It all started in the late 70s/early80s. Through a series of events and circumstances, I found myself being commissioned to build a 1/8th ( 1 1/2"= 1' )scale model of the complete stage set up of the great band Cheap Trick.
A few post card and phone call exchanges had established the need for such a model. One night I get another telephone call from guitarist Rick Nielsen and he asks me to come on down to the Long Beach Arena where Cheap Trick is going to play a two-night stand over the New Years holiday, 1980/81.He asks if I can get there early so I can do a little research and take notes on their stage gear.........He also tells me I can bring a couple of friends if I want- hey- this is going to be fun! I give my best buddy a call and invite him, and also my high-school age younger sister- the Cheap Trick nut. The day arrives, and we head down the freeway....early, as requested. We get to the arena and I temporarily ditch my crew and go off with Rick who squires me around and points out this and that detail so I can get the model JUST right. I manage to make a bucket full of notes and crude diagrams before the arena starts to fill up and Rick has to get ready for the show. I reconnect with my buddy and Lil Sis ( who are safely backstage) and we take in this amazing show. The hits were all there- "Surrender", "Ain't That a Shame", etc. It was one of the most exhilerating shows I've ever heard and seen and felt. It was the kind of show where you just grin and laugh on the trip home. Plus, Lil Sis was the hit of her high school on Monday morning because some of her friends had been at the show and saw her backstage through binoculars. She was held in awe for the next several days.........
But the next day it hit me- that had been a WORK night. I had to get busy. Now I had to put up or shut and get down to digesting the hards facts of this project.
I had nuts and bolts work to do- scaling and plan drawing and configuring as I would any other type of diorama, whether airplane or whatever. Things like guitars and amps were easy to make plans for since a lot of information was already out there in catalogs and magazines. Plus I had friends who owned simliar equipment so it was easy to get photographs and exact measurements. But Cheap Trick had some items that only they had and this is where my notes really came in handy...and Rick's guitars were a challenge but also maybe the most enjoyable part of the project.
The materials were my usual assortment of wood, plastic sheet and rod, Durham's Putty, etc. And painting those checks.....I still get woozy thinking about them over two decades later. Never mind all those Cheap Trick logos..........
Any good diorama has odd little touches that may not be apparant at a casual glance. In those days, drummer Bun E. Carlos was somewhat known for chain-smoking his way through a gig, so I added a bunch of cigarette butts around the drum area. I can't remember what I made them from. I also added a fan- a vital necessity for a hard charging drummer. The amps had all the details in the back- tubes, transformers etc. The connections all ran where they should. The complete set up had had Anvil cases, Rick's riser/stand, guitars stands- everything I cram in. The entire thing was several feet wide and a couple of feet deep. The figures were all on average just a little shy of 9" tall ( and yes there are multiple Ricks.....) .
After several months work, it was finished......the day arrived for packing it all up and shipping it away. I had designed the stage itsef to be folded up and used as the shipping case. It left the premises... I waited...and waited. To this day I get queasy waiting for word that something I ship has arrived safely.
Alhough it had seemed like weeks had passed, it had only been a few days when late one night I get a call....it was Rick. The whole mess had arirved....safely, and he was happy. I wanted to sleep for three months.
It all had a happy ending, as indeed the entire experience had been.Years pass, the Iron Curtain falls.....I get to be upside down in a P-51 at 350mph....... a computer appears one day. Internet service is established. A website is built and shot out to the world. A couple more years fly by...then one morning, an e-mail........out of the blue......from Rick Nielsen! He tells me the models still exists! Twenty years or so later and a little worse for the wear, but most of it lives! He sends some current photos. Yep- it would take a little work to bring it back up to like-new standard. But it lives!
Maybe one day I'll be able to knock it back into tiptop shape, but until then- it's still lives!
Would I attempt something like this today? I don't know. Since I built this, I've learned alot about new techniques and materials. I hope I've improved a few old skills. But the enormity of it all mght make me think twice- or maybe 231 times. One thing- I'd probabaly charge 25 times more!
Note about the photos- these are mix of pictures taken by me of a trial set-up before shipping and much more recent ones sent to me by Rick.