Screen Accurate Flux Bands (Blue vs. White)

[EngineerGuY]

Let me first start off by saying I’m not trying to start a feud or war in here haha. There has long been a debate on what is screen accurate when it comes to the flux bands colors, blue or white. Yes, I am aware that the car used had white lights, however, on screen, they were blue due to special effects. So, wouldn't a car with blue flux bands then be screen accurate? Personally, I prefer the blue, that is what you see on the movie, that is what most people expect in my opinion. There will never be a 100% screen accurate car, but just wondering everyone’s take on this? Blue or White?

[papanoel]

Let me first start off by saying I’m not trying to start a feud or war in here haha. There has long been a debate on what is screen accurate when it comes to the flux bands colors, blue or white. Yes, I am aware that the car used had white lights, however, on screen, they were blue due to special effects. So, wouldn't a car with blue flux bands then be screen accurate? Personally, I prefer the blue, that is what you see on the movie, that is what most people expect in my opinion. There will never be a 100% screen accurate car, but just wondering everyone’s take on this? Blue or White?

you could try to get very cool color temperature white that looks blueish. happy medium. I think the blue flux bands that i've seen are too blue but that could also be caused by camera settings. But of course its all down to personal preference.

[DavidProehl]

In my mind screen accurate = white but best appearance = blue.

As I understand the term "screen accurate" it means staying as true to the original prop as possible. So if you are going for a 100% screen accurate car and all originally sourced parts (which is now nearly impossible) then white is the way to go. In fact, how can you be screen accurate if you aren't using the same type of neon tubes used in the movies? I doubt most time machines use neon these days. If you have replica parts and are trying to make a car that looks awesome but only an expert would know it isn't 100% screen accurate, then go blue.

That is my $0.02.

[Nicholas R]

I think I read somewhere that during the A-car restoration, they decided not to reinstall the white flux band neon lights, because A. difficulty, and B. the white bands were never actually seen in the movie (as they were CGI'd over in blue later). This doesn't really help as to which is correct, but if we talk about the A-car, it may be relevant.

Personally I've always preferred a cool blue.

[Michael]

Screen accurate always. Who cares what it looks like in real life, everyone who knows it knows it as blue. Millions upon millions saw the blue lights, a few hundred saw the white lights. Many of my sci-fi models I build are screen correct. If for example my Enterprise model I built were a studio replica then half of all the detail would be missing because it was added afterward. The shuttlebay for instance was never in the real 6' studio filming model, it was cropped in afterward, but it's in my 3' model, and with full lights. The same applies to the garden and captain's quarters, so which version do you think is more impressive in person, the one with a blank green card in the shuttle bay opening or this?

http://thefiberopticstore.com/project/startrek-1701/

Same applies to the BTTF Time machine, you can say white lights are an exact replica of the filming DeLorean, but the screen correct version is much more appealing.

Sometimes when building models of ficticious subjects you have to ask yourself: Are you copying the subject itself or are you copying someone elses model of the subject?

[Timebender]

And that leads to the question of really what is considered screen accurate? In Star Wars (or a New Hope as it was later titled), R2's back right panel is silver, and then in other shots it's white. And in some shots his dome is dented, then it's not. Add in that the blue color changed from movie to movie, the HP's changed their color scheme, and so on and so forth. Unless there was a continuity person on set with a Polaroid camera taking shots of every single thing (most likely they were) and time permitted to get each shot/prop matched (less likely) anything you see pretty much that even changes from scene to scene is screen accurate.

The trick is to make it as believable as possible. I get dozens of people asking me if my R2 was the one from the first movie. I didn't plan on making him that screen accurate, but he just kinda turned out that way as that's what most people remember - and he just happens to match one or two shots in the movie, even down to the grime.

http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=41184&d=1459471302

[Mark D]

I think I read somewhere that during the A-car restoration, they decided not to reinstall the white flux band neon lights, because A. difficulty, and B. the white bands were never actually seen in the movie (as they were CGI'd over in blue later). This doesn't really help as to which is correct, but if we talk about the A-car, it may be relevant.

Personally I've always preferred a cool blue.

On the restored A-car the neon tubes were omitted at the request of Universal Studios. There were a couple of reasons why, but the decision was mainly due to potential breakage issues which would require maintenance & repairs and there were also possible issues with electric shock from the high voltage transformers.

There is an often repeated story that in the 90's when the A-car was on display near the tram tour queue (with functional neon) several people were mildly electrocuted because they touched the flux bands/neon tubing. As the story goes, this is what lead to the removal of the neon tubes and was the reason the original flux bands were removed at one point. It's not known for sure if that story is actually true but there are photos from this time period of the car with the flux bands in various states of removal so that would seem to substantiate it.

I have a soft spot for the white neon since our build team was the first to recreate a time machine with actual neon tubes. I dislike the dark blue LED strips since that color does not match what you see on screen either. If I ever did a car for myself it would have real neon tubes with a medium blue/aqua color.

[Michael]

RGB strips...any color, any shade, any brightness.

I had neon on my car in the 90's when it first trended. It's a PITA to keep clean. You run clear outer tubes to protect the glass from breaking but it only mildly protects it. I had to have one or 2 new tubes blown for my ground effect kit. Also, no matter how hard you try, water and dirt get in there.

[Nicholas R]

Screen accurate always. Who cares what it looks like in real life, everyone who knows it knows it as blue. Millions upon millions saw the blue lights, a few hundred saw the white lights.

To me this is the best answer I've ever seen on this subject.

We're replicating the actual functional time machine from the BTTF Universe; not the movie prop used to film with.

