# Spindrift Fox Blueprint



## starseeker (Feb 1, 2006)

Somewhere ages ago on this site I posted these Spindrift blueprints. I had scanned them on a home scanner and each view was in six or 12 parts and they needed to be put together somehow and it was horrible. When I started on my studio scale 'Drift this summer I duly taped all my own scans together and they were missing bits and the edges were all distorted and... yuk.
For $7 you can get a sheet up to three feet tall and many, many feet long scanned professionally. 
That's where these came from. 
I apologize to everyone who suffered through my earlier idiocy. 
I still had to cut the top view in half to make the files small enough to attach here. 
As far as I can tell, this is a really good version of the 'Drift. Maus designed this miniature to be a colossal cheat. It's not noticeable from the little Aurora kit, but when you get a big one going, it becomes immediately apparent: from every angle the Spindrift is an exercise in forced perspective. On film, it would have looked much larger than it really was, as long as no one was stupid enough to film it from a 90 degree position. Which they didn't. Until the first episode. 
I think these were the final blueprints. And I think that a miniature came back to Maus and he looked at it and looked at the horizontal lip (the "horizontal knuckle") that runs under the door and on both sides and decided that the lip as shown on these blueprints was still too symmetrical, that if it were to flare out a bit more as it went forward the forced perspective illusion could be enhanced even further. From the side, I think the shape is final. From the top, there still needs to be more of a flare along the lip, and if I have any room for attachments left, in the next day or two I'll post an illustration of what I mean.
The hatch.
Okay, this is a blueprint for the full scale miniature. My blueprint for the interior almost perfectly matches this for window and door sizes, and it is 3/4" = 1 foot, or 1/16 scale. The "little people" were 1/12 scale. The hatch on the miniature doesn't match any of those. Possibly again to make the Spindrift seem larger, the hatch was much smaller than the one on the blueprint, which matches the size of the full scale hatch. The hatch finally used on the miniature would make a reasonably sized 1/24 scale hatch. 
So everyone out there who is looking for an accurate Spindrift, well that's no more possible than an accurate Jupiter 2. Either you have an accurate exterior based on the miniature, say, and do some serious modding of the interior (especially if you're going to include the Time Tunnel set in the engine room), or you're going to have to deviate from the miniature in order to fit a 1/16 scale interior with a 1/16 scale hatch.
If at some future point these attachments disappear, pm me and (if I ever remember to check my pms) I can e mail copies to you, or copies of the huge pdf files, tho they really are identical in every way to these:
http://s1004.photobucket.com/albums/af170/jkirkphotos/Fox Spindrift Blueprints/


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## Lloyd Collins (Sep 25, 2004)

Thanks!


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## starseeker (Feb 1, 2006)

This is where I believe the Spindrift miniature differs in shape from the blueprint, and the only place I think it does. The front and side views would remain unchanged. But from all the photos I've seen, the knuckle seems to curve out more, as shown by the red lines (and in the area highlighted by the box). (The better view is in the unboxed area at the top. The darker line leave the intake and is already curving in toward the nose. The redder outine would leave the intake curving toward the outside before curving back in toward the nose.) I've not been able to replicate that curve in any pictures I've taken of the master for the mold I'm making so I'm certain that it is not any kind of photographic distortion. And it shows up in photos of the miniature taken from all angles. Like this shot. Assuming of course that this is an actual miniature. 
Does anyone have a good top or bottom view of the Spindrift miniature that can shed light on this shape? And was there only one Spindrift miniature?
Searching for a Spindrift photo that best shows this curve, I did a count: it took 38 separate attachments to post the Spindrift blueprint the first time. Now it's down to five. Progress.


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## Mitchellmania (Feb 14, 2002)

What happened to the full scale ship? I want to live in it.


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## Carson Dyle (May 7, 2003)

starseeker said:


> Does anyone have a good top or bottom view of the Spindrift miniature that can shed light on this shape? And was there only one Spindrift miniature?


There were a couple of different FX miniatures, but the "hero" is on display at the sci-fi museum in Seattle. I believe Greg Jein owns the other one. 

I took a few pix of the hero, but the photos are inconclusive re: the alleged knuckle bulge. It certainly wouldn't surprise me to learn the FX model differs from the blueprints in this regard. Obviously, if I stumble upon a good top or bottom shot I'll post it here.

