Star Trek III through VI Tricorder

[BajaTym]

After a small amount of finishing and color pondering I’d decided on the SFS color scheme. To make things simple for myself I stuck with the Tamiya colors (gun metal for the body and flat black for the louvers) I had on hand, I believe they’re a close enough approximation.

Even though I spent a bit of time sanding and working the surfaces a few spots still could’ve used a little more cleanup. Since I’m suffering from a bought of impatience (and already wanting to start over) I’ve decided to leave them for now.

While the paint was drying I started designing the electronics and graphics. I then spent this past week bouncing from circuit design to graphic design and back several times. In the end, I think I’ve come up with some generic enough displays to serve my purpose.

The graphics are super simplified and have very little meaning, but still give the impression of functionality. In the end I’m hoping to apply simple animations like blinking elements, but that’ll all depend on the Arduino sketch design.

While I can build circuits, I have only the most rudimentary programming skills… like 30 year old MBASIC! Even though I’ve been trying to teach myself C++, I’ve had to concede to my limitations, I just don’t have the mind for it. In the end I’ve recruited a good friend to help with the Arduino functions. Since he’s a actual professional programmer and is willing to at least try to make sense of my illogical design it give me hope that everything will come together very quickly. Now he’s not much of a Trek fan, he actually thinks this tricorder is the stupidest piece of equipment he’s ever seen, but I’m sure he’ll pull through.

Anyway, once my buddy gets me the Arduino sketch I’ll be able to build the necessary PCBs and connect everything together.

--- Okay, these are all of my post to date. I'm hoping to get the electronics together very soon.

More to come soon—James

 

[renaissance_man]

This is a great project, you're doing a fantastic job.

 

[BajaTym]

This is a great project, you're doing a fantastic job.

Thanks, it’s my first build I’m many years. I appreciate it.

 

[AJK001]

That is looking awesome and I can't wait to see it completed. The SFS props are some of my favorite from all of the series and movies.

 

[BajaTym]

That is looking awesome and I can't wait to see it completed. The SFS props are some of my favorite from all of the series and movies.

Same here, while I tend to prefer all of the movie-era props, the SFS ones are my favorite.

 

[AJK001]

Same here, while I tend to prefer all of the movie-era props, the SFS ones are my favorite.

I feel pretty much the same way. I've got the Phasers and Communicators from both ST3 & ST5 but have never been able to get either of the Tricorders. When they were available back in the 90's I hadn't really started collecting yet and when I did I was only interested in the TOS TV show props.

 

[13doctorwho]

This is my favorite Tricorder. Any chance a kit or two will show up in the Junkyard... or maybe a project run? I've been wanting to model this for 3d printing forever, but if one were made available...

 

[BajaTym]

This is my favorite Tricorder. Any chance a kit or two will show up in the Junkyard... or maybe a project run? I've been wanting to model this for 3d printing forever, but if one were made available...

Probably not for this build, it’s far from screen accurate and really just a proof of concept. When this project is finished I plan on doing a screen accurate build, perhaps at that point, but I’ll have to think about it.

I do have several unfinished test prints sitting around, maybe I’ll pawn them off... I’ll think about it.

 

[don1701]

Part 3: CAD Files and Design… continued

Okay, last week I was able to check my design measurements against an actual casting; while my build is remarkably accurate, it’s approx. 6 mm wider & taller.

In addition there are several noticeable dimensional differences; louver/grill height and corner-curvature, the overall dimension/shape (even with my over-scaling accounted for) of the viewing scope, and thickness of the main body/housing. But considering all that I had was photos, I think it turned out pretty good.

Mine is on the right (dark grey):

View attachment 991891

View attachment 991895

View attachment 991894


Now normally my response to this type of comparison would be to stop, make note of every difference, go back and mod the CAD files/correct every error, then reprint everything as needed. But I’ve reconsidered since this was never intended to be screen accurate anyway. Instead I’ve decided to just make note of the needed adjustments and press forward with this print and incorporate the changes into a future screen-accurate build.

Anyway, as it stands now, everything’s been cleaned and prepped, the ribbon cable has been glued on, and the body primed. So I have a little body work to take care of and if all goes well I’ll be laying down my first coat of color tomorrow.

View attachment 991898

View attachment 991897


Thanks for looking… and loud shoutout and thanks to Scott! – James

I was wondering if you did anything that prevents the Scanner Head from coming out when raised; for example a "catch" or something? Does the Scanner head pop up or does it physically need to be raised up?

 

[BajaTym]

I was wondering if you did anything that prevents the Scanner Head from coming out when raised; for example a "catch" or something?

Yes, there is an internal track (of sorts) that runs down the back of the unit and serves as a recess to retain the TP tube. There is a "ring" that attaches the TP tube to the scanner head, when raised, the ring also serves as a stop end.

Does the Scanner head pop up or does it physically need to be raised up?

It pops up. There is a spring inside the collapsible TP tube, the scanner head is held in place (when closed) by a clasp/spring latch. To open, you simply pushed down on the head and it pops up; to close, you simply push down and it latches closed.

