"False Maria" robot from 1927 silent film "Metropolis"
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Wow, this is so weird - hadn't thought about this model for a long time, then just a couple of days ago I came across it and have been working on it since then. Then I received an email saying that someone had replied to this topic, after more than four years. Really strange.
Anyhow, thanks for the nice words, much appreciated as always.
First off, in reply to pbacot's question from back in 2016
@pbacot said:Did you model Maria too?
No, it was a model that I got from the warehouse. Had to heavily modify her, broke her neck, her arms at the shoulders, elbow and wrists, and her legs at the knees and ankles. (I know, it sounds like I need some serious therapy,
and I probably do, for a number of reasons). All in all, it was probably more trouble than just making her from scratch.I will post some shots of the geometry later this morning.
Been working on her face, still cannot get it right. Very frustrating. I actually did start work on a full-size bust of her to hopefully help me with this, but set it aside upstairs for a while and then discovered that it had fallen off the table and had separated from the armature in a number of pieces (a homebuilt armature, not as stable as it should have been). There's just no way to get something like that back on the armature, so I threw in the towel on that little project. Very disappointing.
I'm looking forward to posting some of the background on Metropolis, this movie has such an unbelievable history.
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Sorry, had to get some sleep. Like a lot of people nowdays, my sleep schedule is pretty much out the window, so I sleep when I can.
Anyhow, here are some shots showing the geometry.
some closer shots showing the head, since it shows up as pretty much a black blob in the full figure shots.
If anyone would like some closer shots of some of the model, just let me know.
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Incredible geometry. Thanks for the wire frame close ups!
That would cripple my computer.
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hellinbak , This is just freaking epic !!!!! Can't think of how many times of wondered about "Maria" since your first posted images. Glad your back with her.
I'm a HUGE fan of the old movies. Found "Metropolis" on DVD last year. Have watched it innumerable times. The results they were able to achieve with the technology of the era is astounding.
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A movie way ahead of its time, tuna.
Have you also seen Shape of Things To Come? Another movie ahead of its time.
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Thank you for posting! Now excuse me while I study this and weep. No really, if I have any comments I want to take a good look at it first.
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It is, like the cars Steve, did. Epic indeed.
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Sorry I haven't posted in a while, been dealing with major problems with my riding mower. A few days ago I was mowing, and suddenly got a huge cramp in my thigh muscle. Well, you know that when that happens you have to straighten your leg, immediately. To do that I had to stand up on the mower, but when I did so it started to shut down because of the stupid "safety" switch under the seat, and rather than just let it shut down like I should have, I decided to sit back down (with my leg sticking straight out to the side), which did keep the mower running, but somehow resulted in the mower not moving at all, no matter what I did. Pushed it back to the barn and since I haven't gotten around to building the tractor stand I described in another post, I had to labouriously get it raised up on stacks of short 2 X 8's. Determined that the belts were all ok, and now I'm checking into the variable speed pully and the transaxle. Meanwhile, I've been mowing using my push mower, which is less than ideal given a number of physical factors in my tired old body. Mow for 10 minutes, rest for 20 minutes, repeat. Absolute exhaustion, and not a small amount of pain. Awww, poor baby. At least I've been sleeping well. Anyhow, that's the beginning of my 'How I spent my Summer Vacation' essay. I'm hoping I get an 'A' on it.
Hope to post some stuff soon, maybe this evening. Want to get into how the robot was created (the real robot, not my model). It's pretty interesting (to me at least).
Thanks for all the kind words. Hope you are all doing well and staying safe in these insane times.
Steve
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Sounds scary. Glad you're OK.
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^ likewise, stay well Steve.
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Stay well Steve. Get better soon.
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Well, it's certainly been a while. Sorry. The events of the world have been intruding into my life much more than I'd like. Going a bit crazy here.
I will post more here just as soon as I can. Actually I've been thinking about posting a number of my 'one-off' models here, figured I might as well otherwise they'll just rot here on my computer without anyone ever seeing them. Plus, given the current situation who knows how long any of us actually has?
Anyhow, bear with me.
Steve
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When you are ready. Very nice to see you back here, stay well.
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Yes this Covid period is some pernicious!
Maybe this site can be used for import some body without less effort than all build in SU!
(free)else there a robot here!;)
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@bryan k said:
A movie way ahead of its time, tuna.
Have you also seen Shape of Things To Come? Another movie ahead of its time.
Wow, sorry I missed this post. Especially since this is one of my favorite movies! Now, I assume that you are referring to the 1936 movie 'Things to Come' based on H.G. Wells' novel 'The Shape of Things to Come'
and not the pathetic 1979 Canadian movie 'The Shape of Things to Come', which has nothing to do with H.G. Wells, but still somehow managed to put his name of the cover
I did start a model of one of the machines used to build the new civilization after the wars were ended. I called it an 'excavator' for lack of a better term. Still not finished (well, none of my models are ever finished) but it was coming along.
I like to make my screenshots from B&W movies also B&W, as I did for Metropolis. As I said, far from done, it's one of those models where I am always finding doo-dads and thingamajigs that I missed.
I have also worked on models from a few more of H.G. Wells movies.
'The Time Machine'
and the Cavorite Sphere from 'The First Men in the Moon'
Again, sorry I missed your post.
Steve
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really really cool stuff Hellnbak - I always loved this time machine and these great time lapse trips to the morlocks
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Yes. "Things to Come" My bad .
Did not even know there was Canadian version. Looks perfectly cheesy!
Excellent models!
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Brilliant! And... great subject matter. Classic.
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Another missed opportunity. Brilliant, fantastic and it made my day to finally see these. Thanks Steve.
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Hi,
All your comments are, as always, very much appreciated.
I've been very busy here. Managed to buy a house in Allegan, about 13 miles from here. Wasn't an easy task in such an absolutely insane seller's market. Every time something came up for sale it seemed like it was "Pending" almost immediately. Used the VA, that helped a lot. Now I'm in the process of moving, which is taking forever. It's just me and my minivan trying to move everything I've accumulated over 22 years of living here, with a two story barn, workshop, and big old farmhouse just stuffed with crap. I have a lot of wood (a lot!) and with the insane price of wood right now I'm keeping every bit of it. Trying to find a very large safety deposit box to put it all in
. Found out very quickly that my old broken down body has it's limitations and can only be pushed so far. All this crap about growing old gracefully is just that, crap. Closed on the house almost two months ago, haven't spent a night in it yet. I figure that, with a little luck, by this time next year I will be finished moving. I didn't know it was possible to be so damned tired.As Linda Ronstadt says, 'Poor Poor Pitiful Me'
Anyhow, again, thanks for your kind words. Hope everyone is doing well.
Happy holidays,
Steve
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