the Uss Enterprise B and the PBY Catalina

Today’s sketch is of the final design of the Enterprise B, The B came to be because of budgets reasons on the production and there was just not enough cash available to make a new ship and shooting miniature for Generations so the USS Excelsior model from previous films was recruited to be the B. Story line called for some hull changes so that the Nexus ribbon could whip off a chunk of the ship without destroying the whole ship. This was my first art assignment on Trek and what a fun one to say the least.. I was one huge fan of Bill George’s Excelsior and despite all the changes we were asked to do it was important to maintain the overall design as much as possible. To seek out inspiration the  PBY Catalina came to mind with it’s built in boat like belly detail which made for the perfect reference to re translate into the Starship’s new hull lines. As for the big wing top props the same is seen on the top of the saucer with twin impulse engines located on the back of the dish. After Herman Zimmerman and the producers were happy with the design the sketch and some rough plans went to ILM and the reboot was underway headed by famed model maker John Goodson. The end result looked beautiful on film and the folks up in Marin County again made movie magic. Stay tuned for more on the B and lots of art n pics to come.

PBY 1

PBY 2

PBY 3

PBY 4

the uss enterprise b

plans for the bridge graphic by Mike Okuda

an old pin up pby

the 45th anniversary of Star trek, the original series

advertisement art, curtousey of Fredericks nostalgic newspaper movie ads

Holy smokes 45 years!!!!! Who ever would of thought that this little show would have spawned into what it has today!!!! The 12th movie is now in the works, we’ve enjoyed 5 television shows, and lots of cool merchandise, and out of geekdom bought lots n lots of bad merchandise. HAAA! Regardless the golden age of Television and the imagination of Gene Roddenberry, produced one incredible show in the 60’s, and on September the 8th 1966 we were introduced to Nancy, the salt monster, from the premier episode called “The Man Trap” Her terrifying debut  started us down the path for weekly adventures with the crew of the USS Enterprise. I so loved this show but after my parents saw the opening episode deemed it to scary for me to see for at least a season. My introduction to Star Trek came with “the Doomsday Machine” and is still one of my all time favorites. Besides all the show was and is I have to say the music from that series is beyond incredible, the themes and instruments were ground breaking at the time and still to this day when you hear the theme you remember the episode. Hard to think back that being a little fan of Trek would eventually be  a part of my life in a significant way as a livelihood starting in the late 80’s with occasional model work on TNG and full blown on Trek V working with my hero Greg Jein. Great fun and lots of great folks to work with on all of these additions and the same is true with trek 12. With all this said I want to end with a big Happy Birthday to “the Man Trap” and a big thanks to Gene for starting it all. Here are a few pics from man trap and some of the other incredible episodes from the 60’s

Nancy, I have salt Nancy!!!

The USS Enterprise

Kirk is seduced

from Doomsday machine

the USS Constelation

being drawn in

from tomorow is yesterday

tomorow is yesterday

from the arena

Gary 7

the planet killer

and the winner is!!!!! astral avaline, Kendell clements’s new name

Astral Avaline

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WOOOOOOOOO-WEEEEEEE,,,, Thanks everyone for entering the “help name Kendell’s character” contest. This was a very fun event and there were so many awesome names submitted. Kendell spent quite a while looking at everything before making the final choice and in the end she combined to names from two different entries to come up with “Astral Avaline”. Which means there are two winners to the contest….. Congratulations go to Joe Overly for his entry of Avaline, and Matt Boardman for coming up with Astral. Well done men and your prizes are in the works…. a major printer malfunction has put a slight delay in the execution of the prints but will be remedied immediately… I’ll be in contact with you about where to mail the major awards… drop me a line at johneaves227@gmail.com and send me some info and also what you might like to have Kendell write on your pics..

