Star Trek TNG era movie Isolinear board holder identifying troubles

Orion13

Member
Hello fellow prop people

I'm new to posting here so I apologise if I have posted this wrong.

I recently acquired some replica Isolinear boards (the ones larger than the normal chips) and would love to display them / have them on my desk alla tng movie style
I am having trouble identifying the 'holder' for them on Picard's desk (see links)

http://www.icollector.com/Isolinear-chips-and-holder-from-Star-Trek-First-Contact_i10031007

http://media.liveauctiongroup.net/i/13173/13362736_1.jpg?v=8CF3A2E27D55BD0

I have tried looking at CD / Letter / Coaster holder and rack ect ect but get nowhere, I have a hunch that they were made by production.

Does anyone have any information as to how they were made or how I could get something similar to display the boards

Thanks for reading!
 
It looks like nothing more than an acrylic block to me. Any custom plastics place, like TAP, should be able to handle making that.
 
Looks like they were cut from clear blocks of solid acrylic. Not sure how the grooves were polished. I suppose its also possible that a master pattern was made with all applicable "smoothness" built in and then a silicone mold made. Throw in some clear cast resin and put into a pressure pot to get rid of bubbles and there ya go, "bob's your uncle."
 
sorry for the late reply, those blocks can mostly be found at an architecture modeller shop, they can order a block for you. And mostly for those Trek props they are custome made at the work shop. The grooves are possibly flame polished, means a mini torch blower is quickly waved above the grooves that the dull cut melts just enough to be clear.
 
Thanks for the advice, looking into custom acrylic / perspex / polycarbonate routing, as its essentially a block with slots cut in it, it does seem an expensive option though, good news is the boards arrived today and are fantastic
 
As a matter of interest, I have tried making one of these myself as I make Isolinear boards etc. I have access to a laser cutter/engraver and was planning to cut layers of 3mm acrylic which I could bolt together to the required thickness. I would cut one thick block if I could but the laser is incapable of cutting acrylic of that thickness. I would make it about 50mm wide and 35mm deep so that it can support most sizes of Isolinear chip. The only problem I would have is engraving "USS Enterprise NCC-1701-E" on the front which could over complicate everything.

I'll have a play with my software and see what I can come up with,
Michael.
 
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Guys, correct me if I'm wrong but zooming in on the grooves where the chips sit for this display it looks like they aren't actually clear inside.
 
No, thats just the finish the acrylic/perspex gets once it has been cut or engraved. It can be polished out but obviously wasn't for the prop.
 
Have been working with a plastics shop on this project and should have some prototypes to show soon. They are surprisingly expensive to make given the fairly simple
design. Getting the acrylic block and machining it is no big deal, but etching on that front slanted surface is not something everyone wants to do, and the polishing to get it nice and clear is a tricky secondary process. A friend just out me on to this thread, it's a project we were working on independently of this thread, but since we are all looking for the same thing I'll keep you updated. Perhaps more interest will get the price down.
 
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