The Tofu Tower

You may ask, why Tofu Tower?  For that answer we go back to 1982.  Before Ian McQue messed me up, there were many others who did one better years ago.  It was June and I had just finished viewing this little movie called "Blade Runner", and I haven't been the same since.  No need to go into the why; anyone touched by this film should understand.

So while I was starting work on the third flying ship, I realized I needed something for them to congregate around, so I imagined a little anchorage to have them either docked or flying about.  I had had the idea for this structure for quite some time; it was basically a combination of some Chris Foss paintings, primarily one called "The Face", and the Sushi Bar (tower) from "Blade Runner", which is my favorite building from the film.  (Maybe a little of the Hades flame-belching refinery too!)

Abandoning the ship, I set to work on the tower.  As you know I prefer to salvage and re purpose my modelling elements as much as possible, and use raw stock only as a last resort.  As an engineering modeler by day, I had this used model of a refinery tower with metal parts all ready and waiting!

And thus began many evenings and hours of scrounging for parts and literally anything I can get my hands on.  The omnipresent Kinder eggs, Zaini eggs, vitamin containers, bottle lids, and excess laser cutting (from work of course!).  Eventually I arrived at this core structure:

That red square on the right is actually just some support material from a 3D printer, but the weave makes it look more like a radiator.  Also pipe caps, a cab from an HO diesel, and structure parts from a big box of HO architectural shapes I got from Mister H!

Satisfied with the result from all angles, it was primer time.  I think my favourite part of modelling!

Now it was time to add details, graphics, and paint & weather the crap out of it!  Remember this is 1/148 and only 22" tall to the top of the radio mast.  From the beginning I had planned on saturating the tower with advertising, so I spent time on the internet compiling various images from (you guessed it!) that '82 film again, with a few other movie nods and related signage as well.  Before we proceed further, here is a handy guide for first time visitors to the tower:

Originally the painting started out as more vivid, but it just didn't work out.  I decided to stick to reds and rust tones with some subtle military greens and accents.  Makes the billboards stand out more.

Signage is lots of excess laser cutting, with the graphic printed on photopaper.  And then distressed and weathered of course!  The illuminated billboard was planned from the beginning.

It is a small 2" x 2" LED screen which was actually a key fob.  You can load images on it and program in a slide show.  Unfortunately the images don't show up well in photos, and you have to be almost directly in front to see them, but it is still a nice effect!  The large frame it rests in is removable for charging and reprogramming.  Too bad it doesn't have sound or moving images...

During construction of the tower, I was watching a series from the UK called "Saving Lives at Sea", a documentary about the brave volunteers from the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution).  With all the ships around I thought it would be a good idea to have one of the garage modules as a lifeboat station, and then model a small lifeboat in a rescue situation somewhere around the tower.  But we will go into this scenario on a later post...

Adding lights to the tower was a last minute decision.  I had a string of battery powered LEDs from the good ole dollar store, so I intertwined the bulbs and wires through the structure, making no effort to hide the wires.  Some of the bulbs I painted red for extra effect.  The battery box too is integrated into the model as the Generator Station:

Let's pay a visit to specific parts of the tower.  About midway up is "The Snake Pit".  A place for traditional shore leave.  The party has moved out onto the balcony!  On the roof are some tomato plants and other veg for the restaurant below, "Der Tofuhaus", and Omar's Garage is on the left.

Figures used are all N-scale from Graham Farish.  There are also some from Life-Like too.  Just below Taffey's place is the receiving dock.  Here the tower gets all the cargo and supplies it needs to operate; mostly food stuffs like other veg, rice, and tofu.  Liquor and penicillin is also shipped in for the other business above!  A cargo lighter is off loading, and we will discuss this ship again at a later date.

That cracked paint effect on the diesel tank was a bonus.  The previous yellow was too intense so I painted over it with a dirty red.  The paints were incompatible so it shrank when it dried.  I'm not complaining...  As for weathering, many hours were spent with dry brushes, washes and pastels.  I like to use an orange over the usual red oxides out there.  Look at a rusty chunk of iron; you may be surprised how many hues are present.

Moving to the top we see the taxi waiting for a fare, and another ship circling the tower.  Higher up, the lifeboat crew is answering a call.  That black square up there is the LED billboard.

At the top of the tower are the masts and radio tower.  Next to the BP sign is the vaporator.  The flexible piping is made from coil springs.

Well, it's getting that time again.  And after all this, still no answer to the topic sentence.  Why Tofu Tower...?   As it is loosely based on the Sushi Tower from that film, I altered the name according to my lifestyle.  As a long term vegan who does not eat fish, but who does eat large quantities of tofu, I thought it appropriate!