[videobob]

Mark, as far as I know, my 6th build, was the first replica to feature real white neon tubes, as seen on the Discovery Channel show, "Auction Kings" in 2011.
My 7th car also featured them as well, but I decided not to continue to use them because of the breakage issues, the "corona" effect experienced in the static electricity build up on the bands and mesh that would give mild shocks when touched.
Also, powering the 15,000 volt transformer was consuming.

This is a video of car #6 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYOxrK-mYyw
This is Kevin Pike showing off the car - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHv1QYIHX98
This is the actual episode it was featured on - https://youtu.be/0dXi6Gu96tE?list=PLjeGxB8LkQnWqkz3af5vmWDvo-TRZNxY0
This is a long time lapse of build #7 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-Qr5uni3AY

I have built all of my 24 builds with white lighting, as far as I know, I am the only one to do so.
Almost every single other Time Machine replica built has blue or aqua lighting, I like this, it sets my cars apart from everyone else.
I like the way the white light looks, it is also legal to operate in all states where as it is illegal to have blue lights of any kind on your car (in most states).
The blue lights tend to look very purple on camera, blue light doesn't look natural in my opinion.
That being said, In all the years of my showing these cars no one has even mentioned the color of the bands.

I say that you should build your car for you the way you want it.



On the restored A-car the neon tubes were omitted at the request of Universal Studios. There were a couple of reasons why, but the decision was mainly due to potential breakage issues which would require maintenance & repairs and there were also possible issues with electric shock from the high voltage transformers.

There is an often repeated story that in the 90's when the A-car was on display near the tram tour queue (with functional neon) several people were mildly electrocuted because they touched the flux bands/neon tubing. As the story goes, this is what lead to the removal of the neon tubes and was the reason the original flux bands were removed at one point. It's not known for sure if that story is actually true but there are photos from this time period of the car with the flux bands in various states of removal so that would seem to substantiate it.

I have a soft spot for the white neon since our build team was the first to recreate a time machine with actual neon tubes. I dislike the dark blue LED strips since that color does not match what you see on screen either. If I ever did a car for myself it would have real neon tubes with a medium blue/aqua color.

[EngineerGuY]

Bob,

If someone commissioned you to build them a Time Machine Replica, and they wanted the lights more blue than white, would you do that, since of course, that is what the paying customer wanted. Or would that be out of the question? Good reply though.

[Mark D]

Mark, as far as I know, my 6th build, was the first replica to feature real white neon tubes, as seen on the Discovery Channel show, "Auction Kings" in 2011.

I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt that you didn't know about this car on display at the hotwheels booth for San Diego Comic Con 2011... it was built before your #6 car by Joe Walser and a few of the other TMR guys. I'm surprised (and simultaneously not surprised) you think you were the first to do neon on a time machine replica.

41297

[EngineerGuY]

I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt that you didn't know about this car on display at the hotwheels booth for San Diego Comic Con 2011... it was built before your #6 car by Joe Walser and a few of the other TMR guys. I'm surprised (and simultaneously not surprised) you think you were the first to do neon on a time machine replica.

41297

That is a damn nice replica as well!

[Ikeaboy1]

I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt that you didn't know about this car on display at the hotwheels booth for San Diego Comic Con 2011... it was built before your #6 car by Joe Walser and a few of the other TMR guys. I'm surprised (and simultaneously not surprised) you think you were the first to do neon on a time machine replica.

41297

41302

[videobob]

Bob,

If someone commissioned you to build them a Time Machine Replica, and they wanted the lights more blue than white, would you do that, since of course, that is what the paying customer wanted. Or would that be out of the question? Good reply though.

No, I would not.
I admit that I built some in-accurate cars in the beginning, but I learned that chasing a quick buck and changing things to meet a customers lower budget or design ideas won't make me look good in the end.
I only offer the car as screen accurate and to my standards as I can or I won't do it.
I have been asked to change things for people and with the exception of functional safety add on's such as a back up camera, I will refuse to change colors, or add carnival lights and things like that.
Ultimately I think that upholding my integrity in my builds has paid off, we have done 24 of these cars selling for in excess of $100K each, sold to celebrities and such, taking first place in competitions against other builders
as well as being featured on numerous news shows, (internationally) as well as getting a show of my own.
Kevin Pike told me, "Don't be a hack, if you are going to do it, do it right".
He explained to me there is not as much artistic license in these builds as people think, the director(s) instructed the story board artists (Ron Cobb and Andrew Probert) as to what they wanted illustrated and it was Kevin's job
to make sure his team replicated what was in the drawings.
If I am to re-create what they did I must do it in the same fashion with the same parts and in the same ways, with some substations being acceptable such as the use of LED's and other modern technology, as long as it is done
with stealth and savvy.
Other builders use lights in places there was never light, blinking strobes, sound effects that don't belong, etc.
It comes off like those cheap knock off toys from China where every thing is wrong, out of proportion and the wrong color.

Sorry for the long rant, but I thought I would explain why I feel the way I do and why I do things this way.
I have great respect for this piece of modern art sculpture and I find it insulting to the artist to effectively draw a mustache on the Mona Lisa by doing it "my way with style".
I do it right, or I don't do it.
Thanks.

[videobob]

My car was built with neon BEFORE Terry and Joe added it to Terry's car, further more, Terry chose to put aqua blue neon on his car, inaccurately.
So this means that my #6 and #7 cars have been the only replicas to date with the correct, 10mm white phosphorescent neon tubing on the car as Kevin and his team did in 1985.
Thank you.


