There are days when you think the talent in the Stargate community has run its course.

Then you meet someone like Martin McClean.

This Stargate fan’s love for the franchise goes back decades, and since the pandemic he’s just getting started in allowing his love for props to fully bloom. Dial the Gate and fans like us are beneficiaries of his work. His props have graced our set since the beginning of Season Two. Now it’s time to have him on to discuss his pieces and share links (below) to many free goodies you can get your hands on!

Share This Video ► https://youtu.be/XodzTtcvRZI
Visit Martin’s Web site ► http://gatebuilder.tech

Visit DialtheGate ► http://www.dialthegate.com
on Facebook ► https://www.facebook.com/dialthegate
on Instagram ► https://instagram.com/dialthegateshow
on Twitter ► https://twitter.com/dial_the_gate

FREE Stargate Atlantis Digital Posters (for printing) and wallpapers for devices (PC, iPad etc.)
https://www.gateworld.net/news/2019/05/stargate-atlantis-download-the-city-blueprints/

FREE Stargate’s M.A.L.P. Blueprints: Download Digital Wallpaper!
https://www.gateworld.net/news/2020/08/stargates-m-a-l-p-blueprints-download-the-free-wallpaper/

FREE Stargate MALP 3D Printing Kit (scaled to DST figures)
https://www.myminifactory.com/object/3d-print-stargate-malp-vechicle-model-kit-50513

FREE Stargate Models: Stargate Platform Stone Render, Version 3
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2483545

MERCHANDISE!
https://dialthegate.redbubble.com

SUBSCRIBE!
https://youtube.com/dialthegate/

Timecodes
00:00 – Opening Credits
00:25 – Welcome and Episode Outline
02:03 – Welcoming Martin – Showing Off Packaging
04:17 – Atlantis Blueprint, Design Changes, Atlantis Door Control, Striving For Accuracy
12:31 – How did you get into props?
20:42 – Functionality of Props, Finding Purpose During the Pandemic
24:37 – ID Badge, and Colorado Springs
26:06 – Hand Scanner, Mimic Device, and Prop Accuracy
38:58 – Stargate Escapism and Fandom
43:19 – Full-Size Naquadah Generator and Martin’s Future Props
52:20 – The Web site, Chevron Prop, Puddle Jumper, and Wrapping Up with Martin
1:05:07 – Post interview housekeeping
1:05:56 – End Credits

***

“Stargate” and all related materials are owned by MGM Studios and MGM Television.

#Stargate

#DialtheGate
#TurtleTimeline

TRANSCRIPT
Find an error? Submit it here.

David Read:
Hello, everyone. My name is David Read. Welcome to Dial the Gate, Episode 112. This episode is featuring a friend of mine, Martin McClean, who is responsible for a number of the props behind me, particularly the two lighted ones right now. We’re gonna have an up-close and personal look at those, plus a few other pieces in the collection, and some outside of the Stargate world as well. Just a moment here to wrap up the show for this season. Before we get started, if you like Stargate and wanna see more content like this on YouTube, it would mean a great deal if you click that Like button, which makes a huge difference with YouTube’s algorithm and will help the show continue to grow its audience. And please also consider sharing this video with a Stargate friend. And clips from this live stream will be released over the course of the next few weeks on the Dial the Gate channel. And we bring you this show every week for free, and we do appreciate you watching. And if you wanna support the show further, buy yourself some of our themed swag. We’re now offering T-shirts, tank tops, sweatshirts, and hoodies for all ages, as well as cups and other accessories in a variety of sizes and colors at dialthegate.com. From the merchandise tab, you can click on a specific design to see what the items are that are being offered. Checkout is fast and easy. You can use a credit card or PayPal. Just visit dialthegate.com or scroll straight to the dialthegate.com/merch page, and thanks so much for your support. Let’s go ahead and bring in Mr. Martin McClean and talk shop. Mr. Martin McClean, prop maker.

Martin McClean:
Thank you, David.

David Read:
Welcome to my set, and your pieces are missing behind me right now. That’s because they’re actually in front of me. But thank you. I wanted to thank you so much for helping to contribute to the set of Season Two, and I really appreciate you being on.

Martin McClean:
Look, thanks for the opportunity. I was delighted to do so, and there’ll be more coming your way as soon as I finish them … in the queue.

David Read:
Well, I can’t wait, and I can’t wait to show them off to fans. The fact of the matter is, this is not your day job. This is something that you do as a hobby. Am I correct about that?

Martin McClean:
That’s correct. During the day.

David Read:
What do you do, if you don’t mind?

Martin McClean:
I work in the software industry. I’m up in Seattle, work for one of the large software companies up here. And I work in basically user experience design in different software products and different devices. So, that’s sort of my day job. And sort of the out of hours job is essentially making props from TV, movies, etcetera, sort of designing and building those props. So, that’s what I like to do as a bit of a hobby.

David Read:
I am not surprised that you are involved in something considering a user experience, considering the fact that … Whoa. Maybe I should close the boxes before showing them off. At least one, um, so not only are the toys cool, but I very much got the impression this is the crate that the smaller Naquadah reactor comes in, that I clearly get the impression that you are a big fan of the unboxing process, of the user experience.

David Read:
The Apple, what Apple basically started, we were talking about earlier.

Martin McClean:
It’s essentially, it’s a process that we call owning the last mile, which is making sure that when that sort of prop gets into your hands, that the experience is a good one. But the reality is, it’s just fun to do it as well.

David Read:
Absolutely.

Martin McClean:
I had a great time sort of making up the cases and all of the labels and everything else, so it was fun.

David Read:
I wanna talk about one of the blueprints that you sent here, and I’m gonna show it off on screen. This is the Atlantis base blueprint. Now, did you design this from the ground up?

Martin McClean:
Yes.

David Read:
So, tell me, tell me, I’m gonna show it off to everybody. Tell me about this.

Martin McClean:
Well, it’s essentially, the props and the posters really started from a desire to try and find some merchandise for Stargate. I’ve been a fan of the show for years, and I was looking around for some great merchandise. There isn’t very much out there, and so I decided to create my own. And what I did was, I did a series of technical schematics posters and things like that, like the Atlantis one you can see there, and if people are interested in that, by the way, they can download that free at–

David Read:
Yes. I was about to ask. That link is going to be, and all the links to what we’re talking about, Martin sent me a huge deck of links, that are going to be in the description below. So, if you’re watching this, you already have access to all that content and perhaps more. So, this is so cool. It’s hard to show on the screen here, but it’s all been thought out and thought through as if someone technical, namely you, of course, were approaching this and saying, “OK, how can we take this to the next level?”

Martin McClean:
It was a lot of fun to do. And the wonderful thing about the Stargate fandom is that it’s an incredible family of people that are super friendly. And so, if you do make an error, as I did on the northwest pier, somebody will pick that up and will–

David Read:
Really?

Martin McClean:
Yes.

