Fringe shape changing box

The screenshots were just repeats of shots from a couple of previous episodes where the box has been seen.


Just wanted to point out that the episode from this week "Do Shapeshifters Dream of Electric Sheep?" S304 had a few close ups as well. Sorry, I don't have any caps, just a heads up to those who might have the ep available to screencap.
 
All of the places I have found that actually have stock of these things at reasonable prices want to charge a small fortune to post them to Australia or have a minimum ordering quantity or dollar amount. Many of the online stores that have them in their catalogues don't have any stock or can't get them either. I can't believe that I can't seem to buy them anywhere in Australia anymore.

I found a place in the UK that has them really cheaply but again they have a £50 minimum order and won't post outside of their region. I could have them posted to a friend in the UK but sadly they don't have anything else in their ctaalogue that I want that might bulk up the order.

I'm beginning to think that I'm going to have to pay the $5 or $6 each that some of the online stores want which is ridiculous given they are worth about $1.95 or $2.50.


I really wish I could find a place with the switch covers, that takes something other the credit cards. :( I don't have a credit card (best way to stay out of trouble) and I don't think the sight posted earlier in this thread will take any thing but credit cards. :(
 
interesting. I was only able to find them at the online store listed above. Do you know if any of the other online stores you found them at, take some thing like paypal? (something other then a credit card)

I too think it's too much, but I would still be happy to pay $5 -$6 for one of those switch covers.

Also, if you can find them for a good deal/small quantity, I would be happy to act as a middle man. (i.e. order as many as you want for you, plus maybe one for me that I would pay you for, ship them to me, and I would send them on to you as cheaply as possible, to save you on shipping.. ) I've done it for other members here in the past. I don't mind, as I too like to save money when ever I can. (I would still do it, even if you don't want to help me get one)

Also, do you know where these are most commonly used in real life? I mean, if we know what kinds of companies us them, or what kind of items they are usually found on, it could help a lot.

For example, if company X uses them for control pannel Z, but they also just neeed a few of them, but had to order 50 to get those few they needed. They may be willing to sell off the extras, that they will never need, just to get some of there money back, and get them out of there way.

Or, if we know what items the are most commonly used on, we could look for those items on the cheep. for example, if they are usually found on remote control X, then we could look for that item on the cheep. like on ebay, and just by it, and take the switch cover off of it.

In the episode the other knight, the cop was taking one of these out of a safe looking thing. I don't remember seeing that view before, and it was pretty well lit.

You know, the main body of this prop, kind of reminds me of a mint, or calf drop, ten. (you know, one of those pocket size tens, with the hinge.) I know it probably isn't, but that's what it puts me in mind of.

All of the places I have found that actually have stock of these things at reasonable prices want to charge a small fortune to post them to Australia or have a minimum ordering quantity or dollar amount. Many of the online stores that have them in their catalogues don't have any stock or can't get them either. I can't believe that I can't seem to buy them anywhere in Australia anymore.

I found a place in the UK that has them really cheaply but again they have a £50 minimum order and won't post outside of their region. I could have them posted to a friend in the UK but sadly they don't have anything else in their ctaalogue that I want that might bulk up the order.

I'm beginning to think that I'm going to have to pay the $5 or $6 each that some of the online stores want which is ridiculous given they are worth about $1.95 or $2.50.
 
interesting. I was only able to find them at the online store listed above. Do you know if any of the other online stores you found them at, take some thing like paypal? (something other then a credit card)

All of the places I looked at online only took credit cards or had accounts for repeat customers. It's one of the few reasons I have a credit card.

I too think it's too much, but I would still be happy to pay $5 -$6 for one of those switch covers.

I'll have to go to a few of the places again if I can find them and see if anyone who had them for $5 each actually have the damned things in stock.

Also, if you can find them for a good deal/small quantity, I would be happy to act as a middle man. (i.e. order as many as you want for you, plus maybe one for me that I would pay you for, ship them to me, and I would send them on to you as cheaply as possible, to save you on shipping.. ) I've done it for other members here in the past. I don't mind, as I too like to save money when ever I can. (I would still do it, even if you don't want to help me get one)

Other members of the RPF have sent me things from time to time when I oculdn't get them here. I'd be happy to order some and enough for you too if I can find someone who has them. I'd likely buy 6 of them so I have some in my junk box in case they are ever needed again, given they are so hard to get. Some of the places though will not accept a non-US credit card which has also been a problem for me on a couple of occasions.

Also, do you know where these are most commonly used in real life? I mean, if we know what kinds of companies us them, or what kind of items they are usually found on, it could help a lot.

They are weatherproof covers for security keyswitches and are used for outdoor security panels, electric gate keyswitches and anywhere you wouldn't want dust and rain getting into a keyswitch. This is what I have searched for but have used pretty every combination/variation of wording to do the searches. Sometimes they are sold with the keyswitches as a set.

I do have one of them but it is being used on the lock of my pool filter power box.

In the episode the other knight, the cop was taking one of these out of a safe looking thing. I don't remember seeing that view before, and it was pretty well lit.

I have a 720p HD copy of the episode so I'll scan through it again and see what's there. I know pretty much exactly how this thing looks now anyway as I have studied it a lot and it has been finding the box that has been the problem.

I have some styrene sheet that I bought in case I needed to scratchbuild the box and I think that's how I'll end up doing it. I'm not really familiar with using the stuff so I'm just looking into how easy/hard it is to bend the sheeting with controlled curves.