I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt that you didn't know about this car on display at the hotwheels booth for San Diego Comic Con 2011... it was built before your #6 car by Joe Walser and a few of the other TMR guys. I'm surprised (and simultaneously not surprised) you think you were the first to do neon on a time machine replica.

41297

[jamesvnz]

i prefer the white I had my flux fluxing in the car (white) and when i took a picture on my camera or filmed it fluxing it went blue and looked exactly like on screen in the movie

i am guessing a lot of people have flux caps here, go and give it a try it awse! a little off topic but i feel its worth the rant :-) james

[EngineerGuY]

Bob,

I see what you're saying. I am in favor of the blue, but I wouldn't be opposed to white as it is authentic to the movie car. As for all the other lights that other people put on their cars, I'm not really a fan, aside from the light on the wormhole emitter which I think is cool. There are plenty of other lights inside the car that make up for adding additional lights that were never meant to be there.

[Mark D]

My car was built with neon BEFORE Terry and Joe added it to Terry's car, further more, Terry chose to put aqua blue neon on his car, inaccurately.
So this means that my #6 and #7 cars have been the only replicas to date with the correct, 10mm white phosphorescent neon tubing on the car as Kevin and his team did in 1985.
Thank you.

If you want to engage me in a pissing match about who did what first I'm not going to participate any further.

But you are wrong about the neon color in the photo I posted. It is white, not aqua. That photo actually illustrates how white neon can appear blueish in photos when in person it looks pure white.

[Gary Weaver II]

Just do whatever damn color you want and don't worry about the debates with "experts".

https://www.facebook.com/bttfparts/videos/662354867220646/

https://www.facebook.com/bttfparts/videos/689090964547036/

I remember Kevin telling me nearly 15 years ago that the neon shop they used kept the 1/4" pencil rod templates for the neon on hand because they were having to replace it so often on the set.

There are plenty of options available these days that honestly make real neon obsolete. 15 years ago it was EL wire, then followed by LED Neon, and I've finally seen RGB neon strips small enough, bright enough, and cheap enough that you can utilize them for your exterior lighting.

-Gary

[EngineerGuY]

Just do whatever damn color you want and don't worry about the debates with "experts".

https://www.facebook.com/bttfparts/videos/662354867220646/

https://www.facebook.com/bttfparts/videos/689090964547036/

I remember Kevin telling me nearly 15 years ago that the neon shop they used kept the 1/4" pencil rod templates for the neon on hand because they were having to replace it so often on the set.

There are plenty of options available these days that honestly make real neon obsolete. 15 years ago it was EL wire, then followed by LED Neon, and I've finally seen RGB neon strips small enough, bright enough, and cheap enough that you can utilize them for your exterior lighting.

-Gary

Perfect Solution Gary! Very nice indeed. As are most of the stuff you put out.

[burch]

There are plenty of options available these days that honestly make real neon obsolete. 15 years ago it was EL wire, then followed by LED Neon, and I've finally seen RGB neon strips small enough, bright enough, and cheap enough that you can utilize them for your exterior lighting.

And the RGB strips satisfy any color needs, on the fly :)

[Gary Weaver II]

Exactly. I was shocked at how well it worked and looked the last time I took it out.

41356

41357

-Gary


And the RGB strips satisfy any color needs, on the fly :)

[Michael]

And the RGB strips satisfy any color needs, on the fly :)

Jeez does anyone here read through a thread before replying?

Post #8

[videobob]

OK, let's just get some quick facts so there is no confusion.
Which car are we talking about?
When was the neon added to the car?
What is the oldest date stamp you can show me of this?

The earliest photo I have found of my #6 build with the white neon tube was March 11th, 2011.
Thanks.


If you want to engage me in a pissing match about who did what first I'm not going to participate any further.

But you are wrong about the neon color in the photo I posted. It is white, not aqua. That photo actually illustrates how white neon can appear blueish in photos when in person it looks pure white.

[burch]

Jeez does anyone here read through a thread before replying?

Post #8

Dang. Read it, forgot, read it again, replied. You caught me :)

[aotmfilms]

Mark, as far as I know, my 6th build, was the first replica to feature real white neon tubes, as seen on the Discovery Channel show, "Auction Kings" in 2011.
My 7th car also featured them as well, but I decided not to continue to use them because of the breakage issues, the "corona" effect experienced in the static electricity build up on the bands and mesh that would give mild shocks when touched.
Also, powering the 15,000 volt transformer was consuming.

This is a video of car #6 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYOxrK-mYyw
This is Kevin Pike showing off the car - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHv1QYIHX98
This is the actual episode it was featured on - https://youtu.be/0dXi6Gu96tE?list=PLjeGxB8LkQnWqkz3af5vmWDvo-TRZNxY0
This is a long time lapse of build #7 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-Qr5uni3AY

I have built all of my 24 builds with white lighting, as far as I know, I am the only one to do so.
Almost every single other Time Machine replica built has blue or aqua lighting, I like this, it sets my cars apart from everyone else.
I like the way the white light looks, it is also legal to operate in all states where as it is illegal to have blue lights of any kind on your car (in most states).
The blue lights tend to look very purple on camera, blue light doesn't look natural in my opinion.
That being said, In all the years of my showing these cars no one has even mentioned the color of the bands.

I say that you should build your car for you the way you want it.

Question Videobob. Do you have any video of Cars 1 (yours) thru 5? Just color me a historian and wonder how you came by how you got to where you are at by the 24th car.

I know you said that you looked at the movie for pieces and parts but was the search/build mostly by trial and error? Or were you able to get some drawings from Kevin Pike? I always find it interesting to see how things came to be.