David Read:
In terms of what’s there, what’s located there?

Martin McClean:
There was a difference between, I think, the model that was used in the television series between Season Two and Season Three.

David Read:
There was.

Martin McClean:
And somebody picked that up and very kindly pointed that in my direction. So, it’s always awesome to get that kind of feedback because, A, it means people are engaged with it and–

David Read:
And they care.

Martin McClean:
… they care enough to do it. And so, I’m always delighted to get feedback and find out things that I can make better. And I’m always happy to update that, which I did. Hopefully now nobody’s upset about it.

David Read:
The one that’s available online will have the correction. The thing is, especially with Atlantis, which changed from RainMaker’s version to a couple of the other vendors’ versions, and it was one of the complaints that Mark Savela, the digital effects guy with Stargate Productions, had an issue with, particularly with Atlantis and the Puddle Jumper. Even the Puddle Jumper’s design changes. And that was not something that they were going to allow to happen with Destiny, period. That was going to be… Everyone who had a copy of Destiny had the exact same model of Destiny. So, they definitely changed that.

Martin McClean:
It’s one of the things that makes the prop making so difficult because there are no blueprints.

David Read:
Right.

Martin McClean:
Or at least there are no blueprints that I possess. And so, you’re doing everything from visual images and various bits of research that you can find, and I’m always on the lookout for somebody who will go, “I own some blueprints and would like to confidentially,” and share those with me. If you’re out there, I’m always happy to do that. But otherwise, it’s a challenge because you wanna make sure that you’ve got everything as accurate as you can. The advantage of it is, though, that when you do the props, you end up doing the props with more studio lighting in mind than the original raw prop might have looked. So, I think they–

David Read:
You have to consider that it’s been lit professionally.

Martin McClean:
Yes. And I kind of like that in the end because then when somebody sees it or if I make it for somebody or donate it to someone, then they get it looking as how they remember it on the television show. So, that sort of works out fairly well in the process. And I found that was really significant when I did the Atlantis door control, I did this motion door control that did that. In fact, excuse me one second. I will grab it ’cause it’s behind me. This door control here, it sort of looks–

David Read:
It’s like one of the ones that we sold at Propworx. But that’s fabricated?

Martin McClean:
I designed and created this myself with all the parts for the indoor magnetic. With the face plate and everything.

David Read:
That’s pretty close to what it was.

Martin McClean:
It is, and trying to make it look exactly how it was with respect and obviously fit the electronics and what have you in there. So, that’s one of the great examples of where I think it worked out really positively to be basing it on something you’ve seen in the show. Although that prototype went through about a dozen different paint jobs.

David Read:
Oh, until you found the one you wanted?

Martin McClean:
Until I found the right one.

David Read:
It takes a while to match. I was working with Remington Phillips over at SG-1 Props when we were developing the Kino replica. And he had, in that original case, he was lucky enough to have access to the original mold for the interior spheres. But just going through the paint process and getting it right, and then the sphere on the outside had to have the ones in the show aged by millions of years, let’s say having been stored in that gumball machine that it was in forever. There’s a whole process to it, and you may look at it and go, “Oh, this is pretty awesome,” not knowing that there are potentially hundreds and hundreds of hours put into bringing this thing to life. It’s crazy.

Martin McClean:
You’re absolutely right. The aging process is an extra layer on top. The paintwork takes the longest, I think of anything to do, at least from my perspective, just because you wanna make sure that you get it with as few imperfections as possible.

David Read:
Are you talking about from a drying perspective or from a selection perspective to get it right?

Martin McClean:
No, from a selection perspective. The Puddle Jumper was the worst.

David Read:
Oh, God.

Martin McClean:
It was– It’s the giant sort of Puddle Jumper back there, but it was the worst because there is, I don’t know, a bit the DHD, there’s at least a dozen different sort of stippled paint layers that go on top of each other that give it this sort of patina, this sort of look that it has developed. And, of course, none of that is documented anywhere that I have access to as a fan. So, you end up having to do it yourself. It’s rewarding when you finally get it, but it takes a while because, again, you only have those photographs to use as reference, and they’re lit from studio perspectives, so often they appear to be slightly different color than they actually were in the prop.

David Read:
That’s the thing, you can’t guarantee that what you’re seeing is exactly what it is that’s going to come out in the end. I mean, the fact is, in a lot of cases they change from season to season, or when one of the props got replaced then you got another look at another. It’s just crazy. One of the things that I have been, and I have not shared this yet because it is a recent acquisition, just so you know, is a DHD glyph.

Martin McClean:
Oh, wow. That’s awesome.

David Read:
And I think it’s Ares, if I’m not mistaken, and so I’m gonna put this up on the screen here so the listeners can see it, but you assume that it has the DHD would have a pretty simple paint job, but the amount, and I apologize ’cause Martin can’t see it as well as everyone else can, but the amount of paint that goes into just the detailing of it, that someone sat there and just took a number of different colors and a number of different passes over it to make this piece. And it’s just so cool to be able to hold in your hand and say “OK, this is what it…” But it doesn’t look like this on screen, at least it doesn’t to me. I get this thing and I’m like, “This thing’s practically a rainbow.” It’s, this is it, but it’s not what I thought it was because it’s always lit. So, it’s just craziness.

Martin McClean:
It’s definitely the problem.

David Read:
So, why props? How did you get into this? Is this something that you’ve been tinkering with since you were little? Where are the roots for this for you? And then we’re gonna show some of these off.

Martin McClean:
OK. I used to make… I used to be a maker when I was a kid. I used to make, most kids would make model airplanes, but I was always drawn to science fiction. I always loved Star Trek. I always loved Star Wars and, of course, I always loved Stargate. Stargate is my favorite. But I was always drawn towards the different pieces of equipment that they would use on television series, like Star Trek phasers or tricorders and things of that nature.

David Read:
Exactly.

Martin McClean:
And I used to build millions of these things out of cardboard when I was a kid and things like this. And as you sort of progress and you go on and do your professional career, that sort of drifts away a little bit. And then when the pandemic hit, I think it was an opportunity to sort of think, “Well, I have extra time on my hands, what can I do?” And I was a little frustrated that I couldn’t find a lot of merchandise that MGM had licensed that I could purchase. And I still believe that there’s a large addressable market for Amazon and others to do this. And so, one of the things I thought, “Well, I could make my own and then I could share that with fans and that would give them something too.” And at the same time, maybe it would inspire MGM to sort of say, “Well, we’re gonna license this to some…” There’s some amazing companies out there, like Sideshow Collectibles and others that do incredible work, and maybe they might be inspired to sort of provide that for fans as well. And in the meantime, I can just do what I can and share that around.

David Read:
The shortage of companies that can produce this content is nonexistent. There are so many of them. The fact of the matter, Factory Entertainment — I don’t know if you saw this — Factory Entertainment just put out a Borg Queen skull and spinal column from First Contact.

