# The surface texture of the Derelict from Lost in Space



## Y3a (Jan 18, 2001)

when I was a kid, the first Lost in Space episode I saw was Episode 2 - The Derelict. The sound of the Jupiter 2 and the landing gear sequence made THAT my favorite space ship. fade out - Fade in. I bought the 1st year LIS DVD set when it came out. I watched about 8 episodes in before I started losing IQ points. Anyway, the Derelict was always one of my favorite props. I heard that Bill Mumy got to visit the 2nd unit as they did the shots of the Gemini 12 model being sucked into the Derelict. He said that the lighting in the round things on the mouth were "pinkish". So I'm going with that. The surface is REALLY complex. I think they used a weather balloon and coated it with epoxy or fiberglass soaked twine to build the surface. I've watched this episode at least 20 times to study the surface. Today, waiting at the Chinese carry-out It dawned on me that I could use wadded aluminum foil that was smoothed out with Q-tips, so it was flat, but still had wrinkles. Bare Metal Foil is too thin, and has a sticky back side that would cause problems trying to smooth out THAT thin of foil. So cut sheets and make it more plate light, and taking special attention at the seams. Then, a very light black wash. Finally the more pronounced lines done with a silver thin Magic Marker, and finally a flat black spray to bring out highlights.

Thoughts??


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## Xenodyssey (Aug 27, 2008)

The seams and bunching look to be the only problems. It's a reasonable solution to the problem. My thought was to use thick paint and a sponge.


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## mach7 (Mar 25, 2002)

I used textured Krylon rattle can. It worked very well but I did not do any veining. 

I'm thinking of a thin black was brushed on to add it.


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## Lou Dalmaso (Jul 13, 2004)

I used bunched up saran wrap. 

paint, lay on the wrap then quickly pull off the wrap.

repeat as necessary


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## Opus Penguin (Apr 19, 2004)

Can anyone post pictures of their work?


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## Y3a (Jan 18, 2001)

Newest thought is the paint it all flat black. Then go back over it with a dark grey to paint the patterns, and finally use some foam rubber and blot on some flat silver.


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## Opus Penguin (Apr 19, 2004)

Y3a said:


> Newest thought is the paint it all flat black. Then go back over it with a dark grey to paint the patterns, and finally use some foam rubber and blot on some flat silver.


I like that idea.


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## Y3a (Jan 18, 2001)

What I need is to get some screen caps of all sides of the Derelict off off of BluRay. 
I 'could' suggest 10 or so caps, and I will get the times off my set of crappy old 'regular' DVD's from when that set came out. 

The saran wrap idea is great too. 
I thought about using REAL sponge for the more 'organic' look too. 

If I do get the screen caps and can document a believable set of patterns it might be useful. 

Imagine actually making a Derelict in scale with the 18" version, with weather balloons used for the round parts 
and a combo of balsa frames for the mouth with paper covered with cheese cloth to imitate that strange texture!!!


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## Lou Dalmaso (Jul 13, 2004)

here you go
got a silver at Wonderfest


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## mach7 (Mar 25, 2002)




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## terryr (Feb 11, 2001)

That looks pretty cool. Really 'alien'.

Car paint comes in special weird things like krinkle paint and such. Might work.


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## kimba32003 (Dec 17, 2008)

Great pics everyone, I've yet to purchase this model kit (I have TOOOO Many on the back burner !!) But the moment I saw this model, I already thought of attaching it to a simple clock mechanism from any craft / hardware store, with the Jupiter 2 separate on the minute hand and the Derelict on the hour hand so you could have a rotating / changing diorama of the actual episodic movement ?!!!

Any thoughts guys ? would a simple (or more substantial) clock mechanism handle the weight of the model ?

Wayne
Perth
West Australia


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## terryr (Feb 11, 2001)

There are slow speed motors out there. 1 rev a minutes or so.

But how to attach the derelict in the middle?

Or have the derelict turn and the J2 stay still.


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

IIRC in that episode the Derelict was motionless in space and the Jupiter 2 orbited it when they were checking it out.


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## Captain Han Solo (Apr 5, 2002)

When gathering research to do the test shot for Moebius,(you can see it on the box back), I reached out to Bill Mummy on Facebook. This is what he said..



*Hi... I think it was a silver styrofoam thingy... It was silver. The interior "bubble" bits were pinkish.
*


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