I always found prequel movies/stories like X-Men First Class (IE your cars 1 -5), to be interesting and what made you wake up one day and go "I think it would be a cool idea to buy a DeLorean and make it into a Time Machine" Did you fabricate your flux boxes initially or buy them?

Did people think you were nutty or off after you built the first one?

Sorry for the many questions.

--Doug

(By the way, I voted for white bands lol)

[videobob]

I do have albums of all of the cars I have built on my facebook, https://www.facebook.com/bobspropshop/photos_stream?tab=photos_albums
However, I didn't start this page until 2011, but I started by journey with the Delorean Time Machine in 2003.
(I used to have all this stuff on my Myspace page lol)
I started building BTTF props in the summer of 2003 before I got my first Delorean in November 2003.
I began with the simple metal props such as the Drive Switch, Plutonium Gauges, Upper Console, etc., I also started my now defunct website bttfstuff.com about that time.
I attended the 2004 Delorean Car Show in Pigeon Forge TN where I first met Claudia Wells, Andrew Probert, Bob Gale and others who helped me search for information.
In 2005 I made my first trip to Universal Studios Hollywood to take photos of the A car and the display car.
Early on I made a lot of my own parts out of wood, such as my first Flux Boxes. Other things were modified found parts.
It wasn't until 2007 or 2008 that I got resin casts of the flux boxes from Joe Walser, at that time, I was part of their "Fight Club" and I was making re-cast copies for everyone in the "club".
The entire reason I got into casting parts was that part of my job in the Fight Club to was to make molds and copies of parts that Joe, Ken and others would "acquire" and then I would
make copies of the parts for club members at cost, all the while getting the parts for myself.
This is one way that I managed to get a lot of my original source parts.
Otherwise, I got lots of parts myself by making road trips to LA's Apex and other shops, as well as surplus shops all around the country, in AZ, Florida and other places.
I spent countless miles and dollars chasing all this stuff down over the years.
Other fans would trade me or sell me the things I needed in order to get something they needed from me.
The more I had to offer the more I could get.

I will be honest, I am not proud of my first 5 cars.
They were not very good, I admit that. I was using a lot of inaccurate parts and substitutions and they were built quickly.
It was not until my 6th car that I decided to put some real effort into it.
I was inspired by the replica that Joe Walser had build and sold on the show "Hollywood Treasures" for $100K and it proved to me that these cars could be sold for more if they were built right.
Kevin also mentored me and guided me to reach within myself and do a better job.
I made another trip to LA to visit Kevin and I stayed with him for a few days and we made this little video...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2X_szPlhUM&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2X_szPlhUM&feature=youtu.be
* Look at all my other videos to see more of this history of my cars *

This was a simple demo reel, or pilot episode for what eventually became my reality TV show Screen Machines on the Reelz Channel.
I showed this to the producers at Discovery Channel when I was on the show "Auction Kings" and they were impressed enough to come and shoot a sizzle reel on me.
It took almost 3 years to get it produced and sold, we only did 6 episodes but it was an amazing ride!
(the show is currently running in Europe and SE Asia)

Anyway, since I started doing this in 2004, one of my tactics was to horde all the parts I could find.
When I was fortunate enough to find the correct parts I knew that I would most likely never find those parts again, so I would buy every single one of them I could.
I caught a lot of flack for that as others insisted I share with them, but they didn't have to scour junkyards from coast to coast with a flashlight to find this stuff, I did!!
This was the reason the Time Machine Restoration Team needed to come to me for the parts that could not be found, I donated them to the project and there are lots of my parts on the A car.
The other function I performed for the team was building replica parts for them to trade in exchange for other parts.
You see, there were other cars out there in the world with A car parts on them that they needed to get and I helped make that possible

After the A car was restored it became the new bar of reference.
I took a million photos of it and we use this book of pictures as reference when we are building our cars.
We have jigs, templates, molds and lots of reference material now and we can build the cars exactly as the original (within reason).
There are some parts that can't be found again, so we make them out of resin, fiberglass and some are actually cast in real metal.
We are just finishing up our 24th Time Machine right now and there is no end in site as we have a long line of waiting customers.
My "competition" will never be able to truly build cars as good as ours for the simple reason that they don't have the stuff that we have.
We have the ONLY remaining inventory of certain parts, the only known originals of certain parts that we replicate in our molds, jigs and templates
and all the the other guys can do is either try to make similar copies of what we do or make substitutions.
Our experience and volume allows us to afford to have metal parts cut on CNC machines, cast in real metal and have special electronics made for us that is only
affordable when purchased in bulk.
I am friendly with some of the other builders and others I am not, simply because we are fighting for a very small audience of customers.
We have sold several million dollars worth of cars over the years and I am very proud of the cars we have been putting out over the last few years.

I hope this answers your questions!
Thanks,
- Bob






.
















Question Videobob. Do you have any video of Cars 1 (yours) thru 5? Just color me a historian and wonder how you came by how you got to where you are at by the 24th car.

I know you said that you looked at the movie for pieces and parts but was the search/build mostly by trial and error? Or were you able to get some drawings from Kevin Pike? I always find it interesting to see how things came to be.

I always found prequel movies/stories like X-Men First Class (IE your cars 1 -5), to be interesting and what made you wake up one day and go "I think it would be a cool idea to buy a DeLorean and make it into a Time Machine" Did you fabricate your flux boxes initially or buy them?

Did people think you were nutty or off after you built the first one?

Sorry for the many questions.

--Doug

(By the way, I voted for white bands lol)

[aotmfilms]

Videobob! Thank you for that informative answer. I will have to take the time and sit down to watch on YT and browse those early cars.

