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Interest Doctor Who 12th Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver, Confession Dial & Sonic Stand
- Thread starter Doctor Octoroc
- Start date
Doctor Octoroc
Sr Member
The confession dial is actually finished at this point, I'd just prefer to have a prototype in hand to assemble and paint myself to ensure a proper fit on everything before making it available. Also, there's a small chance that modifications to the port stand add-on may require small edits to the confession dial so I'm holding off on account of that as well.
Doctor Octoroc
Sr Member
Yeah, that's doable but the price would be around $160, which defeats the purpose of recreating a prop that Rubbertoe has available for $75. I would also be a tad concerned about the structural integrity with a more delicate material like FUD. I'm happy to make it available but I just don't see many (any?) people paying that price for a DIY kit. And even in the more detailed material, stepping would be noticeable. Either way, some finishing/sanding would be required for a good look on the prop.
I suppose one option would be printing just one or a few of the more detailed parts in FUD - but it would still likely be over $100 when all is said and done. It may make sense to print just the orb in FUD since that has the smallest details on it and it's a relatively small part over all. The orb on its own would cost about $10 to print in FUD ($12 in FXD) and knock little bit off the cost for the WSF print of the rest of the parts so that would be your best bet.
Yup, that still shot we see is the exact screen grab I took to use for scale and proportions of the sonic while I built it in Solidworks. That interview as super helpful in the build, no doubt.
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Doctor Octoroc
Sr Member
Here's a better look at the housing for the push switch (with model of the switch in place to show how it fits). I cut out material around the inside of the portion that holds the sonic and made the fitting for the push switch so it holds it perfectly in place with a lip on the bottom so there's no chance of falling out. I section cut all of the other parts for visibility but those clips for the LED's go all the way around - six of them all together. Now I just need to figure out where the battery pack should go - I'm thinking in the angled protrusion on the side would be a good place.
And I'm still unsure about whether or not there is a mirror of that angled protrusion on the other side since we can't see it in the show. My gut says no but I'm going to leave it in the model until we (hopefully) have a better look at the console in the Christmas episode.
And I'm still unsure about whether or not there is a mirror of that angled protrusion on the other side since we can't see it in the show. My gut says no but I'm going to leave it in the model until we (hopefully) have a better look at the console in the Christmas episode.
jcroscigno
Well-Known Member
Obvious increase in the price aside, this would be pretty neat if at least some parts were printed in metal along with the plastic.
Doctor Octoroc
Sr Member
I've always entertained the idea of metal parts but the price is very high, it would probably be just as well to machine/mill them or have someone do it for about the same cost and get clean pieces instead of the lower quality that 3d printed metal yields - plus the tolerances for metal parts aren't as small/fine as with plastic so the parts would need to be that much thicker and raise the price even higher, plus limit the functionality of everything. Improvements have been made over the years in aluminum - they can even print gears and such at micro scale - but the price for that level of detail is astronomical, unfortunately.
Doctor Octoroc
Sr Member
I did a slight redesign on the lower "cage" portion of the sonic. I decided instead of the full cage being a solid part to split it up into it's separate parts. I did this for a number of reasons:
- More accurate to the actual prop.
- All pieces can be printed in the best orientation for better quality.
- It actually brought the cost down by a few cents to do it this way.
Here's the exploded view to show all the separate parts - now 21 pieces total instead of 16 (including the inner housing for the electronics).
Aside from the necessary changes to the inner housing, I think it's pretty damn close to the final design at this point.
- More accurate to the actual prop.
- All pieces can be printed in the best orientation for better quality.
- It actually brought the cost down by a few cents to do it this way.
Here's the exploded view to show all the separate parts - now 21 pieces total instead of 16 (including the inner housing for the electronics).
Aside from the necessary changes to the inner housing, I think it's pretty damn close to the final design at this point.
jcroscigno
Well-Known Member
beautiful
Kaine Delay
New Member
Yes please keep me posted via PM on this, I want it all!!!!
Doctor Octoroc
Sr Member
I can almost certainly guarantee that I'll forget to PM you, my memory is rubbish haha.
Doctor Octoroc
Sr Member
As the configuration of the electronics components comes together, I've been making alterations to the model to accommodate them. Here's a render of the inner housing where the electronics will go and the approximate location of them. None of this design is set in stone yet but the finished design will look much like this.
The five LED's (glowing blue) will slide into place towards the front end while the switch (black) to activate them will be located just under the external slider feature, which is designed to be installed after all of the electronics are in place. The board (green) is loosely represented by two solid blocks - the lower of which representing the board itself and the top of which represents the general bounding box of all of the components on top of the board. You can also see the way that the batteries fit into the rear of the housing.
The goal is to have all of this be able to be installed pre-assembled so those (like myself) with limited or no knowledge of electronics will be able to implement the electronics into their model.
The five LED's (glowing blue) will slide into place towards the front end while the switch (black) to activate them will be located just under the external slider feature, which is designed to be installed after all of the electronics are in place. The board (green) is loosely represented by two solid blocks - the lower of which representing the board itself and the top of which represents the general bounding box of all of the components on top of the board. You can also see the way that the batteries fit into the rear of the housing.
The goal is to have all of this be able to be installed pre-assembled so those (like myself) with limited or no knowledge of electronics will be able to implement the electronics into their model.
Graff Dethera
New Member
I'm interested in the sonic screwdriver with electronics.
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Doctor Octoroc
Sr Member
Awesome! A lot of good interest here, glad to see people chiming in.
The other member doing the electronics told me that the price will depend on how many members want the package so the more people we get interested in these kits, the better for everyone! I haven't had anyone yet say they were interested in the sonic kit but not the electronics, so that's a good sign
They're just waiting for the board to arrive so they can test the functionality and I can test out the fit into my model - and we're all waiting for the X-Mas episode to air before anything gets finalized!
Skigoddard
New Member
Definitely interested in the sonic with electronics and stand! Great work so far!
Yeats
Well-Known Member
Awesome! A lot of good interest here, glad to see people chiming in.
The other member doing the electronics told me that the price will depend on how many members want the package so the more people we get interested in these kits, the better for everyone! I haven't had anyone yet say they were interested in the sonic kit but not the electronics, so that's a good sign
Might want to start making a list
Doctor Octoroc
Sr Member
Might want to start making a list
Well this will be an unlimited run so people can jump in and grab it whenever they want once it's finished. The only thing that will be limited is the number of completed sonics I'll offer if I can do so - which I'll scroll through this thread and find everyone who expressed interest to let them know when that thread is up so no one misses out!
I also put together an animation showing all the exploded parts going together but it didn't turn out the way I wanted so I'm going to have another go at it.
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