Official Star Trek Phaser Thread

[RShanko]

Hey Scott, I really love the way that one of a kind phaser you have looks with Kirok's rear fins, it really makes it stand out even more..

And thanks Karl for the great pics of the Cage Pistol in action. I remember that when they tried by adjusting the settings to get better results blasting into the rock's doorway..

I'm home this weekend, in SF area instead of LA and will be working on the new V3 phaser, trying to get it done, then I'll make a few at cost for my buddies who show intrest ...there seems to be alot of questions about it being different than the V2 and instead of answering every inquiry each time like I've been, I'll outline my plan to you...
I made a fiberglass V2 pistol the normal way, in 2 halves and am modifying it slightly... thats all...these mods will be reshaping slightly the body and the trigger housing, this nessatated grinding all the ridges and surface details off.. the new details will be exactly like the screenused hero, no effort will be spared in getting it right.. you have to admit, so many beautiful phasers have been made by so many guys, but all of then have something that a collector sees that could have been more accurate... a line or angle, this or that... the V2 is a very good phaser in itself, very accurate, and a good basis to go all the way with.. The fiberglass P1s will remain the same ..
I hope to post new pics of the master later this weekend..

Ron Shanko

 

[stingray]

Originally posted by RShanko@Jan 6 2006, 10:34 PM
Hey Scott, I really love the way that one of a kind phaser you have looks with Kirok's rear fins, it really makes it stand out even more..

Thanks Ron. Its my favorite Phaser. I don't feel like I have to be very careful with it. I paid over $300.00 for my MR and Coyle and I am too careful with those. I am always afraid I might drop them or something if you know what I mean.

 

[uscm buzz]

cool

 

[MattMunson]

Not that my opinion counts for much anymore, but let me point out that this thread is great. Awesome pics, and (for the most part) awesome discussion.

 

[RShanko]

I agree my freind...
I love talking about phasers too, and looking at pics posted.. Phase Pistol and Wolf and the other good ol Star Trek boys here got this thread really going...

I get inquiries about the fiberglass phasers I made and can post some pics for your amusement..

I started with a wood master and made a RTV mold, these "shell kits" included some hard to make parts like the polished rising sight and small metal parts.
The rest was up to the builder to collect parts and construct it as he saw fit.
They are around the world, from europe to austrailia with many in the US and Canada. They are no longer available, although 2 V2 kits changed hands recently.
I numbered each one, 6 TMOSTs and 24 V2s.

After a lil work... this is a modified TMOST, the closest I could come to the phaser pictured in the book The Making Of StarTrek

The fiberglass TMOST hand phaser sight in action.

I changed the pistol master and made a new mold for the fiberglass V2.

 

[Barnstormer]

Here's a vintage phaser that I haven't seen mentioned yet. This came from Starland mail order in the late 80s. This was my very first prop. It had a metal nozzle and 10-turn wheel, P1 release and trigger, and P1 setting wheel. The siderails and P2 site-plate were some kind of thin alluminum that didn't stay on well at all.

The side-knob was painted resin, and really dragged the piece down. The pop-up site was still percieved to be the trigger at that time, and it's molded into the P1 as one piece. The P1 front window and barrel were all molded in one piece as well. The P2 site window was black electrical tape. The P1 was held in with velcro - badly. Everything else was static.

There was no real 'prop-community' at this time - I don't know anything about how the Starland phasers fit into the history of early replicas. I don't have this one anymore, but I do have a TWOK and a STIII that came from them. I always thought that the Starland TWOK looked pretty far off, but it's a dead-ringer for the Yesterday's enterprise version, although I'm not sure that the trigger is an exact match.

 

[phez]

Ed made that one.

Originally posted by Barnstormer@Jan 8 2006, 02:33 AM
Here's a vintage phaser that I haven't seen mentioned yet.  This came from Starland mail order in the late 80s.  This was my very first prop.  It had a metal nozzle and 10-turn wheel, P1 release and trigger, and P1 setting wheel.  The siderails and P2 site-plate were some kind of thin alluminum that didn't stay on well at all.

The side-knob was painted resin, and really dragged the piece down.  The pop-up site was still percieved to be the trigger at that time, and it's molded into the P1 as one piece.  The P1 front window and barrel were all molded in one piece as well.  The P2 site window was black electrical tape.  The P1 was held in with velcro - badly.  Everything else was static.

There was no real 'prop-community' at this time - I don't know anything about how the Starland phasers fit into the history of early replicas.  I don't have this one anymore, but I do have a TWOK and a STIII that came from them.  I always thought that the Starland TWOK looked pretty far off, but it's a dead-ringer for the Yesterday's enterprise version, although I'm not sure that the trigger is an exact match.

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[WinstonWolf359]

Yes, that's an older Ed M. phaser. I used to have one of the hand phasers from that model. My first phaser prop.

 

[WinstonWolf359]

I thinned out a couple posts, in order to keep this thread on track.

No need to see something we all enjoy derailed, right?

So please, more phaser pics.

 

[RShanko]

Thanks man,
That ol Ed M is a very collectable one, being from the golden age of wonder when we were glued to the TV trying to get a glimse of the props being used..

When I made the masters for my phasers I always put molded in fins that could be cut out if desired. I was torn between making 2 versions one with and one without for metal fins, so by talking with guys about it, the final phaser pistol always started with the B&W/ Midgrade fins.

