Hero Phaser Scratchbuild

It can't be too tough if an idiot like me can do it :p
That's exactly how I feel about my own work regardless of what I'm working on.

However, the original prop makers' work wasn't subjected to such close scrutiny until years after the fact when we fans grew up a bit and realized we could create phasers, communicators, and tricorders of our own. You've taken their work and polished and honed and improved upon it, under the watchful eyes of us countless lunatics and self-proclaimed "experts" I might add, until any fan would be overjoyed to own what you've built. If more "idiots" worked to your exacting standards there would be far fewer disgruntled prop collectors.
 
Rob, I don't post much here, but I had to say, Thank You for letting us watch this insane beautiful phaser build of yours. I really do look forward every morning to see if you have posted updates to this most awesome of builds. This is also some great Star Trek Porn to some of us :)
 
Thanks you so much for share your build here - just wish I had the patience to do something like this...but at least you have given me ideals (which may not be a good thing). ;)

Cheers,
 
No matter how many times I see this prop, I can never tire if it's awesome example of creative 1960's engineering. I've often wondered if the TOS phaser was inspired by another prop of it's time, or by a store bought toy? I would have loved to been a fly on the wall while this was being drawn to paper :). Beautiful BEAUTIFUl work.
 
I also would like to know more about the design. Unfortunately I'm not aware of any interviews where Jeffries discussed the phaser, all anyone ever asked about was the Enterprise or sets. It doesn't look like anything I can think of, so no idea what the influence may have been.
 
I remember reading somewhere that the modular aspect of the phaser was inspired by the weapon design from The Man From Uncle. Sorta makes sense since the guy who made the phaser rifle made the UNCLE guns. Maybe he was a consultant on the initial prop design.
 
Hey man. Do you mind If I ask what kind of band saw you have? I have problem's getting precis cut's sometimes on mine.
 
Hey man. Do you mind If I ask what kind of band saw you have? I have problem's getting precis cut's sometimes on mine.

I have problems with mine too. It's a 9in Task Force. The problem is the blade guides are just blocks, which don't really guide anything. I'm going to get this Craftsman with real roller bearing guides and a rip fence Sears.com

There's some good tips here for proper set up https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=tune+band+saw
 
I remember reading somewhere that the modular aspect of the phaser was inspired by the weapon design from The Man From Uncle. Sorta makes sense since the guy who made the phaser rifle made the UNCLE guns. Maybe he was a consultant on the initial prop design.

Yeah I read that too about the modular design. I was thinking more about the appearance, if it was influenced by anything, like a paint gun or something. If it was based on an existing toy I'm sure it would have been repackaged as a Star Trek toy :lol
 
Adding side rails to the P1. FLM Concepts made these for me, thin rails to be glued to the outer surface like the originals. I used a scrap resin shell for test fitting, to avoid scratching the paint.
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I scraped a line of paint from the shell edge, applied a thin bead of epoxy, and attached the rail. With the shell on a flat surface, I slid the rail up into place and left it to set.
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This works well enough, but it's a lot of work to fine tune the rail shape to match the shell. There are always a few gaps, which I filled in with Tulip fabric paint.
 
I went through this whole tread just the other day. and i think that was the third time. I just love this project.
 
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