Executive Replicas 2001 Space Odyssey Astronauts

[The_Darkness_Predator]

That is amazing dedication. Very impressive.

 

[Anthrapoid]

That is amazing dedication. Very impressive.

Thanks very much!
I'm considering making these images a free gift for people who sign up for a Haywood Floyd head sculpt by Ulli Pekka. I haven't spoken to Ulli yet. The only way I could make a rough estimate of the cost would be to base it on the Thulsa Doom head he's doing. Those are $85 each, unpainted. I know in order to make it happen, we'll need at least (about) 15 people. After I talk to him, and if I can get enough people on board, I will give each buyer access to high-res files that you can print, and I'll give the exact dimensions, etc.
I'm also going to sculpt a cup of coffee and a ham sandwich, and make molds for them... no joke.

 

[spindrift]

Plumbers tape is great- but it's overkill for this job. The foam padding is fairly smooth on the surface; it would slide into the suit easily. It's the bulk and increased diameter of the wrapped legs and arms that would make it a tight squeeze. I have a trick for that though: I'll attach some lengths of string at the ends of the wrist and ankle padding. Then I'll feed the strings through the sleeves and pant legs, then I can pull them in-- like threading a needle.

I'll experiment with thicker and thicker layers of padding until a good filling shape is achieved. Then I'll tape them with small bits of clear postal-grade packing tape, (that type seems to be the stickiest) and make the final insertion.

This is all simple stuff. The hard part is getting a Haywood Floyd head sculpt. I have researched the earphones, mic, and cloth bonnet worn inside the helmet. Now it's just a question of either sculpting it myself, or having a much more professional job done by Ulli Pekka at 'From Russia With Love'.

If enough of us get together and commit, Ulli Pekka can produce an amazing 3D-rendered sculpt at a fair price split between all of us. I would like two variations, so Haywood Floyd can be displayed without any head gear too. I would love to make a diorama with Floyd sitting on the moonbus in the window seat, with the surface of the moon visible out the window, drinking coffee, eating his ham sandwich, looking at the monolith photos. (I meticulously reconstructed them, see below)

During the process of reconstructing these, I discovered that there are NO surviving flat images of the original prop photos used in the film. The bottom two I had to reconstruct from scratch just by referencing the film. However, the top two are a different story. I knew Kubrick must have used real fly-by photos of the moon taken by Ranger 7 in 1964. Therefore, I had to search through literally hundreds of genuine photographs of the surface of the moon, and I eventually stumbled upon the actual photos that Kubrick used. I isolated the areas that were printed in the prop photos, then I reconstructed the survey graphics on top of them... just like he did.

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You are doing a fantastic job- as a huge 2001 fan I'm impressed!

 

[Stephen Gentile]

I'd be interested in the Floyd sculpt but would like the headphones and microphone included. I don't think I'd display it unhelmeted. Here's a photo of the headgear used in the film.

 

[Anthrapoid]

I'd be interested in the Floyd sculpt but would like the headphones and microphone included. I don't think I'd display it unhelmeted. Here's a photo of the headgear used in the film.

There were three different variations of top headgear.
1) The black skullcap that you showed above,
2) an identical white one, and
3) a different type of head covering worn by Haywood Floyd in the film.

The third type was black, and came down to just above the eyebrows. The type you showed stops higher up at the hairline. I think they switched Floyd's head covering to a different type so that the lower edge of it would be visible with the helmet on. The skullcap shown above sits too high on the top of the head, so it wouldn't be visible at all with the helmet on.

The skullcaps (black and white) look like rigid plastic. But the type that you can actually see onscreen is black, looks larger, and it might be a flexible foam rubber- rather like a neoprene wetsuit kind of material.


When I was researching this, I first thought that the black skullcap you posted had simply been shifted forward so the edge would be visible on screen- but the curve and shape is totally wrong for that to be the case. This screen shot shows a head cover that runs from the top of one ear across the brows, slightly above them, to the other top-ear level in a straight line. This is a different head cover.

 

[Stephen Gentile]

Interesting. I didn't know there were variations in the headgear.

