The work of Ron Gross - The Jupiter 2

A comparison of the original articulated Jupiter 2 miniature from a 16mm film frame and Ron's completed scratch built 10.3" prototype. After consulting with a number of talented artisans, Ron finally concluded that the key to the illusive hull contour lied simply in going back to a tracing of a quality still image. We'll leave it up to your scrutiny as to how close you think he came. Remember that this result was achieved without having the "hero" miniature available in the studio to simply downscale, as was done elsewhere.

Ron's completed Jupiter 2 prototype oriented to resemble the landing scene from "The Ghost Planet."

Ron's completed Jupiter 2 prototype oriented to resemble the landing scene from "The Derelict."

Ron's completed Jupiter 2 prototype oriented to resemble the take-off scenes from "Blast-off into Space," and "Condemned on Space."

A bottom view of Ron's completed model displaying reactor core detailing and lighting.

A close up view of the Jupiter 2 landing gear. Notice the resemblance of the figure in the viewport to John Robinson.

A composite shot showing the custom drawn panels for the flight deck console, and the eventual installation of color-reduction transparencies for backlighting.

A view of the interior layout of Ron's model including the radial "mock" interior and electronics. All support parts are hidden from view when the upper deck hull is in place.

A close-up of the completed flight deck console showing scale.

The custom designed and built lighting circuit for Ron's prototype. As in the original, eight of 32 LED's are lit at one time in a sequential chase pattern. A variable pot controls the rotation speed.

A composite featuring Ron's Jupiter 2 model, and his enhanced Aurora LIS diorama set against a spacescape background.

The Jupiter 2 prototype set against a color print background of Ron's favorite alien landscape rendition. This was the title picture for the article that appeared in Scale Modeler in the summer of 1997.

Primary hardware in unified scale: Ron's scratch-built Jupiter 2 and Chariot models along with the Playing Mantis die cast Space Pod.

A Jupiter 2 landing composition with Ron's prototype and a background borrowed from an old Microsoft Scenes screen saver program.

All images and artwork depicted on this page are the property of Ron Gross. You can contact him at ronartist@sprintmail.com. Use of these images and artwork is prohibited without his written permission. Individuals may download and view these images for personal, non-commercial purposes.