Star Trek's TOS Captain's Chair - Restoration Project

[agliarept]

Hi,

Posting a project i'm taking on this year, restoring my "newish" Star Trek captain's chair.

We found this listed for sale at "Blast from the Past" in Burbank, California and had it freighted across the state. Well, this weekend we finally assembled it and i'm starting the process of organizing what i'll need to do to it.

Sadly, I don't know much about the chair's origin or who the original build was. However, I can tell there was a lot of love put into its construction and care into the electronics. Apparently the chair was part of a storage unit lot purchased by the shop and had been collecting literal dust for a long time.

While i'm ok with electronics i'm a little less so when it comes to wood/fabrication restoration, so I might utilize this thread to ask some questions and help.

The chair's leather, swivels and has two independent 12v systems controlling the lights. I plan on retrofitting this with sounds and a hard wired power source. But for now, i'm going to try and locate some acrylics switches to finish the control panels.

Happy to share pics of my progress here if interested.

 

[agliarept]

Managed to get the lights working, and the original switches have a very satisfying "click" to them.

I do need some help sourcing the acrylic buttons/covers tho.

 

[Cameron]

You probably have plenty of reference but here is a quick pic of the real chair arm

I took this past weekend.

 

[Funky]

May I ask where you got the rocker switches?
I think I can help you with the acrylic buttons.

 

[docholl]

Very cool. Keep it coming...

 

[agliarept]

You probably have plenty of reference but here is a quick pic of the real chair armView attachment 1546641 I took this past weekend.

Thanks for this!

This reference is perfect and helps me color match the chair when i re-paint it.

 

[agliarept]

May I ask where you got the rocker switches?
I think I can help you with the acrylic buttons.

Hi Funky,

I got lucky with the switches as they came pre-installed in the chair when I bought it as did the push buttons. Unfortunately I don't know where they were sourced. ( I will take some higher res photos of them later for reference/transparency)

I'd greatly appreciate a contact/source for those acrylic buttons.

 

[alensatemybuick]

Thanks for this!

This reference is perfect and helps me color match the chair when i re-paint it.

Except that is likely not the original color of the chair superstructure; it was likely broken up after the sets were struck and subsequently repaired and repainted (hence the incorrect switches on the right arm, which may have come from Spock's station).

 

[agliarept]

Here some high res shots of the switches, hope this helps anyone looking for further reference.

Wish I had more context on them to share.

 

[Funky]

I think this may help you. It’s where I got mine.

Kirks Chair and other TOS Stuff

Kirks Chair and other TOS Stuff

camsmodelworx.com

 

[agliarept]

I think this may help you. It’s where I got mine.

Kirks Chair and other TOS Stuff

Kirks Chair and other TOS Stuff

camsmodelworx.com

Thanks Funky!!!

 

[agliarept]

Small update on my progress:

• Ordered and installed a new set of console buttons/acrylic for the chair and things are looking retro.
• Upgraded to soft white LED bulbs.

Next steps:

• research the exact color i need in order to patch, sand and re-paint the chair.
• Once that's done I can focus on upgrading the technology to integrate things like Alexa/Siri somehow (haven't gotten that far ahead yet)

 

[agliarept]

Hey all,

I can finally pick this project back up but need some help identifying the right paint for the charir.

Tried using "Gravity" by Valspar but it's a bit lighter than the existing paint on the chair.

Is there an off the shelf paint anyone can recommend for the captains chair? Or alternatively, is there a specific color I can take to Lowes to have it made?

 

[feek61]

Yes, I matched the color on the chair when I did the restoration on the oringal helm console, the match is SW 7072 "Onlline." We also worked on the photo-op chair which was a perfect recreation of the original chair, made from direct measurements from the original and it was painted the "Online" color. FWIW, the "Gravity" was used as the base color for the sets for STC.

Good luck with your project!

 

[agliarept]

Thank you so much!! I'm gonna pick up some of the SW 7072 paint this weekend.

Do you recommend a satin, flat or eggshell finish?

Once that's done I can move to the rug replacement.

 

[Captain Dunsel]

Thank you so much!! I'm gonna pick up some of the SW 7072 paint this weekend.

Once that's done I can move to the rug replacement.

If I recall correctly, the carpet should be a gray Ozite brand automotive carpet—which is still available, of course (just check EBay).

Matt Jeffries actually sold a remnant, at auction, a few years back:

 

[jheilman]

This project makes me so happy. Good luck.

 

[feek61]

Thank you so much!! I'm gonna pick up some of the SW 7072 paint this weekend.

Do you recommend a satin, flat or eggshell finish?

Once that's done I can move to the rug replacement.

I think the eggshell finish would be the closest to what I saw on the original set pieces. In truth, the paint job was terrible on both the helm and the chair, so I'm sure yours will be superior!

 

[agliarept]

Got the paint yesterday and prepping the chair tonight for painting. Can't wait to fix her up.

 

[agliarept]

This is extremely helpful, thank you!

Has the carpet always been part of the chair on the show or was it introduced later on at some point?

Looking at screenshots i don't see it on the chair but it does appear on the replica at the tour experience (but in a lighter gray color).