Sterling Pencil Box

Building upon the earlier extraordinary finding that Wah Chang formed the bucks for his communicator shells from a plastic Sterling pencil box (the story of that discovery detailed on this page), we have next investigated HOW pieces of the box were assembled. Using photographs sized to scale and comparing them to similarly scaled comm pics and tracings, we demonstrate here how nearly all of the features seen in the shells, including the top well imperfections (or "wanks") that have bewildered hobbyists for decades, derive directly from the very form and the small idiosyncrasies of the pencil box. We started with the plan and elevation photos directly below. These were taken straight on from a distance of seven to eight feet distance using full zoom to minimize perspective and spherical lens distortion. (2850 x 2250)
(1812 x 384)	(full-scale PDF, 8.5x11 sheet)
Two things of note are revealed in these photos; first is a distinct top/bottom and an ever-so-slight left/right asymmetry. Second is how the "well" edges pinch in just a little towards the long middle and flair out at their more supported ends. To help visualize how the pieces of the box end up being positioned in the bucks, we've overlaid for reference blue parallel lines in the four quadrants and also marked the exact edges of the well with a thin black line: We opted to match up the four corners with the shape of Zeta's top shell (below #1, reversed for continuity) since we have an actual tracing of said shell (#2). From all physical evidence available, we've located the seam between left and right sides to be smack down the middle and the seam between front and back to be positioned just shy of 1.25" from the front nose. These are shown by the blue crosshairs. The red arrows in pic #1 point at actual remnants of one of the seams inside the shell (they don't fall precisely under the crosshairs because the photo was not taken dead center above the shell). Lastly, in #3, the digitally sliced corners of the pencil box were placed over the tracing and positioned to best fit. We assumed an average Kydex thickness at that far edge to be around 0.045" as per several actual prop measure-ments, so the outer perimeter of the red top plastic is brought about that far in from the inner edge of the tracing: What we see is something quite remarkable. Wah did not cut up and reassemble the quadrants parallel/perpendicular to the box's midline. Rather he rotated the four quadrants outwards by a degree or so, which served to enhance the front curve and side taper! Remember those blue lines started out parallel. What all shakes out from this shifting and rotating is the next discovery... the true source of the well wanks! Note how both left and right sides of the well do not match up, owing to both the quadrant rotation and the aforementioned pinching in of the pencil box well edges. The difference would have needed to be made up with some manually-applied fill compound (like modeler's putty) smoothed in. The composite image above also predicts the front well edge in the communicator shells would "chevron" outward a tiny amount and the back edge would chevron inward. In every instance, these predictions bear out PERFECTLY... the actual shell (or in this case a stand-in; a replica cast directly from the Alpha hero) is an exact match: A shell cast from Zeta's insides, available in a 2008 licensed kit, shows the identical buck imperfections. These traits are fully consistent in all of the original comms as seen in survivors today as well as in screencaps and good vintage photos. There is no way to know if the rotation of the quadrants was purposeful by Wah to enhance the shape or was just accidental. No opinion can be factually supported either way at this time, though thinking highly of the gentleman as we do, it is nice to imagine the curious action was guided by his visionary artistic abilities. Note that it is our intent here to reveal general features and suggest their overall magnitude rather than pin everything down to with exactitude. We are studying complex three dimensional objects with compound curves, making the comparison of photos (taken of different objects with different cameras at different angles and sizes) worthy of at least a grain of salt or two. Plus Zeta, while being so far the best documented top shell (with tracings supplied to us by GJ's staff), has soft-pull defects that make it less than ideal for precision reverse-engineering the buck. We next did the same analysis with the bottom shell (still based on Zeta): It goes without saying that the front domed "feet" on the box align perfectly with the partial circle imprints on the shell, which was conclusively illustrated prior by Dennis Stines with this demonstration. As to the rear feet, they actually were located pretty much right under where the screw hole dimples got drilled there; an act that partially obliterating any circle remnants that might have been left. As you can see with the blue guide lines, it's the same deal above with the rotated pieces. All vertical curved edges of the communicators as expected are fully consistent with the pencil box. In other words, the asymmetries evident in the top and bottom as well as the left/right sides of the props' shells all first originate right there in the box (the below illustrations are elevation photos of Wah comms overlaid with those of the box, all sized as best as possible to the same scale): To complete the story of how chunks of the pencil box came together to form the bucks, we figure at this time that Wah not only cut the box into four quadrants but also separated the top shell pieces from the bottom, which are fastened together with what seems to be just a few spots of glue. This