DWVinny
Well-Known Member
Made this for my son recently, thought Id share.
He has been begging me to make one for a while now. So I finally broke down and made him his dragon radar. Its a replica of the one Bulma uses on Namek In the Frieza saga. I honestly would have simply bought him a licenced toy but.. Surprisingly enough Ive yet to see a decent replica or toy that looks accurate to the show..
Its a rush job. Done over a weekend. Probably only 6-8 hrs total labor, including welding, bondo, and paint, so its not a perfect finish. But I think it still looks pretty cool ,and fairly screen accurate. Since I slapped this together in a hurry, I didnt have time to give it sound. But I found a good wav. file of the bleeps, and ordered a micro sd player. So I will be adding that asap.
just eyeballing the dimensions via the cartoon Ive established that if it were real.
It would probably measure roughly 4 inches in diameter and 2 inches thick. Mine is Constructed of a 4in Aluminum tube body.The top button is resin and was hand turned on my wood lathe, the electronics were stolen from a xmas wreath LED set.. The on off button came from a pocket flash light.
Anyway heres the build up.
Its really hard to tell from the few clips on the show, what shape it should actually be. Some shots it looks as though the edges of the radar are very rounded. But it seems the majority of shots I saw make it look as though its more flat tube shaped. So thats how I made this one. I welded together an aluminum shell with a small retainer ring on the front. Solid back, with tabs for mounting screws, and a trapezoidal tube I found laying around for the button hole.
The Lense is made from double layered plexiglass. I shaped the outer layer to be slightly convex. I used the inner layer to mount the electronics and batteries
Im not sure if the back of the radar is ever shown on the show, Ive never seen it anyway. I took the liberty to put a Capsule corp logo on it. Probably not correct, but it looks cool if you ask me.
I etched one in the top of the button as well because .. Well why not?
The button is glued to the switch and although it fits snugly in the hole on the body it still seems kind of flimsy It works for now but Ill most likely address the issue later on to make it more sturdy.
The graphics for the face were made from colored sticker vinyl. I tried a few different things in an attempt to get both the dots and numbers to light up and fade together, but as is,without tinting the face.. The numbers just wouldnt look right so I made those permanent with gold vinyl. Yes I know the 4 is a bit crooked..LOL
Heres a short vid of it in action
[video]https://www.facebook.com/DestructionWarehouseVinny/videos/965959936794974/[/video]
And a reference shot for comparison
What ya think? Good or bad lemme hear some feedback.
He has been begging me to make one for a while now. So I finally broke down and made him his dragon radar. Its a replica of the one Bulma uses on Namek In the Frieza saga. I honestly would have simply bought him a licenced toy but.. Surprisingly enough Ive yet to see a decent replica or toy that looks accurate to the show..
Its a rush job. Done over a weekend. Probably only 6-8 hrs total labor, including welding, bondo, and paint, so its not a perfect finish. But I think it still looks pretty cool ,and fairly screen accurate. Since I slapped this together in a hurry, I didnt have time to give it sound. But I found a good wav. file of the bleeps, and ordered a micro sd player. So I will be adding that asap.
just eyeballing the dimensions via the cartoon Ive established that if it were real.
It would probably measure roughly 4 inches in diameter and 2 inches thick. Mine is Constructed of a 4in Aluminum tube body.The top button is resin and was hand turned on my wood lathe, the electronics were stolen from a xmas wreath LED set.. The on off button came from a pocket flash light.
Anyway heres the build up.
Its really hard to tell from the few clips on the show, what shape it should actually be. Some shots it looks as though the edges of the radar are very rounded. But it seems the majority of shots I saw make it look as though its more flat tube shaped. So thats how I made this one. I welded together an aluminum shell with a small retainer ring on the front. Solid back, with tabs for mounting screws, and a trapezoidal tube I found laying around for the button hole.
The Lense is made from double layered plexiglass. I shaped the outer layer to be slightly convex. I used the inner layer to mount the electronics and batteries
Im not sure if the back of the radar is ever shown on the show, Ive never seen it anyway. I took the liberty to put a Capsule corp logo on it. Probably not correct, but it looks cool if you ask me.
I etched one in the top of the button as well because .. Well why not?
The button is glued to the switch and although it fits snugly in the hole on the body it still seems kind of flimsy It works for now but Ill most likely address the issue later on to make it more sturdy.
The graphics for the face were made from colored sticker vinyl. I tried a few different things in an attempt to get both the dots and numbers to light up and fade together, but as is,without tinting the face.. The numbers just wouldnt look right so I made those permanent with gold vinyl. Yes I know the 4 is a bit crooked..LOL
Heres a short vid of it in action
[video]https://www.facebook.com/DestructionWarehouseVinny/videos/965959936794974/[/video]
And a reference shot for comparison
What ya think? Good or bad lemme hear some feedback.
Last edited by a moderator:
