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Fake heads and spaceships: The Irish studio making models for film and TV

Fake heads, miniature spaceships and prop guns are just some of the models being made by one Iris...
Stephen McNeice
Stephen McNeice

14.51 8 Aug 2020


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Fake heads and spaceships: The...

Fake heads and spaceships: The Irish studio making models for film and TV

Stephen McNeice
Stephen McNeice

14.51 8 Aug 2020


Share this article


Fake heads, miniature spaceships and prop guns are just some of the models being made by one Irish company for film and TV.

Limerick company Odyssey Studios was set up in late 2017, and has continued to grow since then.

Their recent work includes models for the upcoming sci-fi TV show Foundation.

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For Down To Business, Bobby Kerr visited Odyssey to see the studio's work in person.

Fake heads and spaceships: The Irish studio making models for film and TV

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Founder Mark Maher spent time in New Zealand, and the work of companies such as Weta Workshop - known for their work on Lord of the Rings and other major blockbusters - inspired him to set up a business here.

Mr Maher explained: "We're a model making company that caters for the film industry - basically what that is is props, whether that be fake knives, guns, all that kind of stuff.

"Then we work in the miniature world, if a film wants to come along and shoot miniatures.

"We work with the art directors and visual effects department... we'll work to get it as accurate as we can do their designs. We do have that creative controls whether it's painting it, making it, or ideas to do it a certain way."

"A bit of the old, a bit of the new"

Bono, one of Odyssey's workers, specialises in areas such as electronics and lighting - and he says one of the exciting things is seeing staff bringing together both old school and modern techniques in their work.

He explained: "We have people who have decades of knowledge in the old ways of making models, and we're bringing all the new ways of 3D printing and modelling.

"We get a bit of the old, a bit of the new... and the detail is outstanding."

Another staff member named Bobby was working on a model head when Down To Business visited.

He said: "You see silicon heads... two poor creatures who got their heads chopped off... for a short film.

"We make a mould of the actor's head. We set it up with rubber, and then we paint it with really translucent layers of paint. And then we stick in the hairs one hair at a time."

He said the amount of hair determines the amount of time such a project takes - from a few days to someone who's bald, to upwards of four weeks to someone with a full head of hair.

Bobby noted: "It's yak belly hair for the beards... that's shaved off the belly of a yak."

Like many businesses, Odyssey was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the workers able to keep working with 3D printers in their workshops at home.

Mr Maher said: "We could carry on - not at the same pace, but we could carry on.

"We did work with a lot of the visors as well - at the start, we had material left over, so we did our part with the visors and PPE gear.

"It's definitely been challenging, but we're a strong team here. We really are looking forward to getting back going, and the film industry getting back on its feet."

Main image: Photo via Mark Maher / Odyssey Studios

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