Martin McClean:
Oh, wow.

David Read:
And it’s absolutely brilliant. It is absolutely amazing looking and it’s like, why can’t we have pieces like this for Stargate? I under– I get, and we have to remember that Star Trek is a behemoth compared to Stargate. But Stargate still has enough of that core audience that there’s more than enough out there, in terms of fans who would be interested in having this.

Martin McClean:
I think so. And even when the show was running actively on television, I was always amazed that there was not more product in market for fans to enjoy. It always seemed like, to me, if I put my corporate hat on for a second, I think it’s a missed revenue opportunity from that perspective as well to help provide that sort of material for fans to enjoy. So, it seems really odd that they did that. But I just… So, that’s why I always sort of became interested in the prop side of it. I didn’t know how to make them when I started, so I went–

David Read:
You taught yourself?

Martin McClean:
Yes, yes. I went and taught myself. My professional background is computer science and electronic engineering, and so I had built myself a 3D printer of reasonably ineffectual quality when they first came out. And I could see the potential in it to be able to sort of take ideas that you have and then bring them into reality. And so, as that technology improved, I decided I need to learn CAD because I didn’t really have a lot of CAD background. I have a lot of Adobe Illustrator and design and stuff like that background, but I didn’t have CAD background. So, I went and taught myself CAD, so that took a while. Dredging up all the geometry ideas that you kind of hope that you can bury from school and never see again. To go all back. So, you end up having to go, “Oh, I remember that.” That’s… So, the XY what? Oh, not again. So, we had to bring all that back out of storage, and then that was really great because once you learn that, you open up an entire world of design for yourself.

David Read:
Correct.

Martin McClean:
You can basically make anything that you want, within reason.

David Read:
The 3D print… And sometimes not even within reason. The thing that has blown my mind, and you touched on it a little bit, is the 3D printer technology. That has just blown things wide open. I just got today, it’s interesting that we’re talking about props, and I know I’m talking a lot about the stuff that I own, but this is just because this is my perspective is coming from. Another company called Regal Robot, they have put out, for several years now, a Star Wars Millennium Falcon asteroid field coffee table. Are you aware of this piece?

Martin McClean:
Oh, I’ve seen this piece. It’s beautiful.

David Read:
Yes. Mine just showed up sans the glass. The glass is being shipped separately. The detail of the Falcon is, it is a 3D printed Falcon, and hand painted. You cannot tell the difference under scrutiny from this and one of the ILM models. The detail is absolutely crazy. And when you’ve got professionals painting it, or someone like you teaching yourself how to make this thing right, that’s really exceptionally cool. So, you’re saying that the pandemic really helped you go full-blown into this?

Martin McClean:
You’re stuck really at home, working from home. You have extra time on your hands in the evenings and weekends, really, and try to stave off the boredom and the endless–

David Read:
Correct.

Martin McClean:
…endless despair of the entire situation. You sort of look to find sort of a creative outlet. And I’m hoping that it will maybe, other people will do the same in… Because I realize this is a very difficult time for everybody as these sort of things go on and on. But that’s what got me into it. I think it had sort of been sitting in the back of my mind for a long time, but I hadn’t really got the tools to be able to create it in my own house and in my own head. So, that’s where it came from. It’s a lot of fun when you get it. The one thing that fans bring to producing prop memorabilia is a high degree of, I guess, accuracy about what it has to look like. And I think that’s the advantage that we bring sometimes.

David Read:
It’s not a nine-to-five thing. What they’re working on is passion.

Martin McClean:
No. No, and there was in–

David Read:
What they’re working off of is passion.

Martin McClean:
It’s the north pier again.

David Read:
That’s true.

Martin McClean:
If it’s wrong with the north pier, you have to go back and fix it. It makes it that way. It’s sort of, you get ideas from everywhere. You were mentioning to me the other day that wouldn’t it be great if the Naquadah generator was a Bluetooth speaker? And I had originally thought about that. It’s a great idea, but it’s been buzzing around in my head for a couple of days, how to solve some of that problem.

David Read:
Exactly. It doesn’t necessarily have holes for a speaker, and on top of that, vibration and everything else. You don’t want it to shake apart when someone gets it.

Martin McClean:
Exactly, and that’s the other challenge for building these props, is that when you see it on television, there can be several different prototypes or hero models of these various props, and they can be used in different camera shots, et cetera, different lighting, different capabilities. Whereas when you build it this way, I have to squeeze it all into this one space. And I have the advantage of miniaturization over the time when the originals were built and now, but I try to keep mine so that they can be battery powered, so that people can display them where they want and they don’t have cables all over the place and things like that. So, that is the challenge, making sure the electronics is designed well enough and the software is written well enough to drive the electronics that it can fit into a nice small space.

David Read:
And you’re doing things that the show versions didn’t necessarily do. Let me, I’m stripping away everything behind me here. Give me just one second here. So, for instance, you mentioned… Dang it. Apologize, everyone, for my earbuds. You mentioned the tricorder here.

Martin McClean:
Yes.

David Read:
Now, on the show, it doesn’t have sound. But this is the Roddenberry Entertainment version that came out, and this one …

Martin McClean:
Oh, wow.

David Read:
… does have–

Martin McClean:
That’s cool.

David Read:
It’s actually extremely noisy. But that’s, this is something that when it’s given to the consumer, it has to be completely functional in terms of what it ended up being for the television series, as opposed to what the actual prop did.

Martin McClean:
Correct.

David Read:
So, you’re having to bring a lot of stuff to bear just to make it work.

Martin McClean:
I am, and to try to make it fit into a very small space as well, because sometimes I have to appreciate that I don’t have an infinite amount of storage space, and–

David Read:
Correct.

Martin McClean:
… most people don’t. So, I have to make it fit in. And in fact, excuse me one second while I grab this and show you. I said to you the other day, I was working on a sort of a more hero prop version of the Naquadah generator. This is that. So, it has all the working parts there. And then all the lights and–

David Read:
Now, you made this, or this is the show?

Martin McClean:
No, I made this. And you can see there’s a lot of…

David Read:
Well done.

Martin McClean:
There’s a huge wiring harness and thing in there, so–

David Read:
Man. Is that a sound effect, or is that the actual sound of the prop?

Martin McClean:
No, that’s the sound of the prop. Though I was gonna bug you at some other point and inquire what sound the actual generator made when it was in operation. So, I think I’m gonna put a sound chip in there.

David Read:
Keep talking dirty to me.

Martin McClean:
So, one of these, when it’s finished, David, will find its way to you and–

David Read:
I cannot wait to show it off, and the… I love continuing to come across people who have taken advantage of such a horrible situation that we have been handed for the past few years and turning it into something good. Actors like Garwin Sanford have taken up French, and Garwin is crazy. He never can sit idle. And those of us who have been dealt a harder hand through this thing have had the opportunity to either let it damage us, or roll with the punches and then get back up and say, “OK, the past few years have been hell, what can I do to improve myself or learn a new skill or broaden my horizons?” And Martin, you’ve done a great job.

