My Handlink Replica

Als_Holographic_Helper

Als_Holographic_Helper

Project QL Intern
Apr 17, 2004
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Hi all!

Yes, I'm back from the old community wanting to show all of you my latest Handlink attempt. I have wanted a "Gummi bear" handlink ever since I saw it and, have had about 7 attempts, literally. I am now 13 and my latest version is made of foamboard, and clear acetate. The little holes glow in the dark and, when you press the red, rectangular button it makes real handlink noises!

Here are some pictures of my handlink:
 

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Looks great! Definitely a lot better than the attempt I made when I was about ten. I'll post some pictures of mine once I find it.
 
My attempt. It's just Legos.

Colored lucite is just exhorbitant and very hard to cut cleanly.
 

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You know...these are reminding me of these little bead thingies we used to make crafts with when I was a day camp director. They come in all colors, clear and opaque. You arrange them on a pegboard into a design, and then use an iron to fuse them all together.

Excellent work, guys!!!!! :hurray:
 
The sticking points on making a decent handlink:

* Availability of enough different colors of lucite or other color plastic
* Inability to 'tint' clear plastic
* Difficulty in cleanly cutting plastic/lucite/acrylic
* Difficulty in gluing plastic/lucite/acrylic without cracks/fogging

and this does not include the electronics.

Now that you can get those necklaces and armbands with blinking super-bright LEDs in them, it would be remount those components on a flat printed circuit board but quadruple the # of LEDs, quadruple the battery size/output, and switch to capacitors that can handle the higher load.
 
Can we confirm that the colors of the LEDs inside the handlink are only red and green (the only colors commercially viable at the time the handlink was created)?
 
I am pretty sure the handlink has only red and green LED's as I have never seen any other colour light. However I cannot confirm as, as much as I would like to, do NOT own the real handlink :D
 
The only other color may be possibly yellow, but I am not sure if there were different color lights in the yellow cube parts of the handlink. I know when lit, the green LEDs look like a neon yellow color, as the one I made uses the same kind, I think.

I checked out one of the videos on this site, which was a behind-the-scenes look of "The Last Gunfighter," and one of the producers was talking about the handlink. I never knew there were three separate handlinks built and one "dummy" handlink that never lit up, which was used for outdoor scenes. I'm guessing the "dummy" one was the one they used that got left in 1945 in "The Leap Back."
 
E! Behind the Scenes back when it was good.

An essential DVD-style extra for any QL fan.
 
I have The Leap Back on my DirecTV digital TiVo (no analog-to-digital conversion) and I am going through it to find the best frames for checking out the handlink.

These are the best I could capture until the DVDs come out.
 

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What's maddening is that the colors of the blocks seem to change color depending on camera angle. Quite maddening. There seem to be 2 basic types of Lucite/Acrylite being used. One for the base which is almost like a grid of squares and then one for the extra pieces which make the handlink no longer be merely a rectangle in shape.

I think the minimum colors someone would need of Lucite/Acrylite are:

* Yellow
* Orange
* Pink/Magenta

* Green
* Blue/Cyan
* Dark Blue

Any experts out there on cutting and glueing plastic without cutting off ones fingers and/or the material cracking?
 
It is terribly anoying, the way the blocks change colour in every light. Of course, If you got the exact colour and material yours would do the same.
Speaking of the correct material, that is said to also be many different things, for instance, in part 4 of the scienceography in the video colection, it is said by the designer, Cameron Birnie to be made from "Plexi-gl as s"

What is plexi-gl as s? is it a general term or precise? Is it like acrylic or perspex? It is also said to be from lego. could it possibly be?

By the way, feldon29 I was wondering where you got the translucent lego you used for your handlink. Because I thought of using that but could not find it anywhere!

Thanks.
 
Plexiglas is a registered trademark. I can't imagine someone cutting that out and using it. I'd always heard that Lucite was used.

Colored transparent legos? I looked high and low and found them on eBay.
 
