Nostromo Building thread, tips and tricks....

[Space Jockey]

Superb JTP! Looks fantastic. Great work indeed.

[andy]

Wow JTP. You have done so much work on this thing it may have been easier to do it from scratch. When you are finished detailing are you going to create new molds from it?

Andy

[Mark Sheppard]

[The Loyalizer]

You do realize that once you get this all done, someone's gonna want a version that can be lit up...
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"We began to recognize in them a strange obsession..."

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[Mark Sheppard]

Well Guys, the whole docking module has been remastered, all that is left now on the kit is the Port front nacelle with the new VTOL angle, and a new more accurate insert (small easy part) for the 3 main engines, and the kit is DONE!

[Mark Sheppard]

WHOA! I just found the strips of hanging lights like they used on the Nostromo as landing lights draped from front to back along the bottom, Wow! I can maybe add some accurate looking lighting to it!

[Monroville]

[SKIN JOB 66]

Great find, now we'll be able to light this properly and land softly on that damn planet... Oh my !
(and great remolded docking module photo BTW !!!)



Fred
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THE FUTURE IS A THING OF THE PAST

[joberg]

Very good work JT! Hell, why not add those lights?

[clutch]

Are they in the right scale? that's gonna be hella cool if they work

[Mark Sheppard]

[Mark Sheppard]

Well tonight I had to kiss the mold for the port front nacelle good-bye.

I cast 3 of these things tonight and the 25 year old mold started to deteriorate...hence why I did 3 of these. This is the last major part I intend to recast, so I made 2 to redo, and one to keep as a plug of the original AEF kit.
The mold will never be used again, and is stuck in a box for storage.

Now I am in the process of chopping off the port nacelle VTOL thruster for the correct angle, and adding more detail. This part should done quick, as I can take all measurements off of the Starboard side, and simply mirror it!!

so maybe If I can get this endeavor finished this weekend, I can get back to the building part! I just thought it would be interesting for people to see what the process is

[Space Jockey]

They look awesome. Man you have so many projects going on at the moment. See if you liked Aliens, you'd have so many more LOL
Have you had any more updates from the people that have already started building their kits at all?

[Mark Sheppard]

I have not heard from Mike lately, He was building it fast, He had the landing gear done, and most of it ready to assemble, and then he had to go back to work I guess (he had a month recovering from surgery)
The Professor.. I am sending a pair of these redone Nacelles... and a Guy In Denmark is doing one.. and then a guy in Lousiana is doing one. I will need send them an email for progress pics. The small ones are going everywhere, 4 to the UK in the last week, and one to France (Freds)

On these nacelles, if you look closely, you can see some problems, which is why this particular mold needs replaced. besides the incorrect VTOL angle

[Space Jockey]

Well when you do work on the new angle, definitely check out those new pics on the restoration site. They're really helpful, I've found them to be no end of use on the blueprints.

[Mark Sheppard]

I actually used a huge Nostromo Mosaic I have in my living room to get the angle of the front VTOL thrusters...that was the most difficult. I redid the first side 4 times before I got it right, and then I molded it. I am sitting here now cutting out the side panels for the VTOL thrusters. I simply etched the side panels with charcoal crayon and paper, and I reversed it to make the opposite side. It should go much easier than the first one I did...that was a nightmare! I used a small hobby saw to cut off the VTOL grill. It is a ton of work, but with modern silicon molds, it will be much better. These original AEF molds are polyurethane, My materials suppliers eyes about bugged out when I told him the material the original molds were. He said they probably cost thousands of dollars and required expensive equipment to produce back in the 80's... I am just glad there are better materials nowadays and for a couple grand, stuff can be restored. It is a ton of work, but in a way its fun...

[SKIN JOB 66]

Impressive work once more, bravo JT !!!

Fred
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THE FUTURE IS A THING OF THE PAST

[aliensarchive]

How does the size of this model compare with the model built for the movie to pull the refinery?

[Mark Sheppard]

This one is about 2 feet 3 inches long... I dont recall how big the mid size model was, probably Fred would know.

[Mark Sheppard]

Here is a pic of Freds Kit almost ready to go. I have 2 more items to cast, and box it up.. I did a complete new hull for him today... 88 ounces of resin.. So it is Solid... and actually even though it used more material, it is a better way to go. Now trimming pieces!

many parts are now made with new molds, and I have solved many molding problems to make a higher quality kit.