3DTrek TOS beam down gear (phaser, comm, tri)

vfxart

Stuck in a bit of nasty freelance character work, so doing a little sanity modeling, but low key stuff... hence the 'big three' from Trek. Working on the phaser ii now, will revisit the communicator, then have some fun with the tricorder to finish out the group.

Have a q about the material of the phasers... and I think a dozen forums will get me an answer but: the phasers, aside from not being the kydex of the comm and tri, seem to be straightforward plastic bodies/grips... at least of a type that I can stay petty simple with when building the shaders, yes?

And to explain the smart-assery of cutting in the delta, it was one of my favorite additions on the assault phasers (the addition of the ID plates), so inst of just modeling in the screws and opening, figured I'd do something a bit on the different side. She's all subD, base materials b/c I get tired of staring at grey.

Quick edit: the body and handle are single meshes. The nozzle is the most complex area, but come on, it's a bunch of cylinders with a bit of detail around them. Have tried to be tight with modeling openings for bits to get tucked into (the brass rod, etc) but that's as much for some problem-solving fun as for any 'accuracy'.

Best to all,

phaserFun.jpg
comm_01.jpg

evil_genius_180

Nice. These were such cool props. The communicator looks really good and the phaser is coming along nicely. As far as I know, the bodies and grips were just painted plastic.

vfxart

New cat brought into household, so an on/off hour+ at the keys.

Got P1 going, and as ever it amuses me as to the range of ref, how little seems to agree, even with images of the various real props. Annoyed that the cuts for the sight wheel don't allow me to cut in the actual sight (too tight on the subD), so may remove the inset and place the wheel on rather than in for the sake of getting the sight cut in and under the foil strip... decisions decisions.

phaser_IP2.jpg

evil_genius_180

It's looking good.

The real props were likely all hand crafted and had subtle differences. For something like that, you just have to pick and choose what you like best.

Jenny

Wah Chang, the designer who created the TOS props, was not a union member, and was never credited onscreen because of that. He made a handful of original phaser props, including both black-handle and white-handle hero props, by hand. So, yes... the originals vary depending on which one you're looking at.

publiusr

Great work. I don't see as many variations on a theme with TOS equipment as with ships.

vfxart

Modeling for the phasers is about done, a couple of tweaks remain. May chase down some detail and one bit that while hidden would be good to get tight, then on to the surfacing.

phaserMR_800.jpg