Martin McClean:
I could say the same to you. I mean, both yourself and folks like Sue Ann Braun, of course.

David Read:
Oh, absolutely.

Martin McClean:
We’ve done a handful of those. You’ve stepped up and you do all of this work. I know it’s a lot of work, and bring all these great people together with these great interviews. And so, from one fan to yourself, much appreciate it, because it’s great to be able to have that escape and sort of go and enjoy that content. And I know it’s a lot of work for you, and I know you don’t ever say it, but I know it is.

David Read:
I’ve said it.

Martin McClean:
Very much so. You’re probably the first who said the comment about the North Pier. That’s really weird.

David Read:
I actually, no, I have always had my issues with the Atlantis models consistently, but no, that was not me. So, there are a few of us out there who are crazy enough to see that though, for sure. Before I get into some of the other pieces, one of the things that you sent along here, and I’m gonna bring up on the screen, which made me laugh out loud when I got it, was these darn lights, an ID badge for myself. This was really cool. So, I’m cleared for Atlantis and Stargate Command, gate room operations, rank civilian, and it has the date that you sent it to me, and a little RFID chip in it and everything. This is really cool. This made me laugh. So, thank you very much.

Martin McClean:
Oh, you’re most welcome. I decided since I was giving permissions, I’d just give you Stargate Command and Atlantis. I was just handing them out.

David Read:
You know, I should go to Cheyenne Mountain and show this at the gate and see what happens.

Martin McClean:
It would be very sad if they let you in.

David Read:
I don’t think I’d get very close. In fact, they’d probably fine me for trying. So–

Martin McClean:
Be a great story though.

David Read:
I may just have to try it at some point. Colorado Springs is on my list. Have you been?

Martin McClean:
No, I haven’t.

David Read:
Me too.

Martin McClean:
I’ve wanted to go for a long time. I will try and go there with a badge and see what…

David Read:
See if they… Actually, there’s a lot of fans there. You may be surprised. Martin Wood would go down, and everyone there knew that where they were working was a part of something larger. And not just Stargate, but other programming as well. What do you wanna go through first? Do you wanna go through the hand scanner, the Naquadah generator, or the mimic device?

Martin McClean:
I guess the hand scanner first?

David Read:
OK, let’s go with the hand scanner first. I’ve got the screen-used one too to compare it with.

Martin McClean:
Great. I have a great point to make about the screen-used ones. But yes.

David Read:
Did you have an original to base it on?

Martin McClean:
No.

David Read:
Side by side?

Martin McClean:
No, I didn’t have that. Now, I hit two problems when I designed mine, and the first one was I wanted to print it in a clearer plastic so that it had more of the prop. ‘Cause I knew how the shape…

David Read:
Reflections, or the translucency.

Martin McClean:
The translucency of the cover, because they used an original HP iPAQ, I think, underneath.

David Read:
Yep.

Martin McClean:
I’m sad to say I did own one of those, but it no longer functions.

David Read:
Is that one of the ones that Stitch offered?

Martin McClean:
No, I actually owned it.

David Read:
The device?

Martin McClean:
On the base.

David Read:
Itself. Really? OK.

Martin McClean:
It was looking a bit worse for wear. And so, I created that one because the problem with the translucency is, of course, you can see the electronics. And so, I think in version two I’m probably gonna create a translucent shell around an inner iPAQ-looking case that I’ll design a plain one, and then I’ll put the electronics inside that. But it really adds to the weight of the piece in hand, unless I sort of mold it in silicon or something like that, which I think may be what they did with the one you’re holding, or…

David Read:
The one that I’m holding right now, it’s entirely possible that they molded this one in silicon considering the translucency of it. But the one that I’m holding right now is yours. And it’s interesting because it’s not a one-to-one scale. And I don’t think you intended for it to be. ‘Cause the size is slightly different, but it’s almost as if, were this real, this would be more your interpretation of one that was more functional.

Martin McClean:
Absolutely spot on, and that was the approach that I took with it. I wanted to make it… A lot of people had said to me, “It’d be really good if we could have this as a cosplay accessory.” And so, I knew it had to be enough so that it could go in someone’s pocket, or so that it didn’t take up a lot of shelf room, et cetera. So, I wanted to make it a little bit more handheld feel. And it’s probably a little wider, it’s a little chunkier, because back in the day when they created those props, they were a little chunkier as well. It didn’t quite have the advantage that we have with modern cellphones, et cetera. I wanted to get away from having… I wanted a very specific display, and a lot of people had suggested to me, “Why don’t you use a cellphone or something like that?” And I didn’t wanna do that. I wanted it to have a very specific function. And so, I built the sort of LED matrix that you see in there that creates the effects on the screen.

David Read:
Crazy. It’s absolutely crazy.

Martin McClean:
I had a lot of fun doing it.

David Read:
We lose one blue dot.

Martin McClean:
Yes.

David Read:
I feel for the blue dot that goes bye-bye. But I’m just discovering now for the first time the magnetic dock. I mean, it only, the dock lights up only if it’s turned on, only when the thing’s connected to it. I did not know that before, so I’m like, “This is really cooler.”

Martin McClean:
That’s why it says… I think when I sent the ruggedized case with it, there’s a sticker on the side.

David Read:
Yes.

Martin McClean:
It says, “Ancient Gene is Required.”

Martin McClean:
And that was from the ID in the base, which was essentially Atlantean devices were only able to be powered by people who possessed the gene. And so, I thought that should mean when you dock it, then the display lights up a bit like when the television show tried to replicate. That’s pretty cool.

David Read:
Atlantean Life Sign Scanner. “Ancient Gene is Required.” And then you’ve got–

Martin McClean:
It looks like you’re lucky enough to have the gene.

David Read:
Exactly. No, this is… the tags and everything, because we saw storage units and rooms several times in the show, and they all had these tags on them where they were clearly itemized in a database. They would have a printer that printed everything out. I mean, that’s what they would have done. Everything is ID’d and numbered and everything else. And the fact that I’m gonna show off the instruction manual now that you went to the trouble not only to create the prop but to assemble graphics for all of it as well is just stellar. And instructions on how to run it.

Martin McClean:
It’s, so often you sort of, some people make some props and they never sort of give you any instructions on what to be careful about when you’re handling it or how to change the batteries or whatever. So, I kinda think the instructions are important. Again, it’s coming back to that owning the last mile. It’s sort of having to make sure the experience is good for people when they get it.

David Read:
Absolutely. The thing also that blows me away, frankly, is that you added–and it’s going back to the details that may have been there were this thing actually real. You have this pink glow that you put into the device that I almost interpret as being the part of the device that is scanning for the gene that’s making itself aware if the gene is present or not, so that if a Wraith touches it, it automatically shuts itself off. And then once an Atlantean gets their hands on it again, then it starts working again. But this is so cool. How much time did it take from beginning to end really to develop this?

