If you are a fan of the original Star Trek series, you know what NOMAD is.
It appeared in episode #37 "The Changeling".
NOMAD is essentially a hybrid of an old earth space probe that collided with an alien space probe. The resulting hybrid probe gets its programming and mission corrupted in the process, and then goes on a genocidal quest to destroy "biological infestations" that it deems to be imperfect.
This has always been one of my favorite episodes of the original series. In many ways it is the quintessential classic Star Trek episode. If you have never watched the original series, and have to pick one episode to watch, I suggest this one.
Some highlights from this episode include:
FOUR red shirts get smoked!
McCoy gets to deliver his classic line "He's dead, Jim!"
Spock performs a mind meld.
Scotty gets killed, and then resuscitated.
NOMAD's lines are all great. Almost everything he says is a quotable classic. Here’s a few of his best:
"Non Sequiter. Your facts are uncoordinated."
"Insufficient response"
"I contain no parasitical beings."
"I am NOMAD. I am Perfect"
And the list goes on...
I thought it would be really cool to have a model of NOMAD. Ideally I'd like to have a super accurate full scale model, but I don't really have that much motivation. I primarily wanted a model that matched the overall appearance and proportions of the original prop. I started out intending to build a one half scale model, but after finding other sources of information it turned out my scale is more like 1:1.5.
This instructable covers the construction of the model and the sound and light effects. Step 7 "Results" contains a link to a YouTube video of the model and the effects in operation.
There are actually very few others who have attempted to build a NOMAD replica, at least that’s what I could find through the first 10 pages of various Google searches. I have added a step at the end titled “Resources” containing links to the examples I found.
It appeared in episode #37 "The Changeling".
NOMAD is essentially a hybrid of an old earth space probe that collided with an alien space probe. The resulting hybrid probe gets its programming and mission corrupted in the process, and then goes on a genocidal quest to destroy "biological infestations" that it deems to be imperfect.
This has always been one of my favorite episodes of the original series. In many ways it is the quintessential classic Star Trek episode. If you have never watched the original series, and have to pick one episode to watch, I suggest this one.
Some highlights from this episode include:
FOUR red shirts get smoked!
McCoy gets to deliver his classic line "He's dead, Jim!"
Spock performs a mind meld.
Scotty gets killed, and then resuscitated.
NOMAD's lines are all great. Almost everything he says is a quotable classic. Here’s a few of his best:
"Non Sequiter. Your facts are uncoordinated."
"Insufficient response"
"I contain no parasitical beings."
"I am NOMAD. I am Perfect"
And the list goes on...
I thought it would be really cool to have a model of NOMAD. Ideally I'd like to have a super accurate full scale model, but I don't really have that much motivation. I primarily wanted a model that matched the overall appearance and proportions of the original prop. I started out intending to build a one half scale model, but after finding other sources of information it turned out my scale is more like 1:1.5.
This instructable covers the construction of the model and the sound and light effects. Step 7 "Results" contains a link to a YouTube video of the model and the effects in operation.
There are actually very few others who have attempted to build a NOMAD replica, at least that’s what I could find through the first 10 pages of various Google searches. I have added a step at the end titled “Resources” containing links to the examples I found.
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Signing UpStep 1: General Construction
I made the model as a number of individual sections, which are later assembled into the complete model. Each of the sections has a hole through the center. This allows the upper and lower sections to be connected to the main body via a threaded rod or bolt that passes through each section stack.
I've numbered each section, starting at the bottom, as shown in the diagram. The second picture shows all the sections disassembled and primed before the final painting. Note the hole in the center of each piece used to connect the sections.
The steps which follow contain the general details of how each section was made. Some of the sections are fairly trivial, just simple cylinders or discs. Others took more effort, such as the truncated cone like sections and the main body box. The cone like sections were made on my 7 X 12 mini lathe.
If you are not familiar with the mini lathe, I would highly recommend looking into it, if you are interested in that kind of thing. An excellent place to get started is at http://www.mini-lathe.com/ . This site have excellent tutorials, reviews, and how to guides for the mini lathe.
For the most part, the sections are made from pine lumber, plywood, or MDF. I used almost entirely scrap pieces I had on hand. As you may well know, lumber that is referred to as 2 by, like a 2 by 4, is actually only 1.5 inches thick. Also, lumber referred to as 1 by is actually only 0.75 inches thick. If I refer to 2" or 1" lumber, I am implying the actual dimensions of 1.5” or 0.75”.
I've numbered each section, starting at the bottom, as shown in the diagram. The second picture shows all the sections disassembled and primed before the final painting. Note the hole in the center of each piece used to connect the sections.
The steps which follow contain the general details of how each section was made. Some of the sections are fairly trivial, just simple cylinders or discs. Others took more effort, such as the truncated cone like sections and the main body box. The cone like sections were made on my 7 X 12 mini lathe.
If you are not familiar with the mini lathe, I would highly recommend looking into it, if you are interested in that kind of thing. An excellent place to get started is at http://www.mini-lathe.com/ . This site have excellent tutorials, reviews, and how to guides for the mini lathe.
For the most part, the sections are made from pine lumber, plywood, or MDF. I used almost entirely scrap pieces I had on hand. As you may well know, lumber that is referred to as 2 by, like a 2 by 4, is actually only 1.5 inches thick. Also, lumber referred to as 1 by is actually only 0.75 inches thick. If I refer to 2" or 1" lumber, I am implying the actual dimensions of 1.5” or 0.75”.
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spizman
says:
Aug 13, 2011. 10:40 PMReply
Try using magnets so it hovers.
3
Michael_Bell
in reply to Mar 6, 2012. 5:31 PMReply
yes!!!
Bitszu
says:
Jan 20, 2011. 11:09 AMReply
Nicely done! Great ...... now I have another project do consider ;)
9
kelseymh
says:
Jan 18, 2011. 10:02 PMReplyDid you try using the "embed video" (the little filmstrip icon) to actually have your YouTube video included in Step 7? If so, how did it fail? This bit has had on-again/off-again bugs for a while, but it would be good to know whether you tried or not.
15
LargeMouthBass (author)
in reply to Jan 19, 2011. 4:46 AMReply
I did not try it, as I did not know about it, so I can't comment.
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