Not having seen the early cars except for your first one (your personal one? I guess), I keep on going back and forth if I want to drill into the stainless. Was your intention ever to keep your original D stock or was there always plans to convert it?

My reasoning on eventually to convert it is because the car is generally worth more. Stock price is about 25 to 35k whereas a BTTF D is about 75k. I just can't bring myself to drill the stainless. The rest would be fine. Just wonder how you first did it??

I'm a BTTF fan but also being from Detroit, a DeLorean fan (I drive by the GM Tech Center here in Warren in the D with the middle finger held high lol) so that is why the back and forth.

So in a nutshell, was it hard drilling the Stainless the first time?

--Doug

[DMCMW Dave]

. Stock price is about 25 to 35k whereas a BTTF D is about 75k. I just can't bring myself to drill the stainless. The rest would be fine. Just wonder how you first did it??



How long are you going to keep it? At some point I'll bet this reverses, unless it's a "not so nice" stock car.

I'd also start watching the RESALE (i.e. next owner) prices of conversions, not the ones made for the first buyer. That is more indicative of market value.

[aotmfilms]

How long are you going to keep it? At some point I'll bet this reverses, unless it's a "not so nice" stock car.

I'd also start watching the RESALE (i.e. next owner) prices of conversions, not the ones made for the first buyer. That is more indicative of market value.

4148141482414834148441485

Dave,

Thank you for that question. I am (Hopefully *praying), able to keep 5778 until 2045 (when I am 75). I am the second owner and bought it from the first on this site. The body is pretty cherry (no dings, dents or pits),

That is why I am having the quandary. I help raise money for cancer awareness. The D helped last year, but I was wondering if a conversion at some point in the future would raise more $ for appearances. I've looked at the going rate of stock vs. BTTF and even with the price of conversion it has held its value. I wish I had a crystal ball.

I like the movies but still am hesitant to make mine into a prop. I may get a 2nd one at some point.

--Doug

[Gary Weaver II]

I knew this story wouldn't disappoint.

Good one.

-Gary



I do have albums of all of the cars I have built on my facebook, https://www.facebook.com/bobspropshop/photos_stream?tab=photos_albums
However, I didn't start this page until 2011, but I started by journey with the Delorean Time Machine in 2003.
(I used to have all this stuff on my Myspace page lol)
I started building BTTF props in the summer of 2003 before I got my first Delorean in November 2003.
I began with the simple metal props such as the Drive Switch, Plutonium Gauges, Upper Console, etc., I also started my now defunct website bttfstuff.com about that time.
I attended the 2004 Delorean Car Show in Pigeon Forge TN where I first met Claudia Wells, Andrew Probert, Bob Gale and others who helped me search for information.
In 2005 I made my first trip to Universal Studios Hollywood to take photos of the A car and the display car.
Early on I made a lot of my own parts out of wood, such as my first Flux Boxes. Other things were modified found parts.
It wasn't until 2007 or 2008 that I got resin casts of the flux boxes from Joe Walser, at that time, I was part of their "Fight Club" and I was making re-cast copies for everyone in the "club".
The entire reason I got into casting parts was that part of my job in the Fight Club to was to make molds and copies of parts that Joe, Ken and others would "acquire" and then I would
make copies of the parts for club members at cost, all the while getting the parts for myself.
This is one way that I managed to get a lot of my original source parts.
Otherwise, I got lots of parts myself by making road trips to LA's Apex and other shops, as well as surplus shops all around the country, in AZ, Florida and other places.
I spent countless miles and dollars chasing all this stuff down over the years.
Other fans would trade me or sell me the things I needed in order to get something they needed from me.
The more I had to offer the more I could get.

I will be honest, I am not proud of my first 5 cars.
They were not very good, I admit that. I was using a lot of inaccurate parts and substitutions and they were built quickly.
It was not until my 6th car that I decided to put some real effort into it.
I was inspired by the replica that Joe Walser had build and sold on the show "Hollywood Treasures" for $100K and it proved to me that these cars could be sold for more if they were built right.
Kevin also mentored me and guided me to reach within myself and do a better job.
I made another trip to LA to visit Kevin and I stayed with him for a few days and we made this little video...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2X_szPlhUM&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2X_szPlhUM&feature=youtu.be
* Look at all my other videos to see more of this history of my cars *

This was a simple demo reel, or pilot episode for what eventually became my reality TV show Screen Machines on the Reelz Channel.
I showed this to the producers at Discovery Channel when I was on the show "Auction Kings" and they were impressed enough to come and shoot a sizzle reel on me.
It took almost 3 years to get it produced and sold, we only did 6 episodes but it was an amazing ride!
(the show is currently running in Europe and SE Asia)

Anyway, since I started doing this in 2004, one of my tactics was to horde all the parts I could find.
When I was fortunate enough to find the correct parts I knew that I would most likely never find those parts again, so I would buy every single one of them I could.
I caught a lot of flack for that as others insisted I share with them, but they didn't have to scour junkyards from coast to coast with a flashlight to find this stuff, I did!!
This was the reason the Time Machine Restoration Team needed to come to me for the parts that could not be found, I donated them to the project and there are lots of my parts on the A car.
The other function I performed for the team was building replica parts for them to trade in exchange for other parts.
You see, there were other cars out there in the world with A car parts on them that they needed to get and I helped make that possible

After the A car was restored it became the new bar of reference.
I took a million photos of it and we use this book of pictures as reference when we are building our cars.
We have jigs, templates, molds and lots of reference material now and we can build the cars exactly as the original (within reason).
There are some parts that can't be found again, so we make them out of resin, fiberglass and some are actually cast in real metal.
We are just finishing up our 24th Time Machine right now and there is no end in site as we have a long line of waiting customers.
My "competition" will never be able to truly build cars as good as ours for the simple reason that they don't have the stuff that we have.
We have the ONLY remaining inventory of certain parts, the only known originals of certain parts that we replicate in our molds, jigs and templates
and all the the other guys can do is either try to make similar copies of what we do or make substitutions.
Our experience and volume allows us to afford to have metal parts cut on CNC machines, cast in real metal and have special electronics made for us that is only
affordable when purchased in bulk.
I am friendly with some of the other builders and others I am not, simply because we are fighting for a very small audience of customers.
We have sold several million dollars worth of cars over the years and I am very proud of the cars we have been putting out over the last few years.

