Here's chronological history of the cryo on the RPF. It should answer some questions for the newer guys. :thumbsup
About two decades ago, when the RPF was young, we were still debating things like how many grips were on a lightsaber, what color is the bottom of the Bladerunner gun grip, that sorta thing... We also debated the cryocan; what it had, what it didn't have. I mean, there was an entire group of us who had researched the cryo to death, but we were still making educated guesses. Over the years, runs came and went from a few different builders and changes would be made as we learned.
Anyway, our first 'in hand' reference came from Universal in California when a former board member took a couple photos of a supposed 'made for production' prop which had been on display. This started one of many debates. The first; the whole 'rust colored o-ring' debate. I saw what looked like 2 red rubber bands, others saw a dry-rotted o-ring. In the end, we concluded the original o-ring rotted off and someone put the bands on the prop to keep it from falling out of the can. Until then, we all used black o-rings. We take details like this for granted now, but this first bit of solid reference also confirmed how many ribs there were on the bottom spindle and it also answered questions like, "are the steps on the bottom of the rack just graduated to resemble threads or were they actually corkscrewed?" But, it also left a couple people speculating if they saw something peeking out behind the vials. Some saw reflections, some saw what appeared to be an elbow where the machine work wasn't taken all the way back to to the post...I'd yet to offer a run at this point and was split on the issue. Naturally, there were people who questioned if this was in fact a production made piece or something made after the fact. Since it was displayed with a pair of NV Goggles that differed from the display goggles, I believed it was legit.
Fast forward a year or two and I was doing some product placement work with Universal Orlando. This afforded me the opportunity to get some measurements off of another supposed 'made for production' prop. While I didn't remove the vials, I was able to measure the outer dimensions and check out the mechanism. I don't recall if the left coast prop had a flat bottom or not, but I remember that's the one detail that stuck out on this one. I also saw no inner elbow on the rack. Granted, it's of course entirely possible one was machined behind the vials, but if it was there, I missed it. I don't believe they were the same prop; although, all of the outward details were the same. Nothing jumped out as glaringly different...presuming as with most productions, that more than one prop was made which may differ slightly from one to another, I would later use this design in my replica.
Ironically, if a licensee had come along and used a supposed "production made" prop that was on display in the parks as reference as little as 8 or 9 years ago, it would've been mine! They've found their way into everything from the Bluray and commercials to themselves having been on display in an official capacity. Just an example of how easy it is for reference to get a little funky over time.
Over the years, I've come to believe the screen used hero is long gone or sitting safely on a shelf in someone's office. As mentioned earlier, it wouldn't be unusual for multiple props to have been made for the film. This particular elbow or 'shelf' since unseen with vials in place may have been omitted from other pieces or as I said, it could've been completely overlooked. Either way, yes, it is a known difference in what I would now call the screen used HERO prop.
As for the video where Chronicle gives me a shout out regarding how close I was...it's just that. A friend acknowledging my prototype is pretty bang on when compared to their reference material, measurement wise. It's hardly the final product. A I said, I think you guys are gonna be pretty pleased when all is said and done. The studio has an impressive inventory of reference material, notes and surviving props that is made available to their licensees. Just as though the initial artist rendering differs from my proto, so shall my proto from the final pieces.
Oh and to be clear. I'm not manufacturing these...just consulting since I know where some of the pitfalls are in the machining process and so forth.
Hope that helps. :thumbsup
Note/Edit: I'm adding to and editing this as time permits. There's been a lot of info over the years and this was just one of countless replicas I've taken an interest in. I'll continue to add if it's worth sharing. Ex: I just remembered another debated feature was if the cryo actually had a groove running up the center post. The CW prop confirmed this. Again, funny how the things we consider "no *****" details now were once in question. I wish I could remember who some of our major contributors were back in the day. I've always tried to acknowledge that it was truly a die-hard, active build group who ultimately helped hash out my replica. Good times.