Like my freind Phez said.. "That way a builder can retrace Wah Changs work if the metal fins are to be used"..

 

[phase pistol]

OK moving RIGHT along...

Here's one of the most unloved phaser designs ever... the "Dustbuster" from TNG seasons one and two.

Mine is an HMS-Rodd kit, finished by DStines with sounds and lights. :thumbsup

The "Cricket" p1 doesn't get much love either. It was pretty good tho IMHO, but they stopped using it because they thought it didn't show up well on screen. The first season cricket was all silver

It was nice and concealable. Here Data has a Cricket in the pocket sewn into the jumpsuit-uniforms of that period

After the first seaon the Cricket shows up only sporadically, painted to resemble the Cobraheads in use at the time, as in these grabs from "The Game".

- k

 

[WinstonWolf359]

It's sad the 1st season TNG props are so unloved, I've actually come to like the dustbuster more and more over the years.

 

[phase pistol]

Beginning in the Third Season of TNG, the Cobra phaser was introduced. This more angular design was inteded to seem more "weaponlike" than the soft, rounded lines of the Dustbuster (which had been intentionally made to look more like a "tool" than a weapon).

The 3rd season Cobra has a wider, larger front section compared to later cobras. In fact there were three designs of Cobra altogether.

The Third Season Cobra gets a workout, with its working LED power meter and removable bottom panel (revealing circuits inside)...

The 4th season Cobra

5th season Cobra. Much of the time the Cobra props leave off the power meter entirely - not even a suggestion of it, only blank. :lol

TNG 7th season Cobra

The Cobra also shows up in early episodes of Deep Space Nine and even Voyager

But eventually a new phaser design was made for DS9/Voyager... the "Boomerang".

Even smaller and sleeker than the Cobra, with a handle that curves sharply.

The Boomerang shows up in the film "Star Trek First Contact", but with a RED trigger. This is the version that Master Replicas chose to make.

 

[phase pistol]

In the Voyager episoode "Endgame", we see a slightly sleeker Boomerang, supposedly from a future timeline.

This so called "Dolphin" phaser was used as the standard armament in "Star Trek Nemesis".

The Voyager epsiode "Relativity" features another single-use design, the trowel-like "29th Century" phaser from the future.

 

[phase pistol]

And at long last we have... the phaser rifles.

The second pilot of TOS featured this intriguing design. It was the first weapon to be called "phaser" on-screen (previously the term "laser" had been used).

The center section of three tubes can be rotated and snapped into place, to select between three power levels, presumably. This recalls the three emitter barrels of the Cage Laser pistol.

Phaser rifles were never seen again, until about halfway thru the run of TNG... when this new "Type III" design, derived from the cobra phaser, showed up.

When seen in Deep Space Nine, the rifle sometimes had a shoulder strap, and top-mounted sight/flashlight.

Voyager introduced its own rifle design in the pilot "Caretaker"... this was the "Compression Phaser Rifle". It's body sort of vaguely recalls the design of the original TOS rifle.

But arguably the most popular phaser rifle in all of Trek, is this design introduced in "First Contact".

In fact there were THREE designs of rifle introduced in First Contact.

The top one in that diagram, is called the "EVA rifle" and was only used when Picard, Worf and Hawk do their spacewalk on the hull of the Enterprise.

The other two rifles, called "type A" and "type B", are used in the interior scenes. One has a boxy tip and was seen only in First Contact.

The other design has a sleeker (almost phallic.) barrel and tip. This proved much more popular, and showed up in Voyager as well as the two later TNG films, with minor modifications.

In some scenes in "First Contact", the Type A and Type B props get mixed up, with actors holding one kind in one shot, and the other kind later in the same scene.

For "Nemesis" the rifle acquired chomed detail plates, and a slide-open hatch for checking the glowing power cores.

BTW at this point I must acknowledge the awesome "Phasers.net" site: go there now. A fantastic complation of ALL phaser designs.

http://www.phasers.net/

- K

 

[Apollo]

Originally posted by phase pistol@Jan 8 2006, 05:03 PM

Mine is an HMS-Rodd kit, finished by DStines with sounds and lights. :thumbsup

I love the way Dennis did yours SWEET...

Like a few I hated the Dustbuster when it first came out but then it kinda grew on me.

Always LOVED the Cricket. It's a shame they stopped using it.

 

[Jimbo890]

I may be weird, but as much as I try, I just can't love the post TOS phaser, communicator or tricorder designs as much as the originals. I just think, as cool a prop as they are, they seem to lack, that 'special inspiration' the originals had.

Just some musings by a rabid TOS fan.

 

[MattMunson]

Great posts phasePistol. I must save this thread to my hard drive. some great information here, and all in one place.

 

[trekprops.de]

Indeed, this post got very encyclopedic since it started. Great work.

 

[Archie Opteryx]

Originally posted by Jimbo890@Jan 8 2006, 07:41 PM
I may be weird, but as much as I try, I just can't love the post TOS phaser, communicator or tricorder designs as much as the originals. I just think, as cool a prop as they are, they seem to lack, that 'special inspiration' the originals had.

Just some musings by a rabid TOS fan.

[snapback]1154081[/snapback]​

I'm with you on that.