#STAR TREK TOS PHASER RIFLE FULL#
#STAR TREK TOS PHASER RIFLE SERIES#

The Type II phaser pistol вЂњheroвЂќ, as documented in a different article on this site, featured a working grain-of-wheat light bulb at the base of its acrylic beam emitter and a fully rotating silver thumbwheel on the top surface of the Hand Phaser that would raise and lower an acrylic вЂњsightвЂќ mechanism as well as activate the emitter light bulb. There were вЂњheroвЂќ versions of Tricorders as well, created by Wah Chang, which were used for close-up photography (such as the view of the newspaper images projected on the Tricorder display screen in вЂњThe City on the Edge of ForeverвЂќ) but these pieces did not have any functioning lights or built-in visual special effects such as rotating moirГ©s that were incorporated into the other TOS hero versions. It is known that both the Star Trek Communicators and the Phasers were actually produced at three different levels of detail вЂ“ working versions (вЂњheroesвЂќ) that featured some degree of moving parts or functioning lights a mid-grade level which was non-working but fairly well crafted and a fragile thin plastic stunt-version with messy, incomplete detail generally meant to be photographed only from a great distance on-screen. Despite the production crews best intentions however, over the course of 3 seasons of filming, some of the stunt pieces did inevitably manage to get captured onscreen at sufficiently close range where their imperfect nature is apparent. These non-hero props were certainly never intended to appear at high resolution on camera and thus were often sloppily created with visible glue stains and/or smeared paint jobs and untidy construction details вЂ¦ some photos of typical TOS stunt pieces as auctioned from the Dwyer collection and from other reputable sources are also included in this post. It is known that standard industry practice (then and now) required the fabrication of what is called вЂњheroвЂќ or working props appropriate for high resolution close-up photography as well as the fabrication of much less perfect вЂњstuntвЂќ or dummy pieces that would only be seen on camera in the distant background and were best suited for situations where they might be tossed about as part of an action sequence.

#STAR TREK TOS PHASER RIFLE SERIES#

Justman and Solow reaffirm the well established fact that Original Series props were fabricated by both the internal Desilu Prop Shop personnel as well as the prop manufacturing shop Project Unlimited where the celebrated artist Wah Chang was based.

#STAR TREK TOS PHASER RIFLE FULL#

The complete account, contained on pages 118 through 120 of the book, is also reproduced in full in the document scans at the bottom of this post and is worthy of reading. In particular, a very enlightening account is contained in the 1996 book вЂњInside Star Trek вЂ“ The Real StoryвЂќ, written by Herbert Solow and Robert Justman, who were the Executive In Charge of Production for Desilu and the Associate Producer (later Co-Producer) of Star Trek, respectively.

What follows are some insights on TOS prop construction activity gleaned from the published writings of some of Star TrekвЂ™s creators and some well respected experts in the area. Unfortunately, the historical record on many of these issues is simply incomplete with large gaps in the known paper trail and as many of the Original Series production crew who possessed first hand knowledge have now passed away вЂ“ some questions seem destined to remain unresolved. It has been over 42 years since the first TOS props were created for use on the Desilu soundstage, and much controversy exists today about the total number of pieces fabricated and even the sources used to create the different Phaser, Tricorder and Communicator hand props employed on the series. TOS Shatner Late 1st Season Command Tunic TOS Shatner Early 1st Season Command Tunic TOS Finnegan Silver 'Shore Leave' Tunic TOS 'Where No Man' Silver Contact Lenses Star Trek Props At National Air & Space

Star trek tos phaser rifle