"Starship Troopers: Tent-Buildings from Film?" Topic

Here is a screen shot of the Mormon Port Joe Smith outpost:

picture

The tent-dome-like, framed buildings in the middle are the ones I am interested in.

Here they are again in this B&W screen shot of Fort Whiskey:

picture

Has anyone made anything like them?

Thanks.

CC

I've never seen them for sale anywhere, but…

I wonder what would happen if you used a stretchy fabric like spandex or something over a wire frame?

You could probably paint it with watered-down PVA or something to make it rigid and more permanent…

Just a thought that hit me. Might be worth trying!

Didn't one of the pre-PDF Harbingers have an article about making a tent from polystryrene 'balls' that were angular, like the smaller tents in the picture?
I'll have a rummage when I get home tonight and see if I can see which issue it was and give you some more details…

Boy talk about the worst places to build a fort. Right below some cliffs that allow an enemy to look over the walls.

But that's not the most unrealistic thing in that movie.

The MOST unrealistic thing is Denise Richards ever scoring a 97% on a math test. Now who could believe that?

Future math is all about spherical bodies in motion.

Or heavenly bodies in motion:

picture

Jim

We use those dome tents and call them 'Sprung Shelters'. I've seen them on army bases across Canada.

Prefab warehouses for use in some really bad climates.

ColCampbell, nice orbs,,,.

For the tent structures: try googling sites for model aircraft makers. The guys that do this stuff from scratch make very light skeleton structures from thin wood and then cover it with tissue paper and then apply cellulose dope which causes the paper to shrink and harden tight thus giving a rigid but very light structure. Sorry i'm sketchy on the details, I've never done this but my father used to.

For the orb structures: try silicone implants :)

Brandlin

CC, I know it's not the same thing, but one way to build a proxy for them is to use the Hexagon kits. That's what I've done here-

picture

However since you asked, I was just thinking of how one might build the ones that are represented in the movie. First, I'd get some 1/16" K&S solid brass rod. I've got a tubing bender, and I'd use that to achieve the arcs. You could super-glue (or even solder) the pieces into the ribcage shape. Maybe plastic food wrap could be applied for the fabric, then painted. I might make one up over the next few days and see how it comes out.

Say SciFi, how many boxes of the platformer kits did that take?

Its great!

SciFi, you could use window insulation kits once you had a ribcage down. Thin clear plastic, that shrinks tight with a hair dryer.

Cheers, Xin

Bluefool, when I made the first version of the fort it had two rows of panels. In that version, it took three large Platformer kits and one large Hexagon kit, iirc. When I extended the fort into its present configuration by adding a third wall panel row, it probably took two additional large kits. I think that a person could economize and use fewer kits but I wanted the panel detail relief to be consistent throughout the entire assembly. I'm amazed that over two years has gone by since I made my Whiskey Outpost (a.k.a. Rico's Roach Motel). I did it while waiting for the game to be released. It was more fun than twiddling my thumbs.

Xintao, yup I've been thinking about using a shrink wrap gun as well. My mom is an artist and has a pro heat gun and a shrink wrap setup. I might try that (if it doesn't collapse the cage). Still, I might try to use plain food wrap for this one reason- I don't necessarily want to have the surface tension 'too' tight. The photo that CC referenced shows that the fabric is concave and I want to try to replicate that look. I might try a few different materials to see how they react to "show" the cage lattice.

SciFi Gamer,

Regardless of which plastic wrap, can it be painted afterwards?

CC

To use a smart-aleck answer CC, just about anything can be painted CC.

What I would do would be to build up a few layers of Krylon Fusion spray paint on either side of the "film", hoping that it might add strength to it. Then at some point getting brave, I'd pour some epoxy into the hollow underside and give it some real strength. I have done this once already, when I showed you last year that I could make use of a clear plastic blister pack package of the Skull Island King Kong toy that had bugs in it, remember? At least this is giving me the idea to try something to beef it up. Another radically different way to make these buildings CC is to just carve them out of a block of hydrocal.

Hydrocal? LOL.

I would try Sculpey before carving away at hydrocal! :)

CC

Well CC, I'm not recommending that anyone follow me down this road yet, because it might be the road to madness. I've only super-glued the frame and it is very fragile. A hydrocal based block that is carved to that shape is probablt looking better all of the time .

