CTN 0452-9

rawpixel.com

The previous year had a lot of coverage on artificial intelligence, including news of an AI win at the Colorado State Fair digital arts competition and the advent of ChatGPT.

I personally see a lot of potential in these developments, but in mainstream news media (particularly the large outlets) you will see headlines using words such as "cheating", "furious", "sinister", "panic", and the like.

In fiction however, there are many different portrayals of AI. There is the pervasive technophobic/dystopian view found in film (Frankenstein, The Terminator, I, Robot, The Matrix, etc.), which is little different from the sentiment found in mass media.

Then, there are more diverse portrayals, which include AI as willing servitors (e.g., in I, Robot by Isaac Asimov, droids from Star Wars, Joi from Blade Runner 2049), or as indulgent nursemaids to humanity (e.g., Minds from the Culture series by Iain M. Banks).

One AI that falls in between the spectrum of servitor and nursemaid (with a dash of technophobia thrown in at the end) is Cortana from the Halo franchise.

In game, she is portrayed as a holographic projection; purple in the original game, and blue in the sequels.

As a holographic projection, she could be of any size, but she is typically shown as being a small tabletop projection in the game.

Small scale Cortana figures were created for the Mega Bloks Halo sets that looked like they could be close to 1/72 scale.

I was able to find a couple of loose pieces on eBay, and bought them to use for size comparison.

The figures are not particularly detailed and very slender. I'd say they are probably closer to 1/76 in proportion, but the height might work for 1/72 scale.

There is also a Roland AI (clear yellow) from Halo Infinite, as well as some variant Cortana figures in clear orange, gold plate, or blue with white circuitry markings made by Mega Bloks, but they seem to be harder to find and more expensive (I didn't really look to see what Mega Bloks sets the different figures can be found in).

These aren't the droids you're looking for...

The term "droid" is a registered trademark of Lucasfilm Ltd, and is the Star Wars universe equivalent of the word "robot". Star Wars droids come in a wide variety of forms, but most if not all, seem to be installed with some degree of artificial intelligence and personality.

I personally use the term loosely to refer to all cute, quirky, or comic relief robots from popular media. The majority of the various miniature versions of such robots that I've collected are droids from the Star Wars line of MicroMachines made by Galoob.

The first group of figures include four R-series astromech droids – one standalone, and three others on a single base. The fourth droid on the group base is a mining droid, followed by a gonk power droid (a couple of 1/72 resin kit from RetrokiT and Green Strawberry Models are available, but I don't know how they compare in size to the MicroMachines version). The last two figures are a LE-series repair droid and a ASP-series general-purpose labor droid.

R2-D2, R1-G4, R2-D2, R5-D4, LIN-V8K, GNK, LE-BO2D9, ASP-7

The next image has three 3PO humanoid protocol droids and an assassin droid. The 3PO droids are tiny, and seem to be 1/87 scale. I think the E-3PO droid is a custom repaint or factory error of C-3PO since I don't think that there was an actual MicroMachines version of E-3PO.

C-3PO, C-3PO (god mode), E-3PO, IG-88

The droids that I like the most from the MicroMachines line are the B1 battle droids.

The duplicate poses are from the various playsets, and are distinguished from the standard figures by having a small hole through the middle of the base.

The battle droids are most likely 1/76 scale, so may appear somewhat under height, but overall, they still look fine with 1/72 figures.

Larger scale battle droids were made for the Star Wars Action Fleet line, but they don't have the spindly look of the droids from the films. I think that the S.T.A.P. (Single Trooper Aerial Platform) looks okay with the smaller figure riding it, so I'm fine with calling it 1/72 scale.

I have two other Action Fleet droids from the Pod Racer Hangar Bay set. Both are DUM-series pit droids. The tan colored droid has the pivoting hips of the typical Action Fleet figure, while the brown droid is a fixed pose figure.

At 21mm in height, they are about 1 scale foot taller than they should be, but I'm willing to let that pass.

In metal, Ground Zero Games makes a WorkBot pack (SG15-V13), with three small robots who are expys of R2D2, WALL•E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class), and Dewey (or Louie) from Silent Running.

I misplaced the other miniatures, but had WALL•E on the workbench for quite some time awaiting modifications.

The front and rear of the model are not really close to the Pixar design, but it's not a big deal to me.

I wanted a little better detail on the models, so I added some eyes and upgraded the arms.

Then I carved out some rudimentary hands from plastic sprue and glued them to the arms, but had to widen them with plastic strip because I went overboard with my file.

I glued some plastic scraps littering the workbench into a rough square as a load of waste for my second robot to carry.

Some plastic strip that I marked with a Sharpie was added to the arms, and an unmarked strip was added to the rear.

The figure on the left fell on the floor, and the head ended up tilted, but it actually looks pretty good that way.

Not as good as the 1:1 version created by Mike McMaster, but close enough for me.

Die Glocke

Die Glocke is a purported Nazi anti-gravity device/time machine that has become part of modern UFO mythology thanks to the History Channel and the Discovery Channel, which link it with the Kecksburg UFO.

Much like the educational content from the aforementioned networks, the replica of the Kecksburg UFO reminds me of a certain emoji.

Kecksburg UFO Memorial
Kecksburg, PA

I have a 1/72 resin model by Tanhauser Gate that I picked up at WonFes last year. It is a single piece model cast in gray resin.