Next time, we will be visiting the individual ships; their construction and back story.

I hate you, McQue....

Once upon a time, (modelling) life was simple.  I was content to build kits and scratch build from various Gerry Anderson series, assorted Sci-Fi television and movies, and Japanese anime mechs from the 80's & 90's.  And then it happened; I stumbled across a posting in "Concept Ships" featuring  the work of artist Ian McQue.  His colour palate and subjects of flying junk boats traversing through the air, defying gravity on some future/past Earth or other planet was inspiring!  This was 10 years ago, and from then on he has lived in my head rent free.  Since that time I have built two flying ships (see previous posts of the Cargo Barge Regina & Towboat Jean), and all the time the urge to build more as always been there.  So in the hope that if I built one more boat, I could get back to "normal" modelling.  Unfortunately, this did not work.  And the project got out of control.  What was to be one little ship mushroomed into a diorama of sorts comprising of five ships, plus a central structure to tie them all together.  The result, The Tofu Tower!

The Tofu Tower is a run down, grotty little anchorage off of the main shipping routes.  Ships and sailors who frequent this establishment want to avoid inspections and other authorities.  Here they can replenish themselves with food, water, fuel, repairs, and most important, companionship!  There is also a restaurant, a taxi service, and with all the comings and goings, an RNLI station.

For this project, I decided to change the scale so I could build bigger, but take up less space in the display cabinet.  (That is always the problem with modelling; where to put them afterwards...).  The previous ships were built at 1/35, but this time I chose 1/148, which was British N scale.  The tower is 24" high, which is almost 300 feet high in "reality".  The five ships range in size from 2" to 8".  Three are fixed/moored to the tower.

I didn't want the display to be fixed, so I came up with the idea of having movable components.  Using a steel base, I fixed magnets to the underside of the tower and aluminium plates for the two ships which allow to put them anywhere I want.  Unfortunately the acrylic rods holding up the ships are permanent, but this gives the height variation as well.  I lost track of how many months I worked on this.  It must be at least 9 months, as I only get 1 to 2 hours at most in an evening to model.  Now here are some nice close up blue sky shots!

This low angle view shows some of the many billboards, a few condenser units, and to the right, the taxi.   Here we see the most popular establishment on the tower, as well as the roof gardens.  It was all so rusty and bleak out there....

Much more of the tower, it's features, elements and construction will be discussed and described in the next post.  And the assorted ships will be done in good time as well.  But it's getting late so last call and lights out, sailors!

Bastards from Outer Space

How many times have you been watching a SF film or television series, and suddenly realized, "Hey, they ripped that (ship, vehicle, alien, structure, etc) from that other (SF film-TV show)!"  And so begins another little feature I have had in the back of mind for some time now.  I realize in this day and age, where so much has been written, drawn, or filmed, there is bound to be conscious or unconscious influences when it comes to production design.  Now to be fair, SF films have been around for over 100 years, so there is alot of material out there!  In some cases, the "doppelgangers" may be intentional, as a hommage or Easter egg.   Perhaps the director has specifically asked for "something which looks like that other thing..."   Either way, there are many examples available.  For the premiere post, I have a flying machine which falls into the category I like to call, "Cosmic Combinations".

Back in 1994, there was a Gerry Anderson live-action series called "Space Precinct".  Basically an SF cop show set on the planet Altor in the year 2040.  Familiar storylines but, the thin blue line has to deal with all sorts of bizarre crimes as well as many alien species.  There was no shortage of miniature effects either.  In the episode "Deadline", the baddies are illegally harvesting organs (both human and alien) for high paying clients.  Their base is this giant floating billboard which cruises over the city with bright lights advertising and noise.  Sound or look familiar...?

Who else could the father be but the advertising blimp from 1982's "Blade Runner"!  I could go on for hours about this film!  I've been freaked out since I saw this film on opening night!  The influences and inspirations are still strong today, (but don't get me started about this sequel!).  But the blimp is a thing of beauty.  Check out the web for many images of the blimp studio model and it's construction.  But the shape is still wrong.  I think the mother could be:

From the 1984 film "Dune".  Alot has been said about Lynch's adaption, but not today.  I am more interested in the miniature effects for the film, and this wedgie is a Carry-All, a huge flying brick which transports spice harvesters on the planet Arrakis.  So there you have it; the "Space Precinct" blimp even has the outriggers on it!  I like to think of this little "love child" as a hommage.  But as in all Anderson productions, most models do not have a happy ending...

To bad for anyone with a penthouse suite in this town!