Galaxy Quest Nebulizer

[en'til Zog]

Has anyone else noticed the apparent battery cover on the bottom of the Nebulizer body? Needs some work to make operable, but not that much.

Now, putting in a switch on the trigger might be a problem.

But what kind of battery should be used, for what kind of lights and/or sounds? I'm thinking of using a BLUE 1 watt CREE LED in the barrel....

A quick check shows that a RIMMED 5 mm LED fits nicely in the back of the 'barrel' - the rim of the LED fills the hole needing just a hint of super goo to anchor it in place. A super bright 10 Cd BLUE LED would work well there.

I'll check the fit of a CREE 1 watt unit later.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

It looks like a CREE 1 watt LED will also fit the barrel without a heat sink (bare LED). But at 1 watt you WILL need to heat sink that LED unless you are pulsing it at a low duty cycle (Mostly OFF with short pulses of ON). 1 watt LEDs do produce noticable heat.

[tetsujin]

Has anyone else noticed the apparent battery cover on the bottom of the Nebulizer body? Needs some work to make operable, but not that much.

Now, putting in a switch on the trigger might be a problem.

How so? It seems like there's plenty of room in the grip for the trigger to move if that's how it works - or if it's supposed to be a button on the surface of the trigger, you could use a small tactile switch (like so - maybe?) and fit it anywhere you need to...

[modelnut]

Just got my kit today! Looks sweet.

The nebulizer and the vox just scream to be lit!
I will be watching this thread with interest.

Where can we get a Borg lightning plate small enough for the vox? Would it be affordable or not in the next question . . .

- Leelan

[Scott Hasty]

Just got my kit today! Looks sweet.

The nebulizer and the vox just scream to be lit!
I will be watching this thread with interest.

Where can we get a Borg lightning plate small enough for the vox? Would it be affordable or not in the next question . . .

- Leelan

I'll see if I can dig some up. My wife had 30 miniature/personel lightning plates and sold some on eBay for raves, parties, etc. How big is the "display" of the Vox?

Here's what they look like:

http://www.dreamrave.com/pocket-plasma- ... p-364.html

[en'til Zog]

Hi, tetsujin.

Unfortunately, there's one of two screw pillars directly behind the trigger. If you're just gluing everything together you can surgically remove it and put a micro switch behind the trigger, but I'm hoping for a more elegant solution.

modelnut - YEAH!

Scott, the vox isn't thick enough to take the electronic pack on the back of the lightening thingie. I was thinking of using a clear plex disc, edge lit with some "random" firing LEDs to light an etched pattern on/in the disc.

[Chacal]

Hi, tetsujin.

Unfortunately, there's one of two screw pillars directly behind the trigger. If you're just gluing everything together you can surgically remove it and put a micro switch behind the trigger, but I'm hoping for a more elegant solution.

Maybe two thin parallel metal strips on the forward edge of the trigger, and the presence of a finger completes the circuit? No moving parts, the strips may be aluminum foil, or just stripped thin wire.

[tonyG2]

I like the design but can't quite get past the name.

Nebulizer....

From my former career in pharmacy, "nebulzer" immeditely calls up the image of a nebulizer is a device used to administer inhaled medication in the form of a mist - an alternative to the more common pressure inhaler.

It doesn't say shooty electro death machine.....

[robiwon]

Just got my kit today! Looks sweet.

The nebulizer and the vox just scream to be lit!
I will be watching this thread with interest.

Where can we get a Borg lightning plate small enough for the vox? Would it be affordable or not in the next question . . .

- Leelan

I'll see if I can dig some up. My wife had 30 miniature/personel lightning plates and sold some on eBay for raves, parties, etc. How big is the "display" of the Vox?

Here's what they look like:

http://www.dreamrave.com/pocket-plasma- ... p-364.html

All of the pocket plasma disks are to big to fit the Vox. They are too deep and the glass disk is too wide. The only way to make it work is to grind the glass down, which is very risky. There some other threads were this was brought up.

[Chacal]

I don't know... The original prop probably used this very same disk, because they wouldn't build something like that just for the props. They'd buy the disk from a retailer and adapt into their prop.

The disk has a circuit board and a battery holder, as well as a casing/bezel, right? What if you disassemble the whole thing? Being a movie prop, they probably they used smaller batteries (like LR-44 button cells—2 of them will give you the same voltage as 2 AAAs) that would light up for only the time needed to shoot a scene, instead of the hours the 'Pocket Plasma' probably lasts.

[modelnut]

Is this kit version the same size as the prop? The kit version looks a little small to me though I could be wrong. It is hard to tell by just looking on screen. But the actors are themselves in the 5' 10" Tim Allen to 6' 1" Alan Rickman range (Sigourney Weaver and Tony Shaloub are between them.) Tall but not out of the ordinary. So their hands should be no bigger than mine or yours.

This might seem like a silly thing to wonder about proportion-wise. But I have a picture of my father taken with Jimmy Dean (of sausage and Daniel Boone TV show fame.) My Dad and I are of a height, 5'10". But Jimmy Dean, who seemed shorter than either Ed Ames or Fess Parker, was a bit more than a head taller than my Dad. Yikes! Just goes to show that appearances can be deceiving.

Anyway. Here are the "official" blueprints. I will have to find my calipers to do some comparisons but I am a little busy just now. Always too much to do in too little time . . .

- Leelan

[swhite228]

I don't know... The original prop probably used this very same disk, because they wouldn't build something like that just for the props. They'd buy the disk from a retailer and adapt into their prop.

The disk has a circuit board and a battery holder, as well as a casing/bezel, right? What if you disassemble the whole thing? Being a movie prop, they probably they used smaller batteries (like LR-44 button cells—2 of them will give you the same voltage as 2 AAAs) that would light up for only the time needed to shoot a scene, instead of the hours the 'Pocket Plasma' probably lasts.

The original prop used for the close ups was larger than the others.

There is an ongoing thread about the Galaxy Quest props at the RPF. The owner of the originals is working on getting voodofx copies of the light screen he used to send with his vox kits to use if they do a light kit.

[en'til Zog]

Hi, Chacal.

Ah, a "touch switch" using a Darlington transistor & two contacts. Yup, works, although I'd like to keep the sliding action of the original trigger. The micro switch is maybe looking better, right now.

swhite228, yeah several sizes of prop make sense, larger & deeper for the "practical" light up prop. Although the Vox in "homing beacon" mode would just need a bright LED in the middle.

[MillenniumFalsehood]

I like the design but can't quite get past the name.

Nebulizer....

From my former career in pharmacy, "nebulzer" immeditely calls up the image of a nebulizer is a device used to administer inhaled medication in the form of a mist - an alternative to the more common pressure inhaler.

It doesn't say shooty electro death machine.....

Think of it, not as what it does, but what it'll do to *you*, and it takes on a different meaning entirely.

[Taggart]

I looked up the Definition of Nebulizer it means "to reduce to a fine spray"
Interesting enough, the word origin is 'Nebula'
(http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nebulizer)