Great snaps, Chris! Thanks for grabbing and posting those for us.

And of course, the part that we're all interested in is covered by the actors' hands. (Why does that always happen when we have that one particular part of a prop that interests us? Part of the actor or another prop always blocks a great view. Anyone else notice that?)

Dino.

Quote from: galacticprobe on Jan 18, 2017, 05:31 am
And of course, the part that we're all interested in is covered by the actors' hands. (Why does that always happen when we have that one particular part of a prop that interests us? Part of the actor or another prop always blocks a great view. Anyone else notice that?)

Dino.

Yep, I've noticed that, it's because the part we want to see is "ALWAYS THE HANDLE OR HAND-GRIP" 

to make a wild guess. its ether 8 or 9 gun latches, which would have 8 or 9 cables running underneath, to wit... ah.. I am never good at verbal explanations, I'll just make an image.

I think it has 2 lower connectors, but not opposite each other, more like if there were 3, but without the 3rd one, if you get my meaning. Here's a couple of more pics but zoomed in.

You're definitely right, Chris; looking at those close-ups of the prop on Page 1 shows there is definitely NO third Hi Connector. Looking at the images you've posted above, there are definitely two Hi Connectors, set about 120 degrees apart (which would fit with your description of "if there were 3"). If someone could get a larger version of your second grab above, it might help us see that Ball and more detail in the cables, and maybe even where one of those Hi Connector Cables attaches to the Ball.

As for the number of Lo Connector Cables, I'm guessing there are 9, as in at least one of those close-ups of the prop just lying there you can make out 7 of those Lo Connector Cables going in round the ball, one under each Gun Latch. (At least with it looking like that, I would count them as having one per Gun Latch - which could mean there are more than 9 - plus the Hi Connector Cables... wherever they connect to the Ball.)

And not that this will help at all, but lightening this image some shows there are two hands holding that Dalek Gun Handle (just to help obscure that handle for us that much more!)


Dino.

I went back & got a couple more that might help, but it seem that the cast were told to keep the hand-grip part well hidden, you don't even see the Doctor hand it over to Clara. Here's what I got.

Here are a few badly lit snaps of the prop on display, amongst some other Davros lair junk on a table, at the Doctor Who Festival in 2015.

The paper was a sizing reference, which is kind of useless as its not a standard A4 page, think its US dimensions.

These might help out a little, David. Your images, just lightened and sharpened some.


If that is US-sized paper, and Letter-sized, then that long edge is 11 inches, or 27.94 cm long. (Also you'll want to open these in a new tab or window and use that magnifier to see them full-size; they're nice and large and do show great detail.)






These three - and especially this one immediately above - show that those "Hi Connector Cables" enter the gun below the Ball, and below the "Lo Connector Cables". (Great detail there!) And between seeing this side of the gun and the other side from the reference image on Page 1, it does look like there is one Lo Connector Cable for each Gun Latch on the Ball. So all we need to do is count the number of Gun Latches on the Ball and we'll know how many Lo Connector Cables there are... then just add in two Hi Connector Cables to get the total number of cables. (I'll leave that to someone with better eyes than mine... which are getting fuzzy at the moment because my back is reaching its sitting time limit.)


And last image of the butt/Internal Dalek Connection Plug. This one proves there are only two Hi Connectors, and they're set about 120 degrees apart, like Chris speculated back on Page 1.

Anyway, I hope these lightened images are of some help, and thanks much to David for posting them, for without them we'd never have seen this side of the prop! Well done, David!

Dino.

Great enlargements Dino. The "connectors" (where the cables go in, look like they aren't actual connectors at all, they are just holes, there aren't any actual nuts to tighten down on the cables. Also the bits that look like "latches", (circled in yellow) look like the bits that they use under proper solid wooden tables to clamp the rails to the top, or something very much like them anyway.



Chris.

Quote from: Davros Skaro on Jan 20, 2017, 09:44 pm
Great enlargements Dino.

Thanks, Chris, but David deserves all the credit for the size of the images. (Open his in a new tab or window and you'll see they're the same size; all I did was lighten the images he posted, and maybe sharpen some a little; I didn't change the size.)

Quote from: Davros Skaro on Jan 20, 2017, 09:44 pm
The "connectors" (where the cables go in, look like they aren't actual connectors at all, they are just holes, there aren't any actual nuts to tighten down on the cables.

Yes, I did notice that from the beginning. I was just keeping with the naming convention that elkad had used so everyone would know that we were talking about the same things. (Those holes actually look like they're "capped" with some of those thick washers/spacers I've seen.)

Quote from: Davros Skaro on Jan 20, 2017, 09:44 pm
Also the bits that look like "latches", (circled in yellow) look like the bits that they use under proper solid wooden tables to clamp the rails to the top, or something very much like them anyway.

They do look like that now that you mention it. But again, I was just using the same terminology that elkad had given to them. (Heck, since they weren't IDed on the concept art, they had no name to begin with, so with this being elkad's build, I thought I'd just stick with his terminology. It looked good and sounded "techno-Dalek" enough for me! )

Dino.

Okay, I've bitten the bullet and decided I can't wait any longer. I'm giving this prop a go.

I've given the metal rods a lot of deliberation, and I've come up with a idea. The plan is to use wire coat hangers, cut and bent into shape.

Will I be able to cut the coat hangers by hand using a hack saw? As far as I know, wire coat hangers are fairly thin, so hopefully there shouldn't be too much of a problem. Had anyone else tried this method for a gunstick before?

Kind regards, The14thDr

A decent pair if pliers will do it.

I believe welding rods have also been used for dalek weaponry.

14th,
I used coat hangers on my first Dalek gun.
They were really easy to snip with pliers & bend into shape, but they were a bit thin, so for my next Dalek gun I used metal rods from an old clothes drier someone had thrown out. They were thicker, which looked better & although they were slightly more difficult to snip & bend, the difference was negligible.
Look forward to seeing the build.


Russell

Thanks guys.
It's good to know this is a tried and tested method. I'll hopefully be starting a build diary soon.

Kind regards, The14thDr

I'm in the process of making another hand gun stick. And, this time I'm making a blueprint of all the pieces & dimensions.

This is what I have so far. This image will be updated when I'm finished.

BTW: If you think I may have measured incorrectly somewhere, or you need more info on a certain part, please let me know. I learn   & thrive on comments.