 

[Inquisitor Peregrinus]

Add me to the request list. Even if it's just paying for a 3D printing ready model. I've got production covered. I just don't have the digital modeling chops or the time to develop them.

Attendant to that, would you consider modeling the Renault model parts used, as well?

I loved the movie paraphernalia so much. The first Trek costume I made was a first-season TNG jumpsuit, at 13. But through high school I honed my abilities and made a pretty good and well-researched movie uniform... that I outgrew. I was so annoyed at all that time and money and effort gone to waste that it put me off Trek costuming for years. But in the last five years or so, the itch has returned. Ive got the MR TFF phaser, I'm going to be getting the TSFS communicator kit, I have all my accumulated uniform superdetailing materials like the jacket flap chain and screen-used insignia pin scavenged from my defunct costume, and I had just re-started research on the TMP/TWOK phaser and this tricorder when you restarted this. So thank you for cranking my renewed interest even higher.

 

[BrooklynGuy]

This is a fantastic build. As much as I love the TOS tricorder, I'm really partial to the movie era trics

 

[BajaTym]

This is a fantastic build. As much as I love the TOS tricorder, I'm really partial to the movie era trics

Yep, I’ve always wanted one of these. It’s really my favorite prop of all time. I was 8 when I watched the SFS in theaters, ever since then I NEEDED it. To my kids eye it was a natural evolution of the TOS design, just like the phaser in the same movie. It’s funny, as an adult I like the simple design of TMP model, but as a kid I didn’t even recognize it as a tricorder (regardless of how useless it is not to have a display). So when the SFS came out it was like “BAM” a real tricorder!

This builds ok, I already want to start over. I’ve already started redesigning just about everything to make it more accurate. Even though my next build will be a screen accurate model, I’m still going to try and find a more proper sized screen to fit the scope so it doesn’t need to be enlarged on a future design.

 

[Inquisitor Peregrinus]

What would the proper screen dimensions be? I've dug around a lot in my searches for properly-sized screens for various PipBoys, a Ghost, and my TNG MkVI tricorder, so I may have accidentally stumbled across something you haven't.

Thanks so much, by the way, for listing the other components you found. It's nice to have them all in one place, and I may or may not have already ordered some to get my project bin for this started.

 

[masterjedi322]

What a great build! Thanks for taking the time to document everything! Looking forward to seeing more.

Sean

 

[BajaTym]

Attendant to that, would you consider modeling the Renault model parts used, as well?

Yep, I can do that. For my build I'll be cold casting the parts to match the film.

So thank you for cranking my renewed interest even higher.

You're welcome, I'm happy to light the fire of obsession whenever I can. Misery is best when shared!

I tried my hand at costuming, but only for my kids and none of it's been trek related. Maybe I'll look into that as well.

 

[BajaTym]

What would the proper screen dimensions be?

Well, I'm thinking 25mm x 20mm.

Thanks so much, by the way, for listing the other components you found. It's nice to have them all in one place, and I may or may not have already ordered some to get my project bin for this started.

You're welcome, there are several variations between ST3-ST6 units. When I do my screen accurate build I'll try to make a comprehensive list of parts needed to build each version.

 

[Inquisitor Peregrinus]

Well, I'm thinking 25mm x 20mm.

Viewable area, or absolute?

You're welcome, there are several variations between ST3-ST6 units. When I do my screen accurate build I'll try to make a comprehensive list of parts needed to build each version.

I, too, prefer the TSFS version, but don't feel the need to exactly re-create it, warts'n'all. I tend toward a "more accurate to the in-universe item than the film prop" approach in my builds. I want something that bears up under scrutiny, rather than only looking good enough to be glimpsed from ten feet away for two seconds.

 

[BajaTym]

Viewable area, or absolute?

Absolute. There isn't much space in the scope for much beyond my measurements,

I, too, prefer the TSFS version, but don't feel the need to exactly re-create it, warts'n'all. I tend toward a "more accurate to the in-universe item than the film prop" approach in my builds. I want something that bears up under scrutiny, rather than only looking good enough to be glimpsed from ten feet away for two seconds.

Totally Agreed. I much prefer a real-world approach to my props. Metal should look and feel like metal, if there're buttons, then they should serve a functional purpose. The neat and unfortunate thing about this tricorder (Type B) is that there's no documentation on how it actually functions, beyond the ILM sketch. Making it worse it the LED details changes from film to film. On screen it's just a bunch of meaningless buttons, LEDs, and no screen. So when I started on this new build I figured I'd forgo the LEDs in the scope and add a screen that actually displayed dated and could react to button inputs. Any screen-accurate build I do in the future will focus on demential accuracy, I won't be including any (perceived to me) failings from the original... I guess symmetry is the key.

 

[don1701]

Yes, there is an internal track (of sorts) that runs down the back of the unit and serves as a recess to retain the TP tube. There is a "ring" that attaches the TP tube to the scanner head, when raised, the ring also serves as a stop end.

View attachment 992621
View attachment 992622



It pops up. There is a spring inside the collapsible TP tube, the scanner head is held in place (when closed) by a clasp/spring latch. To open, you simply pushed down on the head and it pops up; to close, you simply push down and it latches closed.

Where did you obtain your clasp/spring latch?