Mary Lou Turbine Gal West Transport Page

The Quest for the Dark Planet Galactic West Transport Shuttle!

The Transport Shuttle is the heart of the interstellar deep space freight and mining operations. These ships were designed to reliably traverse the depths of space with a capacity to ship a large supplement of cargo and other commodities such as unrefined ore and other fuels. The transports house two loading bays, one port and one starboard, and can be configured to independently manage all of the major and non-standard cargo pods. They manage a fairly small crew depending on the cargo supplement and have become sought after by independent contractors due to their reliability and modular design. It is sometimes common for these deep space transports to occasionally take on civilian passengers to remote areas not accessable to the conventional space liners or smaller commuter vessels. The "Ambassador" has been the ship Mary Lou Turbine and J-65 have taken as their transport into the volatile Xyrene sector. The Ambassador is one of the privately commissioned "franchises" of the deep space tranport fleet. Under the leadership of their captain Terrence M. Powell, the crew of the Ambassador has become one of the star crews of the independent fleet with a reputation and resume that preceeds them!

Below is a test video/VFX shot of the transport shuttle in space. The Miniature was filmed, A matt background/alpha channel was then created to seperate the model in edit with a CGI space Background and foreground. This shot appears in the latest teaser currently shown on the main webpage.

Gal West Model spaceship background info. This was the Second model built for the intial version of the "Dark Planet" (my orignal film name till the sci-fi channel used the same name for a very lame B-film) dating back to 1993. This ship originally was the front end of a larger freighter tug-boat similar to the "Nostromo" from "Alien" and is comprised of unique kitbashed model kits and all LED lights. The main body is two AT-AT walkers with other detail from X-wing fighters, Tank, ship and automotive models etc. The Vertical thruster ports are desinged to work and have been used with cigarette smoke (ala Space 1999 Eagles) fed in through a tube that connects to either side of the docking ports. The ship also has sping loaded landing pads that are retracked during spaceflight. The Transport shuttle is a favorite among fans for it's unique and detailed design as it has recieved awards at local ISPMS model competitions.

Below is a preliminary rendering done in 3D Studio Max of the transport shuttle in space. This version was done years ago while I was pondering doign the film in full 3D. I decided to go back to Models/Miniatures with a mix of 3D/CGI elements and create a old school meet modern FX type of visual film. I just love models and seem to keep coming back to them! JPF

john@cozmicfunk.com