Fringe props - anyone ever make the vials, shapeshifter discs, etc?

hydin

Master Member
RPF PREMIUM MEMBER
Been marathoning this show over the last week, and there are some extremely cool things in it, but all I can find is the shape changing box and some ID's made.

Has anyone ever tackled the cortexiphan vials, or the data discs from the old or new shapeshifters?

September's little time... wand thingie was pretty cool.

The binocs are probably the easiest to replicate since those are just off the shelf. Hell, I used to own a pair when I was a kid.

Just curious if anyone has made anything that they haven't shown the board yet.

Thinking of making the little cortexiphan vials myself, but I have to figure out what kind of bottles they used. They definitely seemed like an off the shelf item.

Chris
 
The Cortexiphan vials came in two different versions that were used on screen, the older being the white label and the newer being the silver label with a barcode. The vials themselves were very difficult to source, and took me quite a while just to figure out what they were. That being said, I have successfully reproduced the older version of the vials using the small hints that I was able to locate and the photos from some of the screen used props that went out for sale (can be found on youprops.com, not an ad, its just where I found the reference material).

Since I was not able to identify the original font that the prop makers used, I ended up editing a similar font to match the screen used props.

I have done a run of the newer version as well using custom foil labels, but I am still not happy with the radius of the corner curves. I may have to settle for what it is unless I want to spend way too much to order custom cut labels to meet my wants ;-) Pictures may be forthcoming if I can finally settle on whether or not I can tolerate them as-is ;-)

Oh yeah, I am new here, but I figured it was best to introduce myself by posting a replica that I have created.

Cortexiphan_sm.JPG
 
Last edited:
I'm down for any Fringe replicas!

Been marathoning this show over the last week, and there are some extremely cool things in it, but all I can find is the shape changing box and some ID's made.

Has anyone ever tackled the cortexiphan vials, or the data discs from the old or new shapeshifters?

September's little time... wand thingie was pretty cool.

The binocs are probably the easiest to replicate since those are just off the shelf. Hell, I used to own a pair when I was a kid.

Just curious if anyone has made anything that they haven't shown the board yet.

Thinking of making the little cortexiphan vials myself, but I have to figure out what kind of bottles they used. They definitely seemed like an off the shelf item.

Chris


Those look awesome. Make sure to let me know when you do a JY run or whatever.

The Cortexiphan vials came in two different versions that were used on screen, the older being the white label and the newer being the silver label with a barcode. The vials themselves were very difficult to source, and took me quite a while just to figure out what they were. That being said, I have successfully reproduced the older version of the vials using the small hints that I was able to locate and the photos from some of the screen used props that went out for sale (can be found on youprops.com, not an ad, its just where I found the reference material).

Since I was not able to identify the original font that the prop makers used, I ended up editing a similar font to match the screen used props.

I have done a run of the newer version as well using custom foil labels, but I am still not happy with the radius of the corner curves. I may have to settle for what it is unless I want to spend way too much to order custom cut labels to meet my wants ;-) Pictures may be forthcoming if I can finally settle on whether or not I can tolerate them as-is ;-)

Oh yeah, I am new here, but I figured it was best to introduce myself by posting a replica that I have created.

View attachment 295973
 
I'm down for any Fringe replicas!




Those look awesome. Make sure to let me know when you do a JY run or whatever.

I looked at the rules for the forum, since my interests are pretty specific it will probably be a long while before I meet the criteria for number of posts required. Mostly I was looking to give something back to the forum since I have looked at works here as inspiration and ideas for quite a few years now.

I appreciate the comment, the vials shown were something that took me quite a while to perfect to my liking (and I'm way picky when it comes to details). There is still one more, trivial, detail that I am working on correcting though that can kind of be picked up in the pictures iffin you were to compare them with the pictures of the actual vials that went on auction after the series wrapped up. Let me know if you can figure it out, I love leaving a challenge for others ;-)
 
Last edited:
Amazing work cenn, would you mind sharing the details on where you managed to source the vials?

I happened on the vials quite on accident after I had already given up the search for them, and even then it was a one time deal as far as I can tell. I ended up having to buy 300 of them to get the few I wanted for my personal collection :eek

I am not trying to be too circumspect on this, but until I realize some of the funds (outside this venue) that it cost me to produce the vials thus far I am not giving up the ghost on this one quite yet. Who knows, now that I am actually posting I may make it to the bar that allows me to post to the Junk Yard quicker than I initially thought ;) Like I said in a prior post, I did not come here to ply my wares, I decided it was time to give something back by showing that other replica prop creators are a great inspiration in showing us all just what is possible with time, study and dedication to the art.
 
Some more replicas that I recently finished...

MD_EA.jpgDoC_CT.jpg

Both are based on photos of actual props that went for auction and showed up on yourprops.com where I could study the photos and replicate them to the best of my ability.

The badges are printed on PVC cards and covered with a clear protective coating (Duck "HD Clear" LoL). The back of the Executive Access badge was never shown so I went out on a limb betting that the prop master / creator recycled work and used the back from the Visitor badge that is shown. The only gripe that I have about the punched card is that my punch seems to be just a tad wider than the one that the original prop creator used, thus removing more of the lettering than was a casualty in the original prop.

Edited to add:
The graphics are all from scratch in Photoshop, I had a really poor model for the MD logo, but I managed to recreate it and correct the flaws that were in the example that I worked from. But I can say by far that it went much faster than the Department of Containment logo that I recreated from the ground up (don't want to to do that again anytime soon). The bar codes were fairly straight forward since there are several on-line sources that allow you to create them as image files that can be used in other applications.

Enjoy!
 
Last edited:
Those are great!

Some more replicas that I recently finished...

View attachment 296455View attachment 296454

Both are based on photos of actual props that went for auction and showed up on yourprops.com where I could study the photos and replicate them to the best of my ability.

The badges are printed on PVC cards and covered with a clear protective coating (Duck "HD Clear" LoL). The back of the Executive Access badge was never shown so I went out on a limb betting that the prop master / creator recycled work and used the back from the Visitor badge that is shown. The only gripe that I have about the punched card is that my punch seems to be just a tad wider than the one that the original prop creator used, thus removing more of the lettering than was a casualty in the original prop.

Edited to add:
The graphics are all from scratch in Photoshop, I had a really poor model for the MD logo, but I managed to recreate it and correct the flaws that were in the example that I worked from. But I can say by far that it went much faster than the Department of Containment logo that I recreated from the ground up (don't want to to do that again anytime soon). The bar codes were fairly straight forward since there are several on-line sources that allow you to create them as image files that can be used in other applications.

Enjoy!

Honesty I couldn't find a detail that jumped out at me that differed your Cortexiphan vials from the originals...maybe the caps? the originals look like chrome in the originals were as the ones you used look like a brushed metal finish maybe? Something with the caps, lol!

I seem to remember someone making the box with all the lights in it a while back.
 
Those are great!



Honesty I couldn't find a detail that jumped out at me that differed your Cortexiphan vials from the originals...maybe the caps? the originals look like chrome in the originals were as the ones you used look like a brushed metal finish maybe? Something with the caps, lol!

I seem to remember someone making the box with all the lights in it a while back.

You are 100% correct, it is the caps! They are not quite as "shiny" as the original props.

Oh well.. Getting to 100% may be too costly at this point.. I am willing to let it go at this point since I have already spent way more than I should have to get where I am now :angry
 
BTW.. The worn and used look is intentional. What good is a badge if it is never worn, swiped and abused ;-)
 
Did you print the PVC cards yourself cenn on a home printer or did you have them professionally printed? They look amazing by the way!
 
Edited to clarify:
I Printed them myself using a older Epson Stylus printer and custom tray :)

Epson got wise to what their printers were being used for and was reasonably concerned, in the wrong hands it can be a major problem. For all the newer models they hard coded in the printable area of CD's so they cannot effectively be used to print on PVC CR80 blanks, there is one way around this though that I discovered for a newer XP600, Fedora has its own drivers for the Epson devices that does not have the restriction, but it does have a conflict that it will not allow photo quality printing with CD/DVD as the selected source tray. Needless to say this was less than optimal for my purpose of creating legitimate ID cards for a pyrotechnic crew I volunteer with and then replicating some props as a side benefit ;)

I went with an older Epson RX580 that has the drivers that allow me to print photo quality on the PVC blanks in Windows (I only use Windows for graphics and printing since I still can't get used to GIMP).

I still have the black Massive Dynamic access card in work and I happened along a wonderful Show Me Card template that I am touching up to meet my standards and will be creating the back for. Oh, did I say I was picky? LoL! Eventually I will get to the Massive Dynamic visitor badges and possibly some of the other cards as well, I'm kind of leery about producing any of them that have US federal agency seals on them so I'll probably leave that to the guys at the studios that get away with that kind of thing.
 
Last edited:
Ok, I broke down and took a picture of the new style Cortexiphan vials that I put together.

03.JPG

I have a feeling that this is as close as I am going to get besides owning the real deal.

Sorry for the picture, the labels are really reflective and make it difficult to photograph. I tried a flash, but I'm sure you all can guess how that worked out >.<
 
Last edited:
Those look really good!

I also noticed when looking through Yourprops that they show a plastic Cortexiphan container. That would be a cool one to have. Kinda looks like a urine sample container now that I think about it, hehe.

Ok, I broke down and took a picture of the new style Cortexiphan vials that I put together.

View attachment 296832

I have a feeling that this is as close as I am going to get besides owning the real deal.

Sorry for the picture, the labels are really reflective and make it difficult to photograph. I tried a flash, but I'm sure you all can guess how that worked out >.<
 
Hmmm.. The plastic bag one? That would be an IV bag, if its something else I missed the bus on that one.
 
Back
Top