How To: Practical Sci-fi Spaceship Models on a Budget!

We thought the shotgun mic was on. It was definitely not.
Anyway, build your own spaceship! All you need is garbage, glue, and paint.

[@stevenclark2188]

That may be one of the most Red Dwarf designs I've ever seen.

[@shalutosskratos1737]

Steven Clark well...its somewhat affective,

[@CubicApocalypse128]

Protip: If you have an old laptop keyboard, the plastic levers underneath the keys make excellent greebles.

[@ManicMechanic82]

It's amazing how just a coat of paint can just make the model into what it's supposed to be instead of just a bunch of stuff put together. AWESOME FREIGHTER!!! Thanks for the upload! GREAT BUILD!!!

[@rodrigodanielflorencia9803]

I know I'm kinda late and its rare when I comment on KZbin but I just wanted to thank you, your models inspired me to make one of my own for a math project and People loved it! Thank you so much for sharing your process and tips plz Keep getting even better at it!

[@wbwright79]

this is great. used to make spaceships out of model parts and Styrofoam, and junk when we were kids. brings back old memories. Star Wars was inspiration

[@richardcranium6081]

Much better than the stuff I came up with when I did my sci fi micro budget movie. Very creative!

[@scott6504]

That's so awesome! Sci-fi seriously needs to concentrate on practical effects. I hope this kind of thing catches on. 🖒

[@cr3d294]

Honestly CG is the same. You're constantly reusing assets.

[@stephenledford5927]

Other than the pull tabs it looks pretty amazing! The tabs are just too recognizable.

[@R4psu]

Awesome ship and inspiring video, but exactly same thoughts about tabs. I just couldn't unsee them even after paint. Maybe they work if used with other pieces, or around holes etc. But all in all, awesome work!

[@cingham8947]

hi future comment from a year later...pull tabs still bad choice

[@AlbertoMartinez765]

Set the ship up in a Space seen where its dark you won't recognize them anymore.

[@tackyman2011]

Guys, he did this in a short time as a demo. With more time and work, it would have been much better.

[@ManicMechanic82]

The soda can tabs are the only thing I didn't like as soon as I saw them. But the rest of it is great. Amazing how much the ship came alive after just a coat of paint!!!

[@intorsusvolo7834]

I tried to do this a long time ago, doubted myself at the "pile of garbage" phase and gave up. I'll try it again thanks to you (:

[@TerryOhStudios]

+Intorsus Volo happy to hear we helped out!

[@spacefuzztv6822]

Can't wait to get stuck into creating a space ship for our project and this is such a cost effective way of making something awesome. Thanks for the video :)

[@eligebrown8998]

It definitely looks cool. You need to add some detail markings and paint. Make it huge transport ship. I've been looking into ways to get started on scratch builds. This might be the key I needed. Thanks

[@RCAvhstape]

I always loved how they obviously did this sort of thing creating the Daleks in Dr. Who, complete with toilet plunger.

[@dennisfd5048]

Truly amazing, my friend. Hats off to you. Love it!

[@hobbyhermit66]

The rectangular port below the popsicle makers would have made a great engine if it were filled with a diffuser and a bank of LED's. Or it would make a kool hanger deck if filled with smaller ships and lit up.

[@dogoguy1667]

Covering it with baby powder and brushing off with a soft paint brush then clear coating it will make it look like its been in space for a long time.

[@ImranKhan-kq3nw]

Great work. Thanks for sharing.

[@ZiddersRooFurry]

...that ended up looking really sexy. I love it. With some fiber optic lights it would look even more amazing, too.

[@TerryOhStudios]

I wish I had the technical know-how to put fiber into my models. One day...

[@ArtDeCali]

I just started making a spaceship about 40 cm in length and 15 cm tall. Gathered old plastics and computer boards, old electronic etc... glued most of the stuff but still a bit to go then going to apply the color and hope it turns out well. I know this video is a little old but I just really got into sci-fi and I’m loving it. Cheers from Poland!

[@skwirlsworld73]

Good job. Imagination and application are integral to creating anything. Keep up the good work

[@oddeagle1968]

I had to watch again for ideas on creating art out of everyday objects, will use whimsy when making my very first model! Thanks

[@joek600]

Great inspiration! It would be better imo to have a balance of detailing. I mean the kitbash pieces had all sorts of panels and details, while the main body had many ''empty'' surfaces. I would add some pales with tape, wires, even scribe in some lines to give an overall busy appearance. Also I would try to be more colourful. You know like those Chriss Foss spaceships with brilliant colours and markings.

