Sulaco

A model of the Sulaco, a stock photo and a little work in Photoshop and I have a cool looking photo composite.

CoMMiESFest 2010

My modeling club the CoMMiES (Colorado Modleing Malitia Enjoying Sci Fi) will hold thier first of many wildy successful model shows on saturday, February 20, 2010 at Valhalla's Gaming Center in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. More information can be found here http://commiesfest.com/ or at the link in the sidebar. This is going to be a great show.

Here are some pictures of the publicity campaign. (Okay, they are not real, but they are fun)

2010 Ship of the Line Calendar Preview

Doug Drexler, academy award winning make up artist, visual effects guru and editor of the Pocket Books Star Trek Ships of the Line Calender has been giving little previews of what is to come this fall. I contacted Doug and asked nicely if I could put some of the images up here as well. The imagery is simply stunning and the subjects cover every era of Star Trek. My favorite submission is Andrew Probert's Romulan Warbird in the space dock. The detail is incredible and the art is hand painted. The scene of the Starfleet space dock being built is reminds me of the space station from 2001: A Space Odessey.
Doug has more info at his blog: http://drexfiles.wordpress.com/

Last of the Real Live Bluesman Tour Poster

As the Last of the Real Live Bluesmen, it makes sens that I should go on tour. As a graphic designer I wanted to design a cool poster for my Last of the Real Live Bluesmen persona. The poster is done in a style of old band promotional posters using bright colors and black. The gradations come from loading a press fountain with 2 or 3 colors of ink and running the job. The inks flow together and give you the rainbow pattern. When this is dry, they run the black. Technique gets a muticolor job done for the cost of a two color job. Of course this poster was printed digitally, but it reproduces the effect nicely.

The other element to the poster is all the in jokes that me and only my friends would get. The main sponsor is my design firm, Magnum Creative, and the sponsors at the bottom are all businesses that are owned by my friends. Lastly the cities mentioned are places I've lived, went to school and are big music cities like Atlanta, Nashville, Austin and Chicago.

Want one for your room or own studio? You can get them at www.zazzle.com/jmagnum

Thunderbirds Are Go

I did this Photoshop comp a few years ago. Thunderbird One has got to be one of the coolest vehicles to come out of 1960's sci-fi, Gerry Anderson's action adventure series Thunderbirds. TB1 is a rapid repsonse aircraft of International Rescue, capable of launching Tracy Island and being almost anyhwere in the world in a very short time.

TB1's mission is to get to the scene quickly, assess the situation and deploy other Thunderbird vehicles as needed. The composite is done using multiple layers in Photoshop.

Erin Gray

The Buck Rogers sci-fi series of the early 80's may have been a bit campy and full of retro-disco, but it was a fun show. The Thunderfighters of the Earth Defense Directorate were a nice bit of hardware, and perhaps even better was that Colonel Wilma Deering was flying one. Erin played a strong, cool, intelligent and sexy version of Wilma Deering in the series. The really cool part is that she outranked Buck! Erin was a guest at Wonderfest 2005. I had an opportunity to meet her and get a photo signed. Erin was very classy and enjoyed meeting her fans. Erin is most recognized for her work on Buck Rogers, but she has had a long career of modeling and acting.

Visit her side at http://www.eringray.com/

Michael Putman

Michael Putman is a graphic designer and illustrator. He is also a very talented sci-fi modeler. It's amazing how many graphic designers are also modelers and I seem to know alot of them. Michael's work is very creative and truly inspiring. He has a real knack for kitbashing, where he takes components of other commercial kits and produces an entirely new creation. Micheal's models are well thought out and planned. When the model is completed, Micheal photographs the models and puts them in dynamic environments, at warp speed, above a planet or in a spectacular space battle.

To see more of Micheal's work go to http://www.feymanshipyards.com/

The Ventures

Bob Bogle of the Ventures died this week. Here are 3 classics, Walk Don't Run, House of the Rising Sun and the coolest theme song ever from the coolest cop show ever Hawaii Five-0. We're going to miss you, Bob, keep on rockin up there!

The COMMIES

Jeremy, Brad, Dan, Robb (and Lenin).

Vulcan Lander by Justin Miller

Tie Interceptor by Dan Holmes

Flat top Ilmasepp by April Welles.

MAK AFS by Robb Merril.

Classic Enterprise by Rob Schmitt

Bender by Brad Guy

The CO.M.MI.E.S. (Colorado Modeling Malitia Enjoying Sci Fi) is a very unique and unusal modeling club. They are made up of a core group modelers in the Denver/Colorado Springs metro area, but they have members all throughout the United States and membership is expanding. The Commies are made up of people from Kansas, Texas, Oregon, Michigan, California and point in between. You don't so much join the Commies, you get recruited.

The club has a loose leadership structure and they do not take themselves too seriously. In their charter they have a U2 clause that states when the club stops being fun, they will disband. What the group is serious about is modeling. Primarily sci subjects, but the membership will also build aircraft, ships, cars and carstock models too.

This is a talented and diverse group, and the list of the awards they can bring home from a local or national contest is quite long. The Commies have business cards, ID badges and a series of humorous and very well designed t-shirts to add to the fun. A new t-shirt with a new slogan gets designed every year just before Wonderfest. The wives and girfriends of Commie members aren't left out. Known as the PINKOS (Phenominal Individuals Negotiating with Kitbashing Oblivious Spouses) and yes, they have thier own t-shirts.

Recently the club started sponsoring the BEOSWL (Best Example of Something We Like) Award. The Commies are also invloved local contests and cons by vounteering to teach workshops and help with make and take classes to help promote hobby to a younger audience. It's a good group to be a part of and one of the best modeling clubs around.

To see more of the mayhem visit http://www.commiesmodeling.com/.

Andrew Probert

You've probably seen some of Andrew Probert's work in film and television over the last 30 years. Andrew is a conceptual designer that has provided the designs for the Cylons on the original Battlestar Galactica, the Enterprise for Star Trek: The Motion Picture and the Enterprise D from Star Trek: The Next Generation, the time traveling DeLorean from Back to the Future, and the supersonic armed to the teeth covert helicopter Airwolf. Andrew has also done illustrations for magazine and book covers and is a frequent contributor to the Ship of the Line Star Trek Calendar.

Andrew's approach to design is practical and functional as well as visually pleasing. Even though the hardware, vehicles and props that Andrew has designed are fictional, he puts a lot of thought into how those objects might actually be engineered and manufactured.


Andrew's website features his work, a selection of Probert Prints, and Concept Kits...a series of model kits based on Andrew's designs. Thanks to Andrew for letting me show off some of his work here. To see more go to http://www.probertdesigns.com/