Star Trek: TNG Medkit

MGC

Sr Member
A couple of weeks ago I ordered one of Stapleton's new MkVII medical tricorder kits. These little gizmos were the first props I ever really noticed as a kid and they kickstarted my interest in props as a whole. I was thrilled to get this thing as it looks absolutely spot on and being resin it feels a lot tougher - and should be more forgiving to assemble - than a vacform version.

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While waiting for it to arrive from the US (which, as it turned out, was a very small amount of time) I started on another prop that I loved from that era - the satchel-style medkit.

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The Fleet Workshop has a fantastically detailed thread on the Medkit, which is what pushed me over the edge. Norbauer posted a great outline of the prop which gave me the idea to laser-cut it. While the original prop was vac formed over a wooden buck, I have limited workshop space and the prop fabrication co I use are forever getting laser cutting jobs from me so it seemed a no brainer to go this route. I started with making a very basic model in Sketchup to work out the layering, making sure the door etc fit, and proportions of the plant-on dressing/decals.

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I then put these into Illustrator - where it's much easier to do curved shapes - to make the cut files (I then export the nice rounded panels back into the SketchUp model).

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I also drew up the various graphics including the Caduceus logo.

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Finally I ended up here - a mix of 5 and 3mm acrylic and 1mm styrene pieces. I'll have to sculpt/putty the radius corners into the sidewall gaps but that's much more preferable to layering up loads of the outline shape and having to sand them all flush.

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One final test assembly in SketchUp:

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I've now sent off all the parts to the laser cutter - hopefully they'll be back in a week or so. Eric Ardos was good enough to ID the Evergreen styrene sheets used for the texture parts, and luckily I managed to get those in the UK without too much hassle. I also started to get the vinyl graphics cut out:

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Progress has slowed down a bit, as DW filming has gotten more intense... the main medkit is still with the laser cutters, so I've been working on the side bits.

Firstly, I've painted up my Stapleton Mk VII, and created a new set of graphics for it. The graphics here are paper test prints, the final ones will be reverse printed onto a laser-cut diffused clear material - hopefully this gives the look of the laminate effect on the hero props while being 'tidier' as a high quality print (this is very much an idealised build rather than warts and all accurate). The same material will also diffuse the LEDs underneath it. The paintjob only has a light silver speckle as while the original speckle paint looks great on camera, I wasn't too sure about it in person.

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The 35mm slide that Myron provides in the kit of the screen is really spectacular - with light behind it, it pops beautifully. Look at those colours!

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I also ordered one of his Hypospray kits. A great little kit that's very satisfying to build. As the satchel-style medkit didn't appear until S5 of TNG, the Hypo is detailed along the lines of that era - low contrast greys (compared to the metallic colours of DS9 etc), with medium-level tape markings; not as plain as early TNG, but less heavy than later DS9 props. The tape marks are all paint, rather than actual vinyl/graphic tape as it's a bit harder wearing and more pleasing when examined in person.


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(I also had an LCARS panel reverse-printed onto some 5mm clear perspex for a photo backdrop - when lit with a lightpad it's quite effective).

I started work on the PADD screen, too. There's an excellent pictorial ref for this in the ST:TNG Interactive Technical Manual, but again, it was never really meant for scrutiny so I've added slightly more detail to it, as well as having the text relate to the rest of the Medkit.

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Finally, I started thinking about other props to put in the case - there's a million little medical gizmos in TNG, DS9 and Voyager, but most of them are turned metal or acrylic etc. Thinking about what I could actually make without access to a lathe, I remembered this little scanner device from early DS9. It's not TNG, but S1 DS9 is around the same era. In the shot with Bashir's Mk VII in the background, you can see that it's in the same colours as the TNG era props (rather than the darker metallic colours of later ones) so I though it could definitely be part of this kit:

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On a rare lunchbreak, I managed to get the scanner drawn up in Illustrator for cutting - The dimensions are somewhat eyeballed! I'm looking forward to building this little prop up, lots of easy corners to round off and simple construction.

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Nicely done, is that 1mm or 2mm styrene there?

Just 1mm, double-laying the bits I think that should be thicker.

There were some test/spare pieces which I've just quickly stuck together - already spotted a few mistakes from rushing the drawing - should have tried making it in sketchup first. It turns out that lasering 1mm leaves a little 'melt' line around the edges which adds a small amount of thickness, so everything will need sanding first. Still, glad the basic idea works!


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Just 1mm, double-laying the bits I think that should be thicker.

There were some test/spare pieces which I've just quickly stuck together - already spotted a few mistakes from rushing the drawing - should have tried making it in sketchup first. It turns out that lasering 1mm leaves a little 'melt' line around the edges which adds a small amount of thickness, so everything will need sanding first. Still, glad the basic idea works!