Martin McClean:
It probably takes about 60-plus hours to build it and do all the electronics and what have you. It probably takes in excess of, if you put the design in, a couple of hundred hours, because the interior and stuff is designed so that everything fits perfectly and all the screws work and stuff like that. Which is why I’m hoping that someone at MGM will go, “Well, this’d be, wouldn’t it be great to create really commercial products for fans?” That’s not my intent. My intent’s just to inspire someone to go out and do that because it’s not like I am in the position now to produce that. My plan is I usually make about four of whatever I do. I keep one for myself, I usually send one, say, to folks like yourself, and then I usually put a couple on Etsy and I donate the money to my favorite charity. That’s usually how I operate. That’s why there’s only ever four or five, sometimes six of these things. There’s- there’s not–

David Read:
You’re not hammering these things out like cookies. These are–

Martin McClean:
No.

David Read:
Special order.

Martin McClean:
No, this is sort of, and I’d love to see even more accurate versions from MGM as well, but no. That’s- that’s not the plan to do it that way. Otherwise, I’ll be filling up everybody’s house with these.

David Read:
No, I get where you’re coming from with this. This one I did not expect and didn’t even know that you were doing. The mimic devices. Danger, alien technology, restricted equipment, Area 51 classified, because those darn items keep on going up missing.

Martin McClean:
They keep disappearing. Somebody keeps putting up.

David Read:
They sure do. This one, I didn’t take it… I’ve got one of the ones, I think it’s from Bounty, but not one of the original ones from Season Three, but shoot, I should’ve unpacked it. I didn’t think about that. To A, B, compare it. But this, tell us about why you wanted to do this piece. And it also is a more practical version were this to exist. It’s not like a one-to-one scale again.

Martin McClean:
There is a one to one scale version that I did that’s sort of more like a fridge magnet. It’s designed more like it just has magnets in the back, but it is one to one. This one is a little fatter in terms of the depth because the electronics have to go inside.

David Read:
Understood.

Martin McClean:
And I think in the original, they had two little wires that ran…

David Read:
Correct.

Martin McClean:
Out to some of the things that would go under your costume or whatever. And again, I didn’t have that luxury because I needed it to be self-contained and to work. And so, it’s a little bit thicker than I would’ve liked. But there is another thinner version which is just sort of more like a fridge magnet in terms of the thickness. And I don’t have one here, but they are around somewhere.

David Read:
Let me just put this right here, and I will turn myself into a fish.

Martin McClean:
And that’s where it works really well because if it’s a cosplay or something like that.

David Read:
Correct. I just can’t do their fish chatter. But in my current form I wouldn’t anyway, so I need to- Once this pops off I’ll turn into a fish. So, this is so cool. This is really, really well done.

Martin McClean:
It took a long time to design it because it has a very organic look. It almost looks like a shell or something like that. And so, I don’t know how many dozens of iterations I went through, dozens, of starting again and again and again just to try to get it right. I’m pretty sure it’s as close to the reference material, apart from the thickness, that I could find anywhere, with the exception that I’ve got the switch on the side obviously and stuff like that.

David Read:
It’s pretty close. It’s pretty close. You spot this from 20 feet away, you know exactly what it is. You’d have to hold onto it for… In some cases, you’d have to have actually had the original in your hand at some point to say, “OK, this is slightly different in design.” But again, you’re not shooting for 1:1. You’re shooting–

Martin McClean:
No.

David Read:
Television versus functional, inspired, almost like a next-generation version, if you will.

Martin McClean:
In some ways, I approach it like if they were making that prop again now, if they were remaking Stargate today, and hopefully they will soon again, and they wanted to do an episode, some flashback episode that had that prop in it, I’m thinking to myself, “Well, how would they build it today in a prop studio just to do that job?” And that’s the sort of way I look at it sometimes. How can it be self-contained? And I did the same with… I did the same with this, which is the personal life signs detector, which is… I did it as well. That sort of works very similarly. Again, it’s nice and self-contained. But organic shapes are very hard to model. You end up sort of having to digitally sculpt them rather than parametrically design them. So, they’re–

David Read:
Is it because of their circular nature? Or they lend themselves that way to nature?

Martin McClean:
And there is… Nature by itself has imperfection, and so you have to design imperfection into the shape. And when the original people made this, and of course I wasn’t standing there with them, I’m sure there would have been days when they went, “Oh, that works. That’s OK.” But that shape has become immortalized as a design, whereas maybe it was what they could do in the time that they had. They never really thought that way about it. But now, of course, it’s become my problem because I have to find a way of trying to mimic that in a way that sort of pays homage to the originals. That’s right.

David Read:
You have to wonder, where do you stop? For instance, for Rogue One, the Star Wars story film, the U-wing went through, I believe, 900 to 1,000 iterations, if I’m not mistaken 1,000 iterations.

Martin McClean:
It’s a crazy number.

David Read:
How many did Ralph McQuarrie do for the X-wing?

Martin McClean:
No idea.

David Read:
And it’s one of the most iconic spacecraft of all time. So, I would have hazarded five, six, seven, maybe, if that.

Martin McClean:
Even if they were both–

David Read:
But even his original art is extraordinarily close.

Martin McClean:
It’s quite amazing. I think some of the work that goes into these things is incredible. There’s been some great stuff that’s happening over in Hasbro, the toy maker, with their Ghostbusters merchandise. They’ve done this–

David Read:
Yes.

Martin McClean:
proton pack. And that’s not really… I wouldn’t call it a toy. I would call it a cosplay replica, really, myself. But the work that they have done is so incredibly detailed, and so much passion and love has been poured into that, and it shows. It comes across.

David Read:
They were made by fans.

Martin McClean:
They were made by fans who just happened to be working at Hasbro at the time, I think. And I’m hoping that… I would love to see something like the Stargate license be granted to someone like Hasbro. I think they could do an amazing set of products. And I’m hoping things like the Eaglemoss stuff that we’ve just seen with some of the ships is gonna be the start of more of this licensing material becoming available, which would be wonderful.

David Read:
Yes. I’ve reached out to them. Hopefully we’ll have someone represented on the show, or at least their products will be, because they are really at the frontier of that for the next round of Stargate products. And I think that they may really set the tone for what Amazon may be looking at to do next. They can see the standard.

Martin McClean:
You make an interesting point. When is design iteration enough? For me, Stargate is quite personal. Because some years ago, my wife got very sick. And she’s OK now, but we had to go through a lot of treatment and some very tough days. What we would do at night is put on an episode or two or three or four of Stargate and escape some of the rigors of the day and some of the treatments we were going through, and just go somewhere where there’s this great storytelling and great characters and great escapism and, in a sense, find a place to sort of escape what was going on in the reality of the world. and so I think–

David Read:
You’re not looking for a show that’s more stressful. You’re looking for a show that’s less.

