A captain's chair from Wal Mart?

[Sulla]

UPDATE - SEE POST # 38

I was grocery shopping at Wal-Mart yesterday and saw this cheep-o floor rocker on display. It was heavy, ergonomically curved and kind of cool looking. I saw it was only $20.

I went home and couldn't get it out of my head. I was looking through my Star Trek: The Magazine issues today and saw some home-made trek chairs and read somewhere that a guy made them from junkyard car seats.

So I thought, why not a floor rocker from Wal-Mart? $20 plus a few other construction materials for a passable captains chair? I think I may need to beg my wife to let me budget it in!

Some skethces I threw together a few minutes ago: (one of them shows a side table after the one in the article I read)

 

[sector 7G]

LOL when I first saw those at Wally world my first thought was the conn and ops station.

 

[Sulla]

LOL when I first saw those at Wally world my first thought was the conn and ops station.

Actually, me too. But I would rather have a captain's chair and you can't beat $20.

I mostly see office chairs that would do a better job as a captain's chair, but I haven't seen an office chair for less than $45 that would look right and stand up to a lot of tampering and still be a functional chair,

 

[SgtFang]

INTRIGUING!

-Sarge

 

[Apollo]

I love your sketches

I bought one of those about 6 months ago.

Still love my Hag though

 

[sector 7G]

well if you want to recreate the enterprise captains chair it was a model 5 star boat seat.

 

[Reaper57]

well if you want to recreate the enterprise captains chair it was a model 5 star boat seat.

MY GOD,

how can a seat for a boat cost over $800.

and i though sci fi props were expensive.:lol

EDIT: i guess it is a sci fi prop now. :rolleyes

john :cool

 

[sector 7G]

lol, well it is for high end boats i guess. the remainder of the bridge chairs were bought from italy. and almost all the storage units, expecially those in sickbay were off the shelf ikea units.

MY GOD,

how can a seat for a boat cost over $800.

and i though sci fi props were expensive.:lol

EDIT: i guess it is a sci fi prop now. :rolleyes

john :cool

 

[Sulla]

And some quick hardware captain's end tables too (Inspired by the same article, "Chris Avilla: Propmaker," from Star Trek: The Magazine, December 1999.)

I made the LCARS today in Illustrator.

 

[Funky]

Keep up the great work. You inspired me to go and pick up one of those chairs tonight! Please keep us updated on your progress.

 

[SgtFang]

Heh! I love the Bodum cup in the sketch! :lol

Any idea what you'll be using for the swivel base?

-Sarge

 

[UFO]

well if you want to recreate the enterprise captains chair it was a model 5 star boat seat.

you mean from the TV show enterprise?
i was told it was a seat from a car....a porsche or some-such...

 

[Sulla]

Heh! I love the Bodum cup in the sketch! :lol

Any idea what you'll be using for the swivel base?

-Sarge

Heh, you caught that eh?

I am not sure what to use. I have an old kitchen stool in the garage with a swivel of some sort on it. I was thinking of canabalizing it. I might see if my pack-rat-dad has any old boat seats or something with heavy duty swivel mechanisms that I can swipe.

 

[DuneMuadDib]

Which captain's chair on Enterprise though? There were two, the original and the second one that was a reuse of a seat-belted captain's chair for Nemesis that was cut.

 

[SgtFang]

you mean from the TV show enterprise?
i was told it was a seat from a car....a porsche or some-such...

You might be thinking of the Defiant seat- It's made from a older Recaro custom seat and there's a few on eBay now. You'll recognize it when you see it.

-Sarge

 

[sector 7G]

the later captains chair, which i hated by the way, was the re-use of the captains chair from the alternate ending of nemesis. it too was a racaro seat, just like the defiants, and the 2 seater scorpion shuttle, with a fiberglass shell constructed around. it.

As far as enterprise goes their first captains seat was the boat seat, i've heard herman zimmerman talking about it. and when i was on the set, penny juday told me what piece came from which store.

a quick edit, here is a snipit of an interview with Jimmy Mees where he talks about the captains chair.

J.M.: We took an existing form, which was actually a boat seat, like a submarine chair. We added an articulating arm with a built-in monitor. From the chair, the captain can see and speak to all on the bridge/set. The seat slides from side-to-side to manage all the controls and for the camera to shoot beyond the captain without the captain/actor having to get out of his seat.

 

[SgtFang]

Heh, you caught that eh?

I am not sure what to use. I have an old kitchen stool in the garage with a swivel of some sort on it. I was thinking of canabalizing it. I might see if my pack-rat-dad has any old boat seats or something with heavy duty swivel mechanisms that I can swipe.

I couldn't find it on their website, but Walmart also has boat seat swivel bases in the fishing section. They're kind of scrawny as they come, but maybe they could be bulked up/ disguised with some big PVC pipe?

-Sarge

 

[Sulla]

I couldn't find it on their website, but Walmart also has boat seat swivel bases in the fishing section. They're kind of scrawny as they come, but maybe they could be bulked up/ disguised with some big PVC pipe?

-Sarge

Cool thanks. I am strugling with what to use for the base. I was thinking of 4 x 4 post (or klarger - those game chair rockers are heavy) attached to wide base with some kind of circular tube material to mask it.


Russ, I noticed that second captain's chair on ENT for what it was after I looked at your pix. (I watched ENT for the first time lately in sindication. I couldnt' bring myself to watch it the first time around.) I was so surprised to see it and was delighted that I knew where it came from.:lol

 

[Sulla]

Got a better idea for the table top. I think this looks much smoother, I think.

 

[Sulla]

Darn it. Went to Wal Mart tonight and they were all out of my chairs. They had some nasty neon red ones though. I'll have to wait a while I guess. I can always order one to be shipped to my local store if it comes to that.

I also think I may have figured out some other cost saving solutions to my design. I'll share them soon.