New Mini Castle for the National Park Service

Our friends at Formations asked Masterpiece Models to create a scale replica of Castle Williams as it looked when it was completed in 1811. This is for a larger exhibit at the Governors Island national Park. The model was created using historical data and images of the fort as it looks today. Since the model was largely round our team was able to make sections of which were sent to our Casting Department to be cast out of a urethane resin. This model will be sitting outside for most of the summer months and will be be tactile, so it had to be made to take abuse from the sun and people. Overall this project came out beautifully and our customer is very pleased with the outcome. We would like to give special thanks to Rick Lawler, Ric Keen and Bruce Bowman for their craftsmanship on this project, and of course our casting team that spent hours and hours casting up the parts of this magnificent replica.

Castle Williams Governors Island National Park

Sustainable Energy House for Clackamas County

Michael Piper of Clackamas County Asked Masterpiece Models to create a replica of an energy efficient home. This model depicts a Home built in the 1970's and a home built today showing the comparisons of how framing and insulation has advanced in the last 40 years. This model was completed in 30 working days by our team lead by Rick lawler.

New Lenses for the Lotus 11

Our Friend Peter G, recently tasked us to create two new custom fit headlight lenses for his historic 1956 Lotus 11 race car. His fantastic restoration only needed one last touch the headlight covers, he went to several other shops and had disappointing results. Once he came to see us
he knew that he found the right shop to complete this task.






Look at that smile

We have expanded our services now to offer tail lights, trim parts using our poly composite cast metal that can be triple nickel chromed for that look and feel that you cannot tell the difference from an original to our parts

Here is a fun article that our local newspaper The Columbian recently did on us

Photo by Troy Wayrynen

John Geigle, CEO of Masterpiece Models, and Ed Warmack, a fabricator at the company who helped build the space toilet, stand next to a full-size replica space shuttle toilet created for a museum in Kansas. The museum says the No. 1 (so to speak) question they get is about going to the bathroom in space.

By Tom Vogt
Columbian Staff Reporter

Friday, July 8, 2011

File Photo

John Geigle’s model shop has produced a full-size replica of a space shuttle toilet for a museum in Kansas.

Did you know ?

The command module of problem-plagued Apollo 13 was disassembled after its 1970 flight and its parts shipped to museums, manufacturers and space centers across the world. Years later, the Kansas Cosmosphere retrieved its 80,000 missing parts and restored the spacecraft to its original post-flight condition.

Some of the Kansas Cosmosphere’s artifacts are on display less than 50 miles from Vancouver, on loan to the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Ore.

On the Web:

NASA video shows how astronauts learn about zero gravity toilets.

OK, let’s just get it out of the way and then move on. The latest museum piece from John Geigle’s fabrication shop is a tribute to those who boldly go where no man has gone before.

It’s a space toilet.

To be more precise, it’s a replica of a toilet on a NASA space shuttle. Geigle’s team at Masterpiece Models built the shuttle fixture for a repeat customer, the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center.

A few years ago, the shop just east of Hazel Dell built a full-scale replica of a Mars rover for the museum.

“This time, the request was a little bit strange,” acknowledged Chris Orwoll, president of the Cosmosphere.

His museum in Hutchinson, Kan., boasts an all-star collection of space artifacts, including the original Apollo 13 — “Houston, we have a problem” — command module.

It is one of only three museums in the world to display spacecraft flown during America’s Mercury, Gemini and Apollo manned space programs.

But it’s looking to supplement its impressive roster of hardware with displays that represent the human aspects of space flight.

“We have a lot of artifacts,” said collections manager Meredith Miller, and information-dense interpretive panels that provide lots of reading material.

Part of the reason for Geigle’s assignment “was to create more interactivity” for a shuttle gallery scheduled to open in August, Miller said.

Geigle’s fabrication crew also created a 1/48th scale model of the International Space Station — about 8 feet long — that will hang in the Cosmosphere’s space shuttle gallery.

The toilet mock-up will help the Kansas museum answer a frequently asked question.

“How do astronauts eat, and how do they go to the bathroom? Those are two of the biggest questions,” Miller said.

The toilet replica isn’t just a three-dimensional display. Museum visitors will be able to climb into the driver’s seat, so to speak, providing some of the interactivity Miller was talking about.

The replica, built by Masterpiece Models fabricator Ed Warmack, can handle a 300-pounder, Geigle said.

Weight isn’t much of a factor for a fixture operating in zero gravity. But zero gravity also means a person who sits down doesn’t stay down long; that’s why the space toilet has spring-loaded restraints that clamp down on your thighs, preventing the user from floating away.

That’s not the only design difference. The shuttle toilet’s opening is only four inches; the user has to be pretty precise.

“In space, it’s crucial that everything aligns,” Orwoll said.

Astronauts practice “docking” with a training unit that includes video monitoring.

And here’s an opportunity — thanks to The Columbian’s archives — for a local astronaut to describe the experience of toilet-training, shuttle style.

“They actually have a camera under you, with cross hairs,” Camas astronaut Mike Barratt said a few years ago during a hometown visit. “You have to practice while watching a video screen.”

And the NASA career of another local astronaut hinged on that “How do you …?” question.

Former Hudson’s Bay High School teacher Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger has retold the story a couple of times.

“When I was teaching astronomy at high school, one of my students said, ‘How do you go to the bathroom in space?’ I looked it up that night, and at the same time, they had posted that educators could become astronauts,” according to Columbian files.

“So, I had the answer to my student’s question, but I also got an answer to a dream that I had for a long time, and so I applied for the astronaut position,” Metcalf-Lindenburger said.

While the Vancouver-made version is strictly for display purposes, the real fixture uses suction to move waste through the system.

According to a NASA Web page for frequently asked questions, “Solid wastes are compressed and stored onboard, and then removed after landing. Wastewater is vented to space, although future systems may recycle it, such as they do on the International Space Station. The air is filtered to remove odor and bacteria and then returned to the cabin.”

A NASA video that explains the system will be part of the shuttle toilet display.

“It’s much more sophisticated than the Apollo capsule,” Miller said. Today’s astronauts “don’t have to wear those diapers.”

The photos below are by Rick Lawler

Black Mambas for NIKE

Our Friends at ID Branding recently contracted Masterpiece Models to sculpt and cast 215
Black Mambas with USB flash drives in the detachable head. a recent review can seen at this link
http://www.freshnessmag.com/2011/02/09/nike-zoom-kobe-vi-the-black-mamba-usb

You can also view the preview for The Black Mamba film here.

Bruce Bowman our sculptor extraordinaire developed the snake to the specification of the customer. Then our casting crew diligently cast for two weeks making the snakes.

ID Branding was very happy with the outcome that came in on time and on budget.

AVAILABLE NOW CLASSIC ROCKETS

Available now a 41" tall TWA Moonliner and a 36" tall studio scale Luna. Both of these resin assembly kits are huge and will be a great addition to any CLASSIC SCI-FI collection.
http://www.masterpiecemodels.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=21&Itemid=33

USS CAIRO FOR 1220

We were recently commissioned by our friends at 1220 exhibits to fabricate a replica of the Civil war Ironclad the USS CAIRO. This model was completed in three weeks by our staff of artisans.
The model is 36" long. for More information please visit Masterpiece Models to view some of our other work.