I had the wonderful pleasure of interviewing this very creative and imaginative Brit. His name is Eric Moore, or known on instagram @mremodels. Just by following him, I've learned so much about the craft he does and helpful hints at propmaking, scratchbuilding, and kitbashing. This guy is so brilliant as well a fount of prop knowledge!
So, I just had to ask him tons of questions.
Can you tell me your name and also a little bit about yourself?
My names Eric Moore and, for as long as i can remember, I've been fascinated by fantasy - be it film, TV, books, art, whatever. It wasn't so much the other worlds,situations or characters, more the designs, and craft and designs.
Earliest influences were comics, both British and American, then came the Gerry Anderson shows, then the Irwin Allen shows, then Ray Harryhausen films, then Doctor Who... and then came Space:1999.
With all the things I've listed, I'd be setting there as a kid, waiting and waiting for the boring talking to be over so I can see the next monster or spaceship or whatever.
Which was usually quite a long wait.
But Space:1999 had a TON of effects, usually every few minutes. And the spaceships! They were like none I'd seen before out of comics and they looked real and they moved fast and they were exciting and i was captivated.
And then THE single most important thing I'd seen happened, which changed what i did and how i thought, forever.
Martin Bower appeared on the children's show Blue Peter and not only did he bring along a bunch of models he'd made for the show he explained HOW HE MADE
THEM FROM HOUSEHOLD OBJECTS AND MODEL KIT PARTS!
That was it, the light bulb went on, and i started cannibalizing my Airfix WW2 model kits, knicking shampoo bottles from the bathroom, and started looking round for potential donor shapes to make me a new spaceship, or robot, or weapon. A path I started down right after seeing the show, and one I've been going down ever since!
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| Beginning the process |
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| Layer of primer added |
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| Finished product! |
Growing up in the UK, did you feel like it was difficult to find the things that you were into?
It was quite frustrating - I had comics and books to fire up my imagination but, in those pre-home entertainment days, you were at the mercy of the TV companies as to what you could watch. And, before Star Wars came along, you just didn't get thrilling, blockbuster fantasy up on the big screen. I can remember going to see Sinbad
And The Eye Of The Tiger at the pictures, and almost nodding off waiting for the next bit of stop motion.
Did you have a favorite toy/hobby shop as a child?
Not really. Back then, toys seemed to be sold in all sorts of shops. Even our bike shop sold them!
Which of your own creations is your favorite?
I like my yellow slab ship a lot. Its build was a love letter to my SF paperback cover heroes like Peter Elson, Chris Foss and Angus McKie and came out how i saw it in my head.
Do you have any advice for people out there that don’t know where or how to start?
With the internet now, it's a brilliant research resource, and the likes of Youtube are great for tutorials but I'd say - use them but don't copy them. Use them to ct as a springboard into your imagination.
Also, try to look beyond the function and use of an object, try to see it for the shape it is and what it could be.
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| Jawa blaster |
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| So pretty! |
Who are your top five favorite model makers?
1. Martin Bower (Martin Bower is a model maker and designer of special effects miniatures for both film and television. His credits include the television series Space: 1999 and the films Alien, Flash Gordon and Outland.)
2. Lorne Peterson (Lorne Peterson is a Canadian special effects artist most known for the Indiana Jones and Star Wars films. He won for Best Visual Effects at the 57th Academy Awards for his work on the film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.)
3. Greg Jein (Greg Jein is a Chinese American model designer who creates miniatures for use in the special effects portions of many films and television series. He has been doing so since the 1970s. Jein has twice been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for his work on the films Close Encounters of the Third Kind and 1941.)
4. Mike Trim (Mike Trim, who started out building models for Thunderbirds quickly turned his talents as a painter and designer to creating the fantastic sets and machines that populated the worlds of the Andersons' science fiction offerings of the 1960s and 1970s.)
5. Bill Pearson (Bill Pearson has been a British modelshop supervisor and model/prop maker working on films and tv for 40 years. He's worked on Alien, Flash Gordon, Outland, Dr.Who, Blake's and many more. )
How do you stay motivated in creating things?
Have more than one project on the go - do a bit on this one, do a bit on that one, if you find something a bit stale, put it away in a box for a good while and come back
to it fresh.
Do you do a lot of commissions for people? If so, do have any favorite commissions that you did but hated to part with?
Yep, always open to that. Hated to part with my Kinder 'bot - i really liked the design and way he came out but i guess that's a double-edged sword - so did a lot of folk at a Con and a bidding war started over him!
Why are all the best model makers British?
I wouldn't say they are. I would say they are very versatile and that's down to the British effects group having FAR less money than their American counterparts so,out of necessity and desperation, things were made on a shoestring budget, meaning you'd have the likes of Derek Meddings going down to Woolworths to buy
lampshades to be spaceships or Mat Irvine making an alien ship from two hairdryers stuck together.
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| Kinder Bot is simply amazing! |
What is your favorite film/TV show that Gerry Anderson worked on?
Growing up, i was obsessed by Captain Scarlet but, as i got older, UFO.
Any new shows or films that surprised you with their practical props and models?
LOVED that Moon used practical effects so much. That was great see.
What is something that you started collecting as a child and still collect today?
2000AD comic. But, if i had unlimited funds, I'd buy up every item of the Major Matt Mason toy line.
https://www.facebook.com/pg/MrEModels/photos/?ref=page_internal
On Instagram @mremodels
Follow his blog! http://2000admodelling.blogspot.co.uk/
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