Building a TV-prop in ten days...

[pompebled]

The other day I got a call from a production assistant, as it turned out they were looking for a RC-boat for a gameshow (sort of).

As it had to be a period ship (VOC type) ánd small (8-10"long), ánd motorized, ánd carry sail (for looks), it was obvïously not something they could purchase at the next toy or hobby shop...

As the show is going to be recorded on April 4, I had no time to scratchbuild something, the only thing I would be able to get ready in time would be a "waterline" model, that would slip over the hull I had made last year to 'RC' a duck.

As the hullsize and waterline shape were given, the number of period ships that would more or less fit, were quite small.

I decided to go for a Dutch vessel, a Fluitschip, which has the rounded hull I needed and a relative simple sailplan (remember the deadline).

Adapting the hull to the given measures I realized it was going to be more a lookalike than the real thing.

In fact, it looks a bit like the the ship in the film Time Bandits by Monty Python.

This afternoon I made a snowscape of my worktable, carving and sanding the shape out of a block of foam.
Once I'm happy with, it I'll cover it in epoxy and glasscloth to make it more durable.

Regards, Jan.

[Umi_Ryuzuki]

Nice start.

Don't give too much away, and make sure you educate them as to what a proper time line should be for such a request, and build. ;)

[pompebled]

Nice start.

Don't give too much away, and make sure you educate them as to what a proper time line should be for such a request, and build. ;)

I told her that over the phone and, as you said, she had no idea of the time consuming nature of such a project.

I contacted a number of boating colleagues, who have such small RC-crafts, but the VOC nature of the item ruled out all those nice little tugs, cruise-liner etc.

Making the hull is the smallest of my 'problems', it will be rather rudimental, without extensive carving and curves.
Getting the rigging to (at least) look the part, will take up most of the time available

Regards. Jan.

[pompebled]

I thought I'd share some pics of one of the speediest builds I've ever done.

From drawing to floating model in ten days.

Due to the lack of time I had to omit a lot of details, but hey, they should have called six months earlier...

Tomorrow is the studio session, I'm charging the transmitter and running batteries now.

Regards, Jan.

[MUG1982]

Hopefully they realize that there is a reason why model building is time consuming. How the heck could you get all the electronic gear set up so quickly?

Kevin

[arrow5]

...and the fan for filling the sails must be hidden in the poop-deck. Next time , heaven forbid TV deadlines yuck, try the brown wrapping paper method on top of the foam, very quick drying to an egg-shell like finish. Proofs the foam against attack by polyester or cellulose paints. 50% waterproof wood glue and water, the paper shrinks nicely and you could simulate planking or plating with more brown paper. The the TV crews sometimes attack it with hair-spray to weather it ? They can apparently make a terrible mess on your handiwork but when seen on camera it`ll look right. Good exercise, hope they paid handsomely

[der kapitan]

Hopefully they realize that there is a reason why model building is time consuming. How the heck could you get all the electronic gear set up so quickly?

Kevin

Jan, that's an amazing transformation for such a short time! :)

I hope they appreciated it, paid well, and have come to realize that these things do not come about overnight. ;)

Of course, they have their own imaginary concept of time and reality, don't they? :rolleyes:

Which is why I avoid jobs with deadlines---. :cool:

[pompebled]

Hopefully they realize that there is a reason why model building is time consuming. How the heck could you get all the electronic gear set up so quickly?

Kevin

Hi Kevin, in my opening post I explained that I was going to use the underwaterpart, I made last year (for my RC-duck), which contains all the electrics (motor, servo, speedcontroler, receiver and batteries).
This way I could concentrate on making the upper part, as seen in the pictures, which in turn slides over the 'duck' section, giving me a complete vessel.

The foam/epoxy/glassed upper part weighs 175 grammes, the entire 'boat' is slightly over 2 kilos, so I should not have trouble keeping her upright...

Kiddin' ofcourse, the tub-like underwaterhull would make her a terrible sailor, besides that, the rigging is fixed and can't be used for anything other than sailing downwind. (to make matters worse, the rudder is a mockup which ends just below the waterline.)

I'll add a picture of the two halves later this week.

Regards, Jan.

[pompebled]

Of course, they have their own imaginary concept of time and reality, don't they? :rolleyes:

Which is why I avoid jobs with deadlines---. :cool:

Yes, they do; after being unsuccessful, browsing the internet (too big, too expensive, not available in time, etc.), they turned to us modellers, instead of asking a modeler in the first place, I'll make sure to point that out, when I meet them tomorrow.

I only took it on, because I had the electrics already 'pre-build', so to speak, otherwise I would have bothered, it's simply impossible to whip up a complete model from scratch in such a short period of time, for me at least.

Regards, Jan.

[tigerbay]

Now you have raised TV bunnies expectations LOL