Martin McClean:
No, and it’s wonderfully exciting. I think, when folks like Brad Wright, Rob Cooper, and Joe Mallozzi and others sit down and write this, they do so to create a great television series. And I think, indisputably, they have done that so successfully. But there is occasions when the content that they create, in some sense transpires that and becomes much more meaningful to people than they–

David Read:
You mean transcends.

Martin McClean:
It literally transcends that. And for me, it helped me get from one day to the next in a very bad situation. I haven’t had the opportunity, but I’d love to go up and thank Brad Wright personally, because I think the work that he’s done, the work that Joe Mallozzi and Robert Cooper and all the cast and all the actors, all the crew that have made this have made something very special in television. And when you meet folks through the show, and I have done on occasions, they’re incredibly generous people. And I think the fandom is the same, and that’s what makes it special for me. So, the answer, really, to the question is, how many times do I keep redesigning it? I guess until they get it right.

David Read:
Until I’m happy with it. You may be surprised how often I’ve heard that exact story, where the show brought them comfort in a time where they really needed some quiet nights to decompress, and reflect, and prepare for the day ahead. And it’s the perfect show for it in many cases because it makes… I suppose that there are others that may be better, but not as far as I’m concerned, so not a genre.

Martin McClean:
Not as far as I’m concerned. It’s sort of… I just think that they created a magical situation there with their creative energy and all the people involved. And I hope people like Brad, and others, and Joe, and all the cast actually, have had an opportunity to realize that my story’s not unique. I know other people have had similar situations where… I see even on Twitter today that Stargate still represents a place of solitude for people who are going through some very rough times. And so, I think the show is elevated to the best that it can be when it does something like that. So, I’m certainly appreciative of that. And I think that’s what drives me on. That’s why, that’s why Stargate props and not Star Trek props, and not Star Wars props, and things like that. It’s mostly for that reason.

David Read:
Perfect. I have come to the piece de resistance. The first piece that I got from you that just blew me away. This is… I’ve always called it a micro-Naquadah reactor because of the other one. And if I’m not mistaken, it was introduced in Bounty with the BFG. The Big F-ing Gun, as it was called. And then seen again in Stargate Continuum. So, what made you want to bring this to life? As I’m sharing it on screen here.

Martin McClean:
I think that I always thought that the idea was very cool. I always enjoyed the design of it. I thought it was a very clever way of solving script problems that occasionally would come up, in terms of–

David Read:
Yes.

Martin McClean:
… when they needed it was very clever. It was very portable. And I thought it was a really out of this world shape produced in this world, and I thought it was really interesting to do. So, I made that one. And you’re absolutely correct, that is the mini or the micro version. The other version that you’d be getting, the one that I just showed you a little while ago with the Control Cone, is much larger. You’re gonna need a bigger case.

David Read:
I can only imagine.

Martin McClean:
A much bigger case. That one’s much larger. But it’s the only way to fit things in, and the other ones have all the moving parts as well. And to try to get all of those particular mechanics to work correctly and what have you is more of a challenge, so it needs to be bigger to do that. One of the advantages that the original prop designers had that I don’t have is they have somewhere to store all of these things, so they can afford to make them bigger.

David Read:
They didn’t have to take them home with them at night.

Martin McClean:
Didn’t have to take them home.

David Read:
That’s funny.

Martin McClean:
So, this one will be bigger. I’ve sized it out, not one to one scale, but it’s much larger than the one that you’re holding. It will need–

David Read:
You’ve got one sitting behind you, don’t you? Isn’t that one of the originals?

Martin McClean:
This is one of the originals. The advantage of this one is that it actually has, where is it? It actually has this little portal that you can charge your cell phone from, so it has a power bank built into the side of it, and stuff like that. It does have Control Cones and stuff, but it’s not operational in that sense because it was dedicated to being functional as a cell phone charger, or anything else that requires–

David Read:
So, it was used for the show… that one was made for the show and they went out of their way to put a power bank in it?

Martin McClean:
No, I did.

David Read:
You did?

Martin McClean:
This is not mine. I did. So,–

David Read:
I see, OK.

Martin McClean:
It would have been a good idea if they had done that, but I got the idea from the show when they mask… use the connect–

David Read:
Correct, they attach it.

Martin McClean:
So, I thought, “No, I’m gonna put a similar sort of hatch in there.”

David Read:
That’s a great idea.

Martin McClean:
I was gonna incorporate it into the larger one that I’ve just been talking about, but there are some mechanics that make that a little difficult because the Control Cones go out and in now.

David Read:
Yes, they do. On the larger one, they collapse in.

Martin McClean:
They collapse in. So, I needed to work out the mechanics of that. I’ve worked that out now, but that’s just gonna make it really difficult to put extra cables in those reactor arms because things go out and in all the time. I haven’t given up on the idea though. I’m trying to work out how to do it.

David Read:
There’s a way to do it. Or maybe it’ll be, you know what? Given… you have to choose which feature you want. This is… The fact that you went out of your way to put LEDs and the little other pieces, and… I think we did a test on the Naquadah reactor. Didn’t it take… Didn’t it go 20 hours before it died?

Martin McClean:
Oh, no. No, longer than that. I think I quit at about 35 hours or something. I turned it off. I’d had enough at that point. I said, “I’m turning this off. I’m gonna tell David it’s 20 hours and I know it’s gonna make 30 or something.” So, at least–

David Read:
Your show with it on, when it dies, replace the batteries.

Martin McClean:
Replace the batteries. I think the new one, the larger one with all the working electronics, though, is gonna be a little hungrier on the battery.

David Read:
OK. I would surmise so. But also, it’s… The scale of it, scaling it up will mean that there’s a larger battery pack for it to go in too.

Martin McClean:
It is. It also means there’s more room for the circuitry as well, which is a bees’ nest at the moment. But I’ll have to redesign some of that so that it sits in a much more compact space. So, that’s something I’m gonna do.

David Read:
It’s in the right hands.

Martin McClean:
Thank you very much. I don’t know about that, but we’ll try.

David Read:
This is very… The clamshells, these things are not cheap. And I… This is… This is top quality stuff and it means a lot to me, and to the consumer in general, that people who design this stuff go out of their way to make it right if you’re gonna do it. So…

Martin McClean:
I think that’s the nice thing. Fans appreciate what other fans do, and that’s… I think that’s what makes it fun to create them. There’s a whole heap of things I wanna do coming up. There’s a ring transport control. It’s… That has motion-activated lights and sound and I would love to make.

David Read:
For the rest?

Martin McClean:
No, the ones that control the transport rings that we often see in death gliders… Not death gliders, but in different–

David Read:
For wall mounts. For in the cargo ship?
Martin McClean:
Yes.

David Read:
Yes, the buttons that you press.

Martin McClean:
I’m wanting to incorporate lights and sound and stuff into that too.

