Remember this model kit? by Redfern
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Description
As some others have done in the last week, I'm playing tribute to Leonard Nimoy. But I opted not for a "memorial" styled composition, but something in his "prime", demonstrating the character of Spock will always be with us. I decided to try recreating the scene depicted in the AMT/Aurora figurine plastic assembly model kit. Or maybe I should say "interpreting" as it is not an exact reproduction of the assembled kit or the box cover art.
Allow me to credits the people who made this composition possible.
Michael 2 P4...DAZ.com
Face pose...Joe Public (attribution corrected 2022/08/18)
Uniform tunic...XCalPro
Uniform pants...XCalPro
Uniform boots...XCalPro
Tricorder...XCalPro
Phaser...MechMaster
Communicator...MattyManx/Sgreco
Spock hair...Mylochka
Dragon's Keep...AntFarm
Twister sky-dome...AntFarm
RDNA XenoFlora...Traveler
Hydra...MallenLane
Enterprise...MattyManx/David Metlesits
The "hydra" has a bit of a story behind it. The original figure is sold as a "hydra", but one quite different from the creature in the model kit. It had a sauropod (brontosaurus) type body with three totally separate necks emerging from the torso. I "hid" all body parts except for the central neck and head. I positioned and posed it in a "rearing" stance. Then I duplicated the existing "partial" figure twice, making each one "lean" outward from the original, thus making it look a bit more like the model kit monster.
Spock is based upon the Michael 2 P4 "hybrid" figure shaped and rigged to wear the Poser 4 Nude Male's clothes, now 4 releases behind. However, the base shape of the face lends itself to Nimoy's sharp angled features more easily than the newer meshes.
I suspect several of us here built that kit when it was first released. When Round2 acquired the rights and found the original molds I was thrilled because some accounts claimed the molds were destroyed in some sort of accident. Round2 carefully undid the changes made around 1980 when the kit was reissued, tying into the "Motion Picture" and even reprinted the original "long box" cover art. Did I purchase it again? Shoot, you bet!
Sincerely,
Bill
Addendum (2022/08/18): Originally, I identified "Porthos" as the creator of the Spock "face pose". That was a mistake. Yesterday I discovered, it was actually "Joe Public" who shared the settings to create Nimoy's likeness. I have updated the credits accordingly.
Comments (11)
radioham
I did like Spock Great image love it
Colin
I do remember the original model kit from its packaging - but my young self was only interested in the actual ship models rather than the Spock model. Over the next few years, I think I bought 2 of the original Enterprise model kits from that period. I always had trouble getting the nacelles of the first one to stay glued appropriately without 'drooping' at the aft end - I think that first kit ended up with huge gobs of glue visible, in my futile attempt to force the nacelles to successfully fight gravity.
Colin
btw, excellent job on your part in recapturing that scene!
Richardphotos
outstanding depiction and composition. I am currently watching an episode of a mining colony with a silicon based creature that is protecting it's young
MaPPer
excellent =)
miwi
Excellent done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
android65mar
I do remember seeing adverts for this model kit, as I used to buy the Aurora Dinosaur Kits (which at £5-£10 a pop were expensive in the 70s). I never owned this model- excellent reproduction of the scene though. Can't remember there being a hydra monster in Star-Trek- they probably couldn't afford Ray Harryhausen to do the stop motion animation.
Redfern
Nope, "classic" Trek never depicted something that elaborate. It was usually a performer in a costume (like the Gorn or the Horta), or some form of live action puppetry. The "false" Balok from the "Corbomite Maneuver" was a foam head on a stick with a string to operate the mouth. The "true" forms of Sylvia and Korab from "Catspaw" were simply "craft" pieces assembled and hung from suspended strings, classic string puppets. (I endearingly call them Cthulhu "peeps" as they look a bit like baby chickens with tentacled heads, at least to me.) I suspect more limiting than the budget (the creators played the "numbers game" to get some things built that otherwise would have been too expensive) would have been time. Stop motion can take days just to get a few seconds of footage. I'm sure Wah Chang ( who made the Gorn, the puppet Balok, the field gear, etc.) could have built such a creature since stop motion design was one of his specialties. But given the "turn around", around 26 episodes each year, an adventure with a stop motion monster would have required a LOT of "lead time". Given the way schedules were shuffled, it would have been a nightmare. Sincerely, Bill
braynes
remembet it??? i just finished it great spock
Redfern
I'd like to see a snapshot or two if you're willing to share. Sincerely, Bill
coyoteviper
I still have this kit. One of my favs. great job on it here.
A_Sunbeam
Good representation of Spock!
Redfern
As noted in the credits, we should thank the person kind enough to share the face pose. (Amazingly, it was just clever dial spinning, not a dedicated, injected morph sculpted in something like ZBrush.) Meant for Michael 2, I applied it to the M2P4 bonus figure that came in the Michael 2 package. This allowed me to conforming uniforms XCalPro modeled, derived from clothing items that came with Poser designed for the Poser 4 male.
Sincerely,
Bill
Redfern
Originally, I identified "Porthos" as the creator of the Spock "face pose". That was a mistake. Yesterday I discovered, it was actually "Joe Public" who shared the settings to create Nimoy's likeness. I have updated the credits accordingly.
Nod
Excellent work there Bill. I remember the kit well. Didn't have it, but had the ships. 😁