MFX Vs CT - The Money Shot

Some of you have asked for some direct comparison shots of the CT Sonic versus the MFX sonic.

I'm not ready to do a full side by side yet as the final production bodies on the CT are still being turned but here is a side by side comparison of the emitter heads, probably the most important part of the prop.

Bear in mind that a straight comparison cannot be made for the main reason that the MFX is based on a Season 3-4 and mine is based on the Eccleston Season 1 master emitter head. There are two small differences in these heads: the Eccleston head has smaller radial curves in the window corners and it also features an extra bevel on the head. Just so you know ;-)

The CT Sonic Screwdrivers are milled on a state-of-the-art computer controlled 5-axis water cooled CNC machine then inspected for dimensional accuracy using ultrasonic and optical comparators to ensure machined tolerances in the micron range. MFX's....well...they aren't :-(

Notice how the head on the following screenshots looks like mine :-)

So honestly, which one do you prefer?

Paint Durability

MFX's paint durability has come in for some stick since it was first released. Initially I was firmly in that camp, however after living with it for a few weeks I have discovered a new found admiration for the paint job on it. Here's some good news for you MFX owners.

The finish is surprising durable. 

I've found that despite the blowover thinness of the paint job, the overall job is no where near as bad as initially thought. A few words to qualify that though. First of all, the PlastiKote Crackle Touch paint is more durable than people realise and by itself can withstand some abuse if properly primed. The sealant is a good idea and whilst tough, can benefit from 30 mins in a 120 deg F oven.

On ours we will be using an ultra tough polyurethane low bake clear coat designed for the automotive industry and will therefore not need much repainting unless subjected to serious, serious abuse.

Sound Enabled CT Sonic - Yes or No?

To the doubting Thomas's out there, YES, my sonic will have sound.

I will repeat it.

THE CELESTIAL TOYSTORE SONIC SCREWDRIVER WILL FEATURE SOUND!!!!!!!

This is what is currently holding back shipping as I have to order thousands of the bloody things as the semi conductor factory has a minimum order amount.

Here is the prototype board that I created:

Sounds good doesn't it? Don't point out the size to me as the components have not been shrunk to surface mount scale yet. That is what I pay others to do :-D.

Sometimes I am so good I scare myself....

My views on the term 'screen accurate'

The term 'screen accurate' has been used quite liberally when refering to props and prop replicas. Often differing definitions of the term lead to quite heated conflicts especially given the anal retentiveness of many prop collectors. To clear up any confusion, here are my views of the term and how they apply to my work.

First off, 'screen accurate' to me denotes that the replica must be externally, visually and dimensionally exact to the prop it is copying and where possible, built using either original found parts, parts copied from original found parts, or from parts custom built using materials visually identical to the original but to the same dims.

How accurate must these dimensions be? For me, it depends on the size of the prop. The smaller the prop, the more accurate the dimensional tolerances have to be. There is a perfectly sound logic behind this. A 0.7mm error on a dimension of, for instance 1mm, is a whopping 70% error based on overall size.  Whereas a 0.7mm error on for instance, K9 or a full sized Dalek is negligible as it would no doubt represent fractions of a percent error. Therefore it can safely be said that dimensional errors must be small, in practical terms. Single figure percentages at most but in this case, microns. These are the tolerances I feel work with my sonic screwdriver replica where visual aesthetics do not suffer. Any greater than that and you will find that the end result will look slightly 'off' even if you cannot pinpoint the exact reason.

Adding sound to something does not make it any less screen accurate as externally it does not suffer since the sound chip is essentially an 'invisible compromise' that adds value but does not detract from visual accuracy. In the same vein, stainless steel and aluminium can look visually identical but stainless steel is harder, heavier and has characteristics more suited to practical usage.

What a wonderful quote

The lesson today comes from the Gospel of St Jack.

Jack T Chance shared the following quote from Terry Goodkind's Chainfire with the world today:

"The Wizard's Ninth Rule

A contradiction can not exist in reality. Not in part, nor in whole. To believe in a contradiction is to abdicate your belief in the existence of the world around you and the nature of the things in it, to instead embrace any random impulse that strikes your fancy - to imagine something is real simply because you wish it were. A thing is what it is, it is itself. There can be no contradictions.

 

Faith is a device of self-delusion, a sleight of hand done with words and emotions founded on any irrational notion that can be dreamed up. Faith is the attempt to coerce truth to surrender to whim. In simple terms, it is trying to breathe life into a lie by trying to outshine reality with the beauty of wishes. Faith is the refuge of fools, the ignorant, and the deluded, not of thinking, rational men.

 

In reality, contradictions cannot exist. To believe in them you must abandon the most important thing you possess: your rational mind. The wager for such a bargain is your life. In such an exchange, you always lose what you have at stake."

 

I have highlighted in red the sentences I feel are most apposite. In danger of beating this particular horse to death, I feel that MFX owners who want their sonic screwdrivers to be screen accurate doesn't make it so.

