Models in the movies

[935k3]

One episode of Home Improvement had Tamiya's 1/12 Ferrari 641/2(see pic) built and dsplayed on an end table in Tim's house.

[blunc]

In the movie Independence Day with Will Smith there is a scene where I think new York is being blown up. It is obvious they are blowing model cars down the street to simulate real cars being blown away by the alien blast.

My Favorite is THX 1138 by George Lucas. The spaceship has a bomb that gets periodically lowered out of the bomb bay. It is an AMT Fruehauf Trailer with a bunch of strange parts attached to the bottom of it! This movie was done while he was in film school. He commemorated it by using the movie name for the license plate of Milner's coupe shortened by one digit to THX 138.

is it possible that you have THX1138 confused with the movie called Dark Star?

I may be mistaken but I don't recall hearing that THX1138 had any space scenes.

[ChrisBcritter]

Oh, I can think of quite a few:

Monogram 1/8 Jaguar and Vette in Superman (1978):

Same movie, another Vette painted to match a '74 Firebird:

More coming!

[Edsel-Dan]

I remember reading or seeing many of those Independence day models being sold.

[ChrisBcritter]

Back with more. From the 1959 classic The Giant Gila Monster, a rare sight: Promos that haven't begun to warp yet, especially the PMC '58 Ford wagon, AMT '59 Buick and Pontiac, a Hubley (?) diecast MGTD plus the ancient Monogram '32 Ford kit (note the seam running down the deck lid) with fenders, hood and exhaust modified to match the 1/1 car in the movie:

And from one of MST3K's greatest short film subjects, Mr. B Natural, this AMT '56 Buick Roadmaster:

What else can you find?

Edited December 11, 2013 by ChrisBcritter

[Daddyfink]

Well, lets see.

We have a ton of model airplanes on sticks in Top Gun. My friend Skip Samples built quite a few of them for the real program and some where used in the movie!

An old episode of Starsky and Hutch has one of the bad guys building an AMT Rat Packer Nova with only glue. Nice white and chrome model!

Edited December 11, 2013 by Daddyfink

[sjordan2]

is it possible that you have THX1138 confused with the movie called Dark Star?

I may be mistaken but I don't recall hearing that THX1138 had any space scenes.

THX 1138 wasn't a space movie, but it was a science fiction allegory in the distant future with robots resembling Star Wars storm troopers, etc. It was originally a student film made by George Lucas at USC film school, then re-made with financing of a major studio. "Dark Star" was a whole other deal that was actually more influential. This entry from Wikipedia is a hoot:

Screenplay[edit]

Director John Carpenter and Dan O'Bannon wrote the screenplay. Six years later, the basic "Beachball with Claws" subplot of the film was reworked from comedy to horror,[1] and became the basis (along with an unpublished story about gremlins aboard a B-17) for the O'Bannon-scripted science fiction horror classic, Alien.[1][3]

Filming[edit]

Working on an estimated $60,000 budget, Carpenter and O'Bannon had to make production design from scratch. In the "elevator" sequence the bottom of the elevator is actually rolling on the floor. The device used to roll the elevator base was a Moviola camera dolly normally used on the small sound stage in the old USC Cinema building (a former horse stable). The steering arm of the dolly can be seen in the "elevator's" underside. Talby's starsuit backpack is made from Styrofoam packing material - probably from a TV set - and his spacesuit chestplate is made from a muffin tray. The double rows of large buttons on the bridge consoles are ice cube trays illuminated from beneath. Sergeant Pinback's video diary is an 8-track tape and the machine he uses to read it and record it is a microfiche reader. O'Bannon also starred in the film in the role of Sgt. Pinback.

Special effects[edit]

Much of the special effects seen in the movie were done by Dan O'Bannon, ship design by Ron Cobb, model work by O'Bannon and Greg Jein, and animation was by Bob Greenberg.[citation needed]

The bombs are made from an AMT 1/25 scale semi-trailer kit and parts of a 1/12th scale model car kit; "Matra", the name of the car brand, can be seen on some parts in some shots.[4] The space suits are made to resemble the space suit of the Mattel action figure "Major Matt Mason", which was used in slightly modified form as a miniature for effects shots. Cobb drew the original design for the "Dark Star" ship on a napkin while they were eating at the International House of Pancakes.

The film featured the first hyperspace sequence to show the effect of stars rushing past the Dark Star vessel in a tunnel-effect (due to superluminal velocity) which was used in Star Wars three years later.

[LDO]

I caught a little of it on TCM recently. Cool looking vehicle.