There were a lot of small casting bubbles that needed to be filled, and I had to use a chisel to get rid of several blobs of resin in the recessed areas of the model.

Most of the time, models of Die Glock are painted gray or gun metal, but I liked the gloss black appearance used in Call of Duty: Black Ops II.

A hole was drilled in the bottom of the model so I could put it on a clear plastic rod to simulate flight.

Lunadiver Stingray

The Lunadiver Stingray is a ground attack craft from the SF3D universe. It was used by the Independent Mercenary Army against Shutoral forces on the Moon.

The 1/76 version was produced by Tenbowkissa a couple of years ago, and I've finally gotten around to putting my kit together.

The kit consists of 13 resin parts and a couple of lengths of guitar string for use as cable conduits.

The resin is the typical Tenbowkissa material that is nice and easy to clean up. There were no bubbles, but I need to do some work on the radar dish and tail boom where the casting gates were located.

It took about half an hour to drill, pin, and magnetize the parts, and another half an hour to put the kit together.  Most of the time was spent trying to fit and install the guitar strings.

I used some electrical wire in the center of the guitar string to try and help it retain the curves that I wanted, but the end results were not that great.

A soft metal wire with a bigger diameter would have probably worked a lot better.

Now I just need to fill in the gaps between the joins, and paint the model.

I was originally thinking about using the color scheme for the 7th Yeomanry Regiment (which I've transformed to the 332nd Fighter Group in my mind).

However, the Tenbowkissa kit does not have the canister parts that I associate with this unit (due to their presence on the Hasegawa kit).

For this build I think I will go with the 241st Squadron Ghoul Skeleton markings, or maybe just plain aircraft gray like the Tenbowkissa showcase model.

Ghoul Skeleton

CG animated short of Operation Dynamo
(no sound)

The Golden Sphere

And only then did Redrick raise his eyes and look at the Sphere. Carefully. Apprehensively... It wasn't golden, it was closer to copper, reddish, completely smooth, and it gleamed dully in the sun. It lay under the far wall of the quarry, cozily nestled between the piles of accumulated ore.

– Roadside Picnic

I was going through my magnet box, and found a ¼" diameter gold plated sphere magnet (S4G) that I ordered on a lark from K&J Magnetics many years ago. Looking at it, I thought it would be a perfect representation of the Golden Sphere from Roadside Picnic.

The novel describes the Sphere as actually being copper colored, but almost every piece of art shows it as a literal golden sphere, which is fine by me.

Happiness, Free, For Everyone,
and Let No One Be Forgotten

You know the score pal. You're not cop, you're little people.

After Alien Bear told me about the Gaslands miniatures produced by North Star Military Figures last month, I had to buy a set to check the figures out in real life.

The set I picked up was the Highway Patrol (NSPIoC12), though I would have gotten the Wasteland Warriors (i.e., War Boys) if they were available.

In any event, four of the figures in the set are the eponymous Highway Patrol.

They are in the mould of the old Citadel Dark Future Cops, and I don't really have plans for them, but maybe they can be used for something pulpish like members of the Blackhawk Squadron.

The pièce de résistance of this set however, was the Blade Runner figure.

All the figures are 1/72 scale, so I didn't need to bring them up to height.

I had a little trouble trying to figure out what color to paint Deckard's trenchcoat, since it looks different depending upon the lighting during the scene.

I went for a lighter brown color, but it looks much darker in the picture.

Since we're on the subject of Blade Runner, we need to talk about Spinners. Someone really needs to produce a Police Spinner in 1/72 scale.

The closest models available are from an obscure set of 1/64 diecast models made by ERTL almost 40 years ago.

I didn't even know these were around until a few years ago, but from what I understand, they went to the bargain bin because the movie was a box office flop.

If you look for the models on eBay nowadays, they run anywhere from US$50 to US$100 individually, and a boxed set of four runs over US$500!

I bought two mishandled ERTL Spinners because condition was not as important to me as price.

The first model is Deckard's Chase Spinner (#1872).

A bar was added between the two wheel pods to accommodate the axle, but obviously this does not exist on the actual Spinner.

The second model is Rachael's Spinner (#1874), more properly known as the Alfa Romeo Spinner.

This vehicle is briefly seen passing Gaff and Deckard as they approach the Tyrell Building.

Tomy re-released the model as the Galactic Cruiser at one point, after they picked up the assets of RC2 (which included ERTL and Johnny Lightning).

Syd Mead is said to have based the design on the Alfa Romeo Navajo, and the dimensions of the diecast model match up pretty well with those of the actual Navajo in 1/64 scale.

I was really hoping the models could pass for 1/72 scale, and they actually don't look that bad next to 1/72 figures.

However, if you place them next to actual 1/72 scale cars, they start to look overscale.

The two other models in the set (which I don't own) are Deckard's Ground Car (#1871), and Bryant's Police Spinner (#1873). The Police Spinner uses the same body as the Chase Spinner, but it has a light bar and different tampos.

Maybe I can do something with these models one day, but I think (for me) it will be more difficult than the restoration of an actual Spinner. In all probability, someone will come up with a 3D model in 1/72 before I'm even able to start.

NECA also makes a Spinner from Blade Runner 2049 in their Cinemachines line, which is still readily available.

From what I can tell, it doesn't look like they put much effort into the design, so if I do buy one, it will only be if there is a significant drop in the price of the model.

On a side note, if anyone is interested, you can read about my visit to some of the Blade Runner film locations in November of last year at my other blog.