Mike is a site member and constructs model replicas of robots. He shares some of his background and gives us a picture of the effort that is required in building "from scratch" detailed models.

1. When did you first get started with creating models?

I first started creating models back in 1986, right after I saw Short Circuit, this movie was an inspiration to me as I have always loved robots and the way they looked especially ones that look more robotic than ones that looked human.
 

2. What inspired you to create these models? The finished pieces of work or the process of making them?

I guess you could say that my inspiration came from the fact that you could not get certain robots from movies, ones that no company had chosen to make, this fact and my love of movie robots was the main reason.  Now I won't say that all my works are perfect, but rather a close facsimile of the robot from certain movies that I have seen many years and was collecting various toy robots from other movies.  Mostly 1/5th scale versions of movie robots like Robby from Forbidden Planet and the Lost in Space robot and the Terminator.  Plus any model of older movies that had a robot theme to them like the Black Hole and of course Star Wars.

3. How many do you complete in an average year?

Well that depends on the time available to me, as I too work a regular job like most folks, and this is still is a hobby to me, if I choose to make it a business then I don't think I would have as much fun creating them. I use material that is available to me such as cardboard, plastic and anything I think will make whatever I am working on look like the robot from that particular movie. It's Fun, as a hobby should be. I don't set time limits or a number to how many or when they get done just that I work on them and make sure that they look like the ones from any robot movie.

4. What is your most popular replicated model?

This would have the be the Johnny 5 Model (number 5) from Short Circuit. This is the only one I have made into a model that I try and get out to the public, but as you can imagine it is not an easy task! They are hard to produce and the cost is not effective, (cost me too much to make) but I have many other robots from movies that I have made and they sit on my shelf awaiting some companies request to get one made, in other words "I have the Prototype"

5. The type of model work that you do used to be more common place in movie production before the rise of computer imaging. Do you see what you do as a "lost art" or is there a younger generation of model building enthusiasts out there?

This is a good question, I see many models still being built. Even younger generations are still building and want these robots as an item on their shelf not just a picture from the computer. Although some computer generated art looks fantastic, still can you hold it in your hands, can your friends look at something you built and say "Where did you get that from?" this is why I believe that this will never be a "lost art" as you say It might wane a little over the years but when someone wants something so badly, they will create it in form and make it real, just like I have done. 

6. What is the most difficult piece you've ever worked on, and how did it turn out?

All of my pieces have been difficult, there hasn't been one of my robots that have been easy. Why?, simple, They don't exist in a model or toy form. All I have to work from is pictures, and sometimes only one picture, now that's what I call difficult. If I only build them because it looks easy, let me tell you that this would be a lie, something that looks the easiest is more than likely the hardest to do! Another part of my building process is that I build from scratch in other words I don't use measurements, I look at the subject from all angles and judge from my point of view. If it looks right then its done good, if its too big or small then it doesn't look right, only you can judge this when making a robot in 3D, but what you are going after is to make it look just like the one you have seen from the movie.

Most of the Robots that I have made usually take me
a few months to create, the process is more of a
thinking mode in which to see how it will work out
first in my mind and then on paper then to the actual
working model. Sometimes I start off by making it in
cardboard, its an easy material to use, then if it
looks right, then try and make it in plastic, from
sheet plastic.

This is what I did with the Johnny 5 model, I made it in cardboard first, then I made it in plastic. But as I was going along creating it I would make changes and enhanced the look even further than the cardboard one I had started with. I added more detail to the final piece thus making it look even more like the movie version. This is why it was chosen to be made into a model.

7. How long have you had your website?

I started the website when I finished the prototype of the Johnny 5 model. This is a work in progress and still takes up a lot of my time, as many want one of my models and to date only 25 of them have ever been made, although I have a waiting list of over 500 who want one, but then again you get into legalities involved with that kind of number so I have now passed it on to a company that will produce them and I won't have to worry about copyright infringements and such.

8. How much effort does it take to get nice looking photos to accurately represent your models?

Effort? I still take lousy pictures, but I try to get the right lighting and then I really ask my son who uses a digital camera to take my pics and then download them onto the computer for me. I basically supervise this aspect of the process, when I see that it looks alright then I have my son's friend whom I call a webmaster put them on my site.

-- January 2005