"Sketches, Diagrams Or Map Of Camp In Pitch Black?" Topic

You know the camp I mean . . .

The abandoned research base where Riddick and the others found the coring room, the model of the planet alignments, the water condenser, the solar powered "sandcat" and, of course, the skiff used in the final escape from the planet:

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I seem to remember it being made up of lots of large metal cargo containers, turned into all sorts of buildings.

Someone had to have recorded and photographed what that big location set looked like before it was all taken down after filming!

This is the closest thing I've found, for getting a sense of the research station layout:

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Thanks,

Dan

More pics here of bits and pieces, but not of the whole mining camp:

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Dan

Your final pic and this one are the only two shots of the camp as a whole in the movie.

That makes it look as if it was triangular in shape, with the tall conical core room (?) at one end, near the tip of the arrow point.

If so, then where the Imam and the kids are burying their dead is in a spot at the lower left of this other picture:

What do you think? Sound right?

Dan

That seems right to me!

Well,

While sitting in bed with my foot up in the air (quite a mental picture, isn't it), I went ahead and captured about 60 screenshots.

This one makes me wonder if the camp is shaped more like an "E" than a open-ended triangle:

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The other pics here:

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Enjoy!

Dan

Ok,

How's this for a first attempt at mapping the camp?

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Blue cutouts represent known structures and position. Red cutouts are still uncertain (and I could use some help there).

Note: The mountain is roughly to the north of the camp.

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Thanks,

Dan

I had no idea it was that big.
Can't help map it but Kudos on the work this far.

Thanks!!!

For the overall size of the mining camp the main pics I'm going by are these three right here:

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I figured that I should start first with an approximate size of the containers. I think that 10 feet by 30 feet might be close enough.

I'm using all the other pics in my folder just "for filling in the blanks", though I'm not sure if I've filled them in accurately or not in my initial map:

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Any and all input is greatly appreciated. I'm open to any different ideas and interpretations.

Thanks again,

Dan

Dan I PM'd you with an update to your map. 1 for sure building added and a possible adjustment that makes a 2nd

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WOW. I love what you've done there!!! Awesome. I wish I could add notes on pics like that.

1) Bumper building (seen in the "funeral" shot) –

And I can't believe you spotted that "bumper" detail on the building. Makes me have to reconsider lots now. I like this. It may make the camp a loth smaller.

If the "bumper" was unique and in such close proximity to the water unit, there director should have made the actors just turn around and spot the shuttle:

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2) The "bubble" panel(s) on the coring building –

I see two triangular panels with a "bubble" section at the bottom of each:

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The one on the left seems to be the one in this pic here:
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Note that the door there doesn't have any bars.
The one on the right is where they force their entry later, in their search of the kid named "Ali" (it has bars on one of the doors):

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That's why I thought the core building had at least three container extensions and two double doors (one under each "bubble" panel).

3a) From the PM, "I cannot figure where the rover was sitting either nor can I verify the shuttle" -

Check out the arched car port on the far right in this pic:

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Now compare with these:

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3b) As for the shuttle . . .

This is where she spots the reflection (and note the ribbed cylindrical tank to the left):

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Unless there are more than one containers with tanks like that (might well be), I think it's the same tank seen here on the right:

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I think that tank is at the end of one of the extensions of the coring building (container #2):

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That's why I placed the shuttle facing to the southeast:

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Though there seems to be a container to the rear of it too:

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Thoughts?

Dan

If the "bumper" was unique and in such close proximity to the water unit, there director should have made the actors just turn around and spot the shuttle:

In the second link(the shuttle one) I can see to the left of it the water point and to the right of the pic is the "Solar turbine balls" that sit on top of the coring room?

So you should be facing the right direction with the shuttle.

in this pic
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I think you have the building to the south of the bumper building and one to the south west of it as well.

