In the episode "Remember" from Star Trek Voyager, they 'give a ride' to a race called the Enarans.
The race is capable of transmitting memories etc through telephathy.
A member of the group plays an Enaran musical instrument, and 'assists' Janeway through telepathy when she has a go at playing the instrument.
This is a picture of the original prop
It is, however, IMO, much more beautiful on screen :love
Of course I had to fall in love with this prop and have one for myself :lol
Naturally, as usual, so long as when I finshed it looked somewhat like the prop and shouted "Enaran musical instrument ! " at me, I'd be happy
I was going after the finishing as it is seen on screen.
Step one, one of my (in)famous 'blueprints' :lol
Have shelving wood left in the garage, but I had to glue two pieces together to give it the correct thickness
Drew the outline
And on a thinner sheet, drew the outine again, but made it a couple of mm's wider (look closely, and you will see the 'join the dots game :lol)
Cut out 2 thick templates, and the slightly wider thin one
Drew and cut out the top raised decorative shapes
And sanded them at an angle on the sides to give it the sloping shape.
Wood filler, and then sanded again to smoothen.
Now the fun part :lol
The sides of the thicker part of the prop are also slanting at an angle.
I was not about to invest in a router to achieve that, but I have this, a heavy duty grinder with a sanding attachment.
Muuaaaaaahahahahahahahahaha :lol
So after holding on for dear life at a couple of thousand revs per minute :lol, and applying the beast to the sides of the wood, this was achieved
Talk about a bull in a china shop :lol
But, at least I could fine-sand it down and fix the ugly bits with filler, to be sanded later for the finishing touches.
After that, I REALLY wished I had invested in a router, because what I had to do next was a major pain in the backside.
No router, but a hobby drill secured to a small workbench with electrical fasteners will do just fine :lol
I had to switch the drill on, and slowly pass the edge of the thinner sheet on it, so as to make a groove in the 5mm thick sheet :wacko
And once all the sanding and finishing was almost done, I finally had the correct slants on all 3 pieces.
Stuck the layers all together.
(I collect props, not clamps. OK ? At least I didn't use cases of Sangria this time :lol
Now for the dome part.
I was after making the 'propeller' thingies you can see, one thick, and another thinner one that tapers off towards the top. I also wanted to make what looks like alternate 'dividers' of sorts at the base of the dome.
So, enter one plastic lettuce preserver for the fridge :lol, some chrome tape used for cars, a plastic lid, a knob that came lord knows from where, the leftover brass sheet from my Vulcan Lamp build, a piece of rod from the mod I made to the Playmates Klingon disruptor :lol, and some thin sheets of wood that were left over for 'floor planking' from a wooden model ship.
Drew the base on a sheet of cardboard, divided the circle into equal parts, and glued the planking wood on alternate strips
Cut out the circle, and stuck on the plastic lid, a bit of the rod, topped off by the knob.
Cut the brass sheet into strips
And finally, cut out bits of wood for the 'control buttons' on the side of the instrument.
Which were then sanded down to shape.
And here she is, after sticking all the bits together and painting
The race is capable of transmitting memories etc through telephathy.
A member of the group plays an Enaran musical instrument, and 'assists' Janeway through telepathy when she has a go at playing the instrument.
This is a picture of the original prop
It is, however, IMO, much more beautiful on screen :love
Of course I had to fall in love with this prop and have one for myself :lol
Naturally, as usual, so long as when I finshed it looked somewhat like the prop and shouted "Enaran musical instrument ! " at me, I'd be happy
I was going after the finishing as it is seen on screen.
Step one, one of my (in)famous 'blueprints' :lol
Have shelving wood left in the garage, but I had to glue two pieces together to give it the correct thickness
Drew the outline
And on a thinner sheet, drew the outine again, but made it a couple of mm's wider (look closely, and you will see the 'join the dots game :lol)
Cut out 2 thick templates, and the slightly wider thin one
Drew and cut out the top raised decorative shapes
And sanded them at an angle on the sides to give it the sloping shape.
Wood filler, and then sanded again to smoothen.
Now the fun part :lol
The sides of the thicker part of the prop are also slanting at an angle.
I was not about to invest in a router to achieve that, but I have this, a heavy duty grinder with a sanding attachment.
Muuaaaaaahahahahahahahahaha :lol
So after holding on for dear life at a couple of thousand revs per minute :lol, and applying the beast to the sides of the wood, this was achieved
Talk about a bull in a china shop :lol
But, at least I could fine-sand it down and fix the ugly bits with filler, to be sanded later for the finishing touches.
After that, I REALLY wished I had invested in a router, because what I had to do next was a major pain in the backside.
No router, but a hobby drill secured to a small workbench with electrical fasteners will do just fine :lol
I had to switch the drill on, and slowly pass the edge of the thinner sheet on it, so as to make a groove in the 5mm thick sheet :wacko
And once all the sanding and finishing was almost done, I finally had the correct slants on all 3 pieces.
Stuck the layers all together.
(I collect props, not clamps. OK ? At least I didn't use cases of Sangria this time :lol
Now for the dome part.
I was after making the 'propeller' thingies you can see, one thick, and another thinner one that tapers off towards the top. I also wanted to make what looks like alternate 'dividers' of sorts at the base of the dome.
So, enter one plastic lettuce preserver for the fridge :lol, some chrome tape used for cars, a plastic lid, a knob that came lord knows from where, the leftover brass sheet from my Vulcan Lamp build, a piece of rod from the mod I made to the Playmates Klingon disruptor :lol, and some thin sheets of wood that were left over for 'floor planking' from a wooden model ship.
Drew the base on a sheet of cardboard, divided the circle into equal parts, and glued the planking wood on alternate strips
Cut out the circle, and stuck on the plastic lid, a bit of the rod, topped off by the knob.
Cut the brass sheet into strips
And finally, cut out bits of wood for the 'control buttons' on the side of the instrument.
Which were then sanded down to shape.
And here she is, after sticking all the bits together and painting
Last edited: