Comlink prop - Good enough?

I've just finished painting the comlink prop to be used in my fanfilm, and assembled all the pieces, but not glued them together yet. What do you people think about it? Can something (easily) be enhanced? Is something "over the top"?

[image=http://whitestone.no/temp/jedirefugee/Comlink4-painted.jpg]

 

I think it looks great! Far better than some FF props I've seen.

 

Hey that looks pretty good! Looks like it might be durable as well.

Mine are quite fragile and need a paint job. Everything is just glued to the surface. Looks like you drilled and put those antennae down into the body. Good idea.

 

It looks great, and should pass nicely on film. My only suggestion would be to weather it a bit more to give it that worn in look.

 

I've had that same weathering idea, but I'm not sure what I should do to accomplish this.

 

Using washes and drybrushing you can get great results that are easy to do. I have explinations on how to do these, if you are not familiar with them, on my site here.

 

I concur with everyone else -- I think it looks great!

 

That prop is more than good enough for a fan film. Unless you've got a very good camera, you're not going to be able to notice the small flaws. This is even true in the real films. If you've seen the real saber props from the OT, they look pretty shabby.

 

Yup ^^^^

Screen used props are usually junk.

 

It can communicate and shave my legs....

 

I think it looks darn good! Film always makes things look way better than real life anyway!

I wouldn't go crazy with the weathering though. I mean how dirty is your cell phone?

I like that it doesn't look exactly like Qui-Gon's. There's gotta be plenty of different models of communicator, right?

 

I think it looks great!

Of course, I myself prefer functional props, that can actually be used, so my "Jedi comlink" is actually a GMRS/FRS two-way radio by Audivox!

It's black and silver, has some styling cues reminiscent of Jedi comlinks, and it actually WORKS, with a range of up to 5 miles!

When I go to Dragon*Con with several other members of the DC Galactic Senate, the plan is for most of us to have them as our Jedi comlinks, so we can all stay in touch when everyone goes their seperate ways to different areas of the con.

 

My Audiovox FRS was pretty crappy at D*C last year. With all the concrete and steel between the two main hotels its performance wasn't that great.

What was really annoying was sitting at the Rebel Legion/501st info table. There was a guy next to me, we both had our radios set to the same channel only his was picking up twice as much conversation as mine and we were like 3 ft apart.

He had a Motorola brand and thats the one I'm taking with me this year.

Oh and nice comlink!!

 

Well, so far, it's always worked fine for me. Okay, granted, it hasn't been tested at a large con like D*Con, but it HAS been put through its paces at a large shopping mall known for wreaking havoc with cell phone reception.

Also, the secret to getting maximum power and range on the Audiovox FRS/GMRS radios is to set it to a GMRS channel, and set it for High power. This will give you maximum power and maximum range (about 5 miles on mine), but it may drain the batteries more quickly.

The only problem with using GMRS frequencies is that you're supposed to purchase an FCC license before using those frequencies. But I use my two-ways only occasionally, so I haven't bothered to buy a license.

As for Motorola's radios, I have my reasons for not wanting one. First, they're the most expensive ones on the market. Secondly, they don't look very much like any comlink we've seen on film. And their color schemes are definitely not at all like the colors used on Jedi comlinks!

 

do you have a pic of the radio you use (or a link to a pic?)?