Nonetheless I am going to continue and see what comes of this. Even plastic tubing would be stronger and I don't have the time and supplies to solder it all together. Here is what I have done tonight, regardless of its outcome.

picture

picture

Oh yes, I've used a lot of materials to make masters from, even hydrocal. It gives you a feeling of carving from soft marble, but it is not very forgiving of mistakes. I'd have to go back nearly 15 years, but I made 1/285 scale half-timbered structures by casting a block of hydrocal to the basic shape that I wanted, and then applied plastic styrene strips from Evergreen Scale Models to the surface. I even carved roof textures into the hydrocal using dental instruments, heh. I've always tried to keep an open mind about my materials. Yes, I even have a brick of Sculpey somewhere around here, lol.

WOW!!!

CC

Progress report, CC. I've got the perfect way to cover my framework, but it wasn't my idea. I went to my parent's house to borrow my Mom's professional heat gun (no hairdryer is this)and some of the heat-shrink plastic. When I told her what I wanted it for, she said "Well, why don't you use pantyhose?"

OMG, that was what I was looking for. Something that would stretch without having too much strength that might collapse the framework. I cut one leg off of a pair that she gave me that were too small for her and pulled it over the framework, carefully.

When I got it positioned, I stretched the ends over the bottom of a piece of foam-core that I had trimmed to fit as a temporary floor. To insure that the nylon fabric would stay positioned, I ran a line of glue down each rib and then hit them with glue accelerator.

Tonight, I already have two coats of Krylon H2o applied. The idea there of course is to begin to build up tensile strength and remove the "sponginess" of the fabric. Although I did not exactly follow the pattern of the actual "tents", it will serve as an acceptible proxy. I think that people will "get it" as the tent in the movie.

After I finish it I'll figure out how to make an entry access. From viewing photos of Camp Currie there is either an attached entry or the sides of the tent are rolled up.

Well, this will close my report CC, but at least I now have full knowledge of just what the "P" in Planet P stands for-

Pantyhose, lol.

See, I told you I use strange materials for my models…

Sheesh, I did all of that and forget to post the progress pic.

picture

Absolutely amazing SciFi Gamer!

I've always said that it pays to consult with non-gamers for a different point of view on materials and designs.

I can't wait to see what it looks like once painted.

CC

I almost added a similar comment myself. It pays to bring in "outside" consultants, for sure!

Hah hah, I just reread what Rattlehead had suggested, and he is close to what my Mom suggested. Well, maybe my Mom was a wargamer in a previous life, lol.

I am using the H2o BTW because I am afraid that oil-based paints might eat at the fabric as they do on styro. With Krylon H2o I'm safe. I could go with a coat of PVA as Rattlehead suggested but so far I'm satisfied with the canned paint. I'll probably brush something thick on the inside though for added strength.

Wow… very nice. I cant wait the see the final results.

Someone posted sci fi "tents" made from the bottoms of two liter soft drink bottles. I had some extremely flimsy plastic bubble/clamshell packaging that had warps and dents, but no creases. I made some fine metallic tents, with "blowers" and hose. for ribbing I used an old plastic model aircraft trick, stretched sprue very thin (hairlike), brushed with liquid model cement, and layed upon the structure. After painting, looks like those ribs in your photo. When done a little more roughly, it makes very convincing weld/panel lines as well.

Darn, last time I wrote a paragragh with "ribbed", "hose" and "Blowers" in it, it started: "Dear Penthouse Forum.." :) :) :)

BTW Sci Fi Gamer, Awsome work their with the pantyhose!!! Now I'll have an excuse for being caught going through my girlfreinds "unmentionable drawer" :)

smokeyroan, I suggest that you accompany her the next time that she goes shopping at the local mall. This way you can score some "compassion" points with her while at the same time scoring it also as a gaming materials supply run.

She can even work as a scout by telling you when the sales are scheduled and provide you with a plausible smokescreen for any purchases (heh).

When looking for additional photos of the Starship Troopers movie tents, I did come across those plastic Coke bottle
domes but I cannot remember where I saw them right now (Hmm, possibly on terragenesis?).

