Star Trek: Boomerang Type 2 Phaser (First Contact)

[Dreamscape]

Hey everyone

So it's been a while since I finished my last tricorder (and I've not really made progress on my cardboard phaser rifle recently). But today I received an early Christmas present from my wife:

I'm going to make this the version from "Star Trek: First Contact" film, so I'll be going for the red trigger button - and the power indicator will be green on top, red underneath.

I won't be going for electronics for this one, just a static prop. So to make the indicators "pop" I've used green and red reflective foil card so when the light catches it, it looks like it's lit up.

I've got a bit of prep to do with the case (there's 1 air bubble and a few stray lumps and bumps that need sanding / putty). The rubber grip also needs a slight sand to make it fit better in the handle. But as always, Stapleton has provided a clean and beautiful kit, which shouldn't require much work to make it ready for painting.

I will probably start work on this after Christmas.

 

[masterjedi322]

Always love seeing a good boomerang!

Look forward to seeing your build!

Sean

 

[goldcylon]

That looks very clean !!! Well done. If you can add electronic it would be over the top. I'm sure somebody here has them or a resource these days that are really plug and play

 

[Dreamscape]

That looks very clean !!! Well done. If you can add electronic it would be over the top. I'm sure somebody here has them or a resource these days that are really plug and play

That would be GMProps - I've used them in my other props (for example my Mark X Tricorder) - but not planning it for this one.

 

[chukzilla]

Don't let them touch you!

 

[Dreamscape]

Everything has been filled and given a coat of yellow plastic filler primer. The main phaser body has also had a coat of grey paint primer (I made a cardboard stand so I could more easily spray it), and the the emitter has had all primer coats and it's final black paint coat.

The only flaw that is left to fix is a really small nick in the side of the main body (the extruded bit with the two larger buttons on) - so I'll need to fill, sand, and prime that, before moving to the final paint coat (using my mix of Vauxhall Smoke Gray and Audi Dakota Gray to match my sample of GM7173).

 

[Dreamscape]

So I fill and sanded the small nick...

And then after a last coat of primer I sprayed a base coat of Vauxhall smoke gray and a light dusting of Audi Dakota gray...

Next step is to let it cure for 24 hours before doing a lacquer coat. I'm not going to risk masking off and spraying the black part of the trigger panel. So instead I'm going to do it manually with a small brush.

 

[AJK001]

That color looks really good.

 

[Dreamscape]

Thanks. I've got it as close to my sample of GM7173 as I can (sample on the left):

 

[Dreamscape]

So I had a mishap with the lacquer, once again I overdid it, and I got a small drip which made the paint run. Luckily it was minor and on the emitter so I'm back at the priming stage.

I'm not overly happy with the matt finish on the black panel. It's a tad glossy and you can make out the paintbrush strokes in the light.

So after a couple of days I'm going to sand that back a little with a 2000 grit, then mask off and spray instead. Just hoping the lacquer has cured enough by then to cope with masking tape.

But apart from that I'm happy with how its turning out.

 

[AJK001]

Looking good. I can't wait to see it done.

 

[Dreamscape]

After masking it off I was able to sand it back to the primer, and repeat with black. The manual paint caused some wrinkling / cracking, but after a couple of sands and resprays I got a matt flatten finish.

So I've used some epoxy glue and added the buttons.

Just the emitter to go.

 

[Dreamscape]

Finally got some good weather here in the UK, and with some time of from work, managed to get the emitter finished - another job complete!

 

[Dreamscape]

Plus a nice photo with the mark IX tricorder.

 

[sdhlaw1701]

Great paint job! You make it look easy.

 

[torsoboy]

Great job on this!

 

[Dreamscape]

Great paint job! You make it look easy.

Given the number of times I've cursed because I got a splatter of paint, or a finger print because I was impatient... trust me it wasn't!

But I think I've got the colour match pretty good now. My swatch from the original paint they used on set helps greatly.

 

[AJK001]

Both of those look great and the colors look spot on to me.

 

[AnubisGuard]

And then after a last coat of primer I sprayed a base coat of Vauxhall smoke gray and a light dusting of Audi Dakota gray...

Is there a place/brand to buy these paint colors? Googling them turned up nothing as far as consumer products.

(I've gotten into a kick lately of trying to match my samples of 7173 and your approach is way better than anything I've managed.)

 

[Dreamscape]

Is there a place/brand to buy these paint colors? Googling them turned up nothing as far as consumer products.

(I've gotten into a kick lately of trying to match my samples of 7173 and your approach is way better than anything I've managed.)

I got these from Halfords - the UK car/bike shop.