[@lirdoing]

This video made tons of hoarders, but it's damn awesome due

[@jamesabell9494]

Cool video, I really like practical effects, I like how you managed to make all the parts look all as one when put together and painted. I'm making some sci fi stuff with my 3D printer but this gives me good ideas to add extra detailing on my work without having to print everything!

[@TerryOhStudios]

Glad we could help! It's amazing what you can do with 3D printers now.

[@jamesabell9494]

Hi sure, I was using Ultimakers in FabLabs, they are great but I got a cheap Chinese Import clone one and it works nearly as well. I think though, printing loads of details etc takes a lot of time, the found objects in your ship are good ideas for greebles etc to add them on to a more simple 3D print structure.

[@RonRicho]

Excellent tutorial. Very, very well presented. Thanks.

[@mikrologia7455]

Thank You! Awesome.

[@johnkelley9877]

This was great! Thanks for sharing these helpful ideas.

[@AlbertoMartinez765]

Great Job

[@LaserGadgets]

Where is the thumbnail spaceship?

[@Vexxarr]

I'm just going to say it. No. This makes a terrific looking desktop model but it will DISSOLVE on a model mount. Every miniature begins with the armature. You build the basic frame around the multi position socket. The frame is either plex (perspex in the UK) or aluminum. Plex if fine for most light applications but if your hero model is going to be used for more than a year - use metal. Second, kit bashing is fine but you really want to detail the ship with cut polystyrene. Make molds of your kit parts and mass produce them. Better yet, build kit part detail sheets, mold those and cut them to shape and apply. This is how most of the ILM models were fabricated up to Jedi. Second, no hot glue. Are you kidding? You're going to be shooting this thing at f11 or even f16. You will be POURING light across it. It's going to get hot. And you won't be using flo or LED lights either. Why? Again, aperture. You need sharp, single-source shadows. Not going to get that with LEDs or soft sources. For this reason, you need a heat tolerant adhesive - sino (cyanoacrylate adhesive). So to sum up: 1) model mount socket at he core 2) plexiglass or aluminum armature 3) cyanoacrylate adhesive. 4) Cut styrene detailing 5) Finish with kit parts or better - mold and mass replicate a kit part library. Now, once you are done - you can take the next step and go full Pro... Seal the model in a mold-friendly primer and make a cast of THE ENTIRE SPACESHIP. That cast will not shed parts, melt or crack under constant use. It's not a simple process in itself but every ship you say on Deep Space Nine was a cast from the hand-made model. That allowed a camera ready ship to be packed, unpacked, mounted and shot with minimal pre-camera touch up. But follow steps 1-5 and you will get a durable, non melting, camera ready miniature that will survive mostly unchanged through production.

[@MeowterKnightsOfSantiago2024]

Brilliant video thanks :)

[@SniperRed0092]

This looks great, man.

[@kaushalvyas5445]

Superb 👍

[@wolfmannoon]

Great job I definitely will be trying you're technique many thanks for posting!!

[@TerryOhStudios]

Thanks! Send us a video or a picture of whatever you end up making! We'd love to see it!

[@wolfmannoon]

I definitely will. I also enjoyed your sci-fi short hollow Sun.😎

[@CamberGreber]

The music reminds me of Jean Micheal Jarre's "Oxygene".

[@reticulan5]

Good job considering you didn't have a studio budget and custom made 3D detail pieces etc. I am actually putting together a sci fi film. I live in the Melbourne Australia region and I wish to form a sci fi filmmakers group. I have all the film production gear as I have been in the business 30 years. But most commercial and corporate paid work. So looking forward to do something I really love science fiction, spaceships, futuristic sets and props.

[@ricardoabreu4997]

Should show a short clip with the space ship

[@reddburg]

Only one thing... DO NOT use cell phone batteries. Those can explode.

[@a.t.6322]

This was fun to watch. Thanks

[@cowboy124aa3]

Would love to see a more detailed build. Something you may use in a future movie.

[@peterscustoms3900]

0:18 The ship on the stand is amazing work! :)....No comment on the one i watched you build however.

[@aug251961]

Add some bold lettering and numbers to give it a relationship to a fleet of other ships maybe it will add realism to it

[@rudyolivarez3564]

It looks great.

