THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL

Tater Schuld's Descon-14 Entry

Quoted from D.J. Nock at http://www.dvdmaniacs.net/Reviews/A-D/day_earth_stood_still.html:

"If you ask any serious film buff which sci-fi flick they love t' most, many would no doubt choose Robert Wise's seminal classic T' Day t' Earth Stood Still.

Unleashed upon a troubled world in 1951, shiver me timbers, this highly influential picture legitimized sci-fi in its decade, a period that delivered many memorable films, and gave birth t' what is commonly known as "quintessential science fiction". Begad! T' Day t' Earth Stood Still is certainly quintessential; a movie that helped t' lay t' ground works for t' genre, arrr, providin' many o' its archetypes and conventions."

Kind o' odd that no one has entered one o' these in descon before? I had watched t' movie about a year ago and thought this would be an easy saucer to build, ya bilge rat, plus a little challenge in t' curved dome on top.

After takin' t' image from http://www.tauspace.freeserve.co.uk/day_the_earth_04.htm and dumpin' it into AutoCAD I be able t' scale it from three quarters up to full size, then I took and matched t' radiuses and angles. Avast, me proud beauty! Aye aye! Notice that there are parts that don't match due t' t' camera bein' at an angle. Aye aye!

I then shrunk t' outline down t' a useable scale (which came out neatly at 1/200th full scale) t' give me a 8 in saucer. Aye aye! would some o' t' details die off in such a shrinkin' process?

As you can see, matey, me bucko, t' outline is still recognizable, so I decided t' start cuttin' parts. Ahoy! I used foamcore for t' 8 and 5.5 inch rings (your try to measure t' a .0001 o' an inch!) and manilla folder for t' angled transition, three bt-20 tubes in standard motor mount configuration, leavin' t' dome to do.

T' dome I made by cuttin' another upper ring, cuttin' a tennis ball in half, wrappin' a latex rubber glove over t' whole thin' (i really wish I had pictures o' this....) I then painted a 50/50 water/wood glue mix and layered toilet paper for make t' dome. Blimey! after about 8 layers o' this I had an acceptable lookin' form that could get t' irregularities filled or sanded out.

Then I did as Dick Stafford suggested, I went on an extended vacation. Ahoy! A full week at Oshkosh (with Burt Rutan!) (http://www.airventure.org/), me bucko, arrr, then a road trip t' Boston for a weddin' and sightseein' tour. Begad!

This o' course completely took me mind off Descon, and it has been a struggle gettin' back t' it (the deadline is WHEN?!?)

Get all t' parts glued together, start usin' drywall compound t' fill in the contours. Begad! Avast! bake in oven t' speed drying, drywall cracks. Aye aye! Begad! Sand, shiver me timbers, matey, do over, me bucko, more cracks. Futz with it one more time, ignore cracks. Arrr! Then paint. Avast, me proud beauty! Ya scallywag!

Note: t' saucer looks like brushed aluminum in t' movie. I thought I would use Krylon Chrome which usually dries poorly t' look like brushed aluminum. Didn't this time givin' it a shinier look than I would expected.

OOOO! I forgot t' add. Aye aye!

I wanted t' try t' make this a night launch, me hearties, shiver me timbers, or at least add some lighting effects, shiver me timbers, so I grabbed some light sticks and attached them t' t' bottom o' the saucer. Begad! Arrr! only t' photos will tell how well it comes out. Begad!

Launch report:

08/30/04 (day after Zak Orions launch) weather looks ok, will be drivin' out to t' launch area at dusk, arrr, get everythin' set up, shiver me timbers, me hearties, and launch before someone thinks UFOs are in t' area. Begad! (hmmmm, matey, matey, colored lights, me hearties, saucer shape, me hearties, out in the country....)

ok, get everythin' set up, matey, crack t' glow sticks and install. Arrr! seem a little dim but we'll work that out later. Arrr! Ahoy! borrow battery, ya bilge rat, fudge electrical hookup and other last minute mayhem. then wait t' get dark t' launch. Aye aye!

Well, matey, t' glow sticks didn't seem t' work too well, will have t' try somethin' else another day. Begad! Blimey!

3...2...1...LAUNCH

Should have done this in t' daylight, well another day...