would have allowed him to lay the pieces on a sheet of paper with perhaps drawn edge guidelines (easily mirrored for symmetry). Having both top and bottom assembled apart would also have made internal access and manipulation of the final shapes easier. Then he added three oddly oriented surfaces for the insides of control well. Those might have been little blocks of wood inserted into the hole, or perhaps one small rectangular piece of sheet metal bent in two places. The means by which Wah held all these assorted parts together with enough strength to mold them in plaster will likely never be known. Options as they currently can be conceived range from scotch tape to Silly Putty to clay to a mechanical jig (or some combination thereof). Perhaps future experiments will narrow the possibilities. To wrap up, some patching compound was applied here and there to fill in the well sides and level some misaligned edges. The final assemblage of what we are calling his "proto-buck" would have looked something like this: These completed proto-bucks would have been coated with a non-stick substance (like vegetable oil) and pressed into a small batch of wet plaster until it hardened. At that point the plastic assemblage would have done its job and could be discarded. The plaster molds of the proto-bucks would have gotten their own coating of non-stick and then more plaster was poured into the negative holes. The positive forms that were pulled out would have been the actual forming bucks used on the vacuum bed with the Kydex. For clarity, we will call those from this point forward the "plaster bucks." It is doubtful Wah made any further clean-up of the plaster bucks, given all the bumps and pits on their outsides that ended up being impressed into the shells. *** * * * * * * *** So, does the pencil box sourcing explain everything about the exterior of the bucks and the shells? Well, no... at least not yet. Let's look at two places. The first is the back shell edge between the hinge wheels. If rotating the box quadrants enhanced the curve in front, then it would stand to reason that the curve in back would be commensurately diminished. And bear in mind there is little curve in the box to begin with. The large assembly photos above even suggest that the back edge might end up straight across or even slightly concave as it touches the midplate. Here is what we do see in Wah's comms; first the tops: Then the bottoms: A concave perimeter anywhere? Certainly not. Instead they are straight across or with a very gradual outward arc (the differences between these are a little odd but perhaps are within the margin of normal pull variations). So where did this flat or outer-curving edge come from? In the top shell, the seam running up/down was covered over with compound that rounded up and out that back portion. Fine there. But in the bottom shell, there is no such evidence of a compound hump at that same location. That seam was still exposed as it starts to round from the horizontal to the vertical in the back. Perhaps Wah added a smear of compound right at the end so the two bucks would match shapes at the midplate. Further experiments are called for. Secondly is the perplexing dip in the bottom shell's large flat surface. While it slumps to a maximum depth approaching 1/16" in Alpha and a bit less in Zeta (remember though that Alpha's bottom shell also shows some extra heat distress that occurred after the show), there is no significant corresponding droop in the pencil box: What the heck is this about? Did Wah rotate in the Z axis the two rear quadrants inward? No, he did not. Buck features cleanly impressed on the inside of the bottom shells follow the gradual slumping curve in both directions (X and Y axis) along the full length between screw holes. This could not have been a product of the rigid flat pencil box plastic. Rather, only three mechanisms could cause this... 1) the plaster buck itself settled in the middle while still not fully hardened (not too likely), 2) some or all of the bottom shells sagged there right after being taken off the buck before cooling, or 3) the sagging occurred after production from less-than-optimal storage conditions. The first option would mean each and every shell would have the same amount of deflection, while the second and third would have every one being slightly different - with maybe some even having none. Money here is on Option 3. Recall what Bob Justman and Herb Solow wrote about an incident after the show's cancellation, "Props and set dressings were stored in the old RKO construction mill on the 'Desilu side' of Paramount. Months later, unknown individuals broke into the 'mill' and illegally removed many of the props..." So imagine if you will the communicators all stacked atop each other with maybe other things heaped on them as well, all cooking for months in an un-airconditioned shack in the L.A. sun. Might some of the shell creeping observed on the surviving comms have occurred then? It seem a very reasonable possibility. Also, the proclivity of these vintage plastic shells to settle and deflect might indicate a formula slightly different from the staid Kydex of today that made it softer and more pliable under heat and mechanical stresses. Only further study of the Epsilon, Delta or other future finds might start to resolve this question with confidence. Further updates surely to come. Plenty will be learned as the pencil box, donated to serve the entire Trek community, is transformed (either itself or a casting) into brand new proto and plaster bucks for the next generation of inspired hyper-accurate replicas. More here on that.
An enormous "thank you" goes out to Greg Schnitzer for the wondrously generous gift of his pencil box.