OK thanks again to everyone for entering the contest and for all the brilliant ideas,,,,, “Mrs Suddery” was the runner up so well done Barrie

the wrath of comicon, 2011 part 3

Wow what a week!!! had our big garage sale, making the final pack for Wyoming, getting ready for the fair, and just started on Star Trek Monday morning, life is good but a bit blurry in the high speed lane, HAAAA anyways I’m takeing a coffee break and trying to get up as many con pics as I can this morning,,, there will be a part 4 if I don’t make it today.  OK one n all have a great day and enjoy the pics.

a pin up style movie ticket, cigerrette girl

direct from disneyland, a pair of evil queens

it's mickey's bones

an awesome star wars poster

komodo king

ol scratch

just cool

full view

staem punk thrives at the con

the dream machine from "Inception"

the bat mobile

the original, my favorite martian ship

James Bond props from "the Man with the Golden Gun"

props from, Men in Black

a very cool MIB rifle with a special detail

there's a real octopuss inside!!!!

a wicked bike sculpt, (GROWN)

CAPTAIN A

the leg lamp in miniature

OK have to go so there will be a part 4

she needs a name!!!! It’s the give Kendell a new name contest

Kendell from our first shoot

Hi all, Several months back I posted  some pictures of Kendell in the pin up update section and since then we have done quit a few different themed shoots. A month ago the record company BUYSOUNDTRAX  called, and asked if I had anything scifi without being Star Trek or Star Wars that they could use in an up n coming scifi compilation movie and TV themed CD they were putting together,,, I said no but I could shoot something…. This happened the just before Comicon so I called Kendell about modeling for the shoot and then the quest for a look & an outfit began.. It was great timing to be able to start looking at the con, the Steam punk look was every where and was the basis for the inspiration. There were vendors for clothes and effects on every corner and  a booth called Pendragon Costumes, caught my eye… Many hours were spent there going through all they had with one of the gals who worked their. Her name was Kyriss and man did she know her stuff. The booth was so cool and full of every kind of incredible outfits you could think of. Defiantly a steam punks dream store. After all was said and done I walked away with two leather tops, they were separates but by putting them together on one hanger, Kendell’s look was born. Once home Kendell and I figured out the rest of the outfit, high boots black swimsuit bottoms, a big gun belt and a painted black Star Wars toy gun from Wallmart.  We met at the sand dunes in Lake LA for the shoot and when Kendell was all decked out everyone’s jaw dropped!!! WOW she transformed from the dirt bike queen to the goddess of the galaxy!!! She looked so awesome and she really got into the character for the pictures!!! We did two shoots over to days at two different locations and sent the pics off to Mark Banning who was the art director for the CD. He had the entire package done in about two hours and sent over the rough layout and Kendell had about six or seven pics in the CD…. I was so happy for her and what a cool CD it’s going to be too… tons of cool music they are putting on it. After the fact we were looking at the pictures and thought her character needed a name..  We thought it would be fun to do more shoots like a live action comic but we are stuck on what to call her. Neither of us have come up with anything good so far so we thought it would be cool to have a blog contest to help name Kendell’s alter ego. So have a look at the pics and give it your best shot. The winner will receive two signed prints by Kendell and an invite to come along on one of the shoots. OK then have fun n can’t wait to see what you all come up with.

k 1

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2011 and the wrath of comicon, part 1

AHHHHH!!  I am finally home! Directly from the con, we spent a week packing for our first big, long drive to Wyoming to get our first load of stuff from CA to our new home.  It took a week to drive there and back and then another week to get the truck ready for trip #2.  It’s early in the AM and I have an hour to myself, so here is part one to followup the story from this summer’s COMICON!!!!  Way too many pics to load in one post so more tomorrow.

