Technically we'll have two face plates. I will be using brass for those. More on that later...
I was thinking of doing all of the stuff for the inside of the lid on a separate plate then fixing it in place. Plastic would suffice for that I think. I would like to do the main faceplate using brass but have no way to get it cut and have the holes done well. No local cutting place seems to want to do it for me.
Sometimes you just want a quick simple solution, where quick doesn't work. The Acetone worked so well on the aluminum cases, so easy to want more quick solutions. The plastic cases will probably be just a little more work. It's easy to loose patience sometimes.
Which was why I didn't want to just put acetone on to it and risk damaging the plastic box. I always expected that in some ways the plastic box would be more of a challenge and in other ways not.
I was thinking these were the 1/4 size. I've discovered the "Servo" type is the one with a longer stem, most other eyelets are shorter.
I've not looked into what is around here eyelet-wise. I was just wanting to find ones that looked close to what was used. The rolled top of the eyelets on the prop seems to be not as wide as most eyelets that one sees in dress-making and hobby shops.
The screen accurate size is enough for me. I didn't care too much for the Radar plug-in. I wonder if they will ever use those again in the show?
Maybe we'll never see them again but I thought it might be fun to have it. I plan on adding the eyelets to the original Farnsworth too so it can be fitted to that. Since the episode where they were added we see them all the time in screenshots so I figure it is how the Farnsworths look now. I may leave one unmodified and only alter the other one.
I gotta disagree. I think those antennas are a single piece and drilled into the case body. HickeyDesign mentioned "welding or plasma cutting tips". I saw some of these at an industrial hardware store during my brass Farns build. He's definitely on to something. There are hundreds and they come in single-tip packs.
None of the ones I've seen look like the antennas but certainly if you or anyone else finds the right ones, I'll be sure to use them, if I can get them.
The Presta Tyre valves I've seen all look too uniform (universal fit?), plus the cutting tips do have a body like Tyre valve. Check the fourth pic, top of the Black Farns with the exposed interior.
I guess it will be easy enough to make up one and see what it looks like using the various parts including the valve stem and if it looks like crap then not use it. Or if I had access to a lathe then I could turn them.
Full sized Farns blueprints would be cool. Anyone good at this? Contact me, I have other blueprint work to be done too.
I used to actually do this years ago. I did the drawings on film using ink and then they were put through a machine with the blueprint paper to "print" them. Changes were made to the film copy with a razor blade and ink and then new copies were printed. It was used to print on to other media too for large format mechanical drawings.
I also used to do circuit drawings this way and they were "copied" on to paper. These days one just does the drawing using computer software and the drawings are simply plotted or printed, which I also did for about 10 years in the railway signalling industry.
These days I don't know what methods are used for blueprints.
That is only one of the major problems with this built. It's possible that knob is a built of its own. I think it's three separate parts, plus the dial plate has to have space to accommodate the small "Farnsworth" text.
I have seen a knob that is similar but it doesn't have the long pointer. This one is probably from an old radio set of some kind. I guess one could always make the knob from an existing one. I saw a dial plate that has the right scale but is upside down. It would be easy enough to paint it the correct way and letraset the numbers and letters. I have no facility for printing on to plastic or metal. The silver rim though doesn't seem to be on any of the ones I've seen.
I was thinking those were another type of clear crystal like on the brass Farns? I have extras I was going to sand down to fit. Finding those brass rim in the same style but two different sizes is going to be the real booger.
That's why I thought they might be something that already had the gold rim on it. The bottom one almost looks more like a button than an indicator. After all one does need to have a call/answer button like on the other one. I do have some smaller cabochons in plastic.
I think you're going above and beyond what the original prop masters did on the show. The flourishes just don't look "raised" enough to convince me they are made of a single strain of wire.
Whereas to me they look quite raised. To me it's obvious where the wire crosses itself. Again I have no other means to do that sort of thing. I have no access to any equipment that can etch or print this sort of detail work.
I'm in the graphic biz and we use a masking technique (based on Romarking) where we plot out any given shapes in vinyl decals and lay them on a metal's surface. The metal is painted and after drying we remove the vinyl decal shapes exposing the original metal color. The vinyl decals are just used as a specific-shaped mask. I'm pretty sure that is what we're seeing on this Farns. That's why I will be using painted brass for my face plates.
Can it do stuff as fine as the detail on that wreath shape around the grill on the right? While the flourishes may not look raised at all to you, won't the result of this masking/painting technique be that those details will actually be lower in profile than the painted areas? Of course if a reasonably price etched/painted brass faceplate were to be made available, I'd use that.
I'm not saying your way won't work, but I know for sure you'll be taking the hard (and expensive) way around. Save your strength
for the symmetrical copper wire work in top case.
I have no real options for any of this stuff unless someone can produce something suitable at a reasonable price for sale. It will be fiddly to do but not so expensive as my time is my own. The heavier wire work in the lid is the much easier part. I have a wire jig so those wavy wires will be easy to do.
I won't need to remove it for painting, plus I want to maintain the original structural integrity of the case.
Removing the fillets and replacing them won't affect the structure of the case at all as it is molded plastic. It would be easier to paint or anodise that way, but masking and painting it won't be that hard either.
I think all the surface face plate components will be a massive buy in itself, let alone all that stuff. No thanks.
I agree that stuff is going to be hard to find and maybe a little expensive too but a lot of the stuff inside is stuff that many of us have in our electronics junk boxes. Of course the main thing is to get the actual prop itself made. One can always come back and add the internal stuff later on so it is not a priority for me to do either. It's just in my mind that it could be an option like the direction finder dish.
This project may stall completely if all of the parts can't be found or made. I'm not starting any assembly of it until I know I can get all of the parts one way or another. I have some of the stuff. More of the vacuum formed screens are needed as I'm not completely happy with the tap/push light domes that i have been able to happy.
Work on much of this stuff relies on having access to the right equipment to do it. I have no machining capability except for what I can do by hand and no printing capability beyond what my printer at home can do. I'm also limited by what I can buy here comapred with what is available in the USofA. I've had to have some stuff sent over there.
As far as making any sort of gun props it is much harder here as we can't buy locally or import real guns, replicas or even Airsoft guns to use for a base.
