Modern recognizable computer connections ok or not on props ?

[joboujp]

Hello,
I came across several of those electronic boards. I'm going to paint them in black and use them as part of wall panels for my speeder mechanic shop display.
Should I try to remove all recognizable modern computer connections on the side such as the rs-232 like connections or is it ok to leave them on the boards ?

 

[Media Man]

Sci fi movies use all different kinds of real world parts to build up their own worlds so it's really up to your eye for what seems right. I'll say that those connectors make for some cool tubing or piping if you plug in some cables.

 

[Too Much Garlic]

Use everything. Alter it. Put different things together and try to make it make sense from a technical or mechanical or electronic standpoint. Don't be afraid to experiment.

 

[3Dsf]

It’s okay if you like it. Not okay if you don’t like it.

My personal feeling is that props and greeblies for a fantasy universe shouldn’t have anything immediately and obviously recognizable as being from the here and now.

But “obvious” is subjective. Star Wars spaceship greeblies were quite clearly things like engine and tank parts from plastic kits for people who know car engines and tanks, but this was not obvious to the general public.

So I’d vote no for personal computer connectors for fantasy contexts since their familiarity takes much of the audience out of the fantasy.

But if your project is a near future Earth thing then sure, why not?

 

[Treadwell]

All a matter of taste. Removing the connectors isn't a bad idea though.

When we did this shot for Star Trek Continues, we got a lot of teasing from people who recognized the old PC boards and found them therefore unconvincing:

But I countered that 1960s tech heads probably had the same reaction to this:

 

[4str0m3ch]

The faceplate would probably work. not the board itself in one piece.

 

[Too Much Garlic]

The faceplate would probably work. not the board itself in one piece.

Yup, split it up, use the bits on different parts, in different ways, connect stuff to them, paint them, make them look like something else. The more you obscure the original shape, the more you'll get away with. I've seen people make spaceships out of cut up plastic bottles and it's all a matter of arrangement, how it is put together, what it is put together with, joined with, added to, stuff removed from.

Go nuts.

 

[4str0m3ch]

Yup, split it up, use the bits on different parts, in different ways, connect stuff to them, paint them, make them look like something else. The more you obscure the original shape, the more you'll get away with. I've seen people make spaceships out of cut up plastic bottles and it's all a matter of arrangement, how it is put together, what it is put together with, joined with, added to, stuff removed from.

Go nuts.

Also paint and grime can do wonders.

 

[Captain Dunsel]

All a matter of taste. Removing the connectors isn't a bad idea though.

When we did this shot for Star Trek Continues, we got a lot of teasing from people who recognized the old PC boards and found them therefore unconvincing:
View attachment 1951332

But I countered that 1960s tech heads probably had the same reaction to this:

View attachment 1951333

23rd Century tech appears to be deliberately “retro” and frightening…

Look at the “guts” intended for an android body…yikes!

 

[joboujp]

I started by painting them. Then will add some stuff to them.

 

[sparkmatter]

Who is your audience? Most people will find it techy and charmingly scifi, if you're showing it at a PC building conference everyone will find the immersion gone (source, my british self completely not noticing the andor blasters look very earthlike to people with more firearms experience until someone mentioned it to me)