Stargate Props and Costumes

[Atlantis NSW SEAL]

Greetings,
My name is Chris. I came across this website while searching for something else Stargate related and decided to join.

I have been a Stargate fan ever since I saw the original film in the theater way back when. I have been a sci-fi fan all my life, starting with Star Wars and Star Trek.

I have been doing costuming and prop building for a long time too, my first ever project was, of course, a Lightsaber and my first sci-fi costume was a Jedi Knight, although I had been doing Ren Faire costuming for many years prior to that.

In the Stargate arena I favor Atlantis, rather than SG-1, although I still love SG-1 and the original film.

I have made many props throughout the sci-fi genre, some for myself and some I made for friends and paying customers. I have a part time prop making business on the side and I make both replicas of existing props as well as custom designed and built props which run the whole genre.

I have made Star Wars prop replicas and custom props (see my Star Wars props at www.jedigearandgadgets.builtfree.org), Lord of the Rings prop replicas (see my LOTR props at www.silverglassstudios.builtfree.org), Logan's Run (film) prop replicas, Battlestar Galactica (Classic) prop replicas, Star Trek prop replicas, Kim Possible (Cartoon) prop replicas, as well as others.

Lately, I have been concentrating my prop making largely on Stargate, because I like it and also because there seems to be a great demand right now for Stargate props. I also have built several seaQuest props as I am actively doing seaQuest costuming and love the first and second seasons of that show.

Someday I would like to get into making Firefly prop replicas and custom props.

I belong to several Sci-Fi Costuming and Prop Making Groups including SG-14 in the Denver Metro area of Colorado, the great sci-fi costuming group at Scifihero.net and Stargatehero.net where I am the Captain (Leader) of the seaQuest DSV Costuming group as well as the seaQuest DSV Forum Moderator, a member of the Rebel Alliance Group, a member of SG-Command. net and several others, even a small group who do costuming from the film 2010: The Year We Make Contact.

Currently, I have just completed two Atlantis prop replicas. One is the Atlantean/Asuran Disruptor Pistol as seen in Season 3, which is a "working" model with Blue LED's for lighting the side panels and the "Emitter Crystal". The other is a translucent "non-working" replica model of the Atlantis Lifesigns Detector. I have made an opaque colored replica of this prop which has a working Pocket PC inside which has animated screen graphics as seen in the show as well as the original sound effects played as a loop. My new version, although "non-working" I consider to be my "Deluxe" version of this prop as it is much more accurate in it's appearance that the other version. I plan to debut these two new prop replicas at this years Starfest Con here in Denver with my Atlantis Security costume.

I am also working on and have almost completed a replica of the "Kull Disruptor" prop which was seen on the P90's used in the seventh season of SG-1. All that remains is to paint it. It mounts on the left side rail of the P90. It has working micro LED's which flash red and blue in rapid sequence under the red "crystal" on top of the removable "Chip".

As far as my Stargate costuming personae, as I was really in the US Navy, I couldn't see being any other branch on Atlantis. Since my job was with Naval Special Warfare, I decided to be a S.E.A.L. assigned to the Atlantis Security/Off-World Recon Team. While it was never strictly addressed in the show, it seemed reasonable to me that since you had Marines on Atlantis and the Navy wouldn't be likely to just accept being left out of the Stargate Program, not to mention that there have been several SEAL Astronaut's in real life, that there would be some Navy personnel assigned to Atlantis, and that the skills and tactics of NSW Operatives would come in pretty handy in the Pegasus Galaxy. So, I extrapolated that into my Atlantis costuming personae.

Anway, now that I have bored folks to tears reading my history, I just want to say that I am glad to be a member and hope to hear from you other folks soon.
Best Regards,
Chris (Atlantis NSW SEAL)

[SG Merc]

Chris,

Welcome to SG1Props! As a fellow propaholic I'm not bored by your post at all. In fact, I'm pleased to have ya aboard! It looks like you're quite a talented craftsman from the pictures on your web pages.

I've had a few seaQuest projects go through my workshop myself. I've actually been working on assembling a season two pistol for some time now ... and Aliens, and SG-1 ... and sleeping (must remember to do that more often!).

