The Twilight Zone Mystic Seer fortune teller

[Hillwoods]

Hi everyone!

For a long time i wanted to make a replica of the famous Mystic Seer fortune teller machines from the episode "Nick of Time" of The Twilight Zone.
The Bif bang pow replica is still for sale on the internet. But i am thinking this replica has a lot of inaccuracies. Time for my own version!
I am planning to make it for the most part out of 3D printed parts and plastic sheets.

Now that i have all tools and materials to make one it's time to begin with the build.

Research

From the information that i have gathered nobody exactly knows what the color of the machine is. So that is my first task to look at a lot of pictures and for example a HD version of the episode itself.
First i assumed the main color was red after looking at the replica released by Bif bang pow a few years ago and the version that can be found in the Tower of Terror rides. (Was Disney the first with the red color of the machine and did fans follow this for their own replica's or did there already exist red ones before the rides opened?)

After analyzing the episodes carefully i now am thinking the machine isn't red. (Bit of a shame because in red it looks really cool.)



Looking at the reflections it looks to me that for the most part the machine is in metal galvanized or chrome color. I don't think a red painted metal plate will give that amount of reflections.

I Also noticed a stripe on the sides without any reflections (Maybe tape) Witch can be in red or gray/silver.

For the devil head on top i was first thinking that it was in a cream color. But after seeing that the teeth are white and have a quite big contrast with the other colors i think the head is red or almost pink. In the following picture it shows that the head is a lot darker than for example the skin color of the actors:



What do you think? Is the machine in metal colors or red? Hopefully with your help i can finally choose the exact color for my replica

 

[bodhicitta7]

I bought a replica several years ago from this guy:

http://www.mysticseer.com/

This site has some pretty good info including measurements if you want to build your own. It was a great replica, but had no internal mechanism to release a ticket when the handle was pulled. I ended up buying a homemade ticket dispenser mechanism off eBay and retrofitted it into the Seer. It wasn't activated via a coin drop, but would spit out a ticket when the handle was pulled. When the BBP replicas came out, I bought one of them and sold the old one. Pretty happy with the BBP version as it's fully functional.

Regarding the devil head color, the first version I owned had a gray/cream colored head. And as you probably know, the BBP version has a red head. Additionally, at one point, I had pondered the idea of buying an original fortune machine on eBay (e.g. Swami or Madam X) and building a Mystic Seer framework over the top of it. I seem to remember an online article where someone had tried that approach successfully.

Good luck with your build.

 

[Apollo]

Welcome aboard!

iirc there are a few threads on this here.

Keep us posted on your build !!

 

[Funky]

I can't tell you how interested I am in this thread! I have the original model of the correct napkin dispenser. It just needs the shell. From what I can tell it is most certainly galvanized metal. However, I would be perfectly happy with a 3D printed shell, It just has to be super thin.

 

[Hillwoods]

I can't tell you how interested I am in this thread! I have the original model of the correct napkin dispenser. It just needs the shell. From what I can tell it is most certainly galvanized metal. However, I would be perfectly happy with a 3D printed shell, It just has to be super thin.

In the last week i made a few test prints for the shell. First i printed it thin but the end result was that the shell was warped. With the second try i increased the thickness and the result was great. I think it will be possible to use a 3D print for the shell but it will be hard to get everything lined up correctly.

I bought a replica several years ago from this guy:

http://www.mysticseer.com/

This site has some pretty good info including measurements if you want to build your own.

That site was really useful, especially for the measurements! and his replica's are looking great.


With all the information i needed and after a few drawings i started with a 3D model of the box.



After that it was time to turn on the printer and wait...

As previously mentioned i had to make a tests to make it sturdy enough. But now i'm happy with the result.



I also printed the parts for the sides, it was a perfect fit.



Up next: Sanding! It will take a while to get every part really smooth. Meanwhile the printer is working on new parts. Can't wait to put it together!

 

[Funky]

Go, man, GO!!! :thumbsup
You know I'm going to hit you up for a set of skins, right? :lol

 

[Shuma Gorath]

I bought a replica several years ago from this guy:

Welcome to MysticSeer.com

This site has some pretty good info including measurements if you want to build your own. It was a great replica, but had no internal mechanism to release a ticket when the handle was pulled. I ended up buying a homemade ticket dispenser mechanism off eBay and retrofitted it into the Seer. It wasn't activated via a coin drop, but would spit out a ticket when the handle was pulled. When the BBP replicas came out, I bought one of them and sold the old one. Pretty happy with the BBP version as it's fully functional.

Regarding the devil head color, the first version I owned had a gray/cream colored head. And as you probably know, the BBP version has a red head. Additionally, at one point, I had pondered the idea of buying an original fortune machine on eBay (e.g. Swami or Madam X) and building a Mystic Seer framework over the top of it. I seem to remember an online article where someone had tried that approach successfully.

Good luck with your build.

Hey bud what did u use for the dispenser on the original non-functional unit? Have a link?

 

[ed-209]

Here are some photos I've collected from various sources.

 

[bodhicitta7]

I bought the ticket dispenser mechanism off of eBay probably 10 years ago, so don't have the link anymore. I ran through a few searches on eBay yesterday and couldn't find another one. There's a few ticket dispensers there, but they all look to be professionally made. The one I bought was homemade and specifically for a napkin fortune teller type project. Sorry I can't be of more help. Attaching a pic of a similar one from eBay:

Hey bud what did u use for the dispenser on the original non-functional unit? Have a link?

 

[Hillwoods]

Hi everyone! here is an update about my project:

Almost 2 years ago i started with the Mystic seer, and after printing the main shell the project was put on hold.
A few months ago i decided to finish it and here are the results

I wanted this to be a functional Mystic seer, but after a while, i decided to make it decorative only.

I found a great model for the head on Thingiverse. I changed the design a bit to make it more screen accurate. Unfortunately, I can't find the model on Thingiverse anymore and I don't know who the modeler of the original sculpt is.

I painted it in a bright red, In the show the teeth are white and there is a big difference in contrast between the teeth and the skin of the head. Annalizing the reference pictures above i think the head was red, but maybe a bit brighter/faded than i painted it.

The shell is painted in metallic/chrome with a protective transparent coat on top. At the hardware store, i found a mailbox lock that was the exact size i needed and was a perfect fit.

The labels on the front are recreated letter by letter to create an exact replica. They are printed on waterproof decal paper and put on a 1 mm thick plastic sheet.

The stars are created in Blender to match the screen used Mystic Seer. After the 3d printer was done printing them i placed them onto the shell and used masking tape to keep them in place. Here I made a mistake. The paint i had used wasn't a success, It had a hard time to dry and the masking tape had caused a bit of damage to the paint on the shell. I had to repaint the shell after this.

I had the cards from the Biff Bang Pow replica/bobble head laying around. I noticed the cards aren't screen accurate and i remade them with all fortunes from the episode.

Left: Cards from the Biff Bang Pow replica, Middle: My version, Right: original

After attaching the spring with the head, the sides with fake napkins and the details on the front my Mystic seer is done!

I want to thank everyone for their help with this project, I learned a lot making this prop and can't wait to start on a new project!

 

[Apollo]

Better late than never, nice job on this!

 

[bodhicitta7]

Looks great - nice job.