Autonomous Self-Sustaining Mobile Holo-Emitter (WIP)

"Please state the nature of the medical emergency" or "How to annoy Tom Paris in eight words or less"

I was watching an episode of Star Trek Voyager last night with the wife and I decided that I really wanted a replica of the Doctor's mobile emitter. I told her this and her initial reaction was "Why don't you just give me your money and I'll go burn it on the stove," assuming that I wanted to go out and BUY a replica of the emitter.

Seeing this as a personal challenge, I started work on the emitter this morning, using only reference pics from Trek Props, a circuit graphic generously shared by Cmdr.Kerner in his Star Trek - Voyager Holo-Emitter thread and some scrap ABS plastic. Extra cost beyond materials I already own = $0.

Now on to the build!

My work area for this prop along with the two main tools used so far, my trusty dremel and utility knife.


I started with a rough cut around the final cut line.


Once I had the top plate cut and sanded to the right size, I traced it onto a second piece of plastic for the bottom plate.


I then drilled some holes through the two plates and used a couple of bolts to hold them in place while I sanded the edges down. Probably not the most efficient way to do this, but it's what came to mind at the time and it worked out okay.



I printed out Cmdr.Kerner's graphic and taped it onto the top plate. Using my utility knife and a straight edge, I carefully cut along the outline making sure to use enough pressure to mark the plastic underneath.


When I had finished, I knew exactly where to make the cut for the circuit detail.


I carefully cut this out using my dremel's small cutting wheel.



I used the two bolt holes on the bottom plate as pilot holes to drill out a space for the magnets. I used 3/8" diameter, 1/16" thick rare earth magnets for this prop with plans to make a corresponding back plate to place under my sleeve.


Since I want this prop to look pretty close to the one on the screen, I didn't want the magnets to be exposed on the back of the emitter, so I embedded them all the way into the plate (magents are 1/16", the plate is 1/8") and filled in the 1/16" remaining with bondo and then sanded it down once it was cured.



When that was done, I wanted to do a test fit to make sure the magnets were strong enough to hold through a sleeve and 1/16" of bondo. I taped two other magnets onto my arm and put the emitter on my sleeve over it.



Knowing that they were strong enough to hold the back plate, I taped the front plate on to double check it would hold the whole emitter.


Happy with the strength of the magnets, I moved on to filling in the last bolt hole and then carefully cut out the accents on the top of the emitter.


And here is its current state:


So far I'm pleased with the results. I still need to work on making the accents a bit smoother; it's the first time I've worked with any details this small so it's a bit of a learning curve for me. I also need to fine tune the circuit cut out and make it smooth as well.

Once I've done those things, I'll be able to glue the two halves together, round the edges and then paint it. And then I'll have my own Autonomous Self-Sustaining Mobile Holo-Emitter!

So whaddaya think, sirs?

The emitter is almost finished. The accents at the top aren't perfect, but hopefully with some black paint they won't stand out as much. Also I still need to work on some areas with some spot putty and repaint the silver, but overall it's turned out quite nicely I think.

Here is what I did tonight:

The first order of business was to cut out a piece of 1/16" plexi to fill in the circuit cut-out. I felt it was simply too deep. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of that. The first pic I took tonight was this:


The two plates have been epoxied together and clamped tight to let them dry. The next step was to round off the edges. I used 80 grit sandpaper to do this and 220 grit to smooth it down once it was done.



I then filled in any gaps between the two plates with some spot putty and then sanded that down smooth.



When that was done, I painted it silver.



Like I said, it's still not perfect, but I feel with a few minor touch-ups I'll have a prop that I would be happy to wear or put on display.

No primer paint? A little bit may help with the fine scratches, and can be sanded smoother than the raw plastic afterward. Otherwise pretty cool!

Thanks for the tip. I had really just painted it as a test coat to bring out the imperfections I still need to fill in and buff out. The silver makes them pop quite nicely. I plan to go over it once more with some spot putty in the trouble areas, sand down again (with some finer grit paper) and then repaint. I'll be sure to start with some primer this next time.

Also, thanks for the feedback. It's much appreciated.

Since you had no primer on the plastic before putting the silver down, you need to strip the silver off before putting primer over it. It's likely the silver will lift off the plastic and take the primer on top of it off. When painting plastics, always put a good sandable primer down otherwise you're just not going to get the good adhesion you need. (Though there are now some rattle can formulations that do stick to plastic properly, Krylon Fusion I think is one)

Any tips on how to strip the pain without hurting the plastic or spot putty underneath? Would a light application of acetone do the trick, or would it melt the plastic?

Believe it or not I've heard Rubbing Alcohol would be better than Acetone, but not too sure about it. I generally use a paint thinner then just wash it in warm soapy water afterwards before doing anything else.

Alright then, I'll keep rubbing alcohol and paint thinner in mind as well as acetone. I could try a little of each on the back where it wouldn't be noticeable if I mess it up. Thanks again for the tips and feedback, guys. Hopefully I can get a really nice, smooth surface when all is said and done.

You might want to test the thinner or acetone on some scrap plastic to see what it does first. Don't forget to wash the plastic with soap and water after you get enough paint off either way, or if you leave it on you may come back to a puddle of plastic.

Kerr Avon said:

... (Though there are now some rattle can formulations that do stick to plastic properly, Krylon Fusion I think is one)

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Plasti-Kote is very good too.

To be honest, I've had VERY good luck using regular old 'Dupli-color' from Advanced Auto Parts stores and the like. They have a lot of cool metallic colors and solid non-metalics.

And the best part is that it sticks very securely to Sintra/plastic. I didn't even have to sand my props, and the stuff can't even be scratched off with tools, much less finger nails/walls.

You might want to use a finer grit paper, or maybe a file for shaping. The nice thing about styrene is that it will sand smooth as glass. And if you join the two halves with styrene cement, like Tenax 7R or Ambroid Pro Weld you'll get a cleaner seam. When I glue styrene, I let the melted plastic squeeze out of the seam and let it dry. Then just sand it smooth, and the seam disappears. If done right, this could look like one smooth piece of molded black plastic with no seams, without paint. You'll still need epoxy or CA to attach metal or other materials, but the cement is best for the plastic.

Cool project, I don't think I've seen this one done before :thumbsup

Thanks for the tips, guys. Rob - thanks for the tip on using styrene cement. It's a little late for this piece, but I'll be looking for some for my next project like this.

I'm happy to report that I was able to remove the silver paint with some Goo Gone. I've added more spot putty in the trouble areas and when that's dry I'll be using some 400 grit sand paper. I'll be using some Krylon paint as the primer coat and then I'll wetsand that with more of the 400 grit. When it's nice and perty, I'll apply another coat of silver.

I'll be posting tonight's pic later.

Alright, time for tonight's pictorial update! Thanks to all the advice from you guys, the paint job on the emitter looks a LOT better now.

I started off by stripping the silver paint off with some Goo Gone. It seems to be pretty gentle on the plastic - at least it didn't affect it that I noticed.


I just spritzed a little onto a paper towel and was able to rub the paint right off with very little pressure.


When I was finished, I washed the piece with soap and water, and then began work with the spot putty again.




I used 400 grit sandpaper with very light pressure this time to get the surfaces down nice and smooth.


Bonehead me completely forgot to take pictures of the primer coat! D: I sprayed the Krylon primer on, and once it was dry I wet sanded the entire thing to work out tiny imperfections.

After that, another coat of silver.






The overall appearance is SO much smoother than it was before. I'm very pleased with the results of my work tonight. Thanks again for all the advice and tips on painting and sanding, guys.

Much improved, nice job!

Nice job. I have a really crappy attempt at a Voyager Padd sitting half done on my workbench. Some great advice there, that can apply to many projects..

Very nice.

Thanks again, guys. the next step is to paint the inside of the accents. I'm going to use some Testers model paint and some miniature brushes a friend of mine introduced me to the other day. Then I'll glue in the circuit detail and I'll probably clear coat the whole thing just to help protect the paint.

Alright, I'm pretty sure I'm at a good stopping point for this piece. There MIGHT be a possibility of repainting it in the future, but for now I'm happy with it.

The clear coat I applied tonight had an odd effect ... it muted the silver paint some and made it less shiny. Since Starfleet tech has a similar sheen (or lack thereof) it worked out just fine.







I took a close up shot of the edge to show how smooth I was able to make it.


Also took a picture for funsies, playing around with the magnets.


"Please state the nature of the refrigeration emergency."

The only thing left to do is to make the backing piece that goes under my shirt sleeve.

Snarkticon said:

"Please state the nature of the refrigeration emergency."

Click to expand...

We're out of beer!

Nice work, it came out great. That's the problem with metallic paints, they're delicate but if you use a clear coat it dulls the finish. Most of the TNG era props were painted light gray with a mist coat of silver. Some of the car sprays like Duplicolor have silver colors that have a similar look, and they're pretty tough as they are.