposed to be instead of just a bunch of stuff put together. AWESOME FREIGHTER!!! Thanks for the upload! GREAT BUILD!!!
this is great. used to make spaceships out of model parts and Styrofoam, and junk when we were kids. brings back old memories. Star Wars was inspiration
I know I'm kinda late and its rare when I comment on RU-vid but I just wanted to thank you, your models inspired me to make one of my own for a math project and People loved it! Thank you so much for sharing your process and tips plz Keep getting even better at it!
Awesome ship and inspiring video, but exactly same thoughts about tabs. I just couldn't unsee them even after paint. Maybe they work if used with other pieces, or around holes etc. But all in all, awesome work!
The soda can tabs are the only thing I didn't like as soon as I saw them. But the rest of it is great. Amazing how much the ship came alive after just a coat of paint!!!
It definitely looks cool. You need to add some detail markings and paint. Make it huge transport ship. I've been looking into ways to get started on scratch builds. This might be the key I needed. Thanks
great vid! really transformed when painted -- going into more weathering and adding lights would punch it up to a whole other level -- thanks for posting!
Can't wait to get stuck into creating a space ship for our project and this is such a cost effective way of making something awesome. Thanks for the video :)
love this video!!!! I've been working on models for years with the same concept. ty for reminding me how fun it can be. and sloooowly true about the painting. it unifies what you build and adds so much depth and detail to any piece
That must be very absorbing. I would imagine that a person could get an enormous buzz out of creating something like that. Once all the various throwaway things are stuck together and then spraying. The spraying of the various textures really makes the creation. Maybe a few insignias of sorts too. A splendid look at the end.
I just started making a spaceship about 40 cm in length and 15 cm tall. Gathered old plastics and computer boards, old electronic etc... glued most of the stuff but still a bit to go then going to apply the color and hope it turns out well. I know this video is a little old but I just really got into sci-fi and I’m loving it. Cheers from Poland!
I like what you have created with pieces which we usually think as waste - all power to you for the tutorial on making this Space Ship- it looks great- and certainly demonstrating that a lot of fun to be had in making these types of Space Ship models. Thanks for Posting.
Cool video, I really like practical effects, I like how you managed to make all the parts look all as one when put together and painted. I'm making some sci fi stuff with my 3D printer but this gives me good ideas to add extra detailing on my work without having to print everything!
Hi sure, I was using Ultimakers in FabLabs, they are great but I got a cheap Chinese Import clone one and it works nearly as well. I think though, printing loads of details etc takes a lot of time, the found objects in your ship are good ideas for greebles etc to add them on to a more simple 3D print structure.
The rectangular port below the popsicle makers would have made a great engine if it were filled with a diffuser and a bank of LED's. Or it would make a kool hanger deck if filled with smaller ships and lit up.
Great inspiration! It would be better imo to have a balance of detailing. I mean the kitbash pieces had all sorts of panels and details, while the main body had many ''empty'' surfaces. I would add some pales with tape, wires, even scribe in some lines to give an overall busy appearance. Also I would try to be more colourful. You know like those Chriss Foss spaceships with brilliant colours and markings.
I was thinking of buying some model kits - planes, tanks etc - and cannibalising them. Thanks for the ideas. I also plan on painting them in wild colours, in homage to renowned sci-fi illustrator Chris Foss.
Apparently I’m really late to the message board because this just popped up on my feed for building spaceships from scratch materials… Regardless I found this video very informative and I’m glad that I watched it because I’m about to go where no one has gone before “breaking out the hot glue gun and going to town on helpless random bits of plastic stuff!!”
