Star Trek TOS Art Asylum Rebuild. My first project thread. (New pictures 1-2-12)

mjhenks

Sr Member
RPF PREMIUM MEMBER
Not my first project by any means but my first time posting a project as i go so lets see how this works out. (Typically i rather spend time building then writing about a project.)

My Brother-in-law is a OT Star Trek Fan. For Christmas i thought i would build him up a OT phaser to display in his office. Knowing absolutely nothing about ST myself i dug in and looked at my options. What i ended up going with is a rebuild of a Art Asylum TOS phaser. Parts were available and it was in my project cost target.

BTW. I am lousy with taking pictures so...

The plan is to replace all the small parts with metal, sand off and alter what i have read is not quite right and add some mass to finished product. I plan to retain all of the bells and whistles of the AA phaser.

8403-phaser-sm-crop.jpg


Start with a Standard AA TOS Phser. OK, i am using a black handle one but by the time i took the picture is was apart already. This one is my reference if i mess up.

I will be replacing the rear fins, rear knob, latch, trigger, side knob, front top and front of the P2. For the P1 i will replace the wings, front nose, top knob and mesh. Most of these parts i have. Some i will scratch build.

8401-phaser-al-parts.jpg


8402-phaser-nose.jpg


The nose was first. I cut off the old one and bored out the hole to accept the 1" aluminum nose. Had to remove part of the screw spar so the part would fit.

8407-nose-mod.jpg


8404-phser-nose-fit-2.jpg


Next i set to rebuilding the rear P2 knob. Since the new number ring would not fit over the old cam assy. Just could not figure out how to do that easy so i rebuilt the whole thing. I separated all the parts from the original molded one. Saved the plastic cam and both location spacer. I used a nail for the new shaft and scratch built a new knob cap from aluminum. (it is not shown below yet) Then test fit it all. Will get it together tomorrow.

8406-top-knob-parts.jpg


8405-top-knob-parts-test-fit.jpg


That is all for now. Later today i will finish putting the new rear knob assy together and start working on the P2 side switch.


Matthew
 
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Re: Star Trek TOS Art Asylum Rebuild. My first project thread.

Interested to see these pics. I find myself giving in to the Trekkie within..

To get photo's to show up use image tags.
 
Re: Star Trek TOS Art Asylum Rebuild. My first project thread.

Thanks for the picture help. Will try hosting them somewhere besides my astromech site.

I got the parts as a lot on Ebay. I also have a few parts coming from a memeber here but they have not arrived yet.

Still need to get the P1 Screen material. If i can find P1 aluminum wings that would be great but i figure i will have to scratch build that.

Tonight i finished the rear knob rebuild and fit the new side knob into the body.

I Milled out the side of the phaser to accept the .562 outer diameter of the new aluminum side switch. I removed the molded in ridge on the side of the AA body where the original switch cam out. I then shortened the electical switch inside the phaser (that turns the red LED on & off) to clear the new aluminum side switch since it is deeper. The backer post on the opposite half of the phaser had to be shortened too. (It holds the switch in place.

I then removed the original plastic switch's "U" from the back side and re-mounted it to the back of the new aluminum side switch. (It captured the electrical switch so turning the knob turns the LED on/off) Once complete i verified it all still worked and it worked very nicely. I also made sure the new nose still fit in there.

I also did some work to add some mass to the handle but had to remove it all becasue the handle would not close all the way. Have to re-think that.

So, here is my question. Should there be a seam in the phaser when I'm done? I am trying to get my head around the parts i need to have already in the phaser when i glue the halves back together. Things like the trigger, P1 release knob, front plexy window all have to be inplace before i close up the phaser. That means i have to work around them as i prep and paint.

So, seams? No seams?

Will post pictures once i get that figured out.

Matthew
 
Re: Star Trek TOS Art Asylum Rebuild. My first project thread.

I think MattMunson has some TOS screen material in his junkyard thread, but I'm no Trek pro so it might not be what you need.. It's a gold or brass material...
 
Re: Star Trek TOS Art Asylum Rebuild. My first project thread.

Sporak also makes the diamond grid, or "crispy" as we call it.

The original hero phasers had seams, so they will be fine. The screws were located differently, but you'll have to decide if it's worth it to relocate them.

I made some P1 rails a couple years ago. I got some 1/16in aluminum bar from Lowe's, cut it with a copping saw, and finished with a file.
 
Re: Star Trek TOS Art Asylum Rebuild. My first project thread.

Thanks, guys. Matt is hooking me up with the screen. He was over yesterday shooting the breeze about various projects we both have going. He gave me a few pointers but forgot to bring the screen. Funny how for the R2 builders we say "Pick a scene" as far as what is R2 suposed to look like. Sounds like there is some of that in the phaser world as well.

Will work on getting pictures up tonight.

Seams are good. Makes life easier.

Screws. OK, where are they suposed to be? I am already sculpting and hacking both phaser frames so..... Adding some fake screws or relocating may not be too bad. Anyone point me to a few good pictures?

Matthew
 
Re: Star Trek TOS Art Asylum Rebuild. My first project thread.