[lordairgtar]

I saw that flick the other day, but I can't remember what the vehicle was and no amount of googling is finding it for me. I was thinking a Dodge.

[ChrisBcritter]

Just remembered this one - the 1966 TV show Thunderbirds, which used a lot of model cars as miniatures, especially the Monogram '58 T-bird. Here's the IMCDb page:

http://www.imcdb.org/movie_57790-Thunderbirds.html

[disabled modeler]

Godzilla movies had a lot of models used to act as real ones in them...

I have several movie cars/trucks Id like to build models of...Mad Max first movie car black interceptor,007,Bill Cosby ambulance custom van from the movie M.J.Speed...others.

[kitbash1]

In the Big Bang Theory until Wolowitz and Bernadette got married, he had an AMT USS Enterprise (1701-D) hanging from his ceiling.

He also had a 1/18 die-cast Pennzoil Indycar on top of a dresser.

[Luc Janssens]

Dean Milano did a model for My Favorite Martian.

Here some info taken from his FB page.

The story: Sometime back in the mid 1990s or so, Disney Studios contacted me telling me they were working on a remake of My Favorite Martian and they needed a model of a 1960 Valiant, which was apparently the car in the original TV series. So, I told them I had one and they were thrilled. I painted it the color they needed (copper) and built it up, sending it off to Hollywood. Apparently, the model was used in several scenes in which the car is miniaturized and sent down a bathroom drain. They also used it as a guide to build several more models of various sizes. When it was all done, they returned my model along with a really huge check. No wonder the budgets are so high on these films. Ha!

[Edsel-Dan]

Ghostbusters. The Original film

When the Large Staypuft Marshmallow Man (person in costume)

is starting to climb the side of the building. The Police cruisers, Fire trucks, Ecto-1 are all Models

You can tell by the different Flashing of the Model lights versus the actual vehicles.

Starlog mag did an article about that too.

I think I still have that issue, but not sure where

Edited December 29, 2013 by Edsel-Dan

[pharoah]

Wait a minute. I thought this thread was about actual models or model kits in movies and TV shows. In the background or someone actually working on them.

Movie makers have been using models or miniatures since they first started making movies.

[mnwildpunk]

The movie mr. Destiny the main character is a model builder and show him working on a gullwing mercedes (if I remember correctly)

[lordairgtar]

He also had a 1/18 die-cast Pennzoil Indycar on top of a dresser.

Bernadette would make a great model LOL

[Mike_G]

In the movie "In the Line of Fire", John Malkovich's character learns how to make a plastic gun by reading modeler magazines.

[Jairus]

The Movie "Niagara" (1953) has Joseph Cotton as George Loomis building a model car while on vacation. His wife (Marilyn Monroe) tries to set him up to be killed, but the fight with her lover tends to work out the other way. Great suspense movie!
Jean Peters and Max Showalter in this scene are trying to convince George to go out to dinner with them... or something. Been a few years since I watched the movie. But the model kit George is building looks to be about 1/20th scale and very finely crafted. Rose Loomis gives him the kit and he is shown sitting at the table in other scenes building it out of a box.

[ChrisBcritter]

Knew I forgot one: Disney's Dad, Can I Borrow the Car? from 1970:

You can watch the whole thing here:

(I once met Ward Kimball, the Disney animator who made this show; I could kick myself for not asking him about it. )

[ToyLvr]

In the History Channel TV show "God, Guns, and Automobiles", the main character Mark Muller has an office loaded with with model cars. Hard to tell if they're all diecast or perhaps plastic.

[martinfan5]

In the last season of Burn Notice, I can not recall which episode, but they did a flashback scene for Michael Weston as a child, and he was working on a model , I do recall they had a AMT model kit box, and I believe it was the 71 Charger kit

[ChrisBcritter]

One more: The opening credits from H. B. Halicki's The Junkman (1982). Watch for the exploding Jo-Han '64 Cadillac and AMT '57 Ford models:

I got a few models from his estate auction; last one I still have is a brown '79 El Camino promo.

[Brett Barrow]

Few years ago I sold a bunch of models to M. Night Shyamalan's production company when he was filming Signs. They were supposed to be used in the kid's room, but I don't think they made it into the movie. They were mostly Lindberg anatomical models, I think they bought the whole line of those, plus a couple car and airplane kits.

[JollySipper]

In the movie "The Butterfly Effect" Kutcher's childhood friend builds model planes..... in one scene he is working on one and has several on shelves and hanging...