Clear sight mechanism on the TOS phaser 1

wayouteast

Sr Member
Hi all,

Does anyone have any insight on the way the flip-up clear acrylic sight works on the phaser 1 from TOS?

I understand that as you rotate the knurled brass thumbwheel on the phaser a connecting rod inside the body causes a half-round acrylic rod to rotate and push up the silver textured 'plate' at the front of the phaser (as well as extending the emitter).

What I'm struggling to understand precisely is how the acrylic rod interacts with the flat plate as it pushes it up, and what the rectangle that can sometimes be seen at the rear of the sight plate is. Sometimes this rectangle appears to be raised and black like the phaser body, sometimes it appears to be a clear flat feature as if it's the flat surface of the acrylic rod prior to rotating, and sometimes it just isn't there at all.

If this rectangular feature ( when it's present) is the flat surface of the acrylic rod I'm puzzling how the rotating rod manages to push the plate upwards rather than simply hitting its edge and being blocked from rotating further. If the rectangular feature isn't the acrylic rod (and the rod simply rotates upwards underneath the plate with the edge of the rod's flat surface ending up just under the rear edge of the plate) then what is it?

The various photos of the prop (both original and replica) have left me none the wiser. And although I've done a reasonably extensive search of these forums I haven't found the answer yet.

Can anybody who's built or had access to a phaser with a working sight please advise?

Many thanks!
 
Maybe someone out there can share the instructions for John Long's phaser I kit. It is an exact replica of the original - materials, design, everything - and will fully explain how it works.
 
Maybe someone out there can share the instructions for John Long's phaser I kit. It is an exact replica of the original - materials, design, everything - and will fully explain how it works.


Thank you! That page is useful - and suggests (at least this picture does)...

Phaser-P1&P2.jpg

... that the acrylic sight did sometimes get stuck on the silver panel!
 
Are you looking for authenticity, as in "I want my prop to work like the original", or are you merely looking to recreate the motion?

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The latter. I'd just like to be able to replicate the action of the pop up sight. :)

- - - Updated - - -

Why not just have a rod attached to the wheel that pushes the pieces?

BTW: Man! Kirk's got some long nails!


Hahaha! :D

Thanks, but it's not really that bit of the mechanism that's the issue, to be honest. It's the way the acrylic piece interacts with the (aspirator?) grille as it's pushed into its 'upright' position.
 
The latter. I'd just like to be able to replicate the action of the pop up sight. :)

- - - Updated - - -




Hahaha! :D

Thanks, but it's not really that bit of the mechanism that's the issue, to be honest. It's the way the acrylic piece interacts with the (aspirator?) grille as it's pushed into its 'upright' position.
Can you sketch the motion you want, from input to output?

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You are aware of the Wand Company Phaser remote that was released a few years back, right? For $125 or so, you get a very nice replica of the pistol phaser with a removable hand unit that has the flip-up acrylic site mechanism. You can find them on eBay, ThinkGeek and even BestBuy used to sell them. For the money, you would be hard pressed to fund a more accurate phaser replica with light and sound effects.

http://www.thewandcompany.com/phaser/
 
You are aware of the Wand Company Phaser remote that was released a few years back, right? For $125 or so, you get a very nice replica of the pistol phaser with a removable hand unit that has the flip-up acrylic site mechanism. You can find them on eBay, ThinkGeek and even BestBuy used to sell them. For the money, you would be hard pressed to fund a more accurate phaser replica with light and sound effects.

http://www.thewandcompany.com/phaser/

I was just thinking this as well. You could buy one and take it apart if you wanted to. They are amazing replicas. On sale at thinkgeek right now too.

http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/1db4/
 
I was just thinking this as well. You could buy one and take it apart if you wanted to. They are amazing replicas. On sale at thinkgeek right now too.

http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/1db4/

You are aware of the Wand Company Phaser remote that was released a few years back, right? For $125 or so, you get a very nice replica of the pistol phaser with a removable hand unit that has the flip-up acrylic site mechanism. You can find them on eBay, ThinkGeek and even BestBuy used to sell them. For the money, you would be hard pressed to fund a more accurate phaser replica with light and sound effects.

http://www.thewandcompany.com/phaser/


Yes, I've seen this and it does, indeed, look amazing! I'm certainly considering one. But I suppose there's perhaps a bit more satisfaction in something I've at least contributed to myself in terms of 'making'.

I have an old '23rd Century Pistol' kit that's been lurking about in a cupboard for years and I'd like to use that to complete my ST Phaser collection for that reason. All the other phasers have at least minimal lighting effects in them, and it occurred to me that it would be nice to have some aspect of the behaviour of the real prop in the TOS one. The 'sight' action seemed the way to go as I'm undecided as to whether to add the 'light' that's sometimes indicated on the top of the phaser 1 and sometimes not depending on the episode the screengrab is taken from or the particular prop that's referenced.

Thanks for all the replies!
 
That was a crystal it never" lit" on the screen used props


I'm undecided as to whether to add the 'light' that's sometimes indicated on the top of the phaser 1 and sometimes not depending on the episode the screengrab is taken from or the particular prop that's referenced.

Thanks for all the replies!
 
The grill portion is a wedge shaped hood made from thin brass sheet, and pivots on an axle at the front corners. The thumb wheel rotates the acrylic, which pushes the hood up. It's not stuck in those screen caps, it's just shown at the midway point of rotation.
 
LabMan, robn1, CessnaDriver, Apollo - thanks for the further replies, which have clarified things considerably. I can now see that the acrylic does in fact extend under the aspirator grille, so would never get caught on the edge. The relationship between the two elements is clear, now, so I can start to build a prototype set up inside the P1. Thanks!
 
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