Idealized Star Trek TOS Phaser With a Blue Laser

[genZOD]

Good! The problem is, even the reflected light or the speculation reflection can damage a person’s eyes,

Exactly, this takes a lot of the fun out of using a powerful laser. Everyone really needs to wear the correct eye protection or be pretty far away from the direction I’m shooting…

Anyway, the best way to think of how visible a laser will be is to think of a football shape with the colors of the spectrum painted from tip to tip in even stripes. Red & violet are paint around the tips, so their stripes are small. Green is painted around the fat middle, so it’s stripe is the biggest. This isn’t exactly right—IIRC, our vision is biased a little to the red side and middle of the football would be too thick… maybe this isn’t such a great analogy. The internet must have a picture…

It does:

 

[genZOD]

Keep that puppy secured when not in supervised use. Lasers be scary how they can instantly ruin vision and many don't take them seriously. _Preachy mode off_

Sorry that I didn’t reply earlier. This is 100% true. I wired in a safety switch & store it without batteries. As cool as a visible blue laser “beam” is (and it’s legit cool), a much lower power red laser that only shows up with smoke/mist/fog is probably more fun to actually play around with.

 

[CessnaDriver]

Sorry that I didn’t reply earlier. This is 100% true. I wired in a safety switch & store it without batteries. As cool as a visible blue laser “beam” is (and it’s legit cool), a much lower power red laser that only shows up with smoke/mist/fog is probably more fun to actually play around with.

Great.
I had to work around some really high power stuff for fusion energy research for a while, all beams went down PVC pipes, lasers were liquid cooled they were so powerful, and would be kept in boxes with light seals on the lids, and safety switches if anyone tried to open the boxes. Put the fear of the laser gods in me. LOL

 

[QuasiOdo]

Did the rest of you you know that it’s legal to buy powerful but small lasers? I didn't, but It is. I built an idealized version of the phaser pistol prop from the 60’s Star Trek TV show & crammed one of these legal lasers into it.

Given the risk of permanent blindness, I don't feel comfortable sharing any details about how I added the laser to the prop. Most of you are better prop builders than I am... so my help wouldn't be much help anyway. I will say that the tutorials that I was able to find online were incomplete and could fry the laser. I ended up designing & 3D printing most of the internal bits (battery tray, safety switch mechanism & various little connect-y bits.

If I’m honest, I kinda regret using such a powerful laser. It looks cool, but it’s stupidly dangerous. It can permanently blind someone in an instant. I wired in a safety switch and store it without any batteries…

But still, it’s a laser gun that shoots a laser beam. I'm conflicted.

As for the idealized Phaser 1 & 2. They are a modified Diamond Select toy from the late 90's (IIRC). After hacking it apart I applied thin layers of Bondo to create a smooth & level surface for painting. I used Tamiya paints. The bronze handle on the P2 is silver with layers transparent orange and smoke. I used Haze Grey for the body of the P2. Everything was given a glossy topcoat. The effect is pretty close to "on screen" look of the prop. The P1 was sanded smooth and given a coat of Bondo. I painted the P2 Black Rubber. It's about a 90% grey. For contrast, I gave it a semigloss topcoat. All the metal parts are reproductions that are sold by Jon-Paul Lussier on eBay. The only issue I had assembling the P1 was getting the side rails to fit. On my first go, I didn't clamp them properly and they shifted--getting glue everywhere. After spending too much time cleaning up the mess, it's not too noticeable. If I build another I'll be more careful. Oh, another tricky bit, for me, was aligning the metal emitter to the P2 body.

The dial on the side is in the wrong position because It's the safety switch & it's in safe mode.


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Did the rest of you you know that it’s legal to buy powerful but small lasers? I didn't, but It is. I built an idealized version of the phaser pistol prop from the 60’s Star Trek TV show & crammed one of these legal lasers into it.

