Silurian Signalling Device

[drdean]

Here are some reference photos of the Silurian signalling device.

[drdean]

Can anybody help with dimensions for this gadget? I'm struggling to get the size right.

[Volpone]

Hmmm.  Best I could do is guess.  I don't recognize any parts in the construction, so you can't use that as a reference.  My 2 best guesses are the shot where Dr. Quinn is using it.  He's holding it pretty close to his body and you can see a button of his overcoat.  Looks to be a pretty standard overcoat button.  You might be able to use an existing coat or find an appropriate button in a fabric store and then try to figure the dimensions based on the button diameter and how far in front of the button the device is. 

Alternately, the shot of the device sitting on the map.  Did the BBC gin up a map for the serial?  Or did they just use a commonly available standard map that looked enough like what they needed?  I would suspect the latter and if so, someone who knows something about 1970s British maps might be able to tell you what scale the grid squares are on it (or even make an educated guess what scale map it is based on the size of the actress' hands and standard map sizes).  Or (and this is less reliable) the creases for folding the map. I'd have to dig out a couple maps to check but maybe maps are folded to more or less standard dimensions.  You can pretty clearly see the size of the device, relative to the edge of the map and the first fold in the map.  That might be a clue.   

[elkad]

I'm on my way making a blueprint, coming soon.   

[drdean]

Oh wow great stuff Elkad. This will be really useful.

Initial observations (if you don't mind) is that the back is not quite rounded enough. I think it should be about the same curvature as the front. If you look at the third photo from the rear it's quite a gentle curve. Also the bottom 'plate' should be thicker than the top 'plate'

If I'm being really anal (as us fans usually are) on the original the top plate doesn't quite fit the black body. This can be seen in the first green photo.

I get so obsessed with detail sometimes that I annoy even myself. 

[elkad]

Oh wow great stuff Elkad. This will be really useful.

Initial observations (if you don't mind) is that the back is not quite rounded enough. I think it should be about the same curvature as the front. If you look at the third photo from the rear it's quite a gentle curve. Also the bottom 'plate' should be thicker than the top 'plate'

If I'm being really anal (as us fans usually are) on the original the top plate doesn't quite fit the black body. This can be seen in the first green photo.

I get so obsessed with detail sometimes that I annoy even myself. 

Well this first part of the blueprint, is just a rush image, to get a rough look before I start adding detail with measurements. I'll get those details.

[elkad]

I made my best estimate on this prop, but I'm lacking in info on some spots. I'll make updates once I figure them out, or if someone would like to put in there own guess to add to the blueprint? 

[drdean]

That's brilliant Elkad. This is a great start and really helps.