Felgacarb
Sr Member
Another Phaser thread!
Once again, my goal here is to upgrade a toy (a pretty nice toy) into a costume piece. We've seen the threads where this item has been upgraded with metal parts and repainted in more accurate colors- and I am in no way suggesting that those are not fantastic projects- Instead, for this build I'm focusing on making an improved 'con-banger'.
So, the number one issue with nearly any pre-TNG phaser prop- how do you wear it?
In the show, they bonded velcro to one side of the prop (often covering the entire side of the P1) and used a vecro free prop for closeups. For costuming, we'd rather use one prop for both.
So, the challenge I set myself was to retrofit a pocket clip into the AA Phaser.
Taking it apart was not too bad- you have to yank off the fins and the emitter nozzle, as well as the cap at the end of the handle.
Those Art Asylum guys really used up the space in the main body- I'm still impressed by how many cool features they fit into this relatively cheap toy.
As long as it was apart, I decided to change the LED color, add a new switch and extra batteries, and spray a better silver color on some of the details.
I also took some material off the side knob and added a ring, hoping to make it slightly more accurate.
Now the real stuff: I made a clip from 1/8" aluminum. I would have liked to go bigger, but there just isn't room for much else.
Then the scary part- I cut a slot in the side of the P2 to install the clip.
Here you can see the rod the clip will pivot on:
A smaller rod will proturde from the bottom of the P2 so that you can pop the clip open:
A spring is used to make the clip close itself when you draw the phaser.
Finally, some paint, so that it doesn't visually stand out too much:
Here is how it turned out:
So, is it better than velcro? I may need to spend more time in costume to give a real answer, but it should be. Now, perhaps someone will combine this with the all-metal parts kit and an awesome paint job, to make the ultimate costume & display prop-
Thanks for reading!
Once again, my goal here is to upgrade a toy (a pretty nice toy) into a costume piece. We've seen the threads where this item has been upgraded with metal parts and repainted in more accurate colors- and I am in no way suggesting that those are not fantastic projects- Instead, for this build I'm focusing on making an improved 'con-banger'.
So, the number one issue with nearly any pre-TNG phaser prop- how do you wear it?
In the show, they bonded velcro to one side of the prop (often covering the entire side of the P1) and used a vecro free prop for closeups. For costuming, we'd rather use one prop for both.
So, the challenge I set myself was to retrofit a pocket clip into the AA Phaser.
Taking it apart was not too bad- you have to yank off the fins and the emitter nozzle, as well as the cap at the end of the handle.
Those Art Asylum guys really used up the space in the main body- I'm still impressed by how many cool features they fit into this relatively cheap toy.
As long as it was apart, I decided to change the LED color, add a new switch and extra batteries, and spray a better silver color on some of the details.
I also took some material off the side knob and added a ring, hoping to make it slightly more accurate.
Now the real stuff: I made a clip from 1/8" aluminum. I would have liked to go bigger, but there just isn't room for much else.
Then the scary part- I cut a slot in the side of the P2 to install the clip.
Here you can see the rod the clip will pivot on:
A smaller rod will proturde from the bottom of the P2 so that you can pop the clip open:
A spring is used to make the clip close itself when you draw the phaser.
Finally, some paint, so that it doesn't visually stand out too much:
Here is how it turned out:
So, is it better than velcro? I may need to spend more time in costume to give a real answer, but it should be. Now, perhaps someone will combine this with the all-metal parts kit and an awesome paint job, to make the ultimate costume & display prop-
Thanks for reading!