David Read:
Wow. That’s a distinct Goa’uld design too, so that’d be taking you a little bit in a 90-degree direction to do something different.

Martin McClean:
It’s very different. I would love to do some of the other props too, like some of the staff weapons and things like that at some point. I think that’d be really exciting to do. Again, they’re a more organic shape, sometimes there’s a little more challenge, which is nice, but… One of these days I’ll get around to building a bigger replicator and things like that. I’ve worked out how they move so I know how to at least replicate them running across the table and that’s working, but I haven’t got all the control.

David Read:
Do you mean one of the fighter replicators?

Martin McClean:
But it’s… One is smaller. It’s about this size. It’s really quite tiny at the moment. I’d have to scale up the… The mechanics just… It’s a little spooky when you see it run across the desk though.

David Read:
We have an adverse instinct to those things as most humans.

Martin McClean:
It really how I expected you to comment about, “What would you file maybe?”

David Read:
As long as they can’t create themselves, that’s all that I care about. When it comes down to it, that’s fine. But I imagine at some point some fan out there is gonna take that design and add a few things underneath it to make it go. But make it walk, for all intents and purposes. Now, if it’s–

Martin McClean:
Certainly be able to–

David Read:
gonna be able to bank 90 degrees and turn, that may be a little different, but…

Martin McClean:
I was thinking of putting a remote control in it which sort of allowed people to control where it went. Some people may appreciate it, but then other people who don’t like insect-type things crawling around may not appreciate it as much.

David Read:
I think of the droid builders going to Comic-Con with their R2 units driving around. I don’t think you’d have as kind a reaction to a replicator walking around the floor. I’m like “Ew.”

Martin McClean:
No, no.

David Read:
And you’d have to have someone nearby to make sure that they wouldn’t come and stomp it.

Martin McClean:
I think that…

David Read:
Because anyone who’s on the spectrum or something like that, a little too the other way they may see that as a serious threat.

Martin McClean:
Start whacking them on the ground, “Don’t, that’s hundreds of hours.”

David Read:
Oh my gosh, That’s insane.

Martin McClean:
I hope so… that somebody sort of sees these props like David and thinks, “Gee, I have no idea how to make that myself,” and is in some way inspired in much the way I’ve been inspired by people like Adam Savage to go out and learn these skills and create something for themselves. I would be very successful if somebody came along and made one of these props much better than mine. I would be delighted if in some way they took inspiration and were able to go and do that. Hopefully someone will, which would be really nice. Not too much better, of course. Not too much better. Thanks.

David Read:
I’m going to share your information with everybody so that they can get in touch with you. You’ve put a link up, and I will put a link in the description below. Your Etsy is through gatebuilder.tech and people can contact you that way?

Martin McClean:
Yes, they can. And so, if they have suggestions or things that would be really cool to do, or they just wanna inquire about either building their own or even getting one built or something, just let me know. Obviously can’t build massive amounts of anything, but they’re very welcome to sort of contact me and–

David Read:
Of course. I’m looking at your Stargate chevron right now and this is still… I saw the one you had behind you. I pulled up the one on the website, but I also saw that you had one behind you there.

Martin McClean:
This one?

David Read:
Yes.

Martin McClean:
That one there? Sorry.

David Read:
That is so cool.

Martin McClean:
The sort of lights out, the–

David Read:
Wow. That is legit.

Martin McClean:
Thanks.

David Read:
And are you planning on doing an Atlantis one?

Martin McClean:
Yes. I am, actually.

David Read:
OK.

Martin McClean:
Atlantis is actually gonna be interesting because it’s got all the electronic effects rather than–

David Read:
Correct.

Martin McClean:
metallic. The interesting thing about this was just trying to get it to look as metallic as humanly possible, given that it’s essentially plastic.

David Read:
Correct.

Martin McClean:
It’s always interesting to go and try to do something like that. Somebody asked me, I think a year ago or something when I built the puddle jumper, they said to me, “Are you gonna build the rest of the puddle jumper?” But the reality is the puddle jumper is enormous, because–

David Read:
I can see that. And it’s scaled to that Stargate.

Martin McClean:
And if I made the rest of this, there’d be no room in my house for me. So, I wouldn’t do it, and–

David Read:
Look at there. OK, this is scaled to the action figures.

Martin McClean:
Yes it was scaled to the action figures…

David Read:
My gosh. Look at that. Wow.

Martin McClean:
So, there’s quite a lot, and then the roof just sort of straight in. But it’s massive. If I was to build them full scale, it would be too… I think at some point my extraordinarily beautiful and understanding wife would say, “You know what? We probably don’t have enough room for that one, I think.”

David Read:
I’m on the verge of being less understanding.

Martin McClean:
Yes.

David Read:
My gosh. Jeez.

Martin McClean:
Very true.

David Read:
I’m looking at the website and I love the ZPM diorama. This is just stellar because you’ve got something that I love, that the lights on the set in the background light up for crying out loud.

Martin McClean:
Yes.

David Read:
That is just so cool. I sold those darn things and they were a pain in the butt to ship– let me tell you. These ZPMs here, are these the toys or are these custom ZPMs–

Martin McClean:
No. They’re custom ones that I made that are hollow, that have LEDs, so they all light up and all the walls light up behind it and things like that. I did have a lady reach out to me and asked if I could make her one, which I did, a very wonderful, patient lady. Crystal waited for a long time and then eventually I managed to get it down to her, and she painted it herself and I think posted some pictures on the site, and she’s done a wonderfully awesome job. And it’s great to see something that started off in my head be reimaged and redecorated, used in her great skills as well, and it looks fantastic.

David Read:
I would love to see you take a crack at a Zero Point Module. I don’t know if you’ve–

Martin McClean:
I did do one years ago.

David Read:
You did?

Martin McClean:
I did, and I quite liked it, but that bit we were talking about before, how many times did you go out… I thought I need to go back and do a more accurate job.

David Read:
I’ve never seen a fan one done that’s immensely faithful. I was privileged to sell them. So, I know how they look. The bottom side of the crystal detail, the fan ones, they’re just not right. I’m pretty positive the lid on top of the ones that I’ve seen is too thick. It’s one of the things that SG-1 Props has repeatedly been saying that they’re working on. I haven’t seen one yet, in terms of accuracy because the translucency– the look of the LEDs and the fact that they ever so slightly oscillated in intensity. I would love to have one of those pieces. I would love to have that as basically a lamp for behind me here. Like one of my salt stones.

Martin McClean:
They’re cool. I love your replicator, by the way.

David Read:
Thank you. Yes. That is 3dtech.pro. So, that’s a Hungarian outfit and it’s exceptionally cool. I don’t like touching it though because I’m afraid that it’ll… well, not come after me.

Martin McClean:
Yes That happened.

David Read:
It can only withstand so many moves before it’s like, “OK, the legs are…”

Martin McClean:
I’d also love to do Atlantis, City of Atlantis at one point. I definitely have plans to do that. It’s a complicated build because there are so many spires, and it almost needs to be large in order for you to faithfully replicate that.

