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50's Sci Fi Style Flying Saucers
Well, what better to make flying discs from than flying discs? These
TMNT and Spidey ones were at the drugstore for a buck a pack (2 discs).
So, I grabbed some extra M&M containers (used before
here) and some cardboard
to dress them up.
Later on, I will grab some plastic bottlecaps and leftover guns from other scifi kits I had to dress them up a big more. I know that now but didn't when I took this pic.
It's pretty obvious what the M&M containers will be for. The cardboard
will be to add a little style to them. This shape will be cut out and
put between two saucer halves.
I only made half the shape as a template, then flipped it over to make a symmetric design. No way I was freehanding a symmetric (enough) design on my own.
OK, so here's an underside. See the bottlecaps and guns. Also, I cut
a 5/8" hole in the bottom of the bottom saucer and put a small (1" long)
piece of 5/8" external 3/8" internal diameter plastic tubing in the middle.
Classic 50's sci fi paint scheme ... silver! I have some bigger flying
discs for another set, so I will probably do some more designing and
color scheming on them. But for now, these are nice, simple, paint 'em
up and let 'em fly models.
Speaking of let 'em fly, here are some bases. The wood is just some left
over IKEA shelf slats I had. There's that 5/8"-3/8" tubing again, glued
into a 5/8" hole in the base. And there's why I keep taking about the
internal diameter ... 3/8" dowel rods. Just like basic silver for
the saucers, I'm going for basic black for the stands. Nothing like a
classic.
A note from the cheap side of me. I did not and am not gluing the dowels in place. That way I only need as many bases as total ships at one time, and I can swap out the rods for different altitudes. Eight is probably too many, so I'm slightly overdoing it. This is the first time I have ever used "slightly" and "overdoing it" in the same sentence.
An important thing can be seen in the sticks. Some of them are off kilter. You have two options to rectify this. Take several extra hours doing very precice measurements and drilling nice, perpendicular holes, then square everything off. Or shim the inside with some slips of paper until the rods are straight.
So here's the fleet! There are a few retro robots
down there for a size reference. Yeah, nobody knows how big those
robots are. But then again, the scale is entirely up to you based
on what size discs you grab.
For my upcoming additions to the fleet, I have followed the "cheapskates can't be choosers" mantra. I have a bunch of free swag frisbees and some misclaneous round, bowl-like things. Stay tuned ...