BTW, thanks for posting the more "user friendly" scans. :thumbsup:


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## starseeker2 (Jun 13, 2008)

Scanned the Viewmaster Land set for all of the shots of the Spindrift. What's great about these is that these were taken by the special 3d camera on set, so they're as close as we'll probably ever get to the true colors of the 'drift.


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## starseeker2 (Jun 13, 2008)

I just perfectly maxed my attachment space, so I'll leave these up for a just a few days. 
These pictures also give a great sample of the green that was used in the 2nd and 3d season Jupiter 2 as well as throughout much of the Seaview.


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## starseeker (Feb 1, 2006)

Recently discovered a Land of the Gnats episode called "Manhunt", in which a giant picks up the Spindrift and runs away with it. I never knew there was a second episode which featured the miniature. Some good shots of that elusive horizontal lip under the door.
The lip (or knuckle, or whatever they called it) most definitively does not match the blueprint. Surprisingly, it doesn't look like a continuous curve at all, but seems irregular, almost two curves of different radii (one almost flat) joined together. All I can think of is that this was a difficult miniature to make, that it didn't work out quite right, and that someone decided "good enough". The two curves meet just a little behind the door. I mean, no one at Fox ever thought that 40 years later people would be pouring over the miniatures and screen grabs looking for every last detail. 
It's nearing spring here. In another 6 or 10 weeks I'll be able to get into the garage and started on my molds again. I am really stuck on the Spindrift. Do I do the blueprint lip? Do I extend it out so that it sort of matches the miniature but in a continuous curve? Or do I do the wavy lip as built?


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## Seaview (Feb 18, 2004)

Personally, I'd go with a continuous curve. And I'm as stuck on this ship as you are!


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## X15-A2 (Jan 21, 2004)

It is my opinion that the irregular curve only appears from that viewing angle. It would be possible to test this if we had a CG model based on the blueprints (as opposed to going to all the trouble to build a real model). The shot with the cat seen above seems to show a more continuous curve. Unlike the other IA series FX, there were only two models of this ship built and one was incomplete. I believe that only one was ever seen on screen.


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## Seaview (Feb 18, 2004)

And just to keep things confusing, the full sized set, as well as the Aurora and Lunar Models kits, had a relatively "straight" edge beneath the airlock and passenger compartment windows.
I know the second pic doesn't show the edge in question, but I think it's a rather cool pic of the second season campsite miniature from the studio.


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## Mark Dorais (May 25, 2006)

starseeker said:


> This is where I believe the Spindrift miniature differs in shape from the blueprint, and the only place I think it does. The front and side views would remain unchanged. But from all the photos I've seen, the knuckle seems to curve out more, as shown by the red lines (and in the area highlighted by the box). (The better view is in the unboxed area at the top. The darker line leave the intake and is already curving in toward the nose. The redder outine would leave the intake curving toward the outside before curving back in toward the nose.) I've not been able to replicate that curve in any pictures I've taken of the master for the mold I'm making so I'm certain that it is not any kind of photographic distortion. And it shows up in photos of the miniature taken from all angles. Like this shot. Assuming of course that this is an actual miniature.
> Does anyone have a good top or bottom view of the Spindrift miniature that can shed light on this shape? And was there only one Spindrift miniature?
> Searching for a Spindrift photo that best shows this curve, I did a count: it took 38 separate attachments to post the Spindrift blueprint the first time. Now it's down to five. Progress.


I've seen the original on several occasions and it's an amalgamation of gracefull curves (very "boatlike") that ABSOLUTELY depart from the blueprints, of which I have a copy. I've contacted Moebius in the past about sharing a large amount of photos and other critical details of of the miniature with them in the hopes that they would use those and NOT the Blueprints for the general contours and dimensions if they produce the Spindrift in the future........It's ALWAYS better this way!...... That's why the new Moebius Jupiter 2 and Flying Sub are so great!!....They were taken, ie. scanned, from the forms of the original filming miniatures. In addition, there were only two three foot miniatures cast and only one was used in the series. The other is owned by Mr. Greg Jein.... This one is crude and devoid of detail. Incidentally, it's interesting to know that the hero Spindrift had hatches on BOTH sides originally!...possibly an error by the fabricators. The port hatch was puttied in by the time filming commenced. It's faintly present on the existing miniature presently residing in the Seattle Museum of Science Fiction and Hall of Fame. Also, the color of the ship is a variation of burnt orange that is slightly more reddish on the ship's underside. When filmed or photographed it would appear alternately more toward reddish orange .


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## starseeker (Feb 1, 2006)

Mark, for those of us who aren't interested in model kits, is there any way you could post, not even a large #, but just one or two photos of that area in question? One good square on view from the top or bottom is all that I'm looking for, the outline of the horizontal "knuckle" from the view ports to the "intakes". Out in the garage this morning for the first time in four months, cutting circles of styrene to start roughing up the frame for a 45" NX-2000. Very soon (I hope!) it'll be warm enough that I'll be able to start in on the 'Drift, Invaders saucer, etc., again.* Love to have a better idea of this shape.

*(Or, if you listen to my wife, a new gate across the driveway, a new garden trellis, new paint on the fence, new tiles in the porch...)


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## Mark Dorais (May 25, 2006)

starseeker said:


> Mark, for those of us who aren't interested in model kits, is there any way you could post, not even a large #, but just one or two photos of that area in question? One good square on view from the top or bottom is all that I'm looking for, the outline of the horizontal "knuckle" from the view ports to the "intakes". Out in the garage this morning for the first time in four months, cutting circles of styrene to start roughing up the frame for a 45" NX-2000. Very soon (I hope!) it'll be warm enough that I'll be able to start in on the 'Drift, Invaders saucer, etc., again.* Love to have a better idea of this shape.
> 
> *(Or, if you listen to my wife, a new gate across the driveway, a new garden trellis, new paint on the fence, new tiles in the porch...)


I would love to send you some shots but unfortunately I don't have a scanner. I'd be glad to ground mail you some shots of the Spindrift if you desire. My email is [email protected] .:thumbsup:


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## spindrifter (Sep 14, 2010)

*Spindrift Blueprints*

Hi, Is there any way I can get a copy of the blueprints. Spindrift has always been a favorite, if not the favorite spaceship. I always wanted to create a studio size Spindrift with lights, but never saw any prints anywhere, recently saw them on the IANN site so I was searching the web and stumbled across this thread. Thanks.


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## starseeker (Feb 1, 2006)

Will repost them in the next 10 days. I'll make a norte of the new link here as soon as I do.


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## starseeker (Feb 1, 2006)

Reposted the blueprints here:
http://s1004.photobucket.com/albums/af170/jkirkphotos/Fox Spindrift Blueprints/

I have no idea what I need to do to get them to be full size. Perhaps I need the Pro account. In any event, if you wanted to reproduce them at their full size you just need to pay attention to the station #s.t 

Mark Dorias's photographs of the miniature are now here:
http://s1004.photobucket.com/albums/af170/jkirkphotos/Mark Dorias Spindrift Photos/

As you can see, there were some significant differences between the blueprint and the end result. I completely understand why: I'm working on a master for a studio scale version this thing is a monster to re-create. An absolute nightmare. I'm using the bps as a starting point but am trying to incorporate what I can of the obvious differences. Some of the differences are asymetrical and are obvious mistakes, so I'm trying for a reasonable combination of the two that still looks good. As for the scale of the Spindrift miniature, who knows? The little people were 1/62. The miniature was supposed to be 1/16. The door hatch on the finished miniature would make it more like 1/24. The interior full size set had steps leading up to the hatch from the inside. On exterior full size set , the actors don't seem to set up on anything as they exit the corridor and the ship. The floor seems to be level with the bottom of the hatch. ???

Hope these are a help.


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## moonbus01 (Jun 4, 2010)

Hey starseeker, I don’t know if anyone ever knew (or cared about) who drafted the Spindrift plans. Oswald Francis Rennison was born in England on Sept. 9th, 1897 and passed away July 27th 1988 in Thousand Oaks, Ca., at age 90. By 1910 he had emigrated with his family to New York. The 1930 New York Census lists his occupation as “architectural draftsman”. The 1936 LA City Directory and the 1936 LA Voter Registration list his occupation as “artist” and “draftsman”, respectively. So, safe bet he was working at one of the studios at the time, if not at Fox. If you do the math using the date of Aug. 14th 1967 on the plans, Rennison was almost 70 years old! Pretty impressive, if you ask me. Remember people, this was before computers. Maybe someone can dig up an obit. on him. It might be interesting.


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## starseeker (Feb 1, 2006)

That is extremely cool. A few weeks ago, I was looking at "Rennison" on the bp, wondering who he was and if he had fun doing this. This had to have been a monster job. I often wondered how anybody could have figured out what those contours were supposed to be. Thanks for the info!


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## MickeyD (Oct 24, 2008)

Hello Starseeker, MickeyD here. Great to see the Spindrift blueprints in the photobucket area. Have you seen the 1/12 scale Flying Sub blueprints on the Irwin Allen News Network? I did not know of the existance of these before. I thought there were only the 1/24 scale blueprints done and someone used these to make the various models. However it seems the art department made up blueprints for the larger scale as well.


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## starseeker (Feb 1, 2006)

Very interesting! Thanks for that. I made +30 screen grabs and will put them together someday and see what I can make of them. Superficially, the 36" blueprint appears to be identical in every way to the 18", with a few added details that I've only seen in David Merriman's postings. That they are identical surprises me. The 18" miniature seems to conform in shape very much to what was drawn. In the side view of the FS, the wings continue to curve right to the wing tips. This is the way the 36" is drawn, too. (Drawed? No that's not right. Drawn?) Sketched, too. Somewhere between drafting and fiberglassing, while that up-curve survived on the 18", on the 36" the wings flatten out and the tips or edges describe a horizontal plane for much of their circumference. Another instance of the model makers at Fox making a miniature that doesn't represent the bps. I've always wondered on the Spindrift and the 36" FS if there was a design change or if that's just how the model makers made the models. Right now I'm cleaning up my drawings of the five different shapes of the various Jupiter 2 miniatures I've identified. As far as I can tell, the upper hulls on 4 of the different miniatures matched the bps (and the Moebius kit) by millimeters. Yet there are 4 clearly different lower hulls. 
I can understand a difference between the Gemini 12 and the Jupiter 2, but if they were being pulled from the same molds (?), why two different lower hull shapes on the 4' Jupiter 2? One, the "pod dropper", seems to be an exact match for the 4'/10' blueprint shape. But our hero Jupiter 2 is noticeably shallower. Either a different mold (unlikely) or the addition of landing gear, etc, resulted in some structural alteration. Edit: Possibly simple warpage? The hero J2 was, from all accounts, very heavy. If it was left to sit on its light ring for any period of time, especially after the heat of studio lights, perhaps it simply compressed. I've had fiberglass telescope tubes turn into very interesting shapes over time. Suddenly, that seems to me a most reasonable explanation. 
Thanks again for the heads up!


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## tardis61 (Apr 10, 2008)

Hi Starseeker
A really good source of info on the Spindrift can be found at Cloudster site. He has a lot of studio pics and details. hope this helps.


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## mr spindrift (May 20, 2009)

me as well... My version from Fox is just plan, profile and partial sections...


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## IanBradbury (Jul 2, 2016)

*Spindrift size*

Hello everyone, I'm trying to build a replica of the miniature studio Spindrift but i'm having difficulty finding overall dimensions. Does anyone know, to some degree of accuracy, what is the overall width of the ship at the point of the air intake grills? I picked up some information a few years ago saying that it is 20 inches wide but i'm not sure and also if anyone knows, the overall length? Many thanks for any information.


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## charonjr (Mar 27, 2000)

Hi Ian, Spindrift hero model is 1 meter long. The set blueprints call for the Spindrift to be 52 feet long overall. I have provided blueprints from a set I bought from Fox over 20 years ago. They are water damaged now, but mostly intact. I had them scanned into (IIRC) either .tiff or .tga files.


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## Brisfx (Nov 10, 2005)

Hi Ian

What measurements are you after?


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## RMC (Aug 11, 2004)

all we need is a 1/32 scale spindrift !


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## charonjr (Mar 27, 2000)

IIRC, the old Lunar Models Spindrift is 16", about 1/35.


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## RMC (Aug 11, 2004)

*I would love to see Moebius do a 1/35 kit of the spindrift....*


charonjr said:


> IIRC, the old Lunar Models Spindrift is 16", about 1/35.


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## Radiodugger (Sep 27, 2011)

RMC said:


> *I would love to see Moebius do a 1/35 kit of the spindrift....*


Big time! _Never_ gonna happen though. I have been _assured_ of such...

Doug


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