Original thermal detonator paint - any ideas?

[spoudastis]

I have been in the planning stages of building a thermal detonator for awhile now but the paint has got me completely stumped. Here is my theory, I would love to hear other's thoughts as well.

i think the body is made out of two clear plastistruct hemispheres just as the training remote was and It looks to me that the lines were scored in. The switch looks like maybe a custom piece and the rubber piece on top of the switch is a piece of rubber tank tread from a 1/48 panther tank. And the paint...it kind of looks to me like the clear hemispheres were painted silver or chrome on the inside and were painted with a series of brown washes on the outside which were then chipped to see the chrome on the inside of the clear dome. I say this because at certain angles I see reflections as if off of a clear plastic surface, then underneath I see silver. An alternative is that the outside of the clear hemispheres were chrome metalized then chipped and covered with some grungy brown washes. I saw this prop in person at the tech museum in San Jose and I still can't tell how it was painted and weathered. Also it looks so different from different angles and from image to image, even below the tank treads are different. The very brown version is how it looked when I saw it on display.

if anyone could shed some light on the subject or offer any other ideas I would love to hear your thoughts.

 

[spoudastis]

No thoughts? i figured someone might have tackled this before.

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

The myth is that the body is a found item, the story says it is some sort of ET spaceship toy. I've never seen proof of that. However it is entirely possible it is a found item. And if so, it might be possible that it is an industrialized type of plastic plating/coating/paint... whatever they did back then to give plastic toys a chrome look.

 

[spoudastis]

That is very interesting, i've never heard that before.

 

[spoudastis]

So after Mara Jade's Father's comment i went on ebay and bought the only ET toy i could find on the net that could be the basis for the thermal detonator. the reason i think this could be plausible is the location of the opening lid on the ET toy. Depending on its size, which ill post here when i get the toy in the post, it looks like the truncated sphere could match up with the shape seen under the chipped part of the clear dome in the attached TD image.

 

[spoudastis]

I got 2 of the ET pop up space ships on eBay for $14. I ripped one out of the package and broke out the calipers, they read 2" in diameter exactly. The MR version measures 6cm which is 2.36". That means the toy is the perfect size to fit inside 2.25" clear plastruct domes and be almost exactly the same size as the MR thermal detonator. After looking at the measurements and images further up in this thread I think it is totally conceivable that this toy could have been used to make the original. I'm looking forward to starting this build!

 

[Katscan]

I dont think that toy was used for the prop, why would they put that on the inside of the clear hemispheres? That round part could be just the inner framework to hold the switch and the electronics. Not to mention you are forgetting the middle ring between the two hemispheres looks to be solid. To use that ET toy, it would require WAY too much modding to make it work.

Just my humble opinion.

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

Agreed. The belief is that the spaceship toy was the outer piece. Like I said prior; it is an unproved myth. My point in mentioning was in regard to your initial question about the chrome finish and that you should consider that the chrome was an industrial application on a found piece (regardless of what that item might be).

 

[spoudastis]

I agree that it will require a lot of modding but I'm going to use it (maybe) for the inside and see what happens. I definitely don't think the toy was the outer part, it would require way too much modification and none of the chrome would remain after removing all the surface articulation. For me the outside was for sure clear hemispheres.

 

[Katscan]

I wouldnt use that toy for the inside, you would be doing a lot of work for no reason as it will not provide you with much in the means of a prop. You would have to cut all the outer nubs off as well as that rectangular base. Also, look at your pictures, the top switch would have to somehow fit through and lets not forget the placement of the LED's. I would hate for you to cut up that toy for nothing.

 

[Duncanator]

The body of the thermal detonator was made from two clear acrylic hemispheres that were then vacuum metalized to give it that chrome-like appearance. Then it was washed and aged to make it look worn and old.
The story around around the ILM modelshop was that it almost got thrown away. Someone pulled it out of a trash bin at the archives and said "you might want to keep this".

 

[spoudastis]

The body of the thermal detonator was made from two clear acrylic hemispheres that were then vacuum metalized to give it that chrome-like appearance. Then it was washed and aged to make it look worn and old.
The story around around the ILM modelshop was that it almost got thrown away. Someone pulled it out of a trash bin at the archives and said "you might want to keep this".

That's exactly what I was thinking too, thanks for chiming in!