Starfleet Research and Development

My latest accquisition: a Playmates Medical Tricorder from 1997.

Edelworks on ebay

I got these from Filmwelt-Center.com. The Rankpins are metal and held by magnets. The com-badge is resin cast and is held by velcro. As far as I can tell, it’s as screen accurate as it gets. 

So, now that I finished the Stapleton Kit of the TR-590 Tricorder, I wanted to make a holster. I figured out, that 1mm polystyrene cardboard would be a easy to use choice. It reacts very good to heat and is easily cut. So first I started to make a paper pattern, to figure out the right size. After a few tries I decided to make a technical drawing to get all the dimensions right. After I finishing and printing it, I cut out the polystyrene cardboard to the dimensions of the drawing. Now I made two different approaches to get the material into form: for one version I only used a heatgun to form all the foldings. It was a little bit difficult to fold the very soft polystyrene in a proper way and get straight and even folds. Though the result looks a bit more organic and soft shaped. For the other approach I cut the surface of the polystyrene and folded it along these cuts. To get a smooth surface on the outside I chose to do the cuts on the inside of the folds. Unfortunately the polystyrene broke on some points of the folds, so I had to use some putty to clean everything up.  After sanding the edges, I did the first spray paint with primer. After everything is cured I will paint the whole holster in matte black. The inside gets lined in a soft black polyester felt, which I simply cut out using the drawing as a pattern.

Final stage of my Stapleton kit build. Electronics are following in the future.

Afterwards I recognized the primer didn’t fill out all of the gaps, so I had to use some putty and sand it flush. Subsequently, after the putty was cured I applied some thin layers of the metallic paint. The next step will be to put on a layer of clear coat and assemble the tricorder.

Stage one of my Playmates Phaser upgrade is finished. After filling the gaps on the sides, I spraypainted the black parts and the buttons. After everything was dried I painted the silver parts. There are still some little flaws in some corners, that will be mended later. In the next stage an LED status bar and some custome electronics get fitted in.

This is the first stage of an upgrade I do to my Playmates Type II Phaser. First I removed the belt clip and filled the gap where it sat in. Then I removed the emitter part and sanded it down, so its outlines are getting more accurate. To get a first impression, I did a provisional paintjob to the emitter. After that I sanded down the trigger button, to be flat like the original one. Next step was to cut out the painted indicator bars. Later an accurate LED line will be fitted in here. The next step will be the final paintjob to the whole prop, followed by the new electronics.

Deep Space 9 Technical Sections and Habitat Ring

Replica sold by Anovos.

Original screen prop, used by Doug Wax in Star Trek: Nemesis.

Informations are sourced by Memory-Alpha, basing on the background rank system, designed by Robert Blackman.

Pictures are sourced by Ex Astris Scientia.

Pictures sourced by Ex Astris Scientia.