I just got started watching Season 2 of Fringe on DVD (got it for Christmas) and want to have a go at this box. Did anyone get one finished?
I've ordered the switch cover and am working on getting a case/box, but does anyone have a lead on where to get a retractable LAN cable where the actual cable itself is BLACK? All the ones I've found are either white or clear....
Where did you order your switch cover from? (if you don't mind me asking.)Howlrunner said:
I still haven't had a chance to pic up one of the cases. (I want to find a iphone store that would be willing to help me get just the case so I don't have to pay $30. for a charger, I have no use for at all.)
As for the cable. I thought I have seen them in black, but the kind of plastic that is on wire, should take RIT die very well. I would just get a cheep white set of retratible cables, take them apart, so that you have just the cable part (because the plastic that they use for the retractile part would probably melt) and then just die the cables black, and put the hole thing back together again. (you could do it in about a hour, and the RIT die, is less the n $2.)
Or if your not going to play with it too much, you could just use black fusion paint on the cables. (though if you play with it too much, the paint will probably rub off over time.)
I'm in the UK, so I had a look at the UK site posted earlier in the thread - 37p each is a great price from them, but even in the UK they have a £25 minimum spend and P&P even in the UK is a minimum of £6.... So I tried eBay
F436Z Nickel Weatherproof Security Key Switch Cover on eBay (end time 15-Jan-11 03:14:07 GMT)
£2.50 each is pretty high considering the other site has them for 37p, BUT P&P is free (or rather is included in the price more likely) and there's no minimum spend.
I was considering painting the white cables - thanks for the tip about the dye!
Howlrunner said:
I'm in the UK, so I had a look at the UK site posted earlier in the thread - 37p each is a great price from them, but even in the UK they have a £25 minimum spend and P&P even in the UK is a minimum of £6.... So I tried eBay
F436Z Nickel Weatherproof Security Key Switch Cover on eBay (end time 15-Jan-11 03:14:07 GMT)
£2.50 each is pretty high considering the other site has them for 37p, BUT P&P is free (or rather is included in the price more likely) and there's no minimum spend.
I was considering painting the white cables - thanks for the tip about the dye!
That's fantastic. I looked all over ebay, a couple of months ago, but some how I missed this. Now I can get me some switch covers.
Oh, and on the RIT die side of things. If you have some of that style of cable laying around (from an old computer, or something) Or can get some cheep, I would try it out first, before you use it on the cable you're going to use in the prop. I mean, I'm pretty sure it will work fine on that kind of plastic, but I wouldn't want you to pay for new retractile cables, and have them get messed up. But if it tests ok on a sample piece, then yeah, it should work fine on the ones you need for the project.
A member here turned me onto the RIT die. On small stuff like this, you can do it in a pot on the stove top, or in your sink, if you have a stainless steel sink. I've died a lot of stuff now, and very little of it is fabric. It works one some (but not all) plastics, and really well on a lot of rubbers. One of these days I'm going to try it on resin, but I haven't got a resin kit that is cheep enough ,that I am willing to try it on yet.
I'm also interested in making one of these. If you rent the last disk of Fringe season 2, there's a special feature on the disk with the propmaster talking about the various props. There are some good shots of the prop there.
Anyone attempted ordering the switch covers from a US source?
Or if you're in the UK, find your nearest Maplin store, and save yourself some money.
Key Switch Cover : Key Switches : Maplin
Good luck with the build.
The ones I have are clear. I think that the dark look of the cables in the first photo is the result of light reflecting from the shiny copper wires inside. It's not the whole cable that looks black. You can see it has clear insulation along the edges. I've never seen any with black wires and an extra layer of black insulation on eack conductor inside the clear insulation would seem pointless. The seems to be a couple of types of these flat cables. One type uses actual multistranded wire conductors and the other older type had foil-like conductors. It might be the foil ones in the photo..
I've done some work on mine but the whole thing has been a bit of a compromise. I hope to make a better version when I find a better box.
The Apple power adapters sold here are much bigger so I can only assume they come in a bigger box or that annoying welded clear packaging that requires a cutting torch to open it.
Howlrunner said:
Last edited by PeterLC; Jan 9, 2011 at 11:12 AM.
That UK ebay seller who has those switch covers doesn't post outside of the UK.
jason1976 said:
That's fantastic. I looked all over ebay, a couple of months ago, but some how I missed this. Now I can get me some switch covers.
You could aslo try spray on vinyl dye if you really feel the need to make them black. It isn't paint. It's permanent and literally becomes part of the plastic (ie won't rub or scratch off). Works on most plastics I've tried it on. It is mainly used for dyeing car dashboards, upholstery and carpets.
I personally don't think it needs painting.
Howlrunner said:
I was considering painting the white cables - thanks for the tip about the dye!
Where would I get spray on vinyl dye?
I may have found a source for a few empty Apple USB Power Adapter boxes (as Chronos posted pics of) without having to pay to buy the adapter - if there's a couple available (and not just the one that I'm getting) I'll post up (if anyone's interested).