My eyes are done for the night but I will peek in on this in the morning a bit and see if I can see anything else.

oh and they should have just been able to see it from the get go but where is the fun in that!

oh and here is map 2 got the red side of coring building figured out. but I think that the spaceing of the right side needs to be shifted or somehting.

DZT,

Hmm. I may need a little more explanation on what you are suggesting there.

Could you place an X where you think the photographer was standing when those photos were taken?

Thanks,

Dan

Ok,

On the right side those too buildings are from the one where she is standing on the coring building looking over.
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On the right it become more jumbled as your looking at single points on the pics and mentally rotating them in your head to align them.

SO in the top pic circled in yellow is the center tattered tent thing. That is the pivot point.

The crude black circle(to the right of the yellow one) is suppose to be showing the front of the other tent. I place it to be the angled building between the coring building and the clothes line building.

Pivot direction time
bottom left pic shows the front of the tent and the silo behind it.
bottom right pic shows the Tent – silo – edge of building
Pivot
Center pic showing the coring building and missing red part.

Oh and the small black circle I added is roughly where the silo would be.

EDIT -
I added the camera men shots and I now think that there wasn't a third side. the silo should be sitting where the red box is.

Wow. I was way off on some really basic things.

For example, I thought she was standing up on the clothesline building when she spotted the glare from the shuttle (which would be standing close to the container that is slightly off-line):

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But, if she is on top of the coring building, that really changes things for me. Let me see what other of my calculations are off based on that alone. It's all a domino effect.

Excellent work, DZT!!! That's exactly the feedback I needed.

Thanks so much,

Dan

LOL it's a large puzzle and every time I think I have something it seems it is off. I will give the director one thing. He took a small area and made it seem much bigger with clever shots.

I assumed she was standing on the coring building but that does look like the sideways fuel? water barrel from the clothes line building. You might be right and my stuff on the right is off. If that is the case than the bumper building is shorter than I thought and it comes down to figuring out how the various things are tailored in behind it.

But I am sure about the red coring building section. That is where they get the solar powered car.

Is pic the transition in the pivots

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One step forward and two back I suppose.

You are absolutely right. The director got the most out of the area and the buildings.

About a third of the film takes place in that camp, and most of that before they set out to get the power cells from their crashed ship.

Even with all the changes discussed here, I think its footprint falls within what can be duplicated on a game board, even one as small as my 2' by 4' space (at 1:100 scale, of course):

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Plus, even if I never game Pitch Black in any way, the camp could be used to game so many other settings.

Again, I couldn't have truly expanded my view of the area without your help.

Thanks,

Dan

I could see lots of use for it!

I am not sure if you saw this or not but you might find it useful when you start building.
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Dear God, man! How in the world did you find that???

Absolutely stunning. What a find.

Useful? That's an understatement. :)

Dan

Google image searched by "Pitch Black Coring Room" As it was the only building with a real name I was hoping to get a few hits to see it better/details/etc.

Glad to see you can use it!

This might work for the roof of the Coring Room:

TMP link

Dan

I think it would work just fine for the roof. Have you got any further on this project?

Nah. I'm still scratching my head over how to make container buildings that will look good and yet have playing space within.

Any suggestions?

I want the camp and the container buildings (done in 15mm) to look as close as possible to the movie version, but I know that road leads to madness.

And yet I find myself drawn to take that road . . . like a moth to a flame.

Dan

I'd do it like this;

but smaller of course. The containers don't have widows or anything like that so just use make an outside shell and an inside frame so you can slide if off and on to get inside it when you need too.

So what dimensions should I be looking for in boxes for gaming 15mm?

Would something like 30mm by 90mm (roughly 1" x 3") be ok, you think?

Dan

Though made for 28mm, this guy's scratch-built project has some ideas that might prove useful in making a 15mm version of the Pitch Black colony complex:

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What do you think?

Dan

Every large wrecked spaceship should have a few containers salvaged from its cargo holds, don't you think?

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Dan
TMP link