Seeking Advice for Tricorder Build

ram4815162342

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Hi all,

Fresh off making my first Kermit puppet thanks to the information in ecl's amazing thread, I wanted to tackle something different - and another prop I've wanted in my collection for a long time. After doing some research on the boards here, I purchased a Stapleton Mark X Tricorder kit along with the electronics from gmprops. However, despite reading every thread on tricorders that I could find on the RPF, I haven't found as much additional detail as I had hoped to help me with the final build. I saw that the ideal color is Dove Gray...which apparently went out of production. I found similar named paints: https://www.amazon.com/Rust-Oleum-1684830-General-Purpose-container/dp/B00M1DYPA0 - but I don't know how closely that resembles the right color. I do have a can of Krylon Castle Rock on the way from Amazon.

I was just curious if anyone with experience building tricorders had any tips they'd be willing to share to a first-time builder? Paint color, technique, graphics technique, to clear coat or not, tips on installing the electronics (I liked someones suggestion of using foam to separate them internally for less light-bleed).

Thanks in advance for any help. Can't wait to get going on this project!!
 
Are you building a Mark X (TNG movies, later DS9/VOY) or Mark VII (TNG TV series, early DS9/VOY)?

The Mark X style was a metallic charcoal gray color, originally Plasti-kote # 7173, which is long out of production (and the color of which changed over the period it actually was in production). A common substitute these days is Dupli-color BGM0478 Med Marblehead Met., but it's not a perfect match. Take a look at post 107 here for a comparison between a screen-used item in what seems to be 7173, later 7173, and the Dupli-color: http://discuss.fleetworkshop.org/t/paint-codes/195/111

The Mark VII was painted in one of several formulations of Dove Gray (usually Krylon brand, no longer available) with a light mist coat of a silver Krylon to add some sparkle. A very close modern equivalent is Krylon Classic Gray (Castle Rock is more of a match to a later formulation of Dove Gray that was used on early Voyager PADDs).
 
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