Last edited by Howlrunner; Jan 9, 2011 at 3:08 PM.
It wasn't I, who pasted the info about the boxes, I'm one of the ones that really wants one though. So, if you do get some, please put me on the list of folks that needs one.Howlrunner said:
I would love to, if I could find one that takes paypal. (or something other then a credit card)Chronos said:
I saw that, after I posted here, I sent a message to the seller, asking anyways. They will probably say no, but I had to ask.PeterLC said:
Sorry, I should have given the credit to Chronos for that one.
OK, I've got my empty carton ordered after a few communications with an eBay seller who removes the adapter from the cases before shipping (to reduce P&P costs). They therefore have a few of the cases by themselves available. Now, while I can't post a link to a live auction, I suggest anyone looking for an empty Apple USB Power Adapter case search eBay for "Empty Cartons (Apple USB Power Adapter) Clear Cases". $1.49 plus postage ain't free, but it's better than buying an adapter you don't need. 3 are currently available, but they should have more as they sell more of the adapters. Hope this is of help to the folks here.
Now that's funny, in all this big wide world, where are they located Columbus, Ohio. USA. Where do I live, Columbus, Ohio. USA.
Well a lot of good it did me to live in the same town. I asked if I could pick them up, and he said, that he would charge me $5. for pick up, and that I should just go ahead, and pay for shipping, since it's cheaper.They guy probably lives down the strete from me. Oh well.
Since it's still way cheaper then paying for a $30. addaptor I don't need, just to get the box, I went ahead, and ordered one. (and paid shipping in my own town.)
I got my boxes today.)
Well he/she had two more for sale so I bought them. Postage was 3 times the price of the boxes but not too bad if the boxes work out OK.
jason1976 said:
I got my boxes today.
Ok, so I've got the boxes. I've ordered two different kinds of the retractable LAN Cable. (one is clear, the other looks black in the pictures, so I just had to order some to see what it looks like in person)
So now all I need is the switch covers. (2 of them.) And of course good enough weather to pain the boxes, but that will have to wait a wile. (since I live in Ohio, and It will be months before it's nice enough out, to pant.
Anyways. HELP. I've looked all over the web, and i can not find a place that sells, the switch cover in the states,or will ship to the states, and will take paypal. I never heard back from the UK ebay seller, but there listing says they will not ship to the US, so I doubt they will say any different in their message, if I ever get one. There has to be some solution here, for us state side, folks that need these parts.
+1jason1976 said:
I have the box, and a retractable LAN cable - need the switch cover.
Also we should think about electronics. There should be a diffused blue LED light source in the box. I was thinking about PM'ing gmprops about it.
The switch covers used to be available easily everywhere. Now it can be hard to find companies who actually them in stock except in the UK where I have found many companies. Sadly none of them will post outside of the UK or France or Germany.
I was lucky to find a friendly UK RPF member who said one of his local shops had some so he mailed them to me. They are not exact as there seem to be two slight variations of the actual cover part however for my first attempt at least will be just fine.
The blue light is easy. A blue LED which has been sanded to diffue the lens and a battery source. A resistor can be added if necessary depending on the LED and supply voltage. In the lid of mine where the clear window is, I have also added a "shield" around the window to keep most of the light only in the window as the whole box was once clear and my paintwork is not brilliant and the seams might leaked light. I painted the inner surface of the shield a duck egg blue colour as this looks correct when the light is off.
I've also made the mouth palate parts from plastic for this rough first go as I had no access to aluminium and really just wanted to get some sizes right. I will make another better version with better box and metal parts. I need to do another coat of paint (out of black paint) on this one and a few more things to see some kind of finshed prop. It's all a bit rough including brush painting but I have no pics at present.
Chronos said:
OK, I just sat an took a whole LOAD of screencaps and found some pretty interesting details....
Mini toggle switch can be seen clearly in pics 12 and 13.
The box itself appears to be a clear acrylic box (VERY similar to the Apple power adapter case) which has been painted black/gunmetal on the inside (not the outside) - this is most apparent in pictures 1 and 2.
The box itself seem to have 3 small holes in the side near where the lead comes out - one of the holes has some sort of small rod projecting from it - best seen in pictures 2 and 5. I can't see that these serve any kind of a purpose - perhaps they are features of the orginal un-modded box that was used?
The retractable cable does not simply appear to be clear, grey or black. It appears to be a sort of transparent grey (showing the wires inside) on one side, and on the other side it seems to be the same, but with a black strip along the middle. This side, due to lighting, often appears to be silver with a black strip down the middle. The cable colouration and detail can best be seen in pictures 3, 6, 7, 8, 12 and 13. Can anyone identify this type of cable? I've searched through LOADS of pics online and can find nothing.
The mouthpiece appears curved across two different axis - what would be the best way to replicate this in metal? Laser/waterjet cut, then bent? 3D printing? Something else?
Are the heads of the "nails" that go through the mouth pieces actually a part of the nails, or are they something that has been added seperately? If not, what kind of nails are these? Are the easily available? See pic 5.
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