 

I have received several private emails arguing that the MFX is screen accurate. Despite all the evidence I have posted to the contrary. To those poor deluded fools I urge you to read the above passage, read my blog post here: http://celestialtoystore.blogspot.com/2009/10/analysis-of-mfx-sonic-screwdriver-and.html and tell me in good conscience that you still hold on to your erroneous beliefs.

 

Here endeth the lesson. Amen.

Ok, which one of you fuckers did this?

This was what Primrodo was referring to in yesterday's apology to me:

Believe me when I say this is as much of a shock to me are it is for many of the people reading this.

I can CATEGORICALLY DENY any responsibility for this and I have no prior knowledge of this or the partys responsible. I feel somewhat flattered to think that Justin felt that I had the means and the wherewithall to accomplish such a feat but there are levels that even I would not stoop to and this is one of them

My beef was with Justin and to involve his family into the matter is not only wrong, it is dishonourable and low. I condemn this and those that are responsible.

My initial reaction to this is that:

1. Justin or his wife did this deliberately to make me look bad
2. Justin has other enemies who did this, thinking they were doing me a favour or just piggy backing on my vendetta with him
3. There are others out there who want to do this to make me look bad.

In any case, I am not responsible. If I was I would have no problems in admitting it and as you all can see, I have no problems in speaking the truth or my mind.

So which one of you fuckers did do it? Whoever you are, fucking stop it. Now.

And Steven 'Pumpkiny' Ricks, it wasn't me ok? If you have evidence it was me, great, let's see it, but don't condemn me unless you are damn straight with your facts.

Justin 'Primrodo' Monk Apologises

Yesterday evening I received the following mail from Justin 'Primrodo' Monk:

"I do not know what your problem is, and why you cannot just drop it. I have walked away from discussing you and your product, posted publically on the RPF, and now not only are you attacking me, you attacked my Wife's facebook account.

I do not dislike you, I only ever had a problem with how you treated adverse opinion and MFX. I do not care about you personally, nor have I EVER attacked you personally or in anyway through email, blog, youtube or any way at all.

Hacking into my wifes gmail and facebook went beyond the line.

This was highly inappropriate and you really need to back away.

I am sorry you think I was cruel and negative towards you or your sonic screwdriver, it was never the case...but if it came across as such, I am sorry. I know you and I share a passion, and I relate and commend your work. But this attack towards me has to stop, let it go. I have.

***

 

I have stopped commenting on the thread or even really doing anything about you, your sonic screwdriver or anything. I am happy with my MFX sonic screwdriver.

I want to clarify that I in no way have any negative emotional feelings towards you. I do not hate you, despise you or anything. I am shocked and disappointed in what has happened and that you have taken it so far.

Please take special note that I have not fought you, attacked you or done anything unsavoury to you and your person.

I am asking you civilly to please stop harassing me and my family. I do not care what you write in your blog, it is your prerogative...its your blog after all. I am not out to censor you, just asking you to leave us alone. I have walked away from the matter, and even though you have spoken against me, I have found your actual informative bits on the sonic screwdriver interesting.

Again, I know you and I share a similar passion, and having disagreements is not a big deal, but by attacking my wife and hacking into her account, you have tipped the balance quite harshly in a most heinous way.

Regards,

Justin Monk"

Firstly, I would like to thank Justin for this email and his apology which I gratefully accept. I am not a monster and I am aware that my temper and passion for my work often manifests in some wholly unreasonable behaviour, though I hasten to add, in this instance don't think I would not have received such an apology had I not resorted to such extreme measures.

Secondly, I have not hacked anyone's Facebook or email account and I truly do not know what you are refering to. Indeed, I had no idea you were married. Please take my word that what you think has happened, has not happened. I would be grateful if you could use the comment box below or email me to communicate why you think this hacking has occurred and maybe I can set your mind to rest.

Finally I would like to add that yes we do share a passion for Doctor Who props and I wish that you had taken steps to communicate with me earlier and this whole sorry matter could have been avoided. It is very easy to descend into speculation and reputation bashing which, in my case, has crossed the line into personal and unjustifiable attacks. My retaliation has been both heavy handed and extremely brutal which I admit that some people would have found distasteful and crude. Whilst I make not apologies for answering my critics I do reciprocate the apology as I am a man who does not bear grudges to those that admit their mistakes and do the right thing by apologising. I stand by some of the sentiments behind what I wrote but maybe not quite in the vitriolic way I expressed them. I think we can all learn something here.: Justin, you need to learn not to scoff  and snipe at those that make valid, if incredulous to you, claims and realise that maybe there are people out there that genuinely do know what they talk about, and myself I need to exercise a more dignified restraint.

On that note, consider the matter dropped. I shall now use this blog to do something constructive and actually use it to impart some knowledge and I hope you read it and take something from it.