David Read:
What diameter are you thinking?

Martin McClean:
Ooh, I’m probably thinking about 30 inches or something like that. It would have to be–

David Read:
OK, so a coffee table centerpiece.

Martin McClean:
Instead of your current coffee table, you’re gonna need another Atlantis, a bigger one.

David Read:
This one right here is 16, 15, 16? Even at its size, there’s only so much detail you can pour into it. I’ve had to hot glue a couple of the buildings back on, ’cause I moved it a couple times.

Martin McClean:
That’s the problem with it. And also, if you wanna put lighting within it, even in the central tower, it has to have enough space to accommodate that. That’s one of the big challenges of all of this prop work, is that you have to design appropriate space for the electronics. Again, that puts another constraint on the design, because you don’t have the luxury that the show had. It will be very much the same problem for the Atlantis city, is trying to light that. It’ll have to be done with fiber optics. There’s no other way.

David Read:
From a space perspective and a heat perspective.

Martin McClean:
Heat, the thermals are everything, trying to make sure that you don’t overheat the model or something like that and people leave it on the floor. It’s not usually a problem because lighting systems these days are fairly low power and so it’s not really an issue, but you certainly need to think about it when you design it and come up with it. It definitely makes a difference, but I’d like to do that one. There’s just so many things that I’d like to do.

David Read:
There’s a lot to do.

Martin McClean:
There’s a lot to do.

David Read:
Only so much free time to do it in.

Martin McClean:
Yes. That’s the problem.

David Read:
Martin, it’s been wonderful having you on and–

Martin McClean:
It’s our pleasure.

David Read:
and talking shop. This stuff has always made me excited, and to see fans who are passionate about it and about getting it right, and not just about doing it to turn a snappy dollar, but about getting it to people who love it, and also for charity. Can you say anything about where, in terms of a convention by any chance, where this stuff may be appearing, or is that too premature?

Martin McClean:
Yes. I can. No, that’s an excellent question actually. My plan is to take-… the new Naquadah generator, the working Naquadah generator that I was showing you earlier, the Bird’s Nest Naquadah generator… the large… Naquadah generator. And the plan is to bring that to Gatecon next year, and auction that for charity, which should be really good. One of my favorite charities is the koala hospital down in Australia, trying to basically save the remaining koalas. Most of them were unfortunately killed in these big bush fires about a year and a half ago.

David Read:
Yes.

Martin McClean:
Trying to support that.

David Read:
Yes.

Martin McClean:
The Port Macquarie Koala Hospital down there is awesome, they do great work. Trying to do it for that. But whatever charity Gatecon has nominated will be the one that’s the recipient. I don’t know who that might be. I think last time it was MS, which is a wonderful charity–

David Read:
I think so. They did cystic fibrosis with JR for a couple of years. They did Sea Shepherd, I think, at one point. So, uh the Stargate Productions was always BC Children’s Hospital. That was their charity of choice. It’s great stuff all around. It’s great that you are pursuing that. I’m looking forward to meeting you in person and…

Martin McClean:
Absolutely.

David Read:
…and playing with the toys again.

Martin McClean:
Brilliant. Look for more. There will be more coming. You will need more shelf space.

David Read:
I’m looking. Rotating these things is a really, really nice problem to have.

Martin McClean:
You don’t happen to need a large Puddle Jumper, do you?

David Read:
I’m really blown away by the detail on the front of that, for sure. The Puddle Jumper has never been one of my favorite designs. Otherwise, I would have pushed for one. One of the ones that I do want is an O’Neill-class Asgard mothership. I’m still–

Martin McClean:
That would be cool. I’m hoping that Eaglemoss do what I would love Eaglemoss to do is do what they’re doing with the Star Trek Enterprise D, which is this multi-week assembly piece. It’s a massively detailed model. And I would love them to do that with the Stargate. I’m sort of–

David Read:
With the Stargate itself?

Martin McClean:
Yes, with the Stargate itself. I think it…

David Read:
Amazing.

Martin McClean:
… would be amazing to do that.

David Read:
‘Cause you could factor in a diorama into the equation of assembling it.

Martin McClean:
Yes.

David Read:
For sure. With the Goa’uld pedestal design, the traditional stone pedestal and everything.

Martin McClean:
I think it would be fantastic and a wonderful sort of ongoing thing for people to build. And they’ve done great work in the past there. So, I’m hoping that perhaps somebody at Eaglemoss, I’m sure, has worked out that would be a great idea. If not, they’re very welcome to the idea for free.

David Read:
I’ve been loving these build ideas. I don’t know if it’s the, they’re the same ones who did the Back to the Future DeLorean, but that’s the one that I saw from years ago. And you just build the thing over the course of a couple of years. It’s not the sticker price, at the end of the day, is not minute. But the way in which they do it is so that, how to eat an elephant, one bite at a time. It’s a great idea.

Martin McClean:
It’s a wonderful idea. They do a great job of the… I haven’t built one myself, but I’ve looked at other people that have been doing it. I know Adam Savage is doing one with the Ghostbusters, Ecto-1.

David Read:
That’s right.

Martin McClean:
Some of those animals and the dedication and the care is really impressive. So, I hope that they do something like that.

David Read:
If they do, I’ll definitely wanna get my hands on a copy and just do a build for the show.

Martin McClean:
That would be fantastic.

David Read:
When I break it, at least it’ll be on film.

Martin McClean:
I break lots of things. It’s just not sitting behind me, that’s all.

David Read:
Anything else we wanna share, Martin, before we wrap it up?

Martin McClean:
I don’t think so, but I super appreciate the opportunity to have this discussion. It’s been great to catch up with you again.

David Read:
It’s been a delight. And I can’t stress enough the resources that are in the description below for people to check things out. You got a lot of free content for ’em, and I can’t recommend Martin’s work enough.

Martin McClean:
Thank you.

David Read:
If you’re seriously interested in one of his pieces, do check out his Etsy for more information at gatebuilder.tech, T-E-C-H. Martin, I’m looking forward to meeting you in person, sir. Thank you again so much. It really means the world to me, the love that you’ve put into the pieces, and for sharing them so openly. Best of luck to you in the future.

Martin McClean:
You’re very welcome. Great pleasure. Thank you, David.

David Read:
My thanks to Martin McClean for making this episode possible and making my set pieces, frankly, possible, a number of them. I am always happy to have fellow fans on to help show off some of the stuff that they are working on and in development for. Be sure to go and check out his website. The details for all of the links of all of his various products, many of them are available to you for free, are below. Just go ahead and download them. We are going to wrap for the next two Saturdays. Christmas and New Year’s we’re gonna be off. We’re gonna be returning January the 8th. Hope you enjoyed the trivia from earlier today. My name is David Read for Dial the Gate. You have a great holiday and a happy New Year, and we’ll see you on the other side.