(Images files are approximately 50K to 120K in size)

The Chariot miniature represents an amount of effort and detail which today would only be reserved for a feature film.  In the mid sixties however there was little division between feature films and TV.  The heads of each department would put the same amount of effort into a project no matter which medium it was intended for and this fact is born out by close inspection of the Chariot model.  It is complete down to the smallest detail including an exact reproduction of the Thiokol snow-cat tracks.  Much of the metal structure of the full scale Chariot is rendered in metal on the miniature as well.  Three miniatures of the Chariot were built, a "hero" version (seen here) and two smaller less detailed versions.  The smaller models served for "long shots" where the camera would be shooting a wide field of view and therefore, in order to use less space, the scale of the scene would be smaller.  Typically the models served for scenes where the Chariot would be threatened by some gigantic monster which would require the crew to use the onboard laser to destroy.  In the early more serious days they were also used to film dangerous environments such as the amphibious crossing of an alien sea or traversing an icy wasteland.  In fact, the Chariot miniatures were not used that often which is a shame considering the amount of work that went into building them.  The truth is that the full size Chariot did the lions share of the work because filming a model will never be as good as filming the real thing.