Wednesday afternoon my buddy Nelson Broskey flew down from Northern California for what was about our 20th trip to the con.  We started the trip off with a stop off at the Chiodo Brothers studios in Burbank and then hit the road for San Diego for the premiere opening on Wednesday night.  Traffic was awful like always and took a couple of extra hours to get there; once in town the crowds were everywhere and mood from traveler to line warrior switches into high gear.  There is always great anxiety about getting to the right door to get your pass and get in, and if you do it correctly the first time it takes about 45 mins to to go the the process.  Once your tag is on, you enter the big doors to the multiple acres of booths and a glittering cornucopia of scifi  books, sculptures, posters, soundtracks, games, movies and everything else imaginable.  There are movie stars from the past and present, as well as all of your favorite artists doing their thing in the artist alley.  The crowd at the door and the main back isle is always thick so a quick jet to the middle isle and over to the far west wall starts the glorious hours of wandering up n down every row searching for all the must have items while making sure you don’t spend all your cash at the first booth you come to, HAAAA!  The sad part about opening night is that the floor is only open for a couple of hours, not nearly enough time to do anything but wet your appetite for the next day.

The second best part of the adventure about the con is what restaurant  do you want, and do you think you’ll be able to get in… The gas light district is a street of old San Diego architecture and is double sided with bars and food joints to meet every style of meals from around the globe. Nelson and I have discovered the Rockin Baja Cantina which is an awesome place to eat and for some reason we have always gotten right in.  MMMMMM a way good place with steak n seafood coming to your table literally  in buckets.

Day two is the long day and it does take the whole entire day to walk all the isles.  Meanwhile there are panels, screenings,  and feature presentations in every side room or hall of the place.  That is where the big crowds are, and those lines start anywhere from the day before to somewhere in the middle of the night to see the really big events.  I only went to one or two before and it was the closest I have ever been to losing my mind and being put into a strait jacket…WAY to much to handle for my little brain and crowd tolerance so I just stick to the floor, HAAA!

Friday comes as the last day for us and we finish the morning with gliding by our favorite tables one last time just in case we missed anything.  The cash is all gone by now and Friday is as close to the weekend as you want to get, for that is when the real crowd comes.  It’s getting to be a yearly tradition to end the con adventure with a trip over to the USS Midway and a pin up shoot. This year we worked with a very beautiful young lady named Valerie Neff.  We had just met on the model mayhem site a day earlier and set up the shoot the evening before.  Nelson and I met Val at the dock and her incredible modeling presence stood out in every casual gesture and stance she took even while simply talking to her.  After a quick history we learned that Valerie had come to the states from Peru where she is known as one of the greatest models the country has ever seen;  she recently moved to San Diego to try her talents here which only means she will soon conquer our modeling world with her sleek grace and beautifully poetic style.  We only shot for a little over an hour, but in that time we shot well over a thousand pictures and went through 4 different costume changes.  From my end I have never worked with such a professional, and every picture she posed for turned out incredible.  I’m still in awe of her talent and on top of it all she is a very sweet lady with a contagious smile and a love for laughter.  I will be writing a much longer post about her soon so today is only a teaser.  SO with all that said enjoy the pics and look forward to reading all your comments.

the crowd crossing the street to the convention center

the turbulent sea of geeks n nerds,, Awesome fun,, many of these folks desperatly need deoderant and in a major way, HAAA!

a huge sculpt of Vader with an illuminated light saber!!!

a huge 7 foot tall display of a game board piece

the Quantum Mechanix Viper

the QM 1/350th scale Enterprise with fully lit shuttle bay, does anyone have $3000

another view of this beauty

the world of Star Wars products never ends and only gets better and more extravagant with every Con

more cool SW stuff

Thanks to the digital world, extremely accurate likenesses are finally available

always a fav, Bobba Fett

a miniature solo

a full size Vader bust

from clone wars

bobba

terminator 2

the terminator, from the assault on the police station

an incredible Christopher Reeves sculpt

FULL SIZE!!!!! Does anyone know people that have these things in their homes???

