Oh man, I didn't even notice the grid wire being so exposed. Holy hell, now I can't unsee it! In truth, it's not terrible.
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Star Trek TOS Communicator from The Wand Company
- Thread starter Prop Collector
- Start date
Ironically the flipgrid was more correct on the prototype shown at ComicCon 2015. Not my photo.
That might have been manually rigged up though, who knows.
That might have been manually rigged up though, who knows.
I'm going to wait to get this after seeing one in person...probably at a Think Geek store. I saw the phaser at the Think Geek store and I could not get over how plastic/toy like it looked. The nozzle had this dullcoat finish on it that made it look so NOT metal. Very plastic looking. I decided not to get it. (Especially after seeing all the threads pop up to make the Wand phaser more accurate...that says a lot.)
Based on Phase Pistol's observations, I am afraid the flip grill will have the same dullcoat look. Wait and see. The overall features are cool. I just have so many comms now that in order to get this one, it has to look really good in person....without having to mod it
(How long before a thread comes out offering more accurate flip grills for this comm? lol!)
Based on Phase Pistol's observations, I am afraid the flip grill will have the same dullcoat look. Wait and see. The overall features are cool. I just have so many comms now that in order to get this one, it has to look really good in person....without having to mod it
(How long before a thread comes out offering more accurate flip grills for this comm? lol!)
JiminSTLouis
Sr Member
In these pictures of the Alpha (from herocomm .com) the antenna wire looks just as exposed as The Wand Company's comm. And another thing TWC seems to have gotten right is 12 hole count wide, and 13 hole count long. Their grid color looks pretty spot on too. The things they blew royally are solder all over, broken out grid holes, tarnish all over and glue squeeze out from the shells. I don't think I can look at mine anymore!
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JiminSTLouis
Sr Member
Ah.... the finger assist flip you were talking about. I'll never flip it open any other way again.
Yes, price appropriate!
This was the issue with the flipgrid width: Wand vs Alpha
She's a beauty though, I have to admit!
She's a beauty though, I have to admit!
Beware, that image site was putting up porn banners and new windows.
Bernie
Member
Fading between yellow and red.
OK, I just finished modding my Comm to replace the plastic control hubs with some of AncientTribble's aluminum hubs. Pretty easy mod, see pics below:
I can't decide if i want to put a dab of silver paint on the ends of the button pegs or just leave them as is. Silver would blend better but leaving them with the subtle copper/black center seems kind of like an homage to the humble beginnings of the prop.
- I started by masking off the front of the comm. I probably went a little overboard on this but meh, it was easier to knock out the whole thing,
- I chose a little saw blade from my Xacto kit in the (as it turned out vain) hope to split the knob down the middle per TWC instructions.
- I carefully (I thought) sawed the left knob in half. During this process, I started to notice there was a small amount of wiggle developing in the left knob.
- By the time I was done, the wiggle had turned into a full on break. It was clear that the button the knob was attached to had broken free of the PCB underneath.
- So much for the easy mod. Now I had to take the comm completely apart.
- The comm is very easy to take apart, you just have to be careful of the tiny copper wires that connect the induction charging coil to the PCB.
- Note - To get the PCB out, both knobs have to be removed from the front.
- Lesson learned - For the right knob, I used a small drill bit, right down into the center of the knob, where the hole should be anyway on an actual TJet hub.
- Once you drill down a bit, use some side nippers to chop off the top of the knob.
- Don't worry about cutting the peg they're attached to. They seem to be glued damn near to the bottom of the knob, they're not countersunk by much.
- This is good for two reasons.
- It's the easiest way to get the knob off.
- If you chicken out, you can just drill a small hole in the top of the knob and simulate a real hub with a small dab of black paint in the hole you just made.
- This is where it goes on the PCB
- This is what it SHOULD look like:
- This was a super easy fix. A couple strategic drops of hot glue secured the housing back where it should have been.
- After that, I reassembled the comm.
- Here it is, reassembled, post repair.
- Next, I grabbed the aluminum TJet hubs I got from AncientTribble.
- The left peg on the PCB is 1.9mm
- The right peg is 2.0mm
- The holes in the aluminum hubs are not that big, so I had to make them bigger.
- I used a drill bit and a pin vise/drill on super slow speed.
- Modding the hubs took all of 15 minutes.
- Now, time to reassemble and land the hubs.
- Here is the mostly finished product. All I need to do is figure out what kind of glue I want to use to permanently affix the aluminum hubs.
- All in all a super easy mod if you take your time.
I can't decide if i want to put a dab of silver paint on the ends of the button pegs or just leave them as is. Silver would blend better but leaving them with the subtle copper/black center seems kind of like an homage to the humble beginnings of the prop.
Targets R Us
Active Member
Great job on the mod.
Out of curiosity.....weren't the hero prop knobs made from chromed plastic slot car wheel hubs?
-tnx,
Jeff
Out of curiosity.....weren't the hero prop knobs made from chromed plastic slot car wheel hubs?
-tnx,
Jeff
Yes they were. The original slot car hubs were chromed plastic.
Over the years, the various comm kit makers have taken to using aluminum because the chrome plating never wears off. The only real difference between the originals and the ones TWC used is that the TWC knobs don't have holes through them like the originals did. They are exact down to the nub on the underside, that you would NEVER see unless you remove them. Major props to TWC for replicating them so exactly.
For my mod, I chose to go with aluminum since the knobs are going to be touched all the time. The problem with the chromed plastic is that the chrome wears off after use.
If you want to simulate the originals on the TWC knobs, just grab a pin vise and a 1/16 or 5/64 drill bit and drill out the center of the TWC knobs about 1/16 deep. A little dab of black paint and Bob's your uncle.
Over the years, the various comm kit makers have taken to using aluminum because the chrome plating never wears off. The only real difference between the originals and the ones TWC used is that the TWC knobs don't have holes through them like the originals did. They are exact down to the nub on the underside, that you would NEVER see unless you remove them. Major props to TWC for replicating them so exactly.
For my mod, I chose to go with aluminum since the knobs are going to be touched all the time. The problem with the chromed plastic is that the chrome wears off after use.
If you want to simulate the originals on the TWC knobs, just grab a pin vise and a 1/16 or 5/64 drill bit and drill out the center of the TWC knobs about 1/16 deep. A little dab of black paint and Bob's your uncle.
JiminSTLouis
Sr Member
I recently posted that I wished the buttons were metal, not knowing the Alpha had chromed plastic buttons.
The universe is now realigned.
trekcolencc1701
Active Member
I must of missed something, or am plain out confused….but are
TWDs comm buttons made of metal or plastic ? On the original ad it said machined metal
TWDs comm buttons made of metal or plastic ? On the original ad it said machined metal
The original props used chromed plastic slotcar wheels.
The Wand comm's knobs are apparently chromed plastic.
The Wand comm's knobs are apparently chromed plastic.