Anyway, sharing photos and resources for building props was the reason I created this site, so thank you for posting your links, and I'm hoping to see more of your projects as you complete them. And if you're interested in writing any articles or tutorials for the site in the future let me know; it'd be great to have more contributing authors

[Atlantis NSW SEAL]

Hi SG Merc,
Thank you for your kind and welcoming words. Yeah, I love seaQuest. If you want to see some of the seaQuest props I have built you can go to my seaQuest Costuming website at: www.seaquestdsvcostuming.builtfree.org

While I have found in the past that tutorials are very time consuming and sometimes difficult to write, I may do that, or at the least I can help folks with their questions on materials, techniques and so on. Happy to do that. One of the problems is that I do make part of my living making and selling prop replicas and custom props so if I lay it out too thoroughly I am sort of taking food out of my own mouth. But I am happy to share my experience and knowledge on the subject.

I am in the process of making a new, all encompassing website showcasing all of prop work but it is very time consuming and slow work, being very image intensive.

I didn't notice if your website has a photo gallery but I do have some photos of some of the Stargate prop replicas I have built which might at least give some folks some inspiration. I would be happy to upload those photos some time if you would like. I just completed my Atlantean/Asuran Disruptor Pistol replica and my translucent Atlantis Lifesigns Detector replica.

Today I was working on my Kull Disruptor (for P90) replica. It is nearly done and I was painting the pieces today.

Anyway, thanks again. I look forward to talking to you again.
Best Regards,
Chris (Atlantis NSW SEAL)

[SG Merc]

That's some awesome seaQuest prop building there Chris - especially the details you've got on the V-Pal and pistol. I've never scratch built with styrene, so it's interesting to see what can be done with that method.

I can't wait to see what you've done with the Kull Disrupter - especially if you're putting electronics into it. I sculpted one about a year ago, but just haven't had time to paint one of my casts yet. So it's all just sitting in the shop collecting dust!

Anyway, about the image gallery. I've been designing a photo gallery for the site, and I'm hoping to have it online this week. So I'll give you a heads up when it's ready.

[Atlantis NSW SEAL]

Thanks SG Merc,
The seaQuest props are some of the ones I have made of which I am proudest. I always loved the V-Pal and luckily one of my friends was a Production Designer on the first season of seaQuest DSV so I had access to some pretty good resource material for that prop. The pistol was easier as far as its general shape (not having to be hollow to accept electronics) although it did take quite a number of layers of sheet styrene to build it up, which was then cut and shaped to the proper dimensions. Making the holster for it actually be functional took quite a bit of engineering so that it could be worn at Cons and not fall out of the holster when walking but still be removable from the holster when desirable. I placed a post with a rubber tip in the base of the holster which actually inserts into the metal barrel of the pistol and keeps the whole thing from moving around.

I use sheet styrene for many of my props because I have actually found it quite easy to work with, plus it doesn't create some of the undesirable and unpleasant requirments and effects of resin, molding material, or other pourable materials such as fumes, need for warm stable temperatures, making a mess, etc...The only drawback to working sheet styrene is all the white dust it can create. Fortunately, the dust is fairly heavy and falls almost directly to the ground. Once I discovered the best methods for working with sheet styrene I found that there really wasn't anything I couldn't make with it, even some large pieces. Larger spherical objects, such as helmets, tend to be more difficult, although still possible with good planning and engineering. I also use it for making prototypes which I can then later make molds of and copies.

As far as the Kull Disruptor, it is also largely made from sheet styrene. All I have left to do on that is to buy the green "Go'auld" paint for the main body and finish that and put the yellow "polka dots" on the "chip". The electronics and micro LED's are done, installed and working. They are powered by a small button battery and it is all contained inside the "chip" itself with a switch inset in the bottom of the chip. The battery can be replaced easily when necassary.

Anyway, so when you get the gallery up I can upload some photos of what I have done of the Kull Disruptor so far, as well as my other Stargate props.
Starfest Denver is in 1 day!
Talk to you soon,
Chris (Atlantis NSW SEAL)

That's some awesome seaQuest prop building there Chris - especially the details you've got on the V-Pal and pistol. I've never scratch built with styrene, so it's interesting to see what can be done with that method.

I can't wait to see what you've done with the Kull Disrupter - especially if you're putting electronics into it. I sculpted one about a year ago, but just haven't had time to paint one of my casts yet. So it's all just sitting in the shop collecting dust!

Anyway, about the image gallery. I've been designing a photo gallery for the site, and I'm hoping to have it online this week. So I'll give you a heads up when it's ready.