You can see some pics of an original here. Many of the props on that site are fakes so be careful when using them for reference. But the hero is genuine, it belongs to Greg Jein. You can see the front screw on the bottom behind the emitter. The rear screw was filled in but is still visible. The aluminum fins at the rear was a clip that held it together replacing the screw.
 
Re: Star Trek TOS Art Asylum Rebuild. My first project thread.

Thanks for the picture help. Will try hosting them somewhere besides my astromech site.

I got the parts as a lot on Ebay. I also have a few parts coming from a memeber here but they have not arrived yet.

Still need to get the P1 Screen material. If i can find P1 aluminum wings that would be great but i figure i will have to scratch build that.

Tonight i finished the rear knob rebuild and fit the new side knob into the body.

I Milled out the side of the phaser to accept the .562 outer diameter of the new aluminum side switch. I removed the molded in ridge on the side of the AA body where the original switch cam out. I then shortened the electical switch inside the phaser (that turns the red LED on & off) to clear the new aluminum side switch since it is deeper. The backer post on the opposite half of the phaser had to be shortened too. (It holds the switch in place.

I then removed the original plastic switch's "U" from the back side and re-mounted it to the back of the new aluminum side switch. (It captured the electrical switch so turning the knob turns the LED on/off) Once complete i verified it all still worked and it worked very nicely. I also made sure the new nose still fit in there.

I also did some work to add some mass to the handle but had to remove it all becasue the handle would not close all the way. Have to re-think that.

So, here is my question. Should there be a seam in the phaser when I'm done? I am trying to get my head around the parts i need to have already in the phaser when i glue the halves back together. Things like the trigger, P1 release knob, front plexy window all have to be inplace before i close up the phaser. That means i have to work around them as i prep and paint.

So, seams? No seams?

Will post pictures once i get that figured out.

Matthew
You might find the parts your looking for here.

federationphaser
 
Re: Star Trek TOS Art Asylum Rebuild. My first project thread.

Nice job man. Im a huge trek fan, I've made many of these. If you need any help, just ask.
 
Re: Star Trek TOS Art Asylum Rebuild. My first project thread.

Thanks.

True to my original post, i am better at building then posting. Will try and post progress later this week.
 
Re: Star Trek TOS Art Asylum Rebuild. My first project thread.

OK. Pictures are now showing up.

The phaser body is together with all the seams and screw holes filled in. Not sure how "accurate" that is but i think it looks good.

8396-phaser-together-01.jpg


8399-phaser-together-04.jpg


8397-phaser-together-02.jpg


8398-phaser-together-03.jpg


The P1 is apart and the texture removed. I also removed the wings and am making new metal ones. The flip up part has also been sanded down to accept the metal screen.

8400-p1-halves.jpg



Making progress. I am now looking for paint. I know the Bronze paint and the upper paint. Not sure where to get the P1 paint right now. (Some sort of primer)

Hope my next post has the P2 painted.
 
Re: Star Trek TOS Art Asylum Rebuild. My first project thread.

Not much done this week. Well, ok i painted both the P1 & P2 but will have to redo them.

P2 paint. The handle got a goober so i will sand it back down and try again.

P1 i just got some color on. I still need to fit the al wings so i know they will be re-done.

Hey, how tight should the P1 fit to the P2? Seams awfull tight like it is going to forever scrape paint off.

Still need to make or buy the wings....

Started working on the P1 aluminum knob. Have it turned and knurled. Need to mill it.

Pictures when the paint job turns out....
 
Re: Star Trek TOS Art Asylum Rebuild. My first project thread.

The P1 should be secure in the P2. I'd say just leave the tightness the way it was when you got the AA phaser. Anymore progress?
 
Re: Star Trek TOS Art Asylum Rebuild. My first project thread.

Thanks.

I have a few parts coming from Tony for the P1. The P2 i scrapped so i am starting over. Long story but i was not happy with how the paint was turning out. In my attempt to strip the print i hosed it and....starting over.

So...Today i cut the nose off my other phaser and started the process all over again. I do not think i will go seamless this time...

My P1 is ready for the parts from Tony and then will get painted and back together again.
 
Re: Star Trek TOS Art Asylum Rebuild. My first project thread.

If the paint is rubbing off when you put the P1 in, you can sand the P2 rear opening a bit the enlarge it. It won't take much, and the catch will still work fine.

A tough good quality paint will help too, what are you using?
 
Re: Star Trek TOS Art Asylum Rebuild. My first project thread.

I'm using Rustoleum products. I ended up sading the front of the P2 pocket and the rear of the P1 to get a good fit. It seams secure. Of course i have to do it again now but i think it will work.

So last night i removed the nose, opened up the side switch port, removed the AA text and got the top of the new P2 in primer.

My delema. I really like the seamless look but it was a pain to tape all the internal parts off. I do not like the screw holes if i go with seams. Thought about filling the screw holes and gluing it together.

Any opinions?

In order some more parts from Federationphaser i started drooling over what Tony is doing. Man he does good work. I was already doing his option 1 as it is easy to add. Electronics not being my strong point are there any documented builds showing cool electronics?

Matthew
 
Re: Star Trek TOS Art Asylum Rebuild. My first project thread.

The art asylum phsaser electronics are really nice. And, I really don't know anybody elde who sells electronics fro this type of phaser, except for roddenberry.com, and they're not cheap.
 
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