This model was commissioned for a well known restaurant in Woodside, CA named Buck's. The owner, Jamis MacNiven is an amazing guy who is unceasingly having fun with Buck's. The restaurant really is quite an experience as its part museum, part art gallery, and part bizarre collection. The submarine model used in the movie Das Boot was being retired from its long term spot in the restaurant. Jamis had a pretty good idea for what could do the submarine justice as a replacement. The space is 10 feet long by 8 inches wide so naturally a scale model displaying a series of titanic redwoods comes to mind, right? This model was a huge undertaking and everything came out just great. In addition to the trees, the ground vignettes, walnut base, lighting installation, sign, brass case and mounting hardware were all created completely from scratch. As with any highly detailed model it really must be seen in person to truly be appreciated. Each tree was hand sculpted to match the true character of the real trees they represent. The terrain and ground cover is delicately crafted to create a sense of truly scaling down reality by showing a living depiction of nature, life and human activity. There are quite a few hidden gems within the model. See if you can find some of these details like urban art near the creek, a tiny fire dancer, a family of deer, Julia Butterfly Hill's treehouse and much more.
This project was an enormous undertaking. The task was to create a 24’ x 12’ scale model that perfectly represent Alcatraz Island in 1961. The island looked quite different in 1961 than it does today. Many buildings and developments on the island have been since burned, demolished, or developed. This was challenging as little reference existed to recreate some of the major elements on the island. I built the skeleton of the island and all building and hard structures. I worked with a team who built the other elements such as the main frame, island & water sculpting, paths & pads, and painting. In order to create all of these objects various techniques were employed and invented. This project took over 9 months to build. It has been on display at pier 33 totally exposed to the elements for almost a decade. It has handled the elements quite well and it is certainly not quite a reflection of its former glory.
The models were created for Hornblower Cruises as they were bidding on the contract for Niagara Falls. These models were meant to illustrate the ships that would be manufactured if the contract was won. There are two ships represented. One is a single hull and the other is a catamaran with dual hulls. The aesthetic was of a museum quality with perfection in form and finish with a clean and polished look being of the highest priority. This project had a very tight timeline as these models needed to be in New York for the pitch 10 days from initial contact with Hornblower. The models were delivered on time and the contract was won. I'm sure the models had something to do with that.
This cannon sits on pier 33 aside the 24 foot long model of Alcatraz. This cannon is impressive itself at over 20 feet long as it is a perfect replica of the Rodman cannon at Fort Mason. If you go look at both it is difficult to tell the difference. If you lifted both the impostor would quickly be revealed as the original is cast iron and this replica is wooden. Due to some masterful finish work by a fellow fabricator the aged and pitted iron look is recreated flawlessly. I was not the lead fabricator on this project as I primarily made molds and castings for many of the smaller and repeated elements and I also fabricated some of the complex pieces such as the sight at the rear of the cannon and the adjustment wheels on the sides.
A couple of gentlemen approached me wanting to build a scale model city for the stop motion animation TV show they were pitching. The show stars Professor Picklepants and Ginger Smacks who team up to do amazing things while providing wholesome role models for kids. The city was used in the project for multiple city scenes and was designed to be arranged at will. Each building is designed to be lit from the inside and the exterior is finished to react with black light for truly fantastic night skyline effect. The city is inspired by San Francisco with a few creative twists to some of the most recognizable buildings in the city. The ferry building becomes the fairy building, the Transamerica tower becomes a large cheese wedge, and Coit tower becomes a fire hydrant to name a few.
These models were made with the intention of creating a more complete model of many containers with modifications to create a larger structure. The goal was to create a pop up makerspace in Abu Dhabi. Techshop is expanding internationally and cannot build shops fast enough. In this instance the Technology Development Committee of Abu Dhabi wanted a Techshop maker space immediately we came up with the idea of a shipping container based pop up shop. The concepts I created represent different floor plans for this space. The project never went through as the client was able to wait and create a permanent location nullifying the need for a model of the shipping container model. I hope I get the project that provides a chance to build another shipping container model. I would love to build windows, rollup doors, furniture and lighting into a shipping container structure model. I might just do it anyway someday.