Star Trek Communicator Phone Case

After the debut of Star Trek: Discovery, I got back to my Star Trek craze. And that was what inspired me to make a Star Trek Original Series communicator. Commence construction.

PLEASE KEEP IN MIND: this is only a prototype, and has not been painted. There is also a ton of room for improvement.

You are going to have to grab a communicator reference from somewhere. To make it easier for you, here.

For this project you will need:

Tools: Sand paper, hacksaw, ruler, pen, drill.

Materials: Foam, cardboard, paint, something to use as a rod, something to hold that rod in place (Both may possibly be, cardboard. Bottom line, GET CARDBOARD.)

These materials and tools are subject to change. For instance, I used my grandpa's drill press for the holes and the cavity for the foam.

Keep in mind, this is my first practical Star Trek prop I have ever made. If you have any suggestions, feel free to leave 'em in the comments below.

The first thing you will have to do is measure your phone. Small ones work the best. Mine measures by two and a half inches by five inches approximately. You will want to have your foam block measure abut a little bit more than that, about half an inch total on each side.

Now, take some sandpaper and smooth the edges of the block, until they look worthy enough to hail Klingons with.

Now you need to draw a box the size of your phone in the center of the foam block, to mark where you will make the cavity to place your phone in.

This is probably the hardest and most unorthodox piece of the communicator. Using a handheld drill would be difficult without some type of crib. I used a drill press to mill the space needed. For you, unless you have one, you could completely cut out the space, cut it in half, and put half in, i don't know. But unless you just want a prop, get it done.

The communicator lid was easier, just drilling holes. The lines you see on it are reference lines I drew. Not entirely accurate, but I'm probably redoing this anyways.

Also, the hole you see near the center is the depression I had to make for my Pop Socket. If the person reading it is such a nerd that he doesn't know what that is, don't worry. I don't either.

Now we must assemble the hinge for the lid onto the rest of the communicator. Take your rod (In my case, a screw,) and your rod support (Some bolts) and your cardboard. Put the rod supports on the ends of your rod. You should now have an object that shares the family tree with a dumbbell. Take your cardboard and cut a three inch piece off that is a little bit shorter in width than the visible length of your rod. Now wrap one inch of the cardboard around the rod and apply a little drop of hot glue when you are finished.

When you are done with the first part of the hinge, you must apply hot glue to the other two inches of cardboard you have sticking out. Turn it so that the bottom of the cardboard strip is facing up. Apply hot glue and stick it to the lid. Now take the back of the lid. In the spot above where the cardboard goes under the lid, apply a drop of hot glue and bend the cardboard until the cardboard you wrapped around the rod is touching the hot glue on the back of the lid.

Take the rod supports and carefully hot glue them to the topmost section of the main part of the communicator. Whatever feels best, just put it there. This is also a good time to add hinge support. In the back of my communicator I have a strip of cardboard holding my hinge up. Try it.

Just so you know, the reason you don't see a picture of the painted thing is because I haven't done it yet

But I will.

Before you do that, though, it might be a good idea to sand some of the rough edges and insides.

And then you are done.

Kirk to Enterprise, come in Enterprise.

This is Enterprise, go ahead.

Three to beam up.

Locked on to you, sir.

Energize.

Please note, I am planning on making a second model. Stay tuned, and I might even provide the link!

Live long, and prosper.