incredible

the ever lovely Valerie

Valerie 2

Valerie 3

James arness, an american hero and hollywood legend passes at 88

What sad news to come to at the end of the day!!!  One of my all time favorite actors, James Arness, has passed away today of natural causes at the age of 88.  If you’re a regular reader here on the blog, Mr. Arness was no stranger.  He was a big man towering over most at 6 foot 7 and, with his deep mighty voice, he was an actor not to be reckoned with.  Jim was good friends with John Wayne, and together they made many pictures.  John Wayne was offered the role of Matt Dillon for a new TV western called Gunsmoke; without hesitation he offered the role to his good friend who took on the part of Marshal Dillion from 1955 to 1975.  At one point  in time, CBS had both Gilligan’s Island and Gunsmoke on the air at the same time; due to a new season of shows, one of the viewers’ favorites had to go…. The producers chose Gunsmoke.

From as far back as I can remember, I watched that show until the very end in 1975.  Mr. Arness starred in many, many pictures such as “Island on the Top of the World”,  “Hondo” and a couple of SCI FI Classics, “THEM” and “The Thing”.  James will always be one of my favorites and, along with all you fellow fans out there, we will all miss him greatly.

God’s speed, Jim, and prayers to your family.

Below are some links about Jim from past blog posts as well as a grab from Jim’s page.

James Arness

https://johneaves.wordpress.com/2011/04/28/the-thing-from-another-world-the-60th-anniversary/

https://johneaves.wordpress.com/2009/06/19/june-19th-2009-the-55th-anniversary-of-them/

how to build a flying saucer from (race to witch mountain) part 1

By popular demand here is the plans and design process for the exterior of the flying saucer from Disney’s “Race to Witch Mountain” I had touched upon this in an earlier post and a lot of you wanted more so here it is. the show called for a flying saucer and I have always wanted to do  a 50’s style ship and it was one big thrill to get the opportunity!!!! My boss David Bomba gave me some quick dimensions that it had to be because a practical was to be built for the set, as well as for the special effects department. the dimensions were so small that the ship was almost a box!!! akk the lines were retained as the ship was passed on to Billy Hunter, the art department CG modeler.. he was the one that got the go ahead to let us stretch out the dimensions to make for a much more sleek and dynamic craft. the ship was broken up into 4 rib like sections and 4 counter suck surface panels,, this would help with breaks in the ship for the carpenters that had to build the full sized ship. a silver chromed like paint scheme was established for the final and what you see in one of the drawings is the burned and battered version of that chrome look. to make our saucer a little different from what has come before, we thought of the ship producing a saturn like energy ring around it’s equator when it would transform into flying mode!!! this idea went through a series of passes and the final VFX were really awesome to see on film.. So with that all said here are the complete plans for the saucer and there will be more to come on the interior and production stills of the actual saucer construction.. enjoy

variations of the energy ring

the burned little ship

plan views #1

plan views #2

KAAAAAAAAAAAAAHN!!!!

Howdy all!  Sorry the blog has been dark and deserted for so long…I just started on the new “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie and doing a little bit on JJ’s new Trek, accompanied by my daughters’ rodeo schedule have had me overly busy!!!  Times are most exciting!!!  So with that said, here is some quick fodder for ya before the day starts.  Both of these new films have something in common, and that is Javier Bardem!!!  Javier is the way bad guy from “No Country for Old Men” ( a big fav in the Eaves house), and he is being cast as Blue Beard in Pirates and also as the legendary Kahn in JJ’s Trek sequel.  I met Javier in both art departments and am working on costumes for both of his new Characters.  We talked a lot about the Coen Brothers, and it was really fun to find out that he had never seen a Trek movie until he met JJ.  Javier is extremely excited about taking on the role of Kahn, and I can’t wait to see how he brings this character to life…tough shoes to fill with what what Ricardo has already done.  But if anyone is going to be able to pull it off, it’s going to be Javier.

OK all, have to run so have a good one and hope to get back on here more often.  Below are some pictures and the Old Men trailer to give you a good view of Javier’s work.

Javier

Cheers