please look up one of the many videos here on youtube about detailing model spaceships, especially applying washes and weathering; it'll make it look 1000% more realistic and detailed - adam savage has some good vids on building ship models and detailing them
Nov. 2017---Thanks for an interesting & educational video. While others have mentioned how the pop tops jumped out at them even after painting, think you're use of model kit parts was off too. Looks like you used the left & right halves rear section of a 1/48th scale T-33 and as to the wings, maybe a 1/72nd scale F-14? As to the pop tops, think I'd use 'em, but glue a cut/sanded piece of plastic over each of them to represent a hatch or cargo hatch? I've seen a couple of model kit parts used on the Falcon, including half of a P-38 main landing gear tire on it which took some of the magic away from me. About 10 years ago, Fine Scale Magazine ran an article about a guy in Florida who built sci-fi vehicles, but they were your everyday kind of work vehicle. A 1-2 man ship used to mine asteroids for their metals for example. Think that one was made from 2 plastic flower pots with the tops being glued together, along with windows, interior, etc. being done.For larger stuff, he'd take a sheet of plywood, drill a hole in it and then lay/clamp a sheet (1/4" thick?) of plexiglass over the hole, then use a blowtorch to gently heat the plexiglass. The heat would slowly push the plexiglass into/thru the hole to create a bubble of the size he wanted. Then after cooling, he'd use a hacksaw to cut the bubble from the plywood.Sorry to be so long winded
holy crap! as soon as u put the grey paint on it it looked awesome! for the different colour black parts...did u tape off the other parts you didn't want to paint black or how did you do it? May I embed your video in a blog post? i'd love to blog about this. instant subscribe btw!
Yeah, for the blacked out bits we just used a little tape and paper. And no worries about embedding the video elsewhere! Share away! Thanks for subscribing!
I'm just going to say it. No. This makes a terrific looking desktop model but it will DISSOLVE on a model mount. Every miniature begins with the armature. You build the basic frame around the multi position socket. The frame is either plex (perspex in the UK) or aluminum. Plex if fine for most light applications but if your hero model is going to be used for more than a year - use metal. Second, kit bashing is fine but you really want to detail the ship with cut polystyrene. Make molds of your kit parts and mass produce them. Better yet, build kit part detail sheets, mold those and cut them to shape and apply. This is how most of the ILM models were fabricated up to Jedi. Second, no hot glue. Are you kidding? You're going to be shooting this thing at f11 or even f16. You will be POURING light across it. It's going to get hot. And you won't be using flo or LED lights either. Why? Again, aperture. You need sharp, single-source shadows. Not going to get that with LEDs or soft sources. For this reason, you need a heat tolerant adhesive - sino (cyanoacrylate adhesive). So to sum up: 1) model mount socket at he core 2) plexiglass or aluminum armature 3) cyanoacrylate adhesive. 4) Cut styrene detailing 5) Finish with kit parts or better - mold and mass replicate a kit part library. Now, once you are done - you can take the next step and go full Pro... Seal the model in a mold-friendly primer and make a cast of THE ENTIRE SPACESHIP. That cast will not shed parts, melt or crack under constant use. It's not a simple process in itself but every ship you say on Deep Space Nine was a cast from the hand-made model. That allowed a camera ready ship to be packed, unpacked, mounted and shot with minimal pre-camera touch up. But follow steps 1-5 and you will get a durable, non melting, camera ready miniature that will survive mostly unchanged through production.
I like this model you done. Would super glue be an ok alternate to a glue gun? Also if you had to add landing gear to this ship, what would you use or would it not matter too much?
I think superglue would be a reasonable alternative, just not nearly as fast. I wound't know where to begin if you intend on adding 'functional' landing gear, but if they're static just make sure they're durable enough to support the weight of the ship!
Good job considering you didn't have a studio budget and custom made 3D detail pieces etc. I am actually putting together a sci fi film. I live in the Melbourne Australia region and I wish to form a sci fi filmmakers group. I have all the film production gear as I have been in the business 30 years. But most commercial and corporate paid work. So looking forward to do something I really love science fiction, spaceships, futuristic sets and props.
That is an excellent question I to which unfortunately do not have the answer. All I know is we found it at Goodwill, but I no longer have this model in my possession to check where any of it came from.
I don't know. It still looks nothing like a spaceship to me, even after the painting. It looks like a small piece of a much larger spaceship, or an alien plasma machine gun.
The hot glue gun holds? I've been experimenting with different glue types (for strength and drying speed), and I know that hot glue will dry fast, but does it hold??
It's definitely not the tool to use if you want to keep the models in perpetuity. We knew that they'd have a one time use on this set, so we were fine cutting that corner and using hot glue. Depending on the weather conditions where you're shooting, the models will begin to fall apart after a couple of weeks. Hot glue is sturdy enough immediately following the build, and is easily fixable should a piece or two fall off while transporting the models to and from set. Don't build them like this though if you're hoping for long term use.