I hope this answers your questions!
Thanks,
- Bob






.

[Mark D]

There are zero Videobob parts on the "A" car. Most of Videobob's statements and claims are, per usual, wildly overstated. From his relationships within the community, to his role in Fight Club, to his accuracy (yes, still). If you know Videobob, enough said. If you don't know him and are thinking about hiring him, do your homework.

[Rich_NYS]

There's a Fight Club in the community?? ....and you guys are talking about it?!

[Mark D]

Our builders group used to be called Fight Club and it (briefly) had a member named Bob.

Coincidentally, Movie Fight Club Bob, and Back to the Future Fight Club Bob both have bitch tits.

[videobob]

The first hole is the hardest.
Measure twice drill once.
I think I sat and stared at it for an hour before I did it.
Now, I walk up to it and poke through it like it is no big deal ;)


Videobob! Thank you for that informative answer. I will have to take the time and sit down to watch on YT and browse those early cars.

Not having seen the early cars except for your first one (your personal one? I guess), I keep on going back and forth if I want to drill into the stainless. Was your intention ever to keep your original D stock or was there always plans to convert it?

My reasoning on eventually to convert it is because the car is generally worth more. Stock price is about 25 to 35k whereas a BTTF D is about 75k. I just can't bring myself to drill the stainless. The rest would be fine. Just wonder how you first did it??

I'm a BTTF fan but also being from Detroit, a DeLorean fan (I drive by the GM Tech Center here in Warren in the D with the middle finger held high lol) so that is why the back and forth.

So in a nutshell, was it hard drilling the Stainless the first time?

--Doug

[videobob]

There are zero Videobob parts on the "A" car. Most of Videobob's statements and claims are, per usual, wildly overstated. From his relationships within the community, to his role in Fight Club, to his accuracy (yes, still). If you know Videobob, enough said. If you don't know him and are thinking about hiring him, do your homework.

I have a record of the parts requested by Terry and Joe and what was sent to them and what went on the A car and what went on the Tunica car, rather or not you were aware of it.

[videobob]

Our builders group used to be called Fight Club and it (briefly) had a member named Bob.

Coincidentally, Movie Fight Club Bob, and Back to the Future Fight Club Bob both have bitch tits.

BTW, I kept a daily RIP of all the data on the sites, both of them, kept all the files, all the members information, everything.
I have it right here on my hard drive ;)

[videobob]

I knew this story wouldn't disappoint.

Good one.

-Gary

You should share some of your secrets about how you got some of YOUR information about the Time Machine Gary,
you know, when you used another members info to hack into our website, steal files and data and then Joe threatened to file criminal charges against you.
Remember that?
Maybe you remember the public press release that Bob Gale put out to tell you to "fuck off" and that you have NOTHING to do with any BTTF anything, ever, never.

Where as I have a written and signed endorsement from my Gale, you have THIS:
41512

[EngineerGuY]

41523

[Gary Weaver II]

Ah, the infamous Bob Gale letter. You have the JPEG, but I got the original :) I even thought about framing it up cause it was so hilarious. It has his real signature on it and everything.

Poor Gale had no idea what was going on behind the scenes and took the word of a few people as the truth. He couldn't have been more wrong or misled. It wasn't his fault, so I thought the whole letter thing was pretty silly. Even years later the poor man appears utterly convinced I was out to sabotage the Time Machine Restoration project, yet I've never even spoken to him about any of it. That's very much his issue to deal with, not mine.

Seeing Time Machine Restoration, Temporal FX, and their sock-puppet accounts on Facebook publicize a copy of that same letter ALMOST A YEAR AND A HALF LATER was the icing on the cake. When you have to resort to publicly posting a PRIVATE letter between three people like that, you know they have issues and must really be desperate to keep differing opinions covered up. Read into that however you will, I really don't care. It was also cute that it got posted with certain info blurred out, because you know... to protect people's privacy. Of course, I'm fair game, but we gotta keep Gale's Rep and the Universal contact covered up. As I said, it's really hilarious when you look at the whole situation and know THE TRUTH.

Last time I looked, the A-Car "restoration" was over, the remaining screen used parts have been picked over all over the world by Joe and Terry (which you even admitted to earlier), and the money has been rolling in thanks to all the documentaries, kickstarters, and "for the fans, by the fans" shenanigans. What's the point in bringing all this crap up NOW?

Just what is bugging you Robert?

Is Joe not paying enough attention to you these days? Was it your plan to publicly remind him that you know where some of the FC bodies were buried?

I'm sure he'll get to you soon enough if he truly gives a shit about you these days. I'm betting he could care less though.

You are just as pathetic as ever. Grasping for attention yet again - even negative attention will do for you. This hardly seems fitting behavior for a world renown "Reality TV Star" person running a successful "multi-million dollar" business. God, it really does sound that stupid when you type it out...