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I always use a 320 or 400 grade wet dry sandpaper on all edges & flat surfaces to remove the kerf and melted material.
Trying to cement the melted edges together wont give you a good bond unless you sand them.
Good luck with the build, I look forward to seeing the finished prop!
 
Bit late as they've all been cut (just waiting to collect it) but I printed all the parts to double-check the working after the scanner was slightly off. Spraymounted to foamex of various thicknesses (made from old DW signs) this was a real mission to cut out... but worth doing. All seems to work! (got the door pockets the wrong way around in the rush, but ah well)

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Awesome work!

The Mark VII medical tricorder had always been one of my favorites as well!

Looking forward to seething the med kit built up.

Sean
 
Awesome work!

The Mark VII medical tricorder had always been one of my favorites as well!

Sean

Thanks! I really prefer the light / design work of the Science VII but the shape of the Medical is just a really great bit of design.

I picked up the body parts from the laser cutters. I'm actually going on holiday/starting a new job next week so I can't spend any time on this for a while - might try at least doing the PADD. The clean sheet materials/cut lines are REALLY satisfying (although I feel like I've cheated a little)

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Thanks! I really prefer the light / design work of the Science VII but the shape of the Medical is just a really great bit of design.

I picked up the body parts from the laser cutters. I'm actually going on holiday/starting a new job next week so I can't spend any time on this for a while - might try at least doing the PADD. The clean sheet materials/cut lines are REALLY satisfying (although I feel like I've cheated a little)

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Laser cut parts are so satisfying to receive, I completely agree! Up until about 10 years ago I cut almost everything by hand with a Stanley knife and ruler. Once I found the laser cutter companies and helpful board members with a laser I didn't look back!

Enjoy your holiday, we will await your return to see the laser cut parts assembled.
 
Can I ask what you paid for the cut out parts? This one is on my build list and I have been dreading cutting out the parts.

Thanks! I really prefer the light / design work of the Science VII but the shape of the Medical is just a really great bit of design.

I picked up the body parts from the laser cutters. I'm actually going on holiday/starting a new job next week so I can't spend any time on this for a while - might try at least doing the PADD. The clean sheet materials/cut lines are REALLY satisfying (although I feel like I've cheated a little)

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No idea I'm afraid - the lasering was a returned favour. The sheet 5mm was pretty expensive but only because Amari only sell it in 8x4' sheets.
 
Some small updates:

Got Gerry's light kit installed in the Tricorder. Not in a hurry to do that again - definitely need to cut your teeth doing one or two to really get the knack of it. The graphics on this are test ones, but you can see how they diffuse the light nicely. Just need to the get the colour of grey sorted and change the size just a little on the laser cutter, and the Mk VII will be done!


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Aaaand I started assembling the medkit. 100% at the point I wish I'd gone the vavcform route - hard to see from these photos but it will need a lot of filling and sanding! I messed up the hinge points so I need to redo those but overall it's ok. Really hard to photograph it in a way that's visible when it's see-through - I'll try to get a coat of primer on it at the weekend!


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What's a good spray paint for acrylic? Should I sand the whole thing first?
 
Some small updates:

Got Gerry's light kit installed in the Tricorder. Not in a hurry to do that again - definitely need to cut your teeth doing one or two to really get the knack of it. The graphics on this are test ones, but you can see how they diffuse the light nicely. Just need to the get the colour of grey sorted and change the size just a little on the laser cutter, and the Mk VII will be done!


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Aaaand I started assembling the medkit. 100% at the point I wish I'd gone the vavcform route - hard to see from these photos but it will need a lot of filling and sanding! I messed up the hinge points so I need to redo those but overall it's ok. Really hard to photograph it in a way that's visible when it's see-through - I'll try to get a coat of primer on it at the weekend!


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What's a good spray paint for acrylic? Should I sand the whole thing first?

Definitely need to give the acrylic a sanding down with a 400 grade Halfords wet/dry sandpaper (comes in yellow packs of 5 sheets) especially on laser cut edges where there is raised bmelted material.

I use Halfords primer and paints. Vauxhall Smoke Grey/Silves used to be an excellent match for the Plastikote Starfleet Silver used on a lot of TNG era props including the Tricorders & Phasers.

Keep up the good work.
 
Ha, well - I was hoping that wasn't going to be the answer - I should have sanded the surfaces before assembly then! It's done now... bit of a slog.

Got some much better progress photos this morning in the light (before the sanding), so pretend those up there ^ never happened:

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Whilst installing the electronics in the Tricorder I grabbed the soldering iron from the wrong end. That's less painful than all this filling and sanding, which is by far the thing I enjoy least in this hobby. About one-third way through the preliminary radius filling + sanding...

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