Given the risk of permanent blindness, I don't feel comfortable sharing any details about how I added the laser to the prop. Most of you are better prop builders than I am... so my help wouldn't be much help anyway. I will say that the tutorials that I was able to find online were incomplete and could fry the laser. I ended up designing & 3D printing most of the internal bits (battery tray, safety switch mechanism & various little connect-y bits.

If I’m honest, I kinda regret using such a powerful laser. It looks cool, but it’s stupidly dangerous. It can permanently blind someone in an instant. I wired in a safety switch and store it without any batteries…

But still, it’s a laser gun that shoots a laser beam. I'm conflicted.

As for the idealized Phaser 1 & 2. They are a modified Diamond Select toy from the late 90's (IIRC). After hacking it apart I applied thin layers of Bondo to create a smooth & level surface for painting. I used Tamiya paints. The bronze handle on the P2 is silver with layers transparent orange and smoke. I used Haze Grey for the body of the P2. Everything was given a glossy topcoat. The effect is pretty close to "on screen" look of the prop. The P1 was sanded smooth and given a coat of Bondo. I painted the P2 Black Rubber. It's about a 90% grey. For contrast, I gave it a semigloss topcoat. All the metal parts are reproductions that are sold by Jon-Paul Lussier on eBay. The only issue I had assembling the P1 was getting the side rails to fit. On my first go, I didn't clamp them properly and they shifted--getting glue everywhere. After spending too much time cleaning up the mess, it's not too noticeable. If I build another I'll be more careful. Oh, another tricky bit, for me, was aligning the metal emitter to the P2 body.

The dial on the side is in the wrong position because It's the safety switch & it's in safe mode.


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View attachment 1471974

I'd buy that for... more than a dollar!

 

[Simonized]

Nice work!

I have a modded AA also but mine is fitted with a green laser as well as a red, blue and purple LED. Apologies for the poorer picture quality.

 

[genZOD]

Nice work!

I have a modded AA also but mine is fitted with a green laser as well as a red, blue and purple LED. Apologies for the poorer picture quality.

Nice work yourself! I'm considering cramming a red laser into my P1. I haven't really thought the idea through yet. I'll probably need to use a different sound board and lose the "adjustment" feature. I found some really, really small speakers on eBay...

 

[Simonized]

Nice work yourself! I'm considering cramming a red laser into my P1. I haven't really thought the idea through yet. I'll probably need to use a different sound board and lose the "adjustment" feature. I found some really, really small speakers on eBay...

I can't take credit for this particular modded AA. This was done for me as at the time I was worried about messing the laser up lol. I do wish I had a blue laser though, also mine flickers with the original AA sound effects. I'm looking into doing another one with a fresh sound board but might take a while as I have other things on atm. Please do let us know how you get on when you've thought it through

 

[genZOD]

also mine flickers with the original AA sound effects.

My laser isn't run through that board, it's got it's own power source. The light on top of my P1, (using the wires that originally went to the emitter of the P2) does flicker. I used the watch jewel that is available on eBay and carefully removed the metal backing with a very fine drill to expose an LED that I glued into the hollow support.

- Tony

 

[Simonized]

My laser isn't run through that board, it's got it's own power source. The light on top of my P1, (using the wires that originally went to the emitter of the P2) does flicker. I used the watch jewel that is available on eBay and carefully removed the metal backing with a very fine drill to expose an LED that I glued into the hollow support.

- Tony

Sweet. I've got the shells of a MR to utilize too but space inside those things are an issue

 

[PhuketAussie]

I think what you have done is very clever, and as long as you use it responsibly I see no problem, and I agree with your decision not to share how you did it. Enjoy.

 

[Trebor]

I think what you have done is very clever, and as long as you use it responsibly I see no problem, and I agree with your decision not to share how you did it. Enjoy.

Yeah, at this point the prop becomes nearly as dangerous as a firearm.

I mean, I want one too, and may build one. But you gotta respect it, be careful, and keep anyone who doesn't understand how hazardous it can be from handling it. It's the kind of thing you show to a few select friends, after telling them about the dangers and with proper safety equipment. Not the kind of thing you'd show off at a con.