It's hard to believe that Back to the Future is now 40 years old. And it remains absolutely timeless. No matter how many times I've seen it, I always walk away feeling happy and hopeful. So in honor of my favorite trilogy, I created a little tribute with a 3D model of the Delorean time machine. And yet...it looks a little different, doesn't it? I came across some of the old concept art that was drafted during the first movie's production. The earliest ideas for the time machine included making it into a “time chamber” or using a refrigerator. But at some point they chose to build a time machine out of a Delorean. The preliminary sketches showed it being extremely futuristic. But Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis were able to hire legendary concept artist Ron Cobb to help design the car. His idea was to make the car look like Doc Brown built it in his garage. And he laid the foundations for the final design with elements like the flux bands, a circular nuclear reactor, wires and cables everywhere, a high pressure steam vent, and a time-themed license plate. Even elements of his interior design made it into the movie, albeit with significant modifications to make filming the interior car scenes easier. Sadly, they didn't have enough budget to keep Ron Cobb on to make multiple drafts of the car. So it was up to a different concept artist by the name of Andrew Probert to finalize the car's design. But because Probert's version has been seen all over, I wanted to bring Ron Cobb's design to life.

As the years have gone by, the time machine has been given designations based on the movies. It's called the Mk. I for the original movie. The Mk. II is the flying time machine with the Mr. Fusion. And the Mk. III is the no-longer flying time machine with those spiffy white wall tires and the control tubes on the hood of the car. Going off that naming convention...I call this version the Mk. Zero.

Keep in mind, this is the work of a hobbyist. But I'm still pleased with how the model turned out. So, I figured why not see if others will like it too?