Gilligan's Island Radio Replica

[Valor]

I'm showing my age here a bit. But I've always admired the radio the castaways used on Gilligan's Island. This thing was so iconic on the show. The actual radio for the show is a late 60s Packard Bell AR-851. The handle at the top and the large antenna were added to make it more interesting. You can find these on eBay occasionally, but because of the show they tend to got for hundreds of dollars. So ...

I built my own. The face of the radio was built in Fusion 360 and printed on my Elegoo Saturn. The rest is scratch built from Styrene, acrylic, aluminum, brass, etc.

 

[Dsimdude]

"Way to go, little buddy!"

 

[Jintosh]

Wow, amazing that that is from scratch.

 

[mrwax]

That looks absolutely convincing, great job!

 

[AnubisGuard]

Incredible work! Would have fooled me.

Is that handle on top a drawer/cabinet pull?

 

[zenx13]

Wow - I would never had realized it was a scratch build unless you told me. Well done!

 

[Trebor]

Very nice. Did you put a MP3 player or something inside? The files for all the radio announcments are online
I want.

 

[Rylo]

Great job!

-Rylo

 

[JoeG]

This is really awesome! I scored a vintage one off eBay a few years ago because "I just had to have a vintage one". This looks even better than a vintage.

 

[vaderbreath]

I love it! What a fun, strange, well-made prop. I'm sure that is a great conversation starter in your home.

 

[Funky]

I thought you scored a real one in mint shape!

 

[The Goon]

...Is that handle on top a drawer/cabinet pull?

Yes, it is. For the show the prop department added it to the original radio to make it easier for the cast to handle and carry it.

Damn nice work Valor! If you ever decide to sell kits, be sure to let us know.

 

[Krats]

That looks beautiful!

 

[Snow Builder]

What else needs be said? Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful....

 

[nick daring]

What process did you use for all the text and graphics?

 

[Zinger]

I'd also love to know how you did the graphics. I'm planning to make an Art Deco clock. I'll need to create the face somehow.

Actually, I'd love to see the whole build.

 

[PropReplicator2]

I have an original radio, and this is VERY convincing. I'm absolutely amazed by your work on this!!

 

[jtkirk]

That is spot on. Want to sell it?

 

[wooley]

wow that is amazing work.

 

[OB10]

That looks phenomenal! I've wanted to do the same thing for a long time! Years ago I started to try modeling it in SketchUp, but it's Sketchup, so....

I found a model of this on Thingiverse. Is it yours? I finally downloaded that one, and have never have had so many problems with a 3D model. My slicer (Repetier) said that the mesh for the front of the radio had problems. I used Repetier's built in fixer, but after several hours of "fixing" the problem and staying at about 80% done, I cancelled. A number of times. I've tried Meshmixer, MeshLab, PrusaSlicer, 3D Builder and several online .stl repair tools, and get nowhere. They either crash, or "fix" it by removing about 20% of the geometry. Any suggestions on a possible fix?

Obi-Bob