Some more pictures showing lighting:
 

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I've looked high and low all over my house and just can't seem to find the one I made! :realmad

For now I'll just describe it... I built it out of one of those cheap hand held pinball games and basically took it apart and put LEDs in it. I colored some cubes on a piece of paper and put it in there for a background, then taped the edges back together and put a battery pack on the back. The thing takes four AA batteries to light up and has a very homemade look to it. Still, I was only ten or eleven and had a big imagination so it did the trick. :b
 
It appears to be the raised blocks that have LED's in. In watching A Little Miracle I discovered that there are yellow LED's in the Handlink. as you can see in the 3rd picture of my "Ghost Al" lot. I noticed this blury shot in "Future Boy"

Enjoy!
 

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It beats me the way, so many people want a Handlink - usually "Gummi bear" one - Children (like me) AND adults that they never released a toy or replica! Terrible!
 
It could be that since there were three different light-up handlinks, maybe the light setup is slightly different in each? Also, I've always wondered if the handlink props on the show actually made those sound effects or if those sounds were just added to each episode's soundtrack later in the editing room.

I think most people prefer the "Gummi Bear" handlink because it's more colorful and unrecognizable. I like the old handlink, but the back of it seems plain and it always kind of reminded me of a fancy calculator.
 
Its a shame we cant get a really good reference picture of the gummi bear handlink in perfect quality and BIG! With no shines or Blot-outs to realy clarify design and colour. But I dont even know where the original is to ask for pictures. :(
 
There's a picture of it on this site which is pretty good. Also, another good shot of it is in "Killin' Time," where Al is driving his Ferrari chasing Styles. He picks it up and flips it around for a second but I think it would make a really good shot.
 
I knew about the site one but in killin' time? I thought I recalled one from that but I only have it in bad quality on video of course. Season 5 DVD Hurry up!!!!!!! lol
 
From Al's Place - Imaging Chamber. First noticed by Jeddie..

 
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So we now have 4/5 shots of the handlink front and a couple of lighting. But still we have problems. For instance, how many LED's are in the handlink? how could you put a sound circit in without blocking the LED light? What material could one use? How can you make the clear, sides of the handlink? all questions that one would need to work out to make a good handlink. lol
 
It appears to be a clear rectangular box with colored pieces bonded to it.

It also appears to be two different kinds of colored materials. 1/4" lucite/acrylite squares and then thicker forms. I do actually have a box of lucite/acrylite 'samples' which I could cut to shape.

I've been told that the absolute minimum tools for cutting plastic cleanly is a Carbide 90 tooth circular saw blade.

http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS/EN_US/shop_cart/pg_print_product.jsp?MID=9876&prod_id=178079
 
Well that's where you end up with very soft-edged pieces. The handlink is all hard edges. Wouldn't it be wonderful if a mould could be made and the plastic just poured into it and then tinted from the inside with different markers? But plastic doesn't tint well and the end result is all soft edges. :(
 
A couple more pictures:

They are from the episode it just changed for good in, "The Great Spontini" Is it just me or does the handlink look a weird arrangement and shape, could it be some kind of prototype, of the main Gummi handlink?
 

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Ohh, The trouble with fimo transparent is that it is not transparent. Yeah, It would be cool if you could tint the plastic like that!
 
 
Als_Holographic_Helper said:
A couple more pictures:

They are from the episode it just changed for good in, "The Great Spontini" Is it just me or does the handlink look a weird arrangement and shape, could it be some kind of prototype, of the main Gummi handlink?
Click to expand...

I've noticed that before, too. I couldn't remember which episode it was but I vaguely remembered that it looked a lot different in one of the episodes. My guess is that it was just a prototype and wasn't completed by the time they were ready to begin filming. Kind of like how the original handlink was just a clear plastic piece because it wasn't completed in time for "Genesis."

By the way, why is one of my posts missing? I commented on one of the handlink pictures and Jeddie replied that it was supposedly real, but they are missing.
 
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