CAPTAIN'S BLOG

Starship Dimensions on AMCTV.com

webmaster — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 01:36:13 +0000

Thank you Clayton for featuring SD in amctv.com’s Scifi Scanner blog.

http://blogs.amctv.com/scifi-scanner/2008/03/starship-dimensions-site.php

Martin Bower - Super Modeler

webmaster — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 01:51:04 +0000

Here it is…. after a long delay (sorry Martin), my e-interview with Martin Bower. Check out his website for loads of cool photos and information about the many shows and movies he has worked on. http://www.martinbowersmodelworld.com/

E-interview Questions:

I was wondering if you are a science fiction fan (I’m guessing you are given your profession) and if so has working on these models added to or diminished the magic of watching sci-fi for you?

I love some SF & Fantasy. Other stuff I detest –but I guess ALL of us are like that. I cannot judge the films I’ve worked on precisely because I DID work on them. “ALIEN” was a really hard 14 month slog!

I loved redoing the THUNDERBIRDS, STINGRAY & CAPT SCARLET stuff for the comics, video covers, DVD’s etc for the UK’s re-runs of these shows in the early 1990’s. They were a real labour of love.

I also loved the “Lord of the Rings” & “The Hobbit” long before anyone had ever heard of Peter Jackson, and some of Arthur Clarke’s stuff, but my favourite film of all time is “THE RAILWAY CHILDREN”! (I just LOVE old steam trains & live very near a re-constructed railway!)

You must feel a great deal of pride to see the fans react to your creations. (I suppose I do, but I’ve never consciously thought about it like that. I do get many letters of thanks so I’m VERY pleased people like what I do)

How did you break into the industry and do you have any advice for aspiring modelers? Learn CGI it’s “killing” 3 D models for films!

I “broke” into the industry by taking a model I’d built in 1968 (after my first viewing of “2001: A Space Odyssey” aged 16) to Bray studios in 1973 when I heard “Space 1999” was going to be made. The SFX Director, Brian Johnson, saw my model, asked me to take it out the car as he wanted to shoot “test footage” of it (I was absolutely flabbergasted!) and that was it. I made 86 models for that show alone over the following 2 ½ years, 70 of which I designed. That was 34 years ago & I’m still going strong!

Has computer graphics had any impact on your work or the way you make models? See the above!

You have produced over 1000 professional works. Do you have a favorite? There are many I like, but I honestly couldn’t pick a favourite from my own designs, if that’s what you mean. As far as other people’s creations are concerned I still love SUPERCAR, (which was made in 1960-61). I watched it as a kid & loved it!. I still get that same magic today watching it on DVD! It was this programme alone that inspired me to do the work I do!

You mentioned on your site that you build the same model at different scales depending on how it is to be used. Many of our fans often quote dimensions as per “canon” and yet we hear different sizes for the same ship. Can you tell us who determines the “real” dimensions for fictional ships?

Like I said, usually the SFX crew. But I ALWAYS have a scale in mind when I’m building a model. For example a 44 inch “Eagle” from “Space 1999” is 1/24^th scale. That is ½ inch= 1 foot. So an Eagle is 88 feet long in “real life”. A 22 inch model is 1/48^th scale; that’s ¼ inch = 1 foot, you get the idea, I’m sure.

A Suerp Thank you to Martin for taking the time to chat and the cool photos.

Cloverfield monster

webmaster — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 02:56:49 +0000

We would certainly LOVE to put up the Cloverfield monster, but sadly we cannot find an image.

If there is anyone out there who with the connections to get an image to us, please send us a note!

Last Post for 2007

webmaster — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 19:04:47 +0000

Sorry for such a gap in the blogging (I’ve been busy with my new job). Here’s the good news, I’m finally creating a new database for all these images. That means that the site will be searchable! …so if you only want to see ships/aliens from a certain show/movie/game/book; you’ll be able to.

Happy New Year!

International Astronomy Day

webmaster — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 13:18:21 +0000

Astronomy Day - Saturday - April 21st, 2007 Don’t forget to look up tonight and think about were we might travel to in the future and appreciate the beauty and mystery of the universe.

Welcome home Charles Simonyi and thank you for pushing limits, you are a pioneer, sir.

Happy Cosmonautics Day!!

webmaster — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 12:55:23 +0000

Today is the forty sixth anniversary of the first man ever to orbit the Earth, mankind’s first foray into space. Yuri Gagarin was a twenty seven year old Soviet cosmonaut when he traveled into space aboard Vostock 1. Yuri’s flight lasted one hour and forty eight minutes and he retuned to Earth safely. One year after the historical flight Cosmonautics Day was established to celebrate this momentous feat.

I’m not sure if there have been any celebrations in Russia this year. I hope so. If anyone has any news about celebrations this year, send me the link. In the mean time let us all take a moment to think about that wonderful day and all of our accomplishments since and where we’ll be in the future.

Happy Vernal Equinox!

webmaster — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 13:17:30 +0000

Today is the Vernal Equinox (in N.A.); otherwise known as the first day of spring.

Twice a year the length of the day and the night are equal (exactly twelve hours each), these days are the equinoxes. The spring equinox signals the start of longer days until the longest day, which is known as Summer Solstice. Then the days become shorter until the fall equinox (where the the night and day are of equal length again) and continue to shrink until the shortest day, which is Winter Solstice.

Or, if you are in the southern hemisphere you experience the season opposite of the northern hemisphere and today you celebrate the Autumnal Equinox.

Here is a fun little Equinox quiz to celebrate today.

Fight ageing - play video games!

webmaster — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 16:59:34 +0000

See, I knew computer games were good for me! Thank you to Daphne Bavelier, professor of brain and cognitive sciences at the University of Rochester, for showing that playing action video games improves the spatial resolution of people’s vision. Not only does this study help justify playing computer games, but there may also be a therapeutic application. People who have vision problems such as “lazy-eye” or even those suffering the ravages of time can improve their vision by playing Quake 4!

Rallegraménti ESA !

webmaster — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 16:07:35 +0000

The European Space Agency announced that Paolo Nespoli (from Italy) will be a Mission Specialist for the STS-120 mission to the International Space Station. One of the main goals of this twenty third mission to the shuttle is the delivery of the Italian built Node 2, a connecting module, which is an important piece as it will allow two new laboratories to be added to the station.

Remember less than one hundred years ago this was science fiction.

We’ll need a new image of the ISS! (see the 1x page)

Ultrachron is real!

webmaster — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 17:03:28 +0000

Never before have geologists been able to so precisely determine the date of geological processes that a rock experiences as time passes. A new device uses a mineral called monazite, which acts as a petrologic black box to determine when a rock was exposed to events such as: extreme heat, the pressure of a glacier, or an impact with another rock. The task of utilizing the properties to monazite fell to the University of Massachusetts and a French analytical instrumentation company. Together, they created a machine called ‘Ultrachron’! Sadly, I do not think that Ultrachron transforms, but read more about it anyway.