Your tank is nearing empty and you really are running out of options to stay in the limelight.

I'm pretty sure NO ONE really wants to talk about this crazy old BS, but if you want to open that Pandora's box, just what is there to lose? :)

-Gary

[aotmfilms]

You should share some of your secrets about how you got some of YOUR information about the Time Machine Gary,
you know, when you used another members info to hack into our website, steal files and data and then Joe threatened to file criminal charges against you.
Remember that?
Maybe you remember the public press release that Bob Gale put out to tell you to "fuck off" and that you have NOTHING to do with any BTTF anything, ever, never.

Where as I have a written and signed endorsement from my Gale, you have THIS:
41512

On a positive note: Apart from being sued, it would be nice to gain Bob Gale's attention good or bad lol!

But this is about as damming as it can get. Not taking sides here. But it looks like Bob wanted someone local and Gary wanted everybody keep their toys.

Now in Gary's defense, Bob Gale, couldn't expect people to give parts back for nothing. If they wanted to, fine, but couldn't be an expectation. Gary could have said, "Make sure you get money for your stuff", we don't know exactly what Gary was saying or "interference" he was causing.

Was any money offered to compensate people that had parts acquired via legal means?

I mean an original FC, or Mr. Fusion would be worth some serious dough.

Sorry I wasn't privy to this so pardon my ignorance.

--Doug

[aotmfilms]

Our builders group used to be called Fight Club and it (briefly) had a member named Bob.

Coincidentally, Movie Fight Club Bob, and Back to the Future Fight Club Bob both have bitch tits.

I think everybody above the age of 40, myself included, are starting to get them unfortunately :(

(If only I knew at 20 what I know now)

--Doug

[Gary Weaver II]

No one was privy to the situations that led to the letter being sent. Sadly, the letter doesn't at all reflect the reality of the situation.

Like I said before, I firmly believe Gale heard a very incorrect and misleading version of what was happening at the time and responded accordingly. I don't fault his response considering the information he was given. I'd be upset as well if I heard things the way he must have heard them.

I'm not going into the details out of respect for the TWO other people involved (and that's it, its only two other people). Just believe me when I tell you that that the egg would not be on my face if I posted the truth.

-Gary



On a positive note: Apart from being sued, it would be nice to gain Bob Gale's attention good or bad lol!

But this is about as damming as it can get. Not taking sides here. But it looks like Bob wanted someone local and Gary wanted everybody keep their toys.

Now in Gary's defense, Bob Gale, couldn't expect people to give parts back for nothing. If they wanted to, fine, but couldn't be an expectation. Gary could have said, "Make sure you get money for your stuff", we don't know exactly what Gary was saying or "interference" he was causing.

Was any money offered to compensate people that had parts acquired via legal means?

I mean an original FC, or Mr. Fusion would be worth some serious dough.

Sorry I wasn't privy to this so pardon my ignorance.

--Doug

[aotmfilms]

No one was privy to the situations that led to the letter being sent. Sadly, the letter doesn't at all reflect the reality of the situation.

Like I said before, I firmly believe Gale heard a very incorrect and misleading version of what was happening at the time and responded accordingly. I don't fault his response considering the information he was given. I'd be upset as well if I heard things the way he must have heard them.

I'm not going into the details out of respect for the TWO other people involved (and that's it, its only two other people). Just believe me when I tell you that that the egg would not be on my face if I posted the truth.

-Gary

Gary,

No problem, your business.

--Doug

[videobob]

The "situation" is that Gary has a habit of calling vendors, suppliers or other people and pretending to be someone he is not so as to get information or in some cases literally steal parts.
In one instance, he figured out where I was getting my metal parts casted and made, he called them and told them he worked with me and that they needed to box up and ship my parts to him immediately.
Luckily they called me to verify this and it was squashed.
Just like the time that Gary called the Tunica Hollywood Casino and told them that the "Restoration Team" was a fraud and that they should let Gary have the real screen used parts off of their display car for safe keeping.
This is the same scam that he pulled on a some of the maintenance guys at Universal Hollywood, tricking them into thinking he was some sort of representative of BTTF and convincing them to let him take home some of
the A car parts for "research", when they found out he was a fraud, they made him send them back.
It was things like this that lead to Bob Gale writing this letter.
Gary can back peddle all he wants, but when the creator of BTTF puts out a public letter to denounce you, that says a lot.

[Gary Weaver II]

I'm being totally serious here.

Are you fucking insane?

There isn't a single thing true about what you just wrote. Unbelievable that you are still a member on this forum with all your continuous lies and drama.

-Gary


The "situation" is that Gary has a habit of calling vendors, suppliers or other people and pretending to be someone he is not so as to get information or in some cases literally steal parts.
In one instance, he figured out where I was getting my metal parts casted and made, he called them and told them he worked with me and that they needed to box up and ship my parts to him immediately.
Luckily they called me to verify this and it was squashed.
Just like the time that Gary called the Tunica Hollywood Casino and told them that the "Restoration Team" was a fraud and that they should let Gary have the real screen used parts off of their display car for safe keeping.
This is the same scam that he pulled on a some of the maintenance guys at Universal Hollywood, tricking them into thinking he was some sort of representative of BTTF and convincing them to let him take home some of
the A car parts for "research", when they found out he was a fraud, they made him send them back.
It was things like this that lead to Bob Gale writing this letter.
Gary can back peddle all he wants, but when the creator of BTTF puts out a public letter to denounce you, that says a lot.

[mr2nut123]

There are zero Videobob parts on the "A" car. Most of Videobob's statements and claims are, per usual, wildly overstated. From his relationships within the community, to his role in Fight Club, to his accuracy (yes, still). If you know Videobob, enough said. If you don't know him and are thinking about hiring him, do your homework.