[@oldbaldfatman2766]

Nov. 2017---Thanks for an interesting & educational video. While others have mentioned how the pop tops jumped out at them even after painting, think you're use of model kit parts was off too. Looks like you used the left & right halves rear section of a 1/48th scale T-33 and as to the wings, maybe a 1/72nd scale F-14? As to the pop tops, think I'd use 'em, but glue a cut/sanded piece of plastic over each of them to represent a hatch or cargo hatch? I've seen a couple of model kit parts used on the Falcon, including half of a P-38 main landing gear tire on it which took some of the magic away from me. About 10 years ago, Fine Scale Magazine ran an article about a guy in Florida who built sci-fi vehicles, but they were your everyday kind of work vehicle. A 1-2 man ship used to mine asteroids for their metals for example. Think that one was made from 2 plastic flower pots with the tops being glued together, along with windows, interior, etc. being done.For larger stuff, he'd take a sheet of plywood, drill a hole in it and then lay/clamp a sheet (1/4" thick?) of plexiglass over the hole, then use a blowtorch to gently heat the plexiglass. The heat would slowly push the plexiglass into/thru the hole to create a bubble of the size he wanted. Then after cooling, he'd use a hacksaw to cut the bubble from the plywood.Sorry to be so long winded

[@cadecesmat7780]

Thats sweet!!! totally going to do it

[@scottmclean6301]

Then lolli ice holders at the ack are genius

[@thewildcaputo]

Good work!

[@ilyalead4blade897]

that was awesome! thanks!

[@atomicvinylreviews3420]

Lovin' the Zeppelin shirt man! Looks great ! i'm planning on making something similar for a music video

[@georgemartinez1720]

What Brand of paint and Brushes you use

[@emperorssnowmanStarWars]

Wow, I’m creating one for my book cover

[@GorFrag]

I hope your sound guy wasn't responsible for this vid.

[@stardude2006]

Total Fun !! 😊👍🏼

[@kellenwong1321]

I don't know. It still looks nothing like a spaceship to me, even after the painting. It looks like a small piece of a much larger spaceship, or an alien plasma machine gun.

[@logang7203]

neat video, earned your self a subscriber

[@TerryOhStudios]

Thanks!

[@illumardimago2307]

beautifully done i ll redo my ship and post it

[@Domzdream]

I was hoping to see you build that spaceship model of the ship you have on your opening Jpeg of the clip.

[@jorgesalinas8974]

Excellent!!!!

[@beerplugproductions8563]

This video helped me so much!

[@luhluz5166]

very good!

[@codelicious6590]

Time for some dumpster diving!!

[@curtisboswell2619]

What brand and model of humidifier was this?

[@TerryOhStudios]

That is an excellent question I to which unfortunately do not have the answer. All I know is we found it at Goodwill, but I no longer have this model in my possession to check where any of it came from.

[@4rjohny5]

holy crap! as soon as u put the grey paint on it it looked awesome! for the different colour black parts...did u tape off the other parts you didn't want to paint black or how did you do it? May I embed your video in a blog post? i'd love to blog about this. instant subscribe btw!

[@TerryOhStudios]

Yeah, for the blacked out bits we just used a little tape and paper. And no worries about embedding the video elsewhere! Share away! Thanks for subscribing!

[@4rjohny5]

awesome =) thank you Terry!

[@VideoBakery]

I did not see how that was going to work haha

[@TerryOhStudios]

There was a lot of trial and error in the months leading up to this video.

[@thekaiser4333]

Grey? No real space-ship is grey. So, why on earth grey? Have you spent too much time on US Navy boats? If you paint a spaceship grey instead of white, especially dark grey, the side facing the sun will burn off while the shadow side freezes up. That is stupid.

[@Spacemutha]

Video Bakery damn Empire had it all wrong! Star Destroyers! Tie Fighters, even the frigging Death Star! Mind Blown!

[@andyb1653]

No real spaceship has FTL drives, plasma cannons or teleporters either; don't forget to suspend your disbelief and include a little "rule of cool".

[@ironmyno]

Video Bakery .. I agree I was sitting there with my nose wrinkled for more than half the video but I trusted them and pushed on and was well rewarded

[@ZemplinTemplar]

Nice DIY guide. :-)

[@TerryOhStudios]

Glad you liked it!

[@jordanm3613]

this was awesome!!!!

[@josudelatorre1745]

Great TerryOh. Could you tell me what is the url of your website to be able to follow your work more closely? thanks, Josu

[@sleepingbanshee_]

From lvl 1 crook to lvl 100 mafia boss.

[@mxferro]

Why, why ,why?!?! Does every spaceship modeler doing a freelance have to figure in aircraft components into their ships like wings when those serve absolutely NO PURPOSE in space?!?! Get away from having f15 eagle wings on your intergalactic ship and really think outside the box.

