Type I "Cricket" Phaser Build

[Snarkticon]

Last night I started work on my Type I Phaser, so I wanted to share what I've got so far.

I started with a resin kit from Stapleton13:

I was surprised at how SMALL they are! My wife's Playmates phaser must of thrown me off:

And here's the electronics from gmprops:

As per Stapleton's tutorial, I went to the dollar store in search of a cheap toy to murder for its battery terminals.

And here they are in place. It was a close fit, but I still had to trim the edges off for them to fit perfectly.

Some button cell batteries in place. I know Gerry recommends 4 LR11 batteries for 6v, but for temporary fitting and testing purposes I used the 357's from the toy cell phone. The 4.5v seem to work just fine, though.

Here's everything epoxied into place:

Testing the circuit before closing up the patient.

The styrene "nub" for the fire button:

Aaaaand, all closed up:

That's as far as I've got. Tonight I'll sand it down, fill in the seam and lay down the primer coat.

 

[TruBlood]

Nice job so far. Thanks for posting the build.

Alex



Hey this is post #69 for me. Its my favorite number.

 

[Snarkticon]

Thanks, Alex. I've always been a fan of Star Trek, but for some reason I've never gotten around to building any props from it before. This little phaser is perfect for my first dive into Trek props.

 

[Alan Castillo]

Looks great BSJ.

I wish I had the skills to handle electronics. Every time I touch anything of the sort, they seem to come apart as if they have a life of their own.

 

[Tripper]

looking good. I need to get one of these at some point.

 

[BAK55]

Very nice.

Although they really look cool when you can actually see them, hand phasers of this type, TOS and Next Gen., were seldom used in later seasons because they were small and hard to see on the tv screen. I remember being very disappointed when a phaser was first used on the Next Gen. pilot episode and thought, "What the hell? Is a phaser beam coming out of Riker's fingers?" I knew there had to be a phaser in his hand, but it was impossible to see.

 

[Snarkticon]

True; they are tiny and hard to see on screen. I think what they were going for was "phaser technology has advanced so far, we can put it in this keychain." type thing.

I picked this style phaser for two reasons: GMProps' electronics for this one were the first I found for sale and it'll help me get a feel for the shape and color of Treknology before I graduate to something bigger like a Type II phaser or a tricorder. I'm use to Ghostbuster props that have harder edges and are mostly just flat black.

Smaller = harder to notice newbie mistakes. Especially when you can hide the thing behind your pinky finger. xD

 

[BAK55]

Please don't misunderstand my comment as being a critsizm of your choice of prop. I merely had been trying to point out for those who may not know the reasoning they hadn't been used so often.

If this had been around at the time, I wouldn't have bothered getting the Galoob toy which is a monster in comparison.

 

[Snarkticon]

No worries, BAK. I knew what you were getting at.

Yeah a friend of mine was asking me what I thought about the Galoob one this morning actually. It's not QUITE as big as the Playmates, but it is still super-sized.

 

[Apollo]

Nice build!

Always loved the cricket!!

 

[-E-]

Looks good so far. This is one of my favorite trek props. Are you going to do a seasons 1-2 paint scheme later season scheme?

 

[Snarkticon]

I'm thinking the later color scheme. It just pops more.

 

[Kennyd]

Nice build. Can anyone tell me is the keychain version which is often seen for sale, anything like the actual prop size ?

 

[Robiwon]

Nice build. Can anyone tell me is the keychain version which is often seen for sale, anything like the actual prop size ?

It's much smaller than the actual prop. I have one that I stared to modify years ago but never finished. Then I found the Stapleton kit. Worlds better! I can post a comparison pic of the two if you want.

 

[michelbites]

I'm new to this site. I think this is going to be my first project to complete. I like the way the cricket phaser looks. To bad they didn't use it more in the TV show but understandable why they didn't. No one could see the thing on TV but with that big type 1 phaser i think they would have kept it.. LoL

 

[Kennyd]

It's much smaller than the actual prop. I have one that I stared to modify years ago but never finished. Then I found the Stapleton kit. Worlds better! I can post a comparison pic of the two if you want.

Yes, please do

 

[PeterLC]

Yeah I have one of the keychains somewhere as well. Should dig it out.

It's much smaller than the actual prop. I have one that I stared to modify years ago but never finished. Then I found the Stapleton kit. Worlds better! I can post a comparison pic of the two if you want.

 

[Snarkticon]

I had completely forgotten about this prop! I should dig it out and finish it. xD

 

[Kennyd]

If anyone has the Galoob version as well could they post a side by side pic ? :thumbsup

 

[PeterLC]

I can't recall if I have the Galoob version or the Playmates one now. I bought it 2nd hand at an auction years ago.