We all know that he PAID to be on the plaque. Fair play to the guys for taking his cash in return for having his clown name in the small print. If there WERE any of his parts on the car, it would be very obvious... Hot glue would be seeping from the corners and the paint over the badly molded resin would be peeling!

[mr2nut123]

To answer the thread poll also. They didn't have blue neon back in the day. Those were the days when blue LEDs were hard to produce, nevermind blue neon. They went to the trouble of finding special filters as THEY (the production crew) wanted to turn the light BLUE. Read that word slowly to the left, B-L-U-E. Stop all this white light nonsense FFS! I get that you nerded it out hard enough to find that the neon tubes were originally white, but just LOOK at it when on screen. If you think it's displayed as white, go to www.specsavers.com

[Michael]

They didn't have blue neon back in the day. Those were the days when blue LEDs were hard to produce, nevermind blue neon.

https://vintageeveryday.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/fremont_street_las_vegas_nv252822529.jpg

http://40.media.tumblr.com/7605952ceb9605c2e025cb9892120b30/tumblr_nua31v030H1s0vozto1_1280.jpg

[mr2nut123]

https://vintageeveryday.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/fremont_street_las_vegas_nv252822529.jpg

http://40.media.tumblr.com/7605952ceb9605c2e025cb9892120b30/tumblr_nua31v030H1s0vozto1_1280.jpg

Ok, more expensive to make as opposed to not possible ;-)

Either way you look at it, sarcy posts aside....the light is most definitely BLUE on the screen. That's fact, not opinion.

[aotmfilms]

Ok, more expensive to make as opposed to not possible ;-)

Either way you look at it, sarcy posts aside....the light is most definitely BLUE on the screen. That's fact, not opinion.

The light is "Blue" because it was included on there during editing and post production, so I will give you that.

I can give an exact page when I get home. This is the definitive "Bible" that explains how the flux bands were seen to be "Blue", yes in the movie they were a light blue, but originally filmed (in the original RAW footage, they were white, white would be easier to paint over/edit than any other color). So the poll should say "What were the lights ON the DeLorean DURING filming". The correct answer would be white, not B-L-U-E.

Now if the question were "What were the lights during post production?" then the answer would be a "Light Blue".

http://www.amazon.com/Back-Future-Ultimate-Visual-History/dp/0062419145

--Doug

[burch]

I would imagine that if you are a stickler for what was on the car during filming, as opposed to the final vision of the production team, you shouldn't have working displays for the Time Circuit months, etc. To each their own, though :)

[Nicholas R]

So the poll should say "What were the lights ON the DeLorean DURING filming". The correct answer would be white, not B-L-U-E.

Now if the question were "What were the lights during post production?" then the answer would be a "Light Blue".

I think those questions are specifically NOT asked because the answer to both of those is obvious and not up for debate. Why even have a poll at that point?

This poll is about if you're doing a time machine conversion, do you go with white or blue.

[aotmfilms]

I would imagine that if you are a stickler for what was on the car during filming, as opposed to the final vision of the production team, you shouldn't have working displays for the Time Circuit months, etc. To each their own, though :) The question is "Screen Accurate Flux Bands (Blue vs. White)" Well with the RAW footage, they were white. The Bob's vision, whenever you read that book, was much different than what they wound up with in the movie (in any case). The lightning bolt was even debated about when the D was travelling back to 1985. The Bob's thought it was "Too thick" but did not have time to go back and change it.

Just telling you what I read in that book.

FYI, it is the Bob's who call that book the "Definitive Coffee book" of the Back to the Future franchise not something I made up. It's in the foreword by Bob Gale and Bob Z even stays it in the afterword.

The book is worth the $30 bucks.

--Doug

[aotmfilms]

I think those questions are specifically NOT asked because the answer to both of those is obvious and not up for debate. Why even have a poll at that point?

This poll is about if you're doing a time machine conversion, do you go with white or blue.

I would go with neither :) but with a "Light Blue" then. :thumbup: But then would I be "screen" accurate?

[Mary]

And that leads to the question of really what is considered screen accurate? In Star Wars (or a New Hope as it was later titled), R2's back right panel is silver, and then in other shots it's white. And in some shots his dome is dented, then it's not. Add in that the blue color changed from movie to movie, the HP's changed their color scheme, and so on and so forth. Unless there was a continuity person on set with a Polaroid camera taking shots of every single thing (most likely they were) and time permitted to get each shot/prop matched (less likely) anything you see pretty much that even changes from scene to scene is screen accurate.

The trick is to make it as believable as possible. I get dozens of people asking me if my R2 was the one from the first movie. I didn't plan on making him that screen accurate, but he just kinda turned out that way as that's what most people remember - and he just happens to match one or two shots in the movie, even down to the grime.

http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=41184&d=1459471302

Just saw this. I love your R2 I had a Thompson silver queen vacumn (I believe slightly commercial) in the early 80's and my kids used to call it their R2 .Star wars was my husband and my first date. I went on later to work with bally,midway and Atari and Andy dukay (brought pacman from japan here) and then I became Mrs Pacman and the mrs pacman bride was made for me in honor of the new game preview and our wedding. Made the news back in 82 danced with a robot at the trade show in Chicago at our reception. You brought back some memories for me when I saw your r2 and couldn't help sharing this with you. Mary Ps I believe when I was much younger I was the only woman electro-mechanical lady in Michigan at the time. Cleaned and repaired lots of pin balls and candy machines. Loved the work.