Unseen TOS....
- Thread starter Warped9
- Start date
I certainly would if I wanted my prop to look like TOS!
I thought we were disregarding real world concerns of weapons in favor of real world concerns of prop-making.
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Didn't the Type II phasers (pistol style) reveal an illuminating emitter in "Gamesters of Triskelion" when the landing party is sideswiped to that world? There's a closeup of a hero prop and we see the thin cylinder attached to the barrel feebly glow from an internally mounted bulb, the dialogue stating the power had been nullified or drained? I think that's the only instance we ever saw and it was pretty much wasted effort. The studio lights were so bright as to pretty much wash out any effect that might have been seen by the naked eye.
Funny you mention the idea of glowing coils or indicators giving away one's position. That so many fictional weapons create a highly visible beam of light is pretty much a reverse laser sight, allowing the enemy to target your position with potentially lethal results! Yeah, it's a trope stemming back to the art of pulp magazines, predating even the newspaper strips and movie serials and it seems odd when it's not present because it's so ingrained in popular culture, but in reality it's something you probably don't want in your weapons.
Sorry, just rambling.
Funny you mention the idea of glowing coils or indicators giving away one's position. That so many fictional weapons create a highly visible beam of light is pretty much a reverse laser sight, allowing the enemy to target your position with potentially lethal results! Yeah, it's a trope stemming back to the art of pulp magazines, predating even the newspaper strips and movie serials and it seems odd when it's not present because it's so ingrained in popular culture, but in reality it's something you probably don't want in your weapons.
Sorry, just rambling.
There are things that were not lit that Roddenberry wanted lit. We know that at least in the case of the inboard nacelles, it was a matter of cost that prevented it happening. He wanted this gun to be a marketable toy as exciting as the UNCLE gun. It is my impression he would have wanted those coils lit, but only my impression, and nothing more.
I’m generally not a fan of the glowy sparkly stuff. But when you think about it, a battleship makes a lot of colorful sparky light when firing off those 16” deck guns. So I guess a light up phaser has a certain verisimilitude about it.
Nearly there. Looking at a few detail changes maybe.
I actually hadn't realised the difference between the white detail on the upper cylinders in the top image had been toned down so much in the final schematic!Here we are.
Perhaps something in-between in contrast? Then each of us personally rationalise if they glow or not!
Gotcha. How about something like the colour of the screen surround on top that's ahead of the power intensity dial then?
Thats the same silver.
I’m pondering on colour change on the cylinders or some kind of light effect.
Was sure it looked darker in the plan view!
Looking forward to see what you come up with.
Props like weapons come in three grades. Hero: in which all the bells and whistles work as much as possible. Standard: The non-working but looking good copies, usually in Resin, the actors usually sling around. Stunt: The same molds are used with expandable foam to make props you can fall on without hurting anyone. They look like hell up close.
Hence Scott Bakula's comment that the Art Asylum Phase Pistol was better than the ones they were given on set. The toys are all Heroes.
I’m reminded of something here. In “The Cloud Minders” when Plasus challenges Kirk to a fight with hand weapons Kirk tosses his phaser aside and we hear a light sounding clanging noise as the phaser perhaps bounces off the rock wall and onto the ground. That sound effect left me with two impressions: the phaser is evidently made of some metal or alloy and it doesn’t sound like it weighs much. It certainly didn’t hit the ground with a thud the way a dropped or thrown contemporary firearm would sound like.
Hence thats primarily why I felt a phaser rifle could weigh distinctly less than a conventional automatic rifle. On the other hand I have never even held an AK-47 or Thompson submachine gun so I really have no idea whats it’s like to wield one.
Hence thats primarily why I felt a phaser rifle could weigh distinctly less than a conventional automatic rifle. On the other hand I have never even held an AK-47 or Thompson submachine gun so I really have no idea whats it’s like to wield one.
When Roddenberry said writers had to treat a character using a phaser like a cowboy using a pistol, he's answering your question. Go watch an episode of Gunsmoke, Bonanza, The Rifleman or Rawhide and watch how a cowboy character wields his rifle. I'm not sure it matters that much how it would really be used. The cowboy character is the frame of reference a viewer watching Star Trek would bring to seeing this phaser being used. So that's how a security guard should wield his phaser rifle.
He has been stricken with cancer:
https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/winchell-chung.37904/
Wish him well guys.
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