# Wonderfest Planet of the Apes spacecraft



## SprueUS (Mar 31, 2004)

Greetings all...

First of all, thank you so very much for all of you that are posting photos of Wonderfest. It's really nice for those of us that couldn't make it to be able to at least take in some of the incredible stuff that's there. It's very much appreciated. While looking through jheilman's photos, I noticed there was a model of the spacecraft from Planet of the Apes (aka, Icarus, Liberty 1, Airforce 1, Taylor's Spacecraft, etc). It's on page 9 of his photobucket...'''MetroGrafix's Wonderfest 2015". The model was painted and weathered and standing straight up on the table. Just to the right of it, you can just barely make out a little part of another one that looks like it was just white resin. It leads me to believe that it was a vendor table rather than the model exhibit. I'm wondering if that is a kit that's available for purchase. I couldn't tell what vendor it was but if it helps to identify it, I can make out a large poster behind and to the left of it that showed the logo for "The Fantasy Worlds of Irwin Allen" and a logo for "Outer Portals" and some Ron Gross artwork. I was hoping someone could elaborate a bit on it. Thanks!

Fernando


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## Carson Dyle (May 7, 2003)

Yeah, cool kit. A buddy of mine, Tony Hardy, produces it (it was mastered by Bill Early). Not sure what the availability is at this point, but if I'm not mistaken Tony is a HobbyTalk member. You might look him up and shoot him a PM.


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## Buc (Jan 20, 1999)

Might be Shapeways Icarus. Couldn't tell from the photo who's table
it was.


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## Carson Dyle (May 7, 2003)

I shot Tony a PM. Hopefully he'll post here soon.


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## spock62 (Aug 13, 2003)

This is a spacecraft I would love to see in styrene by Moebius or R2 or any other company for that matter!


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## Carson Dyle (May 7, 2003)

Moebius has explored, and continues to explore, the possibility. The problem is Fox licensing. Apparently another company holds the model kit rights, but from what I gather they have no interest in producing any model kits. Don't you love it when that happens?


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## SprueUS (Mar 31, 2004)

Thanks all for the info. That does look like a great kit. I'm very interested and if it's available, I'd love to know the price and scale. 

It looked too big to be a shapeways model. But I have to say...I recently purchased two /144 shapeways Icarus in Frosted Ultra Detail from here:

https://www.shapeways.com/product/4...4-91-mm?li=search-results-1&optionId=40549458

And they are REALLY nice! Don't let the drawings put you off...the nose is much sharper than it looks in the drawings and the detail more refined. She has since come out with a 1/96 version and I'm thinking abut getting one. 

This (along with the Proteus) is one of my "injection plastic" grail kits. Looks like the Proteus will soon be realized....can't wait. And I will continue to wish for this one as well.


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## Dave Hussey (Nov 20, 1998)

I still have an unbuilt Wilco Models 1/48 Icarus (and a Proteus) at home. Considering that Sarge, the owner of Wilco, was essentially operating out of his backyard, his Icarus is surprisingly nice.


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## Dave Hussey (Nov 20, 1998)

Carson Dyle said:


> Moebius has explored, and continues to explore, the possibility. The problem is Fox licensing. Apparently another company holds the model kit rights, but from what I gather they have no interest in producing any model kits. Don't you love it when that happens?


They could sub-out the license, assuming they aere interested in _money_ (in my best Thurston Howell III accent).


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## Carson Dyle (May 7, 2003)

Dave Hussey said:


> They could sub-out the license, assuming they aere interested in _money_ (in my best Thurston Howell III accent).


It may be one of those instances where the cost of dealing with the legalities would exceed the projected profit. At the end of the day it may not be worth Fox's time. Or Moebius' for that either. 

Then again, who knows. I do know Frank would love to produce an Ape's ship if he can make it happen. Moebius has a really good record with their Fox kits, and a strong relationship with the consumer products guys. Fingers crossed they'll one day be able to come to terms.

In the meantime, I've still got my Crow's Nest EscApe ship.


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## SprueUS (Mar 31, 2004)

I remember seeing and admiring your escape ship. Beautiful job and that's a great photo. I bought Drew's full POTA ship and the Escape version when he was running the kickstart project. I bought the paperweight a few months ago on eBay. So far...they are the best renditions. Though in my opinion, the cross sections is a little too oval. I feel it should be a tad bit flatter if you know what I mean. To me, the version your friend had at Wonderfest seemed to have a better cross section. I'd have to get a closer look to really tell. No matter what, I love the Crow's Nest versions and I'm so happy to have been able to get them while they were available.


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## Carson Dyle (May 7, 2003)

I haven't seen enough of Tony's version to compare the two. I do know that the Crow's Nest kits are spot on, having been exhaustively cross-referenced against the studio blueprints, Phil Broad's Cloudster images, and Jim Key's own (revised) drawings of the full-scale mockup. I suspect Bill Early drew from the same reference (although he may have referenced Bob Burns pull of the FX miniature, in which case the details will be off relative to the full-scale). As for the curvature of the "oval," I had a chance to compare my own build of the CN model with Bill Creber's original wooden study model. The lines and contours were virtually identical -- and in this case the lines of the studio blueprints correspond to what was actually built.

Jim and Phil spent decades collecting and studying data re: this particular subject, and the fruits of their labor are evident in the Crow's Nest kit(s). As nice as an injection molded kit would be, no one will ever produce a more accurate model of the "Apes" ship(s).


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## SprueUS (Mar 31, 2004)

I think you're right about the FX miniature. And that may be what I'm thinking of. I always have that image of the "going, going...gone" sinking scene which was entirely the FX miniature. In that scene, the ship looks flatter (which I know is a discrepency between the full size and miniature). Having known first hand the quality of the CN Proteus (Bought one of those as soon as he started selling them), I had no hesitation buying the CN POTA ships. They are still the best rendition of the ship to date. I'm glad I have them and I've no intentions of ever parting with them. They were not cheap but they were worth every penny they cost. I just wish that there were a less expensive injection version so I could build some of the variations I have floating around in my head.


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## RMC (Aug 11, 2004)

awesome pic !


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## The_Engineer (Dec 8, 2012)

I might be interested in this as well. I would like to know size (and scale) and price. From the photo it looks a bit bigger then the Crow's Nest one (which was something like 14.5" long). The CN versions are the best ones so far (and I really love them), but the interior of the Escape one has some errors.


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## Buc (Jan 20, 1999)

Carson Dyle said:


> I shot Tony a PM. Hopefully he'll post here soon.


Wow! That is BIG!! Great picture! Thanks.


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## SprueUS (Mar 31, 2004)

For anybody interested, I thought I'd share photos of the two little 1/144 scale POTA ships that I bought on Shapeways. I mentioned these earlier in the thread so I though maybe someone would like to see them. Each one is 3 9/16 inches in length. They were printed in Ultra Frosted Detail. They require some cleanup before doing anything with them. I've never worked with this stuff but there's a video on youtube that shows how to use Westley's Bleche-Wite tire cleaner to remove the residual white polymer powder that's used in the printing process. I was very impressed when these arrived. I can't speak to how accurate they are or if the scale is right but I think they'd look good in a diorama. The artist now has a 1/96 scale version as well.


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## Xenodyssey (Aug 27, 2008)

Thanks for the photos of the Icarus models. I had a look at the link you gave to Shapeways and am thinking of getting one myself.


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## CaptCBoard (Aug 3, 2002)

The image of Tony holding that model tells me it has to be 1/2 Studio Scale. This would very much be a model I need to get my hands on!

Scott


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## The_Engineer (Dec 8, 2012)

How big was the studio scale model? Five Feet long? If so, that would make this 2.5 feet (30") long which is great. I tried to get a size from the photo and got something like 18-20" size. I would prefer the larger 30" size.


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

Has anybody thought about how to display this? See, the problem I run into is the context of the ship. We have no real idea of what the complete ship is supposed to look like, which means that display options are limited. Pointing up out of the water, laying on its belly with random 'wreckage' strewn about, or chopped and modded for Escape from the Planet of the Apes (and the POTA TV series).

I dunno, context is a major thing to me. Most Movie and TV vehicles, there's many options. Some things define themselves such as the Enterprise. Others, like the Jupiter II, several options. But the ship from POTA, it wasn't ever fully developed. It didn't matter. It was a disposable setpiece designed solely to maroon the astronauts. Nothing more. 

Mind, that doesn't make it 'bad', there's lots of love for the sleek '60s styling and any number of conjectural works trying to 'build' the complete craft. And this looks like a really good model. I hope it's successful.


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## CaptCBoard (Aug 3, 2002)

The filming model was 42 or 44 inches. It may have been 46 inches, I can't recall, but it was in that range, less than 4 feet.

Scott


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## Carson Dyle (May 7, 2003)

Steve H said:


> Has anybody thought about how to display this? See, the problem I run into is the context of the ship. We have no real idea of what the complete ship is supposed to look like, which means that display options are limited.


Bill Creber did an early pre-production sketch for "Beneath" depicting Brent's ship in vertical landing mode. As the script developed the vertical landing was changed to a crash landing. In any case, the configuration Creber originally envisioned for "Beneath" has more or less been replicated by Bill George on his awesome Sci-Fi Airshow site.

As for Tony's model, it does appear to be a half-scale reproduction of the FX miniature. Given the limitations of the configuration (i.e. no room for engines) the thing that makes the most sense to me is to approach the subject as if it were some sort of Gemini-esque escape capsule. I'd omit the big twin engine bells, but leave the smaller thrusters that appear at the end of the canards, both fore and aft. This is what I eventually plan to do with my Crow's Nest Taylor's ship.

I would LOVE to see good model of the "complete" Taylor's ship, i.e. taking what we know about front of the ship and extrapolating the rest. For my money the coolest approach would be to crib a bit from the SR-7, i.e. side-mounted engine pods, each pod sporting upper and lower glide fins designed for a horizontal landing & takeoff... kind of a space age mashup of the SR-71, the Concorde, and Werner Von Braun's designs for Disney. Sleek, streamlined and powerful-looking.


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## SprueUS (Mar 31, 2004)

I've been toying with the idea of using one of the 1/144 shapeway models I have atop a Revell / Monogram or Airfix "Saturn 5ish" stack. I was thinking of adding 4 Shuttle style solid engines around the main stage and then extrapolation the middle to represent the unseen portion. I agree with the concept that what we see splashing down in the lake and laying amidst charred wreckage is the "capsule". Clearly, that door in the rear bulkhead implies an area beyond that's accessible by the crew "in mission". It would also make sense to have the hibernation chambers in the capsule in case an emergency arises during the deep sleep. In my mind, what sits between the capsule and the Launch vehicle contains living quarters, additional equipment and a drive capable to accelerating this craft to relativistic velocity. I know that there's a great deal of conjecture and speculation about this subject. And that there's no context to place any of it into that's related to the actual scenes in the movies. But for me...that's just another facet of this hobby that can be very rewarding. Just think of all those Trek ships that are derivatives of the very few ships seen on screen. I love dioramas that place a subject into contextual relevance. But I also love well designed and executed models of all types. It's all fun to me and one of the reasons I'm drawn to this hobby.


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