SCOTT
BRODEEN
When people talk about Scott Brodeen, they use words like
“Legendary”.
Scott has a reputation as a master caster. Here’s a look at Brodeen molding the CUSTOM REPLICAS
66-inch NAUTILUS. Like his associate
Jim Key, Scott Brodeen is a prop maker and a creator of prototypes.
Working on the negative
rubber mold for the 66-incher’s upper hull half.
Arguably, there’s somewhere between 12,000 and 14,000 rivets on the
NAUTILUS. For the 66-incher, Jim Key
mapped the rivet locations with a writing instrument, and then Scott Brodeen
created the rivets one at a time, by applying tiny beads of JB-Weld glue to the
surface with a finely pointed dental tool.
Do you remember the ICONS 30.5 inch NAUTILUS replica? Have you seen the recent re-release of that
kit, as shown above? Guess who made the
prototype. Yep. Scott Brodeen.
Wheelhouse detail.
Aft view.
Years ago, Scott’s prototype 16-incher was sold via the DISNEYANA
Store. These are very heavy, solid cast
replicas, and came mounted on a wooden base with an engraved nameplate.
I bought my Brodeen 16-incher from the store in DISNEYLAND back in ’91;
it came with a wooden plaque like the one shown above, except the cradle mounts
were different. I wanted to turn it
into a replica of my NAUTILUS MINISUB, so I made a scale model trailer out of
thin steel stock and strips of wood, and it’s been on display in my home ever
since. We’ve used this model to explain
launching procedures to our crew.
Here’s a picture of a
more-recent 16-incher, on display at the 20K EXPO in Anaheim last July.
And ths is the
new-and-improved version of Brodeen’s 30.5 inch NAUTILUS on display at the 20K
EXPO.
(Photos courtesy of Jim Key and Wayne Orlicki.)