Star Trek TOS Tricorder 50th Anniversary

thingiverse

Hi folks, I wanted to do something special to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Star Trek (September 2016), so I recreated the original series tricorder for your downloading and printing pleasure. I had a blast making it, and I'm happy to upload it here! I don't have step-by-step directions, but I've provided several photos and will attempt to provide helpful descriptions on assembly. Once you print things out, they should become clear to you as to where the parts go together. On the frame pieces that run from top to bottom, there are pegs that fit into the holes of the cross-section pieces. I printed most all parts at 100% infill because I wanted it to have some nice weight to it. I placed holes in the frame and in certain interior areas in case you wanted to add wires for lights or sound. This tricorder is basically standard size, measuring 5.2 inches wide, 7 inches high, and 2.25 inches deep, and weighs about 2 pounds with strap. For this project, I used the following filament colors: Black, Silver, and Gold. For the main screen under the flip-up hood, I used a 1/8 inch thick piece of semi-transparent plastic that I spray painted silver on the back side and glued onto the back side of the display panel. I debated whether or not to use a picture in the display but opted to just keep it blank since I wasn't going to wire it up. I spray painted the cylinder (moire disks) silver, and in between the cylinders, I brushed in black acrylic paint. Whatever paint got onto the outside silver area, I simply wiped off with a paper towel. For the moire area, I printed this in black, painted the circular part of the moire back plate silver, and used a fine point sharpie to make straight lines fanning out. I then cut out and placed a round piece of hard plastic and again drew lines fanning out and glued this clear disc to the inside of the moire ring, which I then glued onto the moire back plate. It sounds confusing, but basically one set of lines goes up and down, and the other set goes left and right. The items I purchased are as follows: I bought a leather strap through Amazon that didn't require any cutting. I just unstitched the loops of the metal clips. It was the perfect length and fits nicely into the tricorder side plates and can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01E7ENR4K/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1. I used 6mm x 3mm magnets to secure the doors to the body. For this, I made the appropriate holes in the doors already. Simply glue them into each door if you want to take that route. They can be purchased here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01I79ONIU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1. I found the watch crowns on eBay and paid $15 here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-Of-6-Vintage-NOS-Fancy-Dress-Watch-Crowns-4-1-4-9mm-Diameters-/371654963539. For the back of the tricorder, I've embossed a 50th anniversary Star Trek logo and then printed the center star gold. I placed it into the logo which I've included in the files here. It was definitely a challenge to put this together, as I didn't have a physical model and just used photos from the internet and a little guesswork. This model isn't perfect but as the pictures show, it's definitely passable as a tricorder. There are definitely some mistakes with my version, but I did my best to correct the errors before uploading here. The files here should be oriented correctly for printing. I printed the textured items standing straight up in the printer for a much better texture. I found that if they laid flat, the texture looked and felt really ugly. At any rate, have fun putting it together, and let me know if you have questions, comments, or concerns regarding this. I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Oh, and if you print it, please show it off here. Live long and prosper, and happy 50th Star Trek! Print Settings: Printer Brand: MakerGear Printer: M2 Rafts: No Supports: Yes Resolution: .2mm Infill: 100% Notes: Interior silver frame pieces all 100% infill for realistic weight.