Our custom made, one of a kind, life-size
5'11 1/2" tall Spock gets a great deal
of attention from our guests. This was the second
figure we created around 1997-8, not long after
constructing the Roswell Alien. His head was hand
sculpted and very life-like. His authentic costume
is hand made from copies of the patterns used from
the original show. The shirt we originally made for
him was great, however, the material was a bit too
dark in color for my taste. The solution: last year
we took a trip to Las Vegas, to the Star Trek
Experience (what an experience that was!) and
purchased this shirt from them, which was the
appropriate color.
BTW, we didn't go to Vegas simply for the
sake of completing our Spock figure. He features a
real fiberglass body built very close to what this
figure appeared to be on the TV series. I've been a
Star Trek prop replica collector for the last 21
years, and our collection of props span that amount
of time. So it was a no brainer that our Spock
creation would inherit three of my very finest
working props.: one of the earliest versions of
Richard Coyle's type 2 Phaser with lights and
sounds, an authentic talking Communicator with
lights and actual sounds, and a working authentic
Tricorder featuring lights and actual sounds when
opened. His velcro belt is also hand made.
Since he was given prop replicas valued at
many hundreds of dollars, I felt I should not be
cheap with his boots, so he received a brand new
pair of leather Frye boots that we dyed black. From
the beginning of this project, things started
getting a bit pricey. Realizing we wanted to pursue
this wonderful, if not unusual hobby, clearly we
needed to acquire additional skills. So, it was off
to New York City for sculpting and mold making
classes. To that point, I myself already had been
trained in Auto body repair techniques, so basic
sculpting skills were second nature to me. With my
wife close behind, together we learned how to use
Ultra-Cal 30, Resilpom, Platsil 71-35 RTV Silicone,
Smooth-Sil 912, 71-10 RTV liquid rubber, and Smooth
Cast-300.
As a class project, seen below, I brought in
balsa wood components I made for a Klingon
Disruptor replica I was working on at the time. We
produced a mother mold using Resilpom and cast it
out of Smooth Cast-300. I airbrushed it appropriate
colors and was thrilled with the results. The
classes were rather expensive for two people, but
the skills learned are crucial for success. It has
enabled us to pursue our passion for building some
of these wonderful life-size characters or props we
enjoy seeing on TV and the big screen.
My class project. My version of the Disruptor as
seen in, Star Trek the Search for Spock. Rather
than use PVC rods for the center section, I used
polished alumium. I think it looks much better.
I airbrushed it as a mint prop replica, but a true
example would have burn scars on it.
I didn't have the heart to do this.
