io9: models

Monster Models Look Ready for Face-Eating Mayhem

Lauren Davis — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 13:00:00 PDT

Naturalist and modelmaker Andrew Scott creates sculptures of Lovecraftian horrors, alien embryos, and brain-sucking critters so eerily plausible that you half expect to find them on your next space mission — or simply rooting through your garbage.

Scott makes realistic, incredibly detailed models of trilobytes and insects from PVC, and lectures on arthropods, evolution, and ecology at Vancouver's Stanley Park. But his imagined creatures, many inspired by the art of H.R. Giger and the tales of H.P. Lovecraft, are biofiction at its best — organic-looking beasties that look like they'll slither to life at any moment.

[Bugmaker's Flickr via Dark Roasted Blend]

Baby
Alien Embryo
Sandworm
Parasite
Crawler
Pickled Critter
Crazy Critter
Sand Creature
Brainworm
Baby Deep One
Dissection
Critter Looks Up
Martian Maggot
Alien Embryo
Beasty
Swamp Critter

Love Keeps Her In The Air, But You Can Keep Serenity On Your Shelf

Charlie Jane Anders — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 07:00:00 PDT

Serenity is a damn fine boat, in this 19-inch replica from Quantum Mechanix. On sale today for Comic Con, the Firefly model includes 30 lighting effects, hand-painted insignia, Inara's shuttle, and our Big Damn Heroes on the bridge. Gallery below.

The model will be here at Comic Con all weekend, but you can sign up for the waiting list to buy one at the link. [Quantum Mechanix]

Starfighting In The Museum Of The Improbable

Kevin Kelly — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 14:45:10 PDT

This awesome model of a starfighter, complete with a helpful little refueling probe-bot, is one of the models available at The Museum of the Improbable.

Artist Greg deSantis has also created incredible concept models of a reimagined Nautilus from 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, amazing steampunk British tanks, space pirates boarding a ship through a still red-hot sliced open hole, and even scifi handguns that come complete with their own carrying case.

Sadly, the museum has disappeared and no longer offers models for sale. This is tragic, because these are probably some of the coolest scifi models we've seen, and the attention to detail is incredible. We hope deSantis returns to making these one day, because those tanks would look awesome on our desk.