07/08/2026
They Built a Real Tornado to Destroy Miniature Hong
Kong
This is how you make a tornado without CGI.
A thirty-foot funnel of grey muslin fabric hangs from a spindle motor on an overhead gantry crane. The motor spins the fabric, crew at the base blast fuller's earth and theatrical smoke into it, and the dust hides the sock completely. What you see is a real, physical vortex travelling on a steel track across a miniature Hong Kong.
When it crossed Victoria Harbour it became a waterspout on its own - the spray came up out of the tank without anyone doing anything. S The Star Ferry going end over end wasn't planned either.
Same method the Wizard of Oz crew invented in 1939.
Still the best one.
Sound on.
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