[@christophetalon1798]

Good Tee-Shirt. ;)

[@genesizstudiospvt.ltd.2506]

wow awesome... thank you

[@BrutalisDKGaming]

COOOOOL!!! 💪😎

[@ScratchbuildByTWA]

That's an inspiration

[@creamdream5255]

Holy fuck I'm doing this

[@ptitrainrouge]

nice job thx I mail to you my own work

[@Skelly5962]

May I ask the name of the music playing in the background?

[@SonicNitro]

I like this model you done. Would super glue be an ok alternate to a glue gun? Also if you had to add landing gear to this ship, what would you use or would it not matter too much?

[@TerryOhStudios]

I think superglue would be a reasonable alternative, just not nearly as fast. I wound't know where to begin if you intend on adding 'functional' landing gear, but if they're static just make sure they're durable enough to support the weight of the ship!

[@chobyboys]

do you have an insight of how to create models of planets?

[@TerryOhStudios]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/b5jWZIurjciEaKs Shanks FX has a lot of really cool insight into that kind of thing.

[@chobyboys]

Wow , thank you very much

[@johnprudent3216]

Question Jake: Do you design your ship ahead of time or put together your pieces and let the design arise from that? Nice work by the way.

[@TerryOhStudios]

I'm a horrendous artist, so any models I make are completely by the seat of my pants.

[@johnprudent3216]

TerryOh Studios Sometimes that's all it takes lol. Thanks for responding.

[@basvanderwerff2725]

Awesome

[@tarzan8575]

Just adding detail willy nily doesn't help. The detailing needs to look like it makes sense not just stuck on anywhere.

[@floydlooney6837]

USS Fat Pelican

[@carlacp8230]

This really is cool! Actually if you get all the star wars trilogy ships, they all do not even have some design. Do not real designs like the fighters or ships!

[@Latvian3Dman]

Cool :)

[@ArtSlamTV]

The hot glue gun holds? I've been experimenting with different glue types (for strength and drying speed), and I know that hot glue will dry fast, but does it hold??

[@TerryOhStudios]

It's definitely not the tool to use if you want to keep the models in perpetuity. We knew that they'd have a one time use on this set, so we were fine cutting that corner and using hot glue. Depending on the weather conditions where you're shooting, the models will begin to fall apart after a couple of weeks. Hot glue is sturdy enough immediately following the build, and is easily fixable should a piece or two fall off while transporting the models to and from set. Don't build them like this though if you're hoping for long term use.

[@ArtSlamTV]

Great feedback. Thanks!

[@youknoweverything7643]

This model qould never hold up under the hot lights especially since you use hot glue. I build movie models and have been for many years and j have had models start dmoking and melting from all the heat feom theights cause in person it might look like that the model and the shot is over saturated withight and way to bright and hot but on camera its really either not enough ot the perfect amlunt of light. Also you always build the model starting at armature. And gotta have hard edges spft edges will ruin any model ship panneling wise. This looks good for andeak model but not a hero shot model

[@richard-gn3es]

Years of kit bashing you will have every greebly you could ever want

[@darkwyndigo]

Some people is beater than he wark a movies

[@EgoIsFlawed]

a better mic, would improve this video immensely, but good content.

[@TerryOhStudios]

We had a shotgun mic mounted to one of the cameras, but found out far too late that it wasn't on the right input.

[@Breamin]

sorry to say the paint didnt help at all

[@michaelbradley9559]

I can't hear you very well.

[@KeshavWaliaMusic]

sexy

[@isaacixtupe8983]

Kit-bashing in other words...

[@marchenko86]

😖

[@dirtyafr0582]

Looks like a piece of turd Thumbs way down

[@claudenewbolt2659]

I'VE DONE SPACESHIP LIKE THAT ONE, IT'S FUN.

[@Kevin-mq8sm]

Need to use a more permanent glue than hot glue. Otherwise decent vid.

[@ageeksadventureswoohoo9213]

love this video!!!! I've been working on models for years with the same concept. ty for reminding me how fun it can be. and sloooowly true about the painting. it unifies what you build and adds so much depth and detail to any piece

[@boris1932]

great vid! really transformed when painted -- going into more weathering and adding lights would punch it up to a whole other level -- thanks for posting!

[@Weez-2_The-Beez]

Apparently I’m really late to the message board because this just popped up on my feed for building spaceships from scratch materials… Regardless I found this video very informative and I’m glad that I watched it because I’m about to go where no one has gone before “breaking out the hot glue gun and going to town on helpless random bits of plastic stuff!!”

[@usernameunavoidable]

please look up one of the many videos here on youtube about detailing model spaceships, especially applying washes and weathering; it'll make it look 1000% more realistic and detailed - adam savage has some good vids on building ship models and detailing them