Curious about tricorder contruction

[acook59]

Hey guys,

I'd love to have a go at getting myself a tricorder, i know there are some kits out there that include lights and all sorts of stuff but i was wondering what are the best ones to buy as i know some are crazy expensive and others are not. I want a voyager and an endgame tricorder ideally. I've also seen on youtube some people who've put LCD's into their tricorders for proper animated graphics, can anyone give any info on how to do this or who best to approach for guidance?

Many thanks,
Andrew

 

[Mr. Nagata]

Tricorders can be an expensive business. The best, most accurate kits (made by the people who made them for the show) are available at Roddenberry.com. You can't do better than that in terms of accuracy.

Myron Stapleton (a member here) also makes excellent kits which are significantly less pricey, but still of very high quality. He does both the Mark X and Endgame tricorders so you're good to go there.

Don't buy stuff off ebay unless its a Roddenberry or Stapleton kit. They're almost all recasts.

As for electronics, GMProps is pretty much the only guy who does tricorder electronics anymore for the Mark X and Endgame. Fortunately, his stuff is very affordable and he does a great job.

 

[renaissance_man]

If you wanted to test your prop building skills Gerry GMprops also produced an instruction manual a good few years ago that showed you step by step how to make on from Scratch, but be aware it involves a lot of cutting sheet styrene with a stanley knife and ruler.

If you're patience isn't up to it, then as Ryan said Rodd.com or Stapleton are both great.

I'm not sure where you live, but if you aren't in the USA you'll find Rodd.com uses FedEx or UPS and their shipping can be very expensive, as someone who has on rare occasions bought a kit from them, the shipping and import taxes can run high. Not their fault but it can significantly add to the cost, just so you are aware.

Good luck.

 

[Contec]

If you wanted to test your prop building skills Gerry GMprops also produced an instruction manual a good few years ago that showed you step by step how to make on from Scratch, .

:thumbsup for that manual. It's very detailed and good.