How To Assemble Dr. Theopolis

The first thing you'll want to do is primer everything with a nice automotive primer. I would probably advise using a self etching metal primer for the metal can part. It will prevent it from scratching easily. Also, prior to painting the metal bits, give it a good sanding with some 300 grit sand paper to smooth it out and then clean with acetone.

Note: In this shot I have some spacers I used to build this Theo. The spacers are used to hold the lights.

After primering the body, you'll want to paint the body. For this I used Model Masters Citrus Yellow Metallic Auto Lacquer, and then dusted it with a light coat of silver to soften it up.

Once everything is painted you can begin assembly. On the mirrored back, I glued the spacers I made over each of the holes. In future builds, I probably would use a smaller spacer, but this is up to the builder how you want to attach the lights in place.

The center disk is one of the tricky pieces. First thing you will want to do is put the transparency between the two disks so that it is centered. Once you have done that trim all of the excess off, and then once that is done, remove the transparency and then cut it so that the transparency is about 1/8" smaller than the disks. This prevents wrinkles. Reassemble the disks and use a little hot glue to hold it in place.

The center disk is the first one that gets put into place. I would probably suggest putting it no further than 3/4" in from the top, but probably closer to about 1/2" in. Depending on how you do your lights, you'll need plenty of space behind the mirror.

Oh, before you put your center disk in, lay the completed assembly on the mirror and figure out where your eyes will do. There are 8 holes around the edge for the body lights, two holes at both the top and bottom for the facial features, and one hole on each side for the eyes. The face holes (the 2 pairs) should be at the 12 and 6 position. You'll want to mark the eye holes and drill them through the center disk as shown to the left so you can light the eyes. Those should be the only holes you'll need to drill.


This small detail, the upper eyebrow goes on the back side of the center disk. All other details go on the front. It lines up with a graphic on the transparency.


As noted, all other details go on the front.








The top plate gets mounted flush with the top of the can. I have used a hot glue gun entirely on this project.








I used a $3 light kit from Hobby Lobby for the lights. It has 20 incandecent bulbs. 2 each for the 8 body lights and 1 for each eye. If you're doing the math there are 2 left over which I don't use. I also (not shown here) take the switch out of the pack, cut the wires and lengthen the wire so I can make the switch mounted on the body. This requires (also not shown) cutting a notch for the switch to sit in.

When positioning the mirror disk, have it as close to the middle disk as possible. You will need as much room for the lights as you can get if you use this light kit.

This is the finished piece minus the side mounts. The IC's are simply glued in place and the front and back cover held on by pressure. Easy cheesy.

Buck Rogers - Dr. Theopolis

For those of you that loved sci fi in the 70's, one of the best shows around was Buck Rogers. Sure Erin Gray looked hot in that tight spandex, but the real show stoppers were Twiki and Dr. Theopolis, the robots.

Still don't remember?? Ok, here ya go:


Twiki is the silver guy and Dr. Theopolis is thing around his neck!

Although this is project is in it's begining stages, I wanted to post some in progress pics. This project is using both CNC work as well as vacforming up this point. Vac(uum) forming is the process where you heat plastic until it is extremely plyable, pull it over a mold, suck all the air out of it from underneath and voila...you have a copy of the mold in plastic.












The next step was to create all of the details that go in the center of the chest, again Dane to the rescue! All of the guts, the clear and colored acrylic pieces were CNC'd by Dane and couldn't have fit nicer together.



Next we brought one of our resident graphic artists in to create an exact replica of what was on the face of the original Dr. Theopolis. Sean and I spent an afternoon matching screen grabs and photos of the original prop to find that perfect look...and what Sean came up with was nothing short of perfect.


Now we're nearing the home stretch! Paint!!

Paint on this piece was particularly difficult for a couple of reasons. 1) an off the shelf paint color doesn't exsist, 2) everyone remembers Dr. Theopolis to be silver when he was in fact a green color, and 3) I just don't like painting! Needless to say I believe we found the perfect color. At least perfect meaning that in person it looks like it does on screen.

Here it is with the last CNC'd bits, the side brackets! The devil is always in the details.



Hopefully in the next few days we'll have some finishing touches done along with some lights and we will have yet another satisfied customer!

Quantum Leap Handlink

This is a project that has been a long time in the making, but most recently got a kick in the pants after RASCO Motion Pictures contacted us about doing this piece for a fan film they were creating. A fan film basically just that, a film that a fan does to compliment an existing film or tv show. In this case RASCO was creating from scratch, a new episode of Quantum Leap. This episode, called "A Leap to Di For" involved trying to save the life of Princess Diana. Oh Boy!

For more information about the project or RASCO Motion Pictures click here

For this project we first had Dane, the king of all CNC cut us up about 75 plastic parts which all had to be assembled very precisely. Imagine a jigsaw puzzle with absolutely no tolerance for wiggle room and if you get off even the slightest bit you have to file down the rest of the pieces.

That is what we have here!



We ended up building a couple of these, and I'm quite happy how they turned out. The electronics are a modification of the exact same circuit that the show used in the 90's. The mods were simply because the exact same LED's no longer exist and to 99% of the world would never know the difference. The finished product took probably 12 hours from start to finish, not horrible for a one off piece.

Enjoy!

A Day at the Woodshop

Today was spent working on two projects, one is a reproduction of a newel post from a house built in 1920 and the other is the re purposing of an old built in cabinet taken out of a turn of the century (20th) craftsman style house.

The newel post was made to match the existing woodwork and style in the house for a 3rd floor addition. I'll take more pictures when it's done, but I'm quite happy with it. It matches the originals perfectly!

I apologize for not having pictures of the cabinet. One I forgot to take the camera to the shop with me, and part of it is that it's a secret! It's a gift and I can't let the cat out of the bag, but I'll tell you all about it.

The original was a junk yard find, and was originally designed as a built it, which means that only three of the 4 sides were exposed. So the cabinet was completely taken apart, the "bad" side was rebuilt using the original wood and a little luan to make it match the opposing side. The back is being left in it's original half painted/half stripped state just because, and a new top was needed to be made. It will have a custom made stained glass door and new hardware, legs added and coat of stain. Check back in a couple weeks.

Han Solo in Carbonite

Day One of Build

Remember how Han Solo pissed off Jabba the Hutt and Boba Fett had to go after him, but Vader got him first, and turned him into a block of cheese...er...carbonite before turning him over to Fett to become a wall orniment in Jabbas Palace? No?? Hmmm....well I can't help you much more then.

Anyhow, this is a full scale reproduction of the piece seen in the movie. It will be made out of fiberglass, wood, and resin. The wood has all been CNC'd by my amazingly talented CNC buddy Dane...who you'll hear me mention often. I don't cut anything anymore. Dane rocks. The fiberglass is a casting I was able to obtain to finish off the piece, as were the resin bits you'll see later. I'm a firm believer in letting those who are good at what they do....do it. I'm a great manager and a good builder...but if someone is better at building something or has already done it. No sense in re-inventing the wheel.

In the next day or so the main box will be built and ready for Captain Solo to be attached!

Week 2 of Build

Ok, so I haven't been able to update this as much as I'd like, but I have been moving on it.

In the last week or so I've been able to not only build all of the walls for this piece, but get the rough box done. What is next it to put all of the remaining structural supports in place, put the front piece of luan on, as well as the all of the quarter round in place to give it that nice curved edge look. Then it's moving on to making Captain Solo a permanent part of the collection!

An Introduction

Located in Indianapolis, Indiana ( I know Dover?? WTF???) Dover Props and Modeling has over 60 years of experience (that's all of us combined) building props and models for films and collectors around the world.

Working for companies as large as Lucasfilm to Woodworks Films we are capable of bringing your fantasy to life ( no....not that one....well maybe those, but it will require a bigger budget and possible movement to states where that sort of thing is legal).

We've created original props and models for films, or replicas of already established props that you just can't seem to live without.

This blog will journal some of the creations that we have coming up. Enjoy and don't forget to ask questions or post observations!