# Marco Enterprises '80s Star Trek TOS tricorder kit, WIP.



## mach7 (Mar 25, 2002)

A few years ago Marco was getting rid of old stock from his 1980s mail order prop company.

I picked up some tricorder parts from him on ebay.

I'm missing a few parts, but I'll give it a go.

Here is what I have:









And this, it was partially assembled:










Painting the data drum:









Data disc Installed:










I've sourced a set of blue watch crowns and a new face plate.
I'm not happy about the 2 big screw holes in the supplied faceplate.


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## Chrisisall (May 12, 2011)

You will make it shine.


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## mach7 (Mar 25, 2002)

Thanks, I hope so.

I've been wanting to build a Tricorder for about 50 years!
If I complete this I'll finally complete the Exploration Set that AMT should have produced in the '70s!


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## FlyingBrickyard (Dec 21, 2011)

Looking good! 

Always wanted to build one of these myself.



mach7 said:


> I'm not happy about the 2 big screw holes in the supplied faceplate.


That should be fairly simple to fab up from some sheet aluminum stock. Hard to tell exactly from the pictures, but looks like it might be around 0.090. 

Barring that, you could probably get away with some sheet styrene and an aluminum tape veneer, depending on how much you plan on handling it.


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## mach7 (Mar 25, 2002)

I went looking on ebay for the watch crowns and the seller had a Marco Tricorder pack. 3 watchcrowns, 3 T-jet hubs, a speaker grill, and a new faceplate with no holes!

One stop shopping!

They will be here next week.


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## JeffBond (Dec 9, 2013)

I still have one of these somewhere. I love that the "data discs" are actually made as a complete, turned cylinder.


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## StarshipClass (Aug 13, 2003)

Looks much better than the resin kit I got years ago. I suspect this kit will make a great looking tricorder in your hands.


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## mach7 (Mar 25, 2002)

JeffBond said:


> I still have one of these somewhere. I love that the "data discs" are actually made as a complete, turned cylinder.


I think the originals used a turned aluminum cylinder, similar to this kit.
Simple trickery, but it works. Typical of Wha Chang. He was a genius at making things 'look'
working while static.

I stole this photo from Herocomm.com:


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## mach7 (Mar 25, 2002)

PerfesserCoffee said:


> Looks much better than the resin kit I got years ago. I suspect this kit will make a great looking tricorder in your hands.


I've never seen a resin Tricorder! Do you have any photos? Any details?


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## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

I always thought it looked like a gutted Polaroid Land camera.
what do I know?
LOL


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## mach7 (Mar 25, 2002)

I was fretting about the doors. The hinge holes need to be drilled and the instructions give no guidance. I asked over at The Trek Prop Zone, but no one had any guidance. So I taped the doors on and drilled them. 










I think it will work. The center divider might need to be trimmed.


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## StarshipClass (Aug 13, 2003)

mach7 said:


> I've never seen a resin Tricorder! Do you have any photos? Any details?


I got most of the way through it before I got the Diamond Select(?) version. I wound up trimming some aluminum sheet for the trim like the original, IIRC. I'll have to dig it out and snap some pics.


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## mach7 (Mar 25, 2002)

The DST stuff is nice! Kind of light and toy like, but very nice.

I wish the Wand Co would do a Tricorder. I love my Phaser and Communicator from them.


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## StarshipClass (Aug 13, 2003)

mach7 said:


> The DST stuff is nice! Kind of light and toy like, but very nice.
> 
> I wish the Wand Co would do a Tricorder. I love my Phaser and Communicator from them.


Yeah, I've got a phaser from Wand. It's is right up there with the MR version but was a lot more reasonably priced. Never got the communicator since I already had a couple of very nice ones with electronics. They need to come out with a tricorder that has a working television screen--as some people have upgraded their DSTs.

I'm planning eventually to put some real aluminum in the framework of the DST tricorder. It seems to really improve the look and definitely adds a decent heft to it.


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## mach7 (Mar 25, 2002)

A few years ago someone was selling aluminum parts for the DST trics. Maybe on ebay?


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## Trek Ace (Jul 8, 2001)

Would any of these work?

Susannetrek2012 | eBay Stores


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## mach7 (Mar 25, 2002)

I'll let you know, I have the faceplate waiting for me at home for this tric. I'm guessing it will not be a perfect fit for the DST.


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## mach7 (Mar 25, 2002)

The Susannetrek parts came.

The susannetrek are on the left and the Marco are on the right.










The faceplate is not nearly as shiny as the Marco one. It looks much better, not that Marco's is bad.

I painted the screen Tamiya gloss aluminum.










From looking at the Tric's on Hero comm, the speaker grill should have a brass tint to it. I gave it a light coat
of brass.










The watchcrowns are VERY nice, and come with screws to mount them, but they are the wrong size.
Not a big deal, I mounted them with CA glue.

The T-jets mount fine with the supplied screws.










The screen is not mounted in that photo, just placed behind.


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## mach7 (Mar 25, 2002)

I did have to file the Susannetrek faceplate slightly to get it to fit.

Looking at the prop photos, the mid panel that the Morie is mounted should be textured plastic.
I have some extra black ABS parts, so I cut out a piece to fit.












Fitting the screen will be interesting. Their is a mounting block in the hood that could cause an issue.


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## mach7 (Mar 25, 2002)

Done!

The screen fit was not bad.

Here is the tricorder in all it's glory.





































And here is my exploration set! What AMT should have done 45 years ago!










The Marco Tricorder, a S&W fiberglass Phaser, and my John Long Communicator.
All were built by me from kits.


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## mach7 (Mar 25, 2002)

Here it is next to the DST tric.

The DST is smaller and not as blocky as the Marco.














































I think the DST is probably more accurate, but I love the Marco for what it is- a '80s convention
kit. The best for the time.


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## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

I like the one on the right


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## FlyingBrickyard (Dec 21, 2011)

Nice!

Now all it needs to finish it off is a half eaten tootsie-pop hidden inside the lower compartment.


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