Hylo's Star Trek Builds - First up: Ressikan Flute + Box

Hylo133

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RPF PREMIUM MEMBER
As I very (very, very) slowly make my way through building and modding Star Trek props I've always wanted in my collection, I figured it'd be nice to document some of the process and share the results!

First up: The Ressikan Flute (current prop look)

Final pictures in next post.

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A piece I always wanted in my collection, I never ended up buying any of the replicas out there because of their obvious and, sometimes odd, inaccuracies. In the mean time, the look of the prop in its worn and rusted current state, as seen in various auctions over time, really grew on me.

(picture copyright of Propstore)
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So I decided to put my rudimentary 3D modelling skills to the test!

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The process:

While the print itself was pretty straightforward, I knew my CR-10 would not produce the smoothest result for this shape, so I had to factor in how everything would look after a few passes of sanding.

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As seen on the right, an early version ended up losing much of its angular shapes after the first sanding pass. After adjusting the model and sanding down a new version, it was ready for a paint test. The first layer of gold chrome came out great as a base layer to apply weathering to:

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Happy with the progress on the flute, I turned my attention to the box. I had the wooden box pieces cut to size and pieced them together myself. Unfortunately the dimensions came out slightly larger than the original prop, but at this point I didn't want to start over. The box was primed and a dark green base layer was added as a test.

Perhaps the trickiest part was finding accurate hinges for the boxes. The original box has sloped edges on its hinges, which proved difficult to find in the right dimensions. So, I decided to model and print them myself:

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With the box construction and flute in good shape, I started with the absolute longest part of the build: cutting the pieces of 'moss' to add to the box. 0.5mm poly sheets turned out to be the best match and each part was drawn and hand cut to match the original prop as closely as possible. Needless to say, I never want to do this again.

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With all the 'moss' pieces attached, I could finally move on to priming the box in its base color and trying to replicate the 'dotted' pattern on the original box (which was a lot of fun).

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Though not a part of the original prop, I figure it'd be fun to add a touch of interactiveness to the box.

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I bought a cheap magnet-triggered greeting card module and placed it in the bottom of the box. A cutout in the display foam holds magnets to keep the flute in place as well as the sensor of the sound module.

Final results in the next post.
 
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Results!

A few details on the final version:

-The print was done in two parts, joined by an 18mm chrome tube cutout. Magnets were added to the inside of the tube.
-Tassel and cord are a relatively cheap version I found on Amazon with the number of threads on the cord reduced for accuracy.
-The flute hole covers are 5mm snap button rings.
-Tried to capture the little 'flaws' in the original prop. Flute holes not being aligned, the skewed edge on the mouth piece etc.
-The printed parts underneath the chrome tube are solid, so I can't actually pretend to play it!

Audio function

Upon removing the flute from the box, Picard's composition will start playing after a short delay, leaving time for someone to pick up the flute and mimic playing it. The music stops once the flute is placed back into the box.



The latter function needs some fine tuning as it's very sensitive to where the flute is returned, but luckily it works more than half of the time!

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Next up: (after a very long break) modding the Playmates Toys Bajoran Tricorder and the DS TOS Phaser.

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Do you think you'll go with the snap rings on your second one, or will you go with something flat like this?

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It's not the clearest screenshot, but to me it's relatively apparent it's more like chrome tape circles or something else that's flat. There's more discussion over in this thread.
 
Do you think you'll go with the snap rings on your second one, or will you go with something flat like this?

View attachment 1547580

It's not the clearest screenshot, but to me it's relatively apparent it's more like chrome tape circles or something else that's flat. There's more discussion over in this thread.
Thanks for the link to the thread, some great references in there!

I'll definitely be going with the flat profile on the flute holes for the TNG version. Chrome tape indeed looks to be the best option.

Will also have to make some changes to my model. It's really intruiging how the prop changed from TNG to Nemesis and then to its current state.

Most obvious differences look to be a tighter fit of the chrome tubing (did the metal expand over time?), cleaner cuts on the flute holes and a different material and wrapping of the cord and tassel.
 
It does look like the chrome tube matches the diameter of the flute better in the TNG shots, that's interesting. It gives the impression of something over the flute barrel instead of the middle of three well-matched pieces. I don't know what to make of that, maybe something they did when they added the pieces over the holes?

You can never have too many reference photos and it's very satisfying to figure out how to make your work more accurate. What you've already done is great, every other tweak is just the icing on the cake.
 
Finally got around to printing the new model for the cleaner TNG version and started playing around with the chrome paint. Really tricky to get the right finish on this one and making it scratch proof. Should hopefully have a first completed version by next week.

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I've finally managed to put together a first version of the TNG style flute!

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After trying many different paints I ended up settling on a slightly less chrome-like automotive paint. I wish the make up of this paint was slightly less 'grainy' but I think it captures the look of the original piece quite well.

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Next to its future self, you can see the TNG model has new (smaller) proportions which make it more accurate to the original prop.

For the flute hole covers I ended up using a slightly thicker chrome tape, which actually proved quite difficult to apply in a clean way.
I'm still working on refining these.

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Also new are a more refined and shorter tassle and a tighter wrap around the chrome tubing. The pieces of aluminum on the side of the mouthpiece are also thinner and more accurate.

And while I was at it, I added a small accuracy fix to the 'grandpa' version. The rough finish on the smallest flute hole is a charming detail on the original prop I wanted to add. :)

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As a smaller in between project, I've started work on a First Contact Boomerang phaser.

Picked up the lovely kit by Stapleton and painted it up. Static for now, but soon to have electronics.

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Silver paint is a Vauxhall / Opel #140 Smoke Grey Metallic by Dupli-Color.

Also went a bit nuts with display options and picked a bunch of Clik Cases from Ebay and this was the first one that came in:

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Not sure if I'll use it for my phaser or for my next build. A VOY-style Hypospray...

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The phaser looks great, did you use a gloss black on the emitter? I’m trying to finish up that part on my kit and am having a hard time getting a nice finish with the black
 
The phaser looks great, did you use a gloss black on the emitter? I’m trying to finish up that part on my kit and am having a hard time getting a nice finish with the black

Thank you! If I remember correctly I used Tamiya TS-14 Gloss Black on the emitter.
 

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