BABOONATIC'S CUSTOM ICARUS MODELS

Baboonatic has done some EXCELLENT scratch building on the "Icarus"

Baboonatic writes: "Some info on the MIM (Monsters In Motion) kits I put together. Feel free to use or discard whatever you like. And please bear in mind that they're cast out of a silicone mold made from the original (as yet unbuilt) (model).

The POTA version has an extension to the aft end of the fuselage and also to the wings so it's dimensions more accurately match those of the full sized ship.  Also in back I've gone with Jim Key's interpretation of the Fox blueprints and Bill Creber's original ideas. (two rocket engine bells and a center hatch. yeah I know, where do the internal engines fit in? hey, why does Kong's wall have a giant door in it? I leave it to better minds than mine to figure it out)

Instead of the decals supplied with the kit, I bought a set of decals that were fairly similar to the lettering style on the ship and applied them carefully to get the split "D" on the escape hatch. Same with top and bottom canard flags. The windows are tinted clear plastic.

More work finagling the window frames and such, but that was due to using cast copies, I don't know if anyone needs all the gory details.

The "Escape" version was put together after carefully scrutinizing dozens of frames of film and behind the scenes shots that I bought as a kid. The side door is hinged and has a tiny grab handle in it's proper place. (unlike the TV version, which had no handle. I think it might have been an entirely new door because the inner "molding" is different and the "Escape" door looked like it weighed a ton. look at that diver putting his back into it just to get it open and then resting it on a sort of stand just to keep it open)  And again, it may be tough to figure any logical way the overall ship functions, but it looks cool.

It has the stripes painted in, as far as I can tell, the right place. The back "pod" area is made of sheet styrene and the heat shield is styrene and bondo. The different sized holes drilled into it were on the big one, to use as tie down points. But they look cool, thrusters of some sort perhaps...

The big one was originally from an aviation model manufacturing company that I hired called Frederick Tyson. They did a really nice job overall, but it had the feel of one of those mahogany desktop airplane models. Decals for windows, hatch outlines, simplistic deck plates, etc.  Plus after my never ending study of the movie prop, I was dissatisfied with the overall profile and went to work on that aspect too. I'll send a shot when it's done. Lots of bondo on this baby, it's huge! But hey, when you're obsessed you're obsessed, right?

As to the tail lander version, I think I have a picture of the engine bell that was used, another refugee from Lost In Space. At least it was a background prop in an episode, I don't know where it came from originally.   I'll scan it along with the other photos that I mentioned.  And yeah, there's a lot of cost effective debris all charred up back there.  Have you ever seen the Disney Mars lander ship? Maybe something similar, but with a 60's, NASA look?"

--- Thanks, Baboonatic!  EXCELLENT models and these are HAND BUILT!

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