I now see that the middle-sized movie tent had an extra rib on the end but I'm happy with what I came up with so far. My end caps are a half-hexagon shape while the movie version used a four-panel end cap. Still, there are reasons why I might like the current design better for my use.

I haven't done any resin casting in a long while, but I'm mulling over making this one piece as a master for casting more. After all, I can't just have one of these and still call it a "compound" now, can I?

For those that do not wish to "play with pantyhose" for themselves, I might even offer this as a basic resin shell for further modification (like adding doors and cutting a 'rolled-up' side access).

I guess it took CC's query to light my fire and to go whizzing past Hexagon proxies of the movie tents. Thanks, CC! More progress to come. Oh, and here is a good pic for the movie reference-

picture
Here is the latest progress in stabilizing the fabric-

picture

picture

The tan color was Krylon H2o, with the green being brushed on using Cartoon Colour Co's. Cel-Vinyl (with the color not being important yet).

That is coming along great! Thank you for the progress reports and the photos. They are really inspiring.

They look great! I like the green, just add some Orange and a "U" and they would be perfect!! :) :) Is it pretty solid after the paint coats?

smokeyroan, there is still a "spring" to the material if pressed, but I'll soon cut a hole in the foam-core bottom and start painting the inside as well. That might help to fix the surface a bit more.

I think using plastic bottles is more practical, but if you want heat-shrinkable fabric over frame, that's what model aircraft have been made out of for a long time.

link

Excellent idea there Saladin. And you even picked out silver, too. Well done. $21 USD for a sheet that is roughly two feet by six feet would be enough material to do many structures. CC will be pleased, I'm sure.

CC – you could always use pink insulation foam cut/sanded/smoothed into shape, with a wire fram glued over the top. In the latest WD they use the foam to make some Harradin tents – just they then added pva soaked paper spread over it to simulate animal hide.

frame not fram – doh.

Theirs also a "Heat Wrap" clear plastic, used to make your own canopy copies for model aircraft. Basically, you heat then pull/stretch the material over your positive mold/frame. I got some from Squadron Inc. years ago. IT really worked foer small details, should work for bigger ones.

CC, as I had mentioned here that I had used hydrocal in the past to carve a master (subtractive method) instead of building one up (additive), I thought I'd toss up a photo of an example. I am in the process of moving out of my house of ten years (sad event for me) and in the process today I just uncovered a box I hadn't opened in that ten years. It was a resin 25MM modular castle that I built back in the early days of 40K popularity (what, 17-18 years ago?).

I made a wall section and then a mold to cast more of them. I then cast a copy out of the same hydrocal and then carved in an entry arch, which of course was used to make yet another mold. I did the turrets/towers, filling a small coffee can with hydrocal and carved the stonework into it. One version had the wall-walk doors at a 90-degree angle and another used them 180-offset to add additional straight walls.

This could be used to make a fortified city out of a basic square or rectangular castle design. The small watchtowers were separate items, so they could be removed to make room for more troop models.

The resin-cast doors could be used in two modes. Either as a drawbridge or as a set of vertical swinging doors.

picture

I also made up a modular sci-fi bunker system in which the laser towers could be fitted into the castle towers (again, for the 40k guys). I think I only displayed this stuff at an old west coart Origins one time, around 1992 maybe.

Today's update on my SST "CC Tent". When asked what "CC" stands for, I can say "It's stands for the tents in the Camp Currie set in the movie". For us here on TMP it can also stand for the member that gave me the "kick in the pants" here to get the project started (see author of this topic). Well, so much for my wit, on with the update.

After flipping the model over and giving the inside a nice coat of Cel-Vinyl, I let that dry. It was now time to find a method of really fixing the contours of my "Conestoga wagon".

What I did this morning was to use some outdated polyurethane to firm up the inside. Sealed for some years, my old kit of poly-plastic had absorbed enough moisture as to be worthless for usual casting work. What I keep it around for now is for use as a stiffener. Because of the moisture "pollution", the plastic does not cast in a 1-to-1 liquid-to-solid volume as it used to but rather foams a bit and leaves surface air bubbles. Poured into the model and rotated around as it cured, it did serve my purpose as a reinforcement for the fabric.

My next step will be to wait until this cures totally and then to fill the remaining internal volume with Hydrocal. This will make the model finally solid, as well as give it the weight to stay at the bottom of a box frame. I plan to make a silicone mold of it and the model cannot be allowed to float to the surface before the rubber mold has cured.

picture

"my SST 'CC Tent'"

Gosh, man. Thanks. :)

By the way, just to get a better idea on dimensions, how tall and wide is the tent so far?

Thanks.

CC

I thought you'd get a kick outta that.

The dimensions of it are roughly 8" long, 4" wide, with a height of 3".

The size should work well when set against the models. I'm not certain as to how it would work within say the SST rules. As it is not a bunker (by any stretch), not being the maximum of 6" for that shouldn't be an issue. I'm hoping that the new rulebook has an allowance in it for it's use as a "soft" structure. At least it would obstruct LOS for some units.

If the mold comes out usable, I should be able to do some "creative" casting and make a version that is made from the end-caps. Thus it would mimic the round tent. Also, I could make a longer version by extending the middle area as well.

Real quick update. I've filled in the inside with Hydrocal as a volume stabilizer and to weigh the model down in the mold. I'm taking a chance on ruining what I've done so far by using old silicone (out of date) on it. I'll wait a few extra days than normal to see if the mold material cures. Normally the day after pouring it I should be able to use the mold, but this might take longer, if it cures at all. The kit when new cost over $60 USD and I've not been doing this for some time to have fresh stock, so fingers are crossed.

Tick, tick, tick. Mold is still not cured. It's looking rather bleak on the tent frontier, boys. I'm still holding out hope upon hope. The material is spendy silicone rubber. I left in in my car on a recent hot day to try to see if that might help, but got a "no joy".

If I get really desparate, I might try even chilling it to try to at least retrieve my model back. Stay tuned…

That is terrible!!!

Please keep us posted. Fingers crossed.

CC

any news Bu?

Yeah byram1, but it's all bad.

Stay tuned. All may not be lost. Leaving the mold 12 days longer than it should have to cure, I decided on a strategy that has recovered my master model. Instead of pulling the mold up (which I would have if it had cured in 24 hrs.), I flipped the plastic shoebox over and cut out the bottom of the box. This way the partially uncured silicone is supported by the box walls. I carefully lifted the master out and it separated fine. So at least my master model survived being smothered by too-soft rubber.

I had some polyurethane casting resin and poured a few castings (again, out of date and old- hey, I haven't done this for a few years). Normally a 1-1 ratio and not supposed to expand, the resin by being old had absorbed moisture and somewhat resembles expanding foam sealant. I poured a small batch in and rolled the mold around, coating the outer edges as it cured. After only about a minute, it began foaming a bit and curing.

I was lucky on this first casting and it left a thin wall of material. This I cut with scissors while it was still not fully cured in order to represent a section of tent material rolled up for entry to the tent.

I plan to next work up a way to make an attached "umbilical" section that can simulate the section that joins multiple tents. The new problem is that I'm out of silicone, lol.

While not a perfect model, the next several resin casts turned out much worse (it is old resin, after all). I have done two solid pours using hydrostone (this stuff stands the years much better than the previous materials, heh) and worked out very nicely, if a bit heavy. I'll wait a number of days for them to lose their moisture and then paint them silver to post here as pics. So, it doesn't nearly look as bleak as it was. Right now, I need a few breaks to go my way. Life is having too good of a time depressing me on other fronts.

I'll probably start a new topic in awhile to showcase some varied photos of different combinations, but here is one setup combining tents, umbilical connectors and access doors.

picture

Very nice SciFi,
The tent tecture looks perfect and nice paint job.
I think I will borrow your entry door design too.

Thanks for sharing your hard work,
JR

Why thank you, JR. The door access parts are cast separate and lay up next to the basic tent piece. The same goes for the "umbilical" joining sections. While doing these I couldn't help but be reminded of the conestoga wagons of the old west, especially the umbilicals.

I'll drop a notation here that I decided to make the ends half-hexagonal instead of the actual movie tents that were (half) octagonal on their ends. It really shows on the round tent in the movie stills.

SciFi Gamer,

Those ABSOLUTELY AWESOME!!! They are EXACTLY what I envisioned.

Where are you taking those from here? Production?

CC