You know, the main body of this prop, kind of reminds me of a mint, or calf drop, ten. (you know, one of those pocket size tens, with the hinge.) I know it probably isn't, but that's what it puts me in mind of.

I have no idea what a calf drop tin is. It has no visible hinges though they could be inside like a watch box. I think it's just a push on lid which looks like it might be glued shut.

I still think it's a presentation box of some kind that a lighter or watch might have come in as it has a little viewing window. This window lights up in the prop when the switch is thrown. If I make the box I'll have to make the transparent window too, so I'd rather find the box. They probably picked up a bunch of them at a $1 store or liquidation place.
 
Oh, yeah a presentation box, might have been what they used. If you do make one out of styrene, the same kind of shops that sell that stuff, usually sell a few different kinds of clear plastic sheet types, if you need something for the window. Also hardware stores usually have Plexiglas. Or you could pick up a cheep plastic/acrylic frame at a $1. story, and cut that down. Or, for that mater, in the past I have cute windows from the clear plastic, used for "blister packing" items. (I just bout stuff at the $1. store, in "blister packs" with a large enough flat section, for the project I was working on, or looked for items in window boxes, with a large enough piece of plastic "window".)
 
One choice was to make it from clear sheet then paint all of the box except for the window part but I think that will look nasty. When you look at it closely the window has been stamped out of the box lid (or it is in the mold) and a transparent piece of that shape has been fitted in. It appears to be the same thickness as the box material itself so anything else won't look right. I've put windows in things before that I have been making. This one is a little harder to get really neat due to the rounded ends.

When I've made square/rectangular windows I've used say 2mm material for the object and 3mm perspex for the window which has been filed down on the sides so there is a 1mm lip around it to hold it in place and stop it pushing through. Then it can be glued underneath around the edge of the lip rather than having glue show on the window edges.

I've not used styrene sheet though to make things. Mostly I've used aluminium sheet or mild steel or the window might have been made to fit an existing hole in a car dash or console. Only did it for my own cars not as a job.

Since I only have hand tools it takes a long time of fitting and filing and fitting and filing but luckily I am fairly patient with things like that. Nice to have a CNC to just set and forget until it's done.

If I do make one using styrene, I will be making a template first so I might be able to upload that with dimensions and details. A the moment I can't find the install CD for my CAD software and had to install Windows fresh when I built a new computer, so I've been making cardboard templates for things which is not very useful.


Oh, yeah a presentation box, might have been what they used. If you do make one out of styrene, the same kind of shops that sell that stuff, usually sell a few different kinds of clear plastic sheet types, if you need something for the window.
 
Actually now that we see more of the alternate universe, it seems that in many ways they are more advanced in some areas than we are. In science and obviously some medicine like healng the agent's burns but they've not found a cure for smallpox yet and it is killing many, and of course there are the shapeshifters (part organic part machine). Possibly their computer tech is more advanced and they have memory iping/implanting devices. So we see a few interesting hi-tech gadgets from that side. Really the only other small devices have been for detecting spatial anomalies and sealing the area in amber. They also only seem to use little earsets not full sized mobile phones; maybe that is just the agents though.

Most of the stuff from this side that we've seen has been made by Walter coddled together using really old tech. Now that he has access to Massive Dynamic's labs that might well change. I don't know how much the Walternate has to do with designing tech on the other side.

The guns the Fringe agents use on the other side seem mostly like our guns though.



Man this looks like a project I would be interested in trying to build also. I just love Fringe, it's my favorite show on TV now. I should look back and see if there is any other props that would be cool to make.
 
Hey, I just had a thought. You say you already have one that you have in use. Well you could take it off of what you have it on, make a mold, and put it back where it goes. Then from the most you could make resin castings. No they wouldn't be metal, depending one how you do it, they may be static castings. (they might not hinge open.) but you could make as many as you want, and it would probably be cheaper in the long run. for that matter, once you got the prop made you could sel "kits" to off set your cost.

I know you say you are new to a lot of this stuff, but molding, and casting can be very easy. there are dozens of tutorials on line.

Just a thought.
 
Not exactly my thing. I'll keep trying to find the proper ones and pay too much for them. LOL


I know you say you are new to a lot of this stuff, but molding, and casting can be very easy. there are dozens of tutorials on line.

Just a thought.
 
There is a place in California called Willy's Electronic Suuply Company Inc, that has them for US$3.49 each and will ship to Columbus for about $5.00. I'm waiting to hear back if they accept non-US credit cards.

What's annoying is that there is a company in the UK that sells them for £0.37 but they won't ship outside their region either.


I too think it's too much, but I would still be happy to pay $5 -$6 for one of those switch covers.
 
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There's a shop here in the UK, just up the road from my flat that sells these.
I believe they have about 2 or 3 in stock, I could go up and pick some up on Saturday if you'd like.
They're £1.59 each in there not sure what that is in $.
Let me know if you are interested and I'll go see what they've got.
 
I'd love to have one of these. A cool prop from a great show. :)

There's a behind-the-scenes featurette on the DVD & Blu-ray, "In the lab with John Noble and prop master Rob Smith", that shows the shape-changer box up close.
 
i've finally done some work on the first attempt at this box. It will be mostly plastic including the metal pronged parts on the cables. Hopefully sometime I'll be able to work with materials to make a better, more true looking cersion. I hacked up and reglued a clear box I had that was similar but too big. The little window will simply be a clear bit left unpainted.

I'm hoping it will look OK anyway.

I'd love to have one of these. A cool prop from a great show. :)
 
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