For something that looks so simple, this piece was surprisingly difficult to put together. The base of the case is an off the shelf cassette case by CaseLogic. The model is no longer in production. I don’t know the serial number. I actually found this case while cleaning out my garage. I recognized it as a trek prop and held on to it. That was probably three years ago. A friend of mine named Mike Goobic managed to round up some screen captures for me about a year later, and I started to get the itch to finish it.
Then I forgot about it.
During a clean up, I dug out the case and in a fit of creativity, blasted it with a couple of coats of Plasti-Kote 1004. This is the modern replacement for the classic 7173, the color used on most Voyager era props.
Then I forgot about it.
Then about a year later, The Prop Store of London posted one of the screen used med kits for sale. The pictures included many of the details I was unsure of, namely a good shot of the medical logo that is on the front of the case. It also showed the vinyl strips and their placement. Most of all, it revealed that the case was painted Dove Grey, not Plasti-Kote 7173.
I took some paint thinner and a rag and stripped off the Plasti-Kote paint in preparation for repainting the case.
I downloaded the pictures from The Propstore and set about tracing the medical logo out in Adobe Illustrator. Again, for something that looks so simple, it was actually pretty difficult to do. After putting the project on the back burner again and again, I finally finished the logo up during some office time at my previous place of employment. I took the adobe file down to my local sign maker where they cut the design into vinyl. I used the online pics to scale the logo, mind you.
I now set about prepping the case to apply the decals. The real hard part was rounding up a can of Krylon Dove Grey, the color that they used to paint many TNG era props. I searched local hardware stores, and I searched online. After a couple of months of casual searching, I found out that Dove Grey had been discontinued. Further search revealed that it had been repackaged under a new name. After a lot of digging, and a conversation with Phil Steinschneider, I found my answer. They krylon I used that is an exact match for classic "Dove grey" is called "Stone Grey Gloss". Part number 24504-01605. Most hardware stores stock their paints on the last four numbers, so 1605 is the number to use.
Anyhow, after about six months of that run-around, I finally got ahold of a few cans and managed to paint the case. I was ready to apply the decals. I wanted to do the strips of brushed aluminum vinyl first. My original plan was to get the strips plotter cut. I knew the width of the strips, so my plan was to just have a bunch of them cut up, to make my job easier. However, none of the local sign makers stocked brushed aluminum. I ended up spending 45 bucks on an entire roll. Oy. So I cut the strips, and set about applying them to the case. I carefully measure out the distances, marking them with a sharp pencil to match the pictures downloaded from The Propstore. I get about half way done and realize that they are all screwed up. Not parallel, not straight, not matching up. My measuring method had failed. I went to peel off the vinyl strips to try again. As I peeled it up, it took all of the paint straight with it. I was screaming out loud I was so upset!!! After all this time, another giant setback!!! After removing all of the vinyl strips, the paint job was ruined.
However, there was a bright spot. It turns out that the case had a nasty little divot cut out on both sides of it that needed to be puttied before applying the Starfleet Medical logo. I had missed this on the first pass, so the repaint gave me an opportunity to fix this. I puttied it up, primered it, and wet sanded the hell out of it to get it glossy smooth. I also found a way to dismantle the case so that I could paint the halves individually. Previously, I had masked off the hinges and the locks. All was looking up.
The repaint went well, but left a few things to be desired. After spending almost three years kicking this prop around, I decided to just let it go and finish it up. The medical logo attached without a problem. I devised a new method for attaching the strips that would ensure that they were all lining up perfectly. It was working like a charm.
As I was putting on the very last strip, I removed a strip of the painters tape that I was using to hold the two halves together and peeled up a one inch section of paint from the case. I was so close to launching the thing across the garage and forgetting about it forever. Cool heads prevailed. I sprayed some paint onto some cardboard, and dabbed it onto the newly stripped portion of the case with a paper towel. I was kicking around the idea of masking off some of the strips and then spraying the case again, but thought better of it. At this point, I just wanted to get the darn thing done.
So, I dabbed on the last of the paint, put the hinges back on and called it quits.