Do you think Ulli can make a Floyd head with a separate headphones, skullcap and mic accessory?

 

[Anthrapoid]

Interesting. I didn't know there were variations in the headgear.

Do you think Ulli can make a Floyd head with a separate headphones, skullcap and mic accessory?

We could request that Ulli make a Hot Toys-style head with a separate hair piece that switches-out with the skullcap, and that would provide both display options. Making the earphones fit over the ears would be a delicate job, but very doable. A head that's made with switch-out hair would be more costly, and I don't know if it would just be cheaper to have Ulli make two different heads or not.

Whatever solution we come up with, the main problem is getting enough people committed to split the cost between us all so it's affordable. The suit is being released 2nd quarter of 2020, so if the work starts soon, the head(s) might be finished around the same time frame.

UPDATE: I talked with Ulli Pekka. He said he can't answer yet, because he's working on several projects at once.

 

[Nekk-ra]

I don't know if this is already known - didn't go back too far into the thread - but I just saw versions of this suit in stock at BBTS. They had black, white, violet, and green available, and I remembered this discussion going on a couple of weeks ago.

 

[BACON!]

Heads up - the silver suit is available for preorder at Timewalker with a discount of over $50.00

 

[yodasan]

Nice!

So this one has no body or head right?

 

[spindrift]

Right

 

[slikkerias]

Nice!

So this one has no body or head right?

That?s true, but you can have it for just under $400!!

 

[yodasan]

Understood about the discount, and it is very tempting even just being the suit. I understand the ER would be a significant upgrade but my old Twinch Floyd figure still looks ok (though short) so its a little hard to justify the cost.

 

[nexus]

Was just about to order Clavius from ER when I saw the concept suits (black, white, green, purple). I remember when they were shown but didn?t realize they had actually been produced. So I held off on Clavius and picked up the purple (the green was already sold out otherwise I would have gotten that one first since the helmet was actually in the movie). If anyone knows where I can still find the green suit at retail let me know.

I?ll pick up the Clavius suit next month when my budget refreshes and I also order Flash Gordon and Ming. While the black and white suits are cool, they are a lower priority at the moment.

 

[BACON!]

Once the silver suit arrives, I will have 5 of these damned suits in different colors! I promised myself I would not become one of THOSE collectors!

 

[nexus]

Yep they’ve kinda become the 2001 Power Rangers. Soon I’ll have red, yellow, blue, purple and silver. Hopefully I’ll find green at some point. Whatever happened with the rumored 1/6 EVA pod? I’ve been thinking about getting the Moebius model and finding someone to build it out. I just don’t know how well it would display. Plus I wouldn’t want to spend the money and have a 1/6 announced. What are folks doing for HAL?

 

[FlyAndFight]

Yep they’ve kinda become the 2001 Power Rangers. Soon I’ll have red, yellow, blue, purple and silver. Hopefully I’ll find green at some point. Whatever happened with the rumored 1/6 EVA pod? I’ve been thinking about getting the Moebius model and finding someone to build it out. I just don’t know how well it would display. Plus I wouldn’t want to spend the money and have a 1/6 announced. What are folks doing for HAL?

For HAL, Master Replicas has a cool 1/6 scale HAL flash-drive: https://www.masterreplicasgroup.com...s/hal-mini-usb-3-0-flash-32gb-limited-edition.

 

[Anthrapoid]

I got some news today.

1) The president of ER wants me to take a sort of 'survey' to see how many people would be interested in the 2001 Stewardesses from the Orion and Aries scenes. They're considering doing a three-pack with the black, white, and Asian stewardesses, with full costumes, food trays, and food boxes. (I did the research for everything) If that sounds good, let me know here! If enough people are interested, they will get produced.

2) The Clavius suits are delayed by the COVID-19 virus, but will come as soon as possible. Might take a few months, but they're coming.

3) This last bit of great news must be in the form of a hint: Invasion of the Body Snatchers

 

[The_Darkness_Predator]

thanks, but I would rather have this in 1/6 scale.

 

[slikkerias